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A . Zig-zag . Journey
through . Change
The links in the table on the left take you to sub-headings in this article.
Dialectical Change In what is called the Hegelian dialectic, change is a three-way process. First the initial idea or state is termed the thesis. Then this is counter-balanced by the opposing idea or state, the antithesis. Finally both are united and blended in a synthesis. The synthesis then acts as a thesis for a new round of change. When change occurs in this manner, it is called ‘dialectical’ change. |
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Sub-headings |
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| Social change | |
| Relativism | |
| Summary | |
| References |
Consider
the abreaction of guilt. [¹]
First we have the
excitement, and then we have the resentment that opposes it.
Finally we have the steady state of detachment when the contents
of the excitement and the resentment phases no longer interest us.
This abreactive process is a dialectical one.
Consider
the abreaction of pride.
First there is the
sorrow, then the bitterness which is the reaction to it. Finally
there is the detachment. This abreaction is a dialectical one as
well.
These ideas mean that abreaction generates dialectical change. Abreaction releases anxiety from the subconscious mind during the processes of clearing confusion and of character transformation, and this release occurs by an oscillation between opposing states of mind. Therefore the process of character transformation is a dialectical one, as is the process of clearing confusion. [²]
The release of anxiety from the subconscious mind causes character transformation to occur in a dialectical manner.
A psycho-analysis is dialectical in its progress. I see the progress of self-discovery as a zig-zag meander through a person’s mind : sometimes one step forward, then one step back – at other times it is one step forward followed by two steps back ; finally the harmony.
Consider
the process of forgiveness.
First
I forgive someone or some
aspect of life that has been oppressing me. A little later comes
the backlash of bitterness. Sometime afterwards, and for a long
time afterwards, I romanticise my past sufferings (thereby
synthesising a more optimistic outlook on life) until finally
there is the detachment from those sorrows. The process of
forgiveness is dialectical because forgiveness focuses on the
resolution of past anxiety. [³]
The process of acceptance is usually dialectical too.
As with the individual, so with society: social abreaction generates dialectical social change. [4]. In my view, a person's evolution is the slow process of character transformation, the slow process of acquiring and developing self-consciousness. Hence human evolution is not a linear progression but a dialectical one.
Historical change induces social abreaction, which is a dialectical process. Therefore historical change is dialectical ; the intensity of the abreaction mirrors the intensity of change. The contents of the abreaction are the new ideas of good and evil. [5]. Social abreaction works with new ideas about values, about morality, and about the grounds of morality (that is, consciousness). Therefore any historical change which produces a permanent effect always involves moral reform.
Moral reform is the dynamic of human evolution.
The only effective historical components of Christianity, Judaism, Liberalism, Marxism, etc, were ideas that focused on moral and ethical values. The rival ideologies of different religions, or of different sects, or of different political systems, are always of secondary importance – the ideology serves only to underpin the morality that is followed. Political economy, whether Liberal or Marxist or Conservative, always derives its energy from underlying moral (and immoral) attitudes and desires.
Any social change that does not involve abreaction
just ameliorates or intensifies existing social conditions
and does not radically change social consensus.
A major concept within historical thinking is that of relativism. Each era is relative or related to the era that comes before it and the era after it. Each nation’s culture is relative to any other nation’s culture. [6]
How does relativism gel with
dialectics ?
I put these thoughts into perspective by looking at the framework
of historical change.
Historical change is dialectical, the content being new ideas. Therefore history is the history of ideas. But any idea has no necessary connection with other ideas. So all ideas are relative to each other. However, the idea affects a person, a society, or a nation in a dialectical way. Dialectics means that the idea will generate opposition to itself – this effect is produced by the good and the bad aspects of the idea, or the thesis and the antithesis. Both the good and the bad aspects of the idea have to be worked out before the idea’s usefulness is assimilated and exhausted.
I put these thoughts another way. Every good idea will produce bad effects as well as good ones (for example, the introduction of new technology often results in an increase of misery for the working masses). Every bad idea will produce good effects as well as bad ones (the good effects are correctives aimed at preventing, or ameliorating, more badness). The final synthesis of an idea is the distillation from out of its goodness and badness of the lessons that it teaches.
I summarise these thoughts :
Each idea is relative to all other ideas.
and
Every idea unfolds its effects in a dialectical manner.
or
Historical change depends upon ideas that are mutually relative.
and
Historical change is the dialectical effect of ideas on mankind.
The number in brackets at the end of each reference takes you back to the paragraph that featured it.
[¹]. My analysis of the process of abreaction is given in the five articles on Abreaction. See home page. [1]
[²]. See the article Character Transformation. [2]
[³]. See the fifth
article on Abreaction : Forgiveness and
Acceptance.
Anxiety is an emotion. My definitions, descriptions, and analysis
of emotions are given in the three articles on Emotion. See home page. [3]
[4]. I propose that two laws of social change exist. These laws are described in the fourth article on Abreaction : Resentment and Bitterness, section Social Abreaction. [4]
[5]. During abreaction, ideas of good and evil are generated in the catharsis phase. See the third article on Abreaction : Catharsis and Suggestion. [5]
[6]. I use the term relativism
rather than relativity. I have found that the
traditional meaning of relativity is usually confused with the
associated terms subjectivity and objectivity.
I explain the differences between subjectivity, relativity, and
objectivity on my websites :
Relative
Mind, Relative Matter, in the article Ego & Relativity.
A Modern Thinker,
in the article Relativity of the Ego. See Links page. [6]
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The articles in this section are :
Characteristics of a Psycho-Analysis
Zig-zag Journey through Change
Copyright
© 2002 Ian Heath
All Rights Reserved
The copyright is mine, and the article is free to use. It can be reproduced anywhere, so long as the source is acknowledged.
Ian Heath, London UK
http://members.freezone.co.uk/ian-heath/
My email address is likely to change,
so if you want to write to me, go to the Home page
and use the address at the bottom.