Philosophical Content of the Problem of Being: The Dialectic of Being

The Laws of Dialectics

The principles of interconnection, interaction, and development constitute the subject matter of dialectics—an intellectual doctrine concerning the most fundamental principles and laws of being's development in the world. It has been noted that the first expressions of dialectical ideas can be traced back to ancient philosophy (Heraclitus, Zeno). Much later, the ideas of development were elaborated upon in the philosophical system of G. Hegel, who defined dialectics as the "driving soul of every scientific unfolding of thought and ... the singular principle that imparts an immanent connection and necessity within the content of science." Subsequently, K. Marx and F. Engels formulated the essential principles of materialist dialectics.

Thus, dialectics investigates the universal laws of the world's development. A law is a necessary, essential, stable, and repeatable connection within being. In nature, laws operate as spontaneous forces, while in society, they manifest through conscious human activity. However, societal laws, like natural laws, possess an objective character. Understanding the laws of development and recognizing the forms of their manifestation provide the means to manage processes occurring in both nature and society. Although laws, in their form, are products of human knowledge, their essence reflects the objective reality of the world. It is pertinent to emphasize that, from the perspective of objective idealism, a law is an expression of the world spirit embodied in nature and society. From the standpoint of subjective idealism, a law represents those achievements brought into the real world of nature and society by the rational mind of the thinking subject.

The multifaceted nature of being is expressed through various types of laws, which are classified on different grounds:

• By scope of action, laws are divided into universal (laws of development, the law of gravity, conservation of energy) and specific (the law of sexual selection, laws of social life);
• By content, laws can be categorized into those of structure, function, and development;
• By form of manifestation, there exist dynamic and probabilistic laws. The former express stable tendencies, while the latter reflect probabilities and statistical regularities. Regularity is a form of the law's expression.

Within the framework of objective idealism, Hegel, based on the principle of the identity of thought and being, first developed the dialectical method that allows for the examination of any phenomenon in the process of development. Since the historical-philosophical section has already discussed Hegel's dialectical method, we will now focus on elucidating the essence of the laws of dialectics.

One of the fundamental laws of dialectics is the law of the mutual transition of quantitative and qualitative changes. This law illustrates the transformation of the quality of an object, process, or phenomenon, occurring when the accumulation of quantitative changes reaches a certain threshold. The law governing the transition from quantitative to qualitative changes is objective in content and general in character. Understanding the essence of this law, along with its manifestations and effects, requires an exploration of the categories: quality, quantity, measure, and leap.

Every thing, object, or phenomenon exists as a composite of its properties, in their entirety, which constitutes its quality. Hegel characterized quality as "the determinate identity with being." This signifies that quality is inseparable from the object. A change in quality means that the object has ceased to exist. Quality is what enables us to distinguish one thing from another, thus allowing us to unite and construct things not only in being but also in consciousness. Thanks to quality, we recognize that a given object is precisely that, rather than another. The quality of an object is revealed through the totality of its properties, characterizing the object as a whole, while a property denotes a way of manifesting a certain aspect of the object in relation to other objects with which it interacts; it is a facet of the object, a unique manifestation of that object in its relations with others. Thus, quality, as a philosophical category, embodies the totality of the internal, fundamental, essential properties of the object, representing its comprehensive characteristic in the unity of internal and external determinacy, relative stability, distinction, and similarity with other objects.

Quantity is a philosophical category that reflects the general, external features of existing things: magnitude, number, volume, and so forth. Quantity represents a form of determination of the object that is somewhat indifferent to it, as its change within certain limits does not directly signify the transformation of the object into another. In the initial phase, quantitative changes occur either entirely unnoticed or at a very slow pace without significant effects. As Hegel noted, a quantitative change initially appears "completely innocent," incapable of provoking any serious changes, and only over time does the deceptiveness of such an impression become evident. Thus, upon transgressing certain limits, changes occur that lead to qualitative transformations. In other words, quantity exists in unity with the qualitative determinacy of the object, which is expressed in the concept of "measure."

Measure denotes the bounds or intervals within which quantitative changes do not disturb the qualitative determinacy of the object. This category encompasses the object in the unity and synthesis of its quantity and quality. A breach of measure results in a change in quality and, in essence, a transformation of the object itself.

An important category in understanding the law of the mutual transition of quantitative changes into qualitative ones is the leap, a break in continuity. A leap constitutes the process of radical change in a given quality, transforming it into a new one as a result of quantitative changes. The leap is an objective and lawful process, prepared by prior development. In terms of duration, a leap can last from a fraction of a second in micro-world processes to billions of years in cosmic phenomena. At every level of "being in the world," a leap possesses its interval. Examples of one-time leaps include political revolutions in social life, various kinds of natural cataclysms, and annihilation. Examples of gradual qualitative changes include the emergence of new species of animals and plants, the evolution of humans, the development of languages, and the transition to market relations. The gradualness of qualitative changes occurring in the transition to market relations lies in the fact that intermediate forms involve the accumulation of elements of private property relations and the decline of elements of state ownership.

It is essential to note that transitions occur not only from quantitative changes to qualitative ones but also in the reverse direction—quantitative changes occur based on qualitative ones. For instance, the transition of individual producers to collective production activities through cooperation represents a qualitative change. Cooperative production is characterized by the division of labor among producers, their communal interactions, mutual assistance, and competition, resulting in increased productivity, the emergence of new productive forces, and the growth of production, creating a larger quantity of products. In other words, a producer in the process of cooperative labor generates material values beyond what they could achieve individually as a separate producer. Cooperative labor, as K. Marx noted, "simultaneously unites a larger number of workers, thereby expanding the dimensions of the labor process and yielding a larger product." As a result, significant quantitative changes arise based on qualitative changes.

The second law of dialectics, which reveals the source of development, is the law of the unity and struggle of opposites. Heraclitus already observed the absolute flux of the world, where everything is transient and possesses its opposite, a realm governed by the struggle of opposites—light and darkness, the new and the old, and so on. Heraclitus's ideas found further development in the history of philosophy, particularly in Hegel's dialectics, which presented the entirety of the natural, historical, and spiritual world as a process of continuous movement and change. According to Hegel, development occurs due to the internal content of the world spirit manifesting in an inadequate form of material nature, resulting in an actual contradiction that necessitates resolution. In his "Encyclopedia of Philosophical Sciences," the great German philosopher emphasizes: "Contradiction is what truly drives the world, and it is absurd to claim that contradictions cannot be conceived."

Dialectics, as a philosophical doctrine, entails the study of the contradictions inherent in the essence of objects, phenomena, and processes, which are determined by their being. In philosophy, dialectical contradictions are represented by the law of the unity and struggle of opposites. To elucidate the essence of this law, it is necessary to reveal the content of the categories through which it is expressed: identity and difference; opposition; unity of opposites; contradiction.

Identity is an extreme case of sameness, the relationship of a thing to itself. However, since any object, due to its constant tendency toward change, is different with every passing moment, the investigator invariably deals with the unity of identity and difference, where identity always ensures the stability of being while difference initiates a tendency toward its change. Difference may be substantial or insubstantial; only substantial difference possesses the potential for development into its opposite as a limit, the sides of which do not so much mutually presuppose each other as mutually exclude each other. Thus, identity expresses stability, while difference signifies variability. The unity of identity and difference ensures a state in which a phenomenon, while undergoing constant changes, preserves itself within certain parameters of space and time.

The distinction may evolve into opposition, leading to the mutual exclusion of forces and tendencies. The emergence of opposites indicates that distinction gives way to contradiction. However, dialectical contradiction is characterized by the unity and mutual conditioning of opposites. The unity of opposites signifies that they are different aspects of the same process, inseparable from one another, intertwined. The struggle of opposites, which exist in a unified relationship yet simultaneously exclude each other, constitutes contradiction itself. Development inevitably engenders a clash of opposites, their struggle, and the resolution of this struggle necessarily gives rise to new contradictions. Contradictions in nature, society, and knowledge possess a universal character, implying that they are inherent to all objects, phenomena, and processes without exception. Moreover, contradictions also possess a specific nature: they manifest differently across various forms of matter and are resolved through diverse methods. In nature, this occurs spontaneously; in society, it is conscious, resulting from human activity. Each contradiction in society necessitates specific examination, especially at pivotal stages of social development and functioning. Among the significant means of overcoming social contradictions are those developed by humanity: social revolution, reform, compromise, and so forth. In particular spheres of social activity, such as economics, tangible contradictions are addressed through methods like the dismantling of state ownership, privatization, nationalization, incorporation, and leasing. The driving force behind changes occurring within society is human activity, the interests of classes, political parties, social groups, and individuals.

Thus, by observing the operation of the law of unity and struggle of opposites, one can discern a certain dynamic: identity—difference—opposition—contradiction—dialectical leap, signifying the emergence of a new quality. In contradiction, as in the unity and confrontation of opposites, Hegel perceived “the source of all movement.”

If the law of the transition from quantitative changes to qualitative ones unveils the mechanism of development, and the law of unity and struggle of opposites reveals its source, then the law of negation of negation characterizes the direction of the developmental process, demonstrating the unity of progression and continuity in evolution. This law, like the preceding two, was articulated by Hegel within the context of his system of objective idealism. The operation of the law of negation of negation becomes evident only in a relatively complete process of development. The essence of this law is elucidated through the categories of negation, continuity, and development.

Development occurs as the destruction of the old unity of the system's elements and the emergence of a new object, which constitutes the negation of the old object. However, negation is not merely the destruction of a particular qualitative determination; dialectical negation entails the moment of the birth of the new or the moment of development. In other words, the negation of the old signifies the loss of the object's qualitative determination and the transition to a new quality. Dialectical negation manifests differently across various realms of reality. This depends both on the nature of the phenomenon itself and on the conditions of its development. In the inorganic and organic realms, the process of negation unfolds spontaneously—as self-negation; in society and thought, it occurs through the conscious activity of individuals. People themselves determine what to retain in negation and what to reject, which elements of the old to completely eliminate, and which to preserve for further development. Therefore, the forms of dialectical negation in society possess their own specificity.

There exists another understanding of the process of negation, characterized as metaphysical, which entails rejection and destruction without retaining what is useful, lacking a connection between what was and what is. However, creating something substantial without continuity, from a blank slate, is impossible. This is especially true when discussing the phenomenon of culture, which is created by many generations over centuries and represents a legitimate development of all that humanity has produced throughout its history. The same applies to the economic life of society.

Thus, the process of dialectical negation bears a constructive, rather than a destructive, character, as within the law’s operation lies not simple but double negation. The essence of Hegel’s idea of double negation is encapsulated in the so-called principle of the triad: thesis—antithesis—synthesis. The connection between the old and the new finds expression in continuity, “as continuity in the discontinuous,” as the preservation of certain aspects of the old within the new. Repetition at a higher stage of development signifies not merely a return “seemingly to the old,” but also a transition to a new cycle with significantly different internal contradictions that require resolution. The law of negation of negation reflects the objective and necessary connection, the continuity between what is negated and what negates.

The sequence of cycles that constitute the chain of development can be imaginatively represented as a spiral, where each cycle serves as a turn in development, and the spiral itself unwinds as a chain of cycles. The image of the spiral aptly captures the general direction of development: a return to the past is not complete; development does not repeat the old path but finds a new one, in accordance with changes in both internal content and external circumstances, which constitute the conditions for a new turn in development.

Thus, the law of negation of negation is a law of grand scope. It reveals itself in its entirety only when a complete cycle of development occurs, when three stages of the developmental process take place. Therefore, cyclicality is an essential characteristic of this law. This law provides a theoretical understanding of the progressive nature of development, of the inherited connection between its previous and subsequent states, when the latter, as a result of acquiring new qualities, becomes richer and higher compared to the former. In this process, what follows, in Hegel’s words, “loses nothing as a result of its dialectical progressive movement but carries with it all that it has acquired.”

Thus, the examined dialectical laws enable a comprehension of the processes of development of specific forms of being.