p Having discussed what essence and phenomenon are, let us see in what relation they stand to each other.

p By generalising scientific achievements and practice, dialectical materialism asserts the unity of essence and 134 phenomenon which are interconnected and inseparable. Essence appears phenomenally, phenomenon is essential, Lenin wrote. Phenomenon is the selfsame essence as manifested in reality. The outward, surface side of reality, the individual properties, moments and sides of things make up the phenomenon. Essence is the same phenomena, the same multifarious moments, sides, but taken in their most stable, profound and general form. Lenin compared essence to a relatively calm, powerful and deep current of a swiftly flowing river, which on the surface has waves and foam. “...The foam above and the deep currents below. But even the foam is an expression of essence.”  [134•* 

p Essence is necessarily revealed in each phenomenon, but not fully, only a certain small part of it. Phenomenon does not exhaust essence, but presents it from one side only.

p There is no “pure” essence, i. e., the kind that would not manifest itself in anything. Every essence reveals itself in a mass of phenomena. The essence of socialism manifests itself through many events and facts of the socialist way oi life.

Essence and phenomenon are not only indivisible, they are also antithetical and never fully coincide. Their antithesis is an expression of the internal contradictoriness of the objects of reality themselves. Essence is not seen on the surface, it is hidden and cannot be directly observed. It can be disclosed only in the course of prolonged comprehensive study of an object. If the form of manifestation and the essence of things coincided directly, Marx wrote, every science would be superfluous. It is the task of science to reveal essence, the internal, deep and underlying processes behind the multitude of phenomena, outward sides and features of reality.