John Grieve: Why is Dialectic Important    
 Why is Dialectic Important3 comments
4 Aug 2008 @ 09:07, by John Grieve



Why is Dialectic Important

In an article a while ago I contrasted the Taoist approach to solving problems with the Confucianist one. Taoism tries to grasp the essence of anything it analyses or any problem it is trying to solve. Confucianism, on the other hand, seems content with looking at and considering secondary, superficial, irrelevant and numerous inessential aspects of a subject or thing. Occasionally this leads to a solution, but usually this is arrived at only after years of piecemeal efforts by different people. The Taoist approach often yields a quick answer to the solitary enquirer.

The Confucianist way is analytical but reductionist, it splits things into a myriad of incoherent aspects that seem to lack a connecting thread. This is the method of traditional science. It is also very anxious to eradicate qualitative aspects of the matter in favour of purely quantitative ones. As part of this it gets rid of any analysis of the problem into complementary opposites or dialectical categories.

One can say that there is almost a phobia, as yet unnamed, which people have when dealing with qualitative and dialectical angles of the problem or idea. And I will tell you why. This fear, almost pathological, of qualities and opposites is very similar to the fear of intimacy which you find in a neurotic person, usually men. Because dialectical analysis, literally, is a way into the heart or Essence of a thing. And just as many people shun intimacy, likewise many people feel very uncomfortable with the essence of anything, preferring instead all sorts of distractions, secondary aspects and irrelevancies.

The analysis of anything in terms of its opposites and contradictions is a time-honoured method of getting to the heart or essence of it, and has been part of the Perennial Philosophy for thousands of years.

Some people think that the Taoist way of solving problems always involves an incredible “Eureka” moment, akin to a moment of mystical Enlightenment, which relies on the complete grasping in one stroke, of something’s essence. It does sometimes happen like that, but often it involves the hard work of thoroughly analysing and understanding the opposites and contradictions in the thing and their mutual connections.










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3 comments

12 Aug 2008 @ 02:33 by yrsane : Philosophy Dialectic
I hail from Indian version of Vedic Culture.The Vedic idea of Creation envisages Dialectical principle in its "Shiva Shakti-Ardha Narnari concept(Half Male Half Female Form of Embodied Consciousness)".The very existence of Male and Female forms of Life as Purush and Prakriti concepts is Dialectical.It Auto-suggests that the Evolution intended or intrinsic in the universe is based on development by a dialectical process of Thesis ,Anti thesis and synthesis as propounded by Hegel.But,Vedic concept is more general and universal in that the dialog is not a mere thought process but an evolutionary phenomenon involved in present reality and its Inherent Energy throwing variant .This is called Shakti(Spiritual Energy) in Vedic Sanskrit parlance.Yeshwant Sane 12-8-2008. E_Mail:[email protected]  

17 Aug 2008 @ 11:59 by Bob Glaberson @86.146.88.126 : 2 essays
I will study these, August 1 and 12, some more, but I am impressed with them. I tend to agree with them. I am very concerned with fascism, and I do feel that people who aren't willing to admit things, as you've said, the results could be dire, and have been. The hatred and lack of acceptance which is not acknowledged, can explode. The dialectic is something I am interested in. I feel as a result of this I would like to know more about the tao, but it sounds like it is integrated knowledge. This is a cool way of making contact.  

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