Main contradiction

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The pair of terms main contradiction and secondary contradiction was coined by representatives and currents of Marxism . The Marxist theory has several contradictions worked out (eg. As labor and capital). However, these are not independent, but a contradiction can be determined or conditioned by another. The first would then be called a secondary contradiction, the latter a main contradiction. As with Hegel , a distinction is not made between “contradiction” (compare the principle of contradiction ) and “opposition”, but both terms are used interchangeably.

Mao Tse-Tung worked out a theoretical concept with these terms in his work On Contradiction in 1937.

Similar terms

Basic contradiction

Another term with a similar meaning is the basic contradiction . According to Friedrich Engels, the basic contradiction of capitalist society arises from the appropriation of the socially developed product by the individual capitalist. He calls this the "fundamental contradiction, from which all contradictions arise, in which today's society moves and which big industry openly brings to light." According to Engels, this contradiction appears as the opposition of the proletariat and the bourgeoisie . The basic contradiction in capitalism is often referred to by representatives of Marxism in this sense as the contradiction between wage labor and capital . The only use of the thematized terms in larger writings by Marx and Engels was quoted above.

The difference between basic and main contradiction is that the basic contradiction is the basis on which a complex phenomenon arises, in Engels' example capitalism from the basic contradiction between social production and private appropriation. This basic contradiction applies (regardless of its development) until it is resolved (Mao Tse-Tung: “About the contradiction” in: Selected Works, Volume 1, page 381). The main contradiction, on the other hand, is a relatively short-lived phenomenon that arises in the course of the development of a process at a specific point in time and is valid for a certain time, but can then be replaced by another main contradiction (Mao Tse-Tung: "About the contradiction" in : Selected Works. Volume 1, page 389). The main contradiction is important for finding the “main chain link” that has to be found in order to find the correct method for resolving a contradiction (Mao Tse-Tung: “About the contradiction” in: Selected Works. Volume 1, page 390). Mao is referring to Lenin, who wrote in his essay "The Next Tasks of Soviet Power" (Lenin Works (LW) 27, page 265):

“You have to know how to find that particular chain link at every moment that must be tackled with all your strength to hold the whole chain and to prepare the transition to the next chain link with a firm hand, whereby the sequence of the links, their shape, their Chaining, their difference from one another in the historical chain of events are not as simple and not as simple as in an ordinary chain made by a blacksmith. "

Main side of the contradiction

Another name, very similar to the main contradiction, is the main side of the contradiction . According to Mao, the two sides of a contradiction (basic, main or secondary contradiction) develop unevenly. One side of the contradiction forms the main page, which plays the leading role and determines the character (essence) of this contradiction. The other side of the contradiction is the secondary side. In different development processes or in the course of a development process in different stages, these two sides of a contradiction merge into one another due to the extent of the increase or decrease in the forces of the conflicting sides (exchange their position) and thus change the essence of the appearance (Mao Tse-Tung: " About the contradiction ”in: Selected Works Volume 1, page 391). Here, too, follows Mao Lenin, who wrote in his work “On the Junius Brochure” (LW 22, page 314):

"Of course it is a principle of the Marxist dialectic that all boundaries in nature and in society are conditioned and flexible, that there is not a single phenomenon that cannot turn into its opposite under certain conditions" (emphasis placed by Lenin).

Overall, Mao also follows Lenin's demands on dialectical logic in his presentation of the topic, as exemplified by him in four points in his work “Once again about the trade unions” (LW 32, page 85f.):

"Dialectical logic demands that we move on" [d. H. beyond eclecticism ]
  • “In order to really know an object, you have to grasp and explore all of its aspects, all connections and 'mediations'. We will never achieve this completely, but the demand for all-roundness will save us from errors and from freezing. That for the first.
  • Secondly, dialectical logic demands that one consider the object in its development, in its 'self-movement' (as Hegel sometimes says), in its change ... but especially the purpose changes ..., ... use, <the> connection with the environment.
  • Third, the complete 'definition' of an object must include all of human practice both as a criterion of truth and as a practical determinant of the connection between an object and what a person needs.
  • Fourth, dialectical logic teaches that 'there is no such thing as an abstract truth, that the truth is always concrete', as the late Plekhanov used to say - with Hegel. ...
Of course, I have not exhausted the concept of dialectical logic ”(text edited, insert added in angle brackets, emphasis placed by Lenin).

Mao Tse-tung's theory of contradiction

Contradiction theory

According to Mao Tse-Tung ( About the contradiction ) the dialectical "law of the unity of opposites" or the "law of the contradiction inherent in things " (compare basic dialectical laws ) is "the most fundamental law of materialistic dialectics ". While Friedrich Engels defined the dialectic in Anti-Dühring as:

"... nothing but the science of the general laws of motion and development of nature, human society and thought" (MEW 20, page 131f., Compare LW 21, page 42),

Mao defines the same with reference to Lenin (Lenin in: "Konspekt zu Hegel's lectures on the history of philosophy" in LW 38, page 240; compare Lenin: "On the question of dialectics" in: "From the philosophical legacy" page 285) as the

"Exploration of the contradiction in the nature of < examination > objects themselves" (Mao Tse-tung, "On Contradiction" in: Selected Works Volume 1, page 365; added in brackets inset).

This is the core or the essence of the dialectic. At a later passage in his work (Mao Tse-Tung: “About the contradiction” in: Selected Works Volume 1, page 396), Mao quotes from Lenin's “Conspectus on Hegel's Science of Logic” (in LW 38, page 99):

“Dialectic is the doctrine of how opposites can be identical and how they are (how they become) - under what conditions they are identical by mutating into one another - why the human understanding did not fix these opposites as dead, but as living, conditioned, mobile, mutating into one another. "

His treatment of these two passages also shows that, following Lenin, Mao saw the terms “ contradiction ” and “ opposition ” as synonymous and interchangeable.

Mao discusses various issues in connection with the law of contradiction, including the main contradiction. The

"Interdependence and the closest, inseparable connection of all sides of every phenomenon (whereby the story always opens up new pages)" (Lenin in: "Karl Marx", section: The dialectic in: LW 21, page 43, emphasis placed by Lenin)

not abolished, but expanded.

See also: contradiction theory
Main contradiction

According to Mao, there are a number of contradictions in the "development process of a complex thing"

“Among which one is always the main contradiction; its existence and development determine or influence the existence and development of the other contradictions. As a result, in studying a complicated process which contains two or more contradictions, one must try hardest to find the main contradiction. As soon as this is established, all problems can be solved easily. "

A complex appearance therefore consists of the main contradiction and the secondary contradictions. Since the main contradiction determines the secondary contradictions, it characterizes the essence of the complex appearance. In a capitalist society, according to Mao, the proletariat and the bourgeoisie would be the main contradiction. Secondary contradictions, which are influenced by the main contradiction and determined by it, are:

  • the contradiction between the remaining feudal class and the bourgeoisie,
  • the contradiction between the non-monopoly and the monopoly bourgeoisie,
  • between bourgeois democracy and fascism,
  • the contradictions among the capitalist countries,
  • or the contradictions between imperialism and the colonies.

Mao emphasizes that contradictions change their place in certain situations. If, for example, imperialist powers acted warlike against semi-colonial countries like China, the contradictions in their own country, the main contradiction between the “feudal system and the popular masses”, took second place. In this context Mao mentions the Opium War of 1840 , the Sino-Japanese War of 1894 and the Yihetuan Uprising of 1900. The contradictions can also, as Mao puts it, change their place if, for example, imperial powers form an alliance with the ruling class Exploitation of the people. In this context, Mao calls the “Revolutionary War” of 1911 as “the revolutionary war of 1924–1927 and the ten-year Agrarian Revolutionary War” (see Chinese Civil War ).

Quote
“If a process contains several contradictions, one of them must be the main contradiction, which plays the leading and decisive role, while the others only take a secondary, subordinate position. Once this [major contradiction] is established, all problems can be easily resolved. This is the method that Marx demonstrated to us in his study of capitalist society. Lenin and Stalin showed us the use of this very method when they examined imperialism and the general crisis of capitalism and the economy of the Soviet Union. Thousands upon thousands of scholars and practitioners do not understand this method; the result is that they wander around in a thick fog, looking in vain for the main chain link and therefore cannot find the method to resolve the contradictions. ” - Mao: On the contradiction, IV. The main contradiction and the main side of the contradiction, August 1937

Louis Althusser and Marx's contradiction

Louis Althusser , referring to Mao, argues that Marx's concept of contradiction is different from that of Hegel . While in Hegel there is a simple, pure contradiction, in Marx the concept of contradiction is characterized by main and secondary contradictions, main and secondary aspects of contradictions, and an uneven development of contradictions. Althusser rejects the reduction of all contradictions to a main contradiction. He argues that there is a complex relationship of contradictions in complex processes and refers to the presentation of the theoretical approach in Marx in the introduction to the Critique of Political Economy of 1857 (von Brauk: 35f.)

Other uses

Patriarchy and capitalism

A connection between capitalism and gender relations was discussed within feminism, namely whether the oppression and disadvantage of women were a "side effect" (secondary contradiction) or a necessary requirement of capitalism. Socialist and Marxist feminists view women's oppression as an intrinsic element of capitalism. In addition to the sphere of production, they also include the gender division of labor in their analyzes. According to Frigga Haug , it is about a "critique of the mode of production of capitalism, which is based on the oppression of women in the form of the appropriation of unpaid work and requires the use of women in a gender-typical division of labor." the oppression of women would be degraded to a secondary contradiction in production.

Review by Stuart Halls

Stuart Hall argues that patriarchal or racist structures cannot be derived solely from economic conditions, but that they are closely, but not determined, related to them.

literature

Continuing

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