POL 315 MODULE 1
UNIT 2
LAW OF UNITY AND CONFLICT OF
OPPOSITES
CONTENTS
1.0 Introduction
2.0 Objectives
3.0 Main Content
3.1 Law of Unity and Conflict of Opposites
4.0 Conclusion
5.0 Summary
6.0 Tutor-Marked Assignment
7.0 References/Further Reading
1.0 INTRODUCTION
What is the motor that triggers change? Marx became curious to find an
answer to this, and he undertook a critique of Hegel and Feuerbach.
Formal logic sees cause and effect as opposites, but for Marxists, the
two categories merge, mix and melt into each other, all the time. From
the works of Hegel, Marx derived the concept of dialectic or change and
from Feuerbach, he derived the concept of materialism, i.e. .the
centrality of matter- or the material world, to change. This was how
Marx came about his philosophical worldview of Dialectical
Materialism.
This law of dialectics enables us to appreciate why opposite processesfor
example the bourgeoisie and proletariat, will conflict and how this
leads to intense class struggle and finally results in revolution.
2.0 OBJECTIVES
At the end of this unit, you should be able to:
• justify that everything in life and in nature is binary
• discuss the assertion that conflict is the essence of being and is
inevitable
• explain the claim that conflict produces change in nature and
society.
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