Marx on the Dialectics of Elliptical Motion*
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Abstract
It is a widespread view that Marx did not apply dialectics to nature, and that Engels’s writings on this subject are a distortion of his outlook. This paper examines Marx’s discussion of elliptical motion and some other physical phenomena, and shows that he did indeed find contradictions and oppositions in nature, and thus recognised a dialectics of nature. In addition to analysing relevant passages in Marx’s texts, his study of the physics and mathematics of elliptical motion is reviewed and compared with Hegel’s position.
Marx’s conception of how dialectical contradictions are resolved is reviewed in order to interpret his claim that the contradiction in elliptical motion is ‘solved’ but not ‘overcome’ by that motion. Textual evidence is presented that Marx regarded ‘real contradictions’ as resolved only by ‘development’, a process in which the conflict between the opposing sides of the contradiction becomes more intense. The consequences of this interpretation for Marx’s analysis of elliptical motion are explored, and some alternative interpretations are discussed.
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103.
Marx 1974b, p. 292; Marx and Engels 1976b, p. 88. On Marx’s conception of mediation in this work, see Rosental (ed.) 1975, pp. 29–36; Berki 1971, pp. 199–219.
-
104.
Marx 1974b, p. 292; Marx and Engels 1976b, p. 88.
-
105.
Marx 1974b, p. 290; Marx and Engels 1976b, p. 86.
-
106.
Marx 1974b, p. 295; Marx and Engels 1976b, p. 91.
-
107.
Marx 1974b, p. 293; Marx and Engels 1976b, p. 89.
-
108.
Karev 1927, p. 182.
-
109.
Marx 1966, p. 179; Marx and Engels 1976r, p. 175.
-
110.
Marx 1966, p. 179; Marx and Engels 1976r, p. 175; Marx 1965c, p. 509; Marx and Engels 1976q, p. 139.
-
111.
Marx 1983a, p. 250; Marx and Engels 1976n, pp. 257–8. This passage repeats several of the points that Marx made in his earlier critique of mediation, for example, about the problematic character of mediation between the mediator and the extremes. Christ is supposed to be a mediator between God and man, but he became more important than God. The saints became more important than Christ, and the priests more important than the saints.
-
112.
Marx 1965c, p. 509; Marx and Engels 1976q, p. 140.
-
113.
Marx 1966, p. 325; Marx and Engels 1976r, p. 311. Presumably Marx is referring to the limit of a ratio when both numerator and denominator approach zero. For example, the limit as x approaches zero of sin(x)/x = 1.
-
114.
Marx 1965d, pp. 83–4; Marx and Engels 1976q, p. 278; Marx 1965c, p. 171, Marx and Engels 1976p, p. 401.
-
115.
Marx 1966, p. 151; Marx and Engels 1976r, p. 148; Marx 1964a, p. 69; Marx and Engels 1976g, p. 106; ‘. . . the industrial bourgeoisie and the industrial proletariat confronted each other without mediation [unvermittelt]’.
-
116.
Marx and Engels 1957a, p. 194; Marx and Engels 1976c, p. 183.
-
117.
Marx 1965a, p. 336, n. 46; Marx and Engels 1976s, p. 322, n. 45.
-
118.
Marx 1961b, p. 254; Marx and Engels 1976f, p. 336.
-
119.
Marx and Engels 1959a, p. 491; Marx and Engels 1976e, p. 516.
-
120.
Marx and Engels 1962a, p. 163; Marx and Engels 1976l, p. 267.
-
121.
Marx 1974b, p. 290; Marx and Engels 1976b, p. 86.
-
122.
Marx 1965d, pp. 83–4; Marx and Engels 1976q, p. 278. Marx 1966, p. 21; Marx and Engels 1976r, p. 16.
-
123.
Marx and Engels 1958a, p. 464; Marx and Engels 1976d, pp. 475–6 (an opposition whose reconciliation is the most sought-after wish); Marx 1964d, p. 33; Marx and Engels 1976k, p. 106 (fantastic solutions of social oppositions).
-
124.
Marx to Annenkov, 28 December 1846, in Marx and Engels 1954, p. 26; Marx and Engels 1976t, pp. 103–4.
-
125.
Marx and Engels 1964a, p. 461; Marx and Engels 1976g, p. 530.
-
126.
See Inwood 1992.
-
127.
Marx 1966, p. 128; Marx and Engels 1976r, p. 124.
-
128.
Marx 1990, p. 525; Marx and Engels 1976b, p. 285.
-
129.
Marx and Engels 1959a, pp. 463, 473; Marx and Engels 1976e, pp. 485, 495.
-
130.
Marx 1964c, pp. 524–5; Marx and Engels 1976i, p. 168.
-
131.
Marx 1974b, p. 295; Marx and Engels 1976b, p. 91.
-
132.
Marx 1965c, pp. 500, 502; Marx and Engels 1976q, pp. 131, 132.
-
133.
Marx and Engels 1958a, p. 48; Marx and Engels 1976d, p. 61.
-
134.
Marx 1990, p. 525; Marx and Engels 1976b, p. 285.
-
135.
Marx and Engels 1958a, p. 457; Marx and Engels 1976d, p. 469.
-
136.
Marx 1990, p. 533; Marx and Engels 1976b, p. 294.
-
137.
Marx 1966, p. 512; Marx and Engels 1976r, p. 491.
-
138.
Marx and Engels 1957a, p. 111; Marx and Engels 1976c, p. 105.
-
139.
Marx and Engels 1959a, p. 490; Marx and Engels 1976e, p. 515.
-
142.
See, for example, Marx 1992, p. 504, cf. Marx 1965a, p. 456; Marx and Engels 1976s, p. 438, where Marx writes of an opposition’s being ‘positively overcome [positiv aufgehoben]’.
-
143.
Marx and Engels 1957a, p. 111; Marx and Engels 1976c, p. 105.
-
144.
For example, see Marx 1965c, p. 453; Marx 1965d, pp. 87, 176; Marx and Engels 1976q, pp. 87, 281, 360.
-
145.
See for example, Marx 1963, p. 32; Marx and Engels 1976o, p. 288; Marx 1964b, p. 205; Marx and Engels 1976g, p. 248.
-
146.
Arndt 1994, pp. 305–6; Iber 1990, p. 493, n. 26.
-
147.
See, for example, Marx to Sorge, 23 May 1872, Marx and Engels 1976v, p. 377. On Marx’s role in editing the French version, see Marx 1989b, pp. 717–24.
-
148.
Marx 1966, pp. 31–2; Marx and Engels 1976r, p. 24.
-
151.
Marx and Engels 1976r, p. 113.
-
154.
See Engels to Laura Lafargue, 28 April 1886, Marx and Engels 1976w, p. 436.
-
155.
Engels to Marx, 16 June 1867, in Marx and Engels 1954, p. 135; Marx and Engels 1976u, p. 381.
-
156.
Engels to Marx, 29 November 1873, Marx and Engels 1954, p. 222, Marx and Engels 1976v, p. 541.
-
158.
Horstman 1986, p. 69; Arndt 1994, pp. 305–6; Iber 1990, p. 493, n. 26.
-
159.
Horstman 1986, p. 69.
-
160.
Hu 2006b, p. 30.
-
162.
Hu 2006b, p. 32, emphasis added.
-
163.
See, for example, Marx 1965c, p. 510; Marx and Engels 1976q, p. 140.
-
164.
Marx 1966, p. 285; Marx and Engels 1976r, p. 275. Marx wrote that capitalists are no more concerned with depopulation than with the possible fall of the Earth into the Sun.
-
165.
Engels 1968b, p. 324; Marx and Engels 1976m, p. 332.
-
166.
Marx 1983a, p. 173; Marx and Engels 1976n, p. 179.
-
167.
Marx 1966, p. 82, n. 32; Marx and Engels 1976r, p. 79, n. 1.
-
168.
See Marx 1974b, p. 293; Marx and Engels 1976b, p. 88.
-
169.
Marx 1966, p. 623, n. 848; Marx and Engels 1976r, p. 592, n. 2.
-
170.
Lukács 1968, p. 63, n. 6; Lukács 1971, p. 24, n. 6.
-
171.
See, for example, Engels 1968b, p. 357; Marx and Engels 1976m, pp. 365–6.
-
172.
Bate, Mueller and White 1971, p. 35.
-
173.
Bate, Mueller and White 1971, p. 31, equation (1.7–4).
-
174.
Geyling and Westerman 1971, p. 13, equation 2.2.3, with y0 =0 and µ=GM.
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Marx on the Dialectics of Elliptical Motion*
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Abstract
It is a widespread view that Marx did not apply dialectics to nature, and that Engels’s writings on this subject are a distortion of his outlook. This paper examines Marx’s discussion of elliptical motion and some other physical phenomena, and shows that he did indeed find contradictions and oppositions in nature, and thus recognised a dialectics of nature. In addition to analysing relevant passages in Marx’s texts, his study of the physics and mathematics of elliptical motion is reviewed and compared with Hegel’s position.
Marx’s conception of how dialectical contradictions are resolved is reviewed in order to interpret his claim that the contradiction in elliptical motion is ‘solved’ but not ‘overcome’ by that motion. Textual evidence is presented that Marx regarded ‘real contradictions’ as resolved only by ‘development’, a process in which the conflict between the opposing sides of the contradiction becomes more intense. The consequences of this interpretation for Marx’s analysis of elliptical motion are explored, and some alternative interpretations are discussed.
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