Definition of Dialectical Materialism

Materialism Y dialectics are two fundamental terms in the history of the philosophy western. Both merged in the Marxist doctrine and became the philosophical system that led to the communist model developed in the 20th century.

Before Marx and Engels

Already in Ancient Greece a materialistic doctrine developed. Democritus of Abdera in the 5th century BC. C claimed that nature as a whole can be explained from a combination of atoms. With the passage of time, modern science developed a materialistic model of the mechanistic type according to which nature is an ordered system that works as if it were a machine.

The concept of dialectic dates back to Socrates and Plato. Both thinkers understood that the process of knowledge is subject to a constant critical review of concepts and such a procedure is the beginning of dialectics.

On the other hand, for Hegel the dialectic becomes the mechanism that explains the processes of change in history (a thesis enters into conflict with a contrary idea or antithesis and both are overcome by a new idea or synthesis).

The Hegelian dialectic has an idealistic and therefore non-materialistic approach.

Dialectical materialism in Marxist philosophy

Marx and Engels understood that man can transform society. In this sense, social reality is subject to change. In fact, the capitalist system is the result of a historical process of transformation (the class The bourgeoisie prevailed over the nobility and developed a capitalist production system based on the exploitation).

To overcome the social imbalances characteristic of this system, Marx proposed a movement emancipatory in which a new social class, the proletariat, would definitively impose itself on the bourgeoisie.

For Marx this process of change has a dialectical sense of the Hegelian type (the theses of the proletariat are opposed to the theses of the bourgeoisie and result in a classless society). The dialectical dimension in Marx is not idealistic, since it is based on the material elements that make up the social reality (machines, the capitalist production model and the consequent class difference social).

In short, Marx's dialectical materialism is projected onto the historical reality of humanity. Likewise, this worldview of reality is the theoretical framework that allows to promote revolutionary change towards a new social model. The philosophical vision of Marxism It is not speculative or descriptive in nature, but is intended to bring about a real change in the social order.

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