Dialectical materialism is the world outlookof the Marxist-Leninist party. It is called dialecticalmaterialism because its approach to thephenomena of nature, its method of studyingand apprehending them, is dialectical, while itsinterpretation of the phenomena of nature, itsconception of these phenomena, its theory, ismaterialistic.Historical materialism is the extension ofthe principles of dialectical materialism to thestudy of social life, an application of the principlesof dialectical materialism to the phenomenaof the life of society, to the study of societyand of its history.When describing their dialectical method,Marx and Engels usually refer to Hegel as thephilosopher who formulated the main featuresof dialectics. This, however, does not meanthat the dialectics of Marx and Engels is identicalwith the dialectics of Hegel. As a matter offact, Marx and Engels took from the Hegeliandialectics only its "rational kernel," castingaside its Hegelian idealistic shell, and developeddialectics further so as to lend it a modernscientific form."My dialectic method," says Marx, "is notonly different from the Hegelian, but is its directopposite. To Hegel, ... the process of thinkingwhich, under the name of 'the Idea,' he eventransforms into an independent subject, is thedemiurgos (creator) of the real world, and thereal world is only the external, phenomenalform of 'the Idea.' With me, on the contrary, theideal is nothing else than the material worldreflected by the human mind and translatedinto forms of thought." (Marx, Afterword to theSecond German Edition of Volume I of Capital.) In ancient times dialecticswas the art of arriving at the truth by disclosingthe contradictions in the argument ofan opponent and overcoming these contradictions."In its proper meaning," Lenin says, "dialecticsis the study of the contradiction withinthe very essence of things." (Lenin, PhilosophicalNotebooks, p. 265.)And further:"Development is the 'struggle' of opposites."(Lenin, Vol. XIII, p. 301.)

Further, if the world is in a state of constantmovement and development, if the dyingaway of the old and the upgrowth of the new isa law of development, then it is clear that therecan be no "immutable" social systems, no"eternal principles" of private property and exploitation,no "eternal ideas" of the subjugationof the peasant to the landlord, of the worker tothe capitalist. Hence, the capitalist system can be replacedby the socialist system, just as at onetime the feudal system was replaced by thecapitalist systemIn past, existing social order that governed the relations between people was hailed as part of nature order, predefined by gods. Division between haves and have-nots was gods will. Marxism theory is revolution of social, economic and political change.For [dialectical philosophy] nothing is final, absolute, sacred. It reveals the transitory character of everything and in everything; nothing can endure before it except the uninterrupted process of becoming and passing away, of endless ascendancy from the lower to the higher, Fredrick Engels wrote in The End of Classical German Philosophy.Dialectical materialism is combination of both dialectics and materialism. It indicates clearly that changes in society are not necessarily linear, that history moves forward in fits and starts. Materialism argues that the actual reality of the surrounding world determines the way people think and what they believe. In contrast to religious and other idealist philosophies, Marxs materialist conception of history asserted, it is not the consciousness of men that determines their existence, but their social existence that determines their consciousness. (Karl Marx, Preface to A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy, 1859)Materialism shows that the process of humanitys social development is tied directly with the development of production and technology. Production is the expression of humanitys ongoing relationship with the world. It is a manifestation of the never-ending battle for survival. Every living organism struggles to survive and thrive, whether simply defying cold weather, eluding predators, searching for food or working in a factory.Of course, not everyones material reality is the same. For the working class, the struggle for basic needs occupies a greater part of life. For the capitalist class of owners, material reality consists of luxury gained by virtue of their social position within the exploitative capitalist economy.This material reality, according to the materialist worldview, determines how people think about the world.Materialists would reply to those activists who want to change peoples ideas: yes, we want to change peoples ideas. But the only way to do that is to change the material conditionsthe way society is organized.sDialectical thought is merely the reflection of objective dialectics. Darwin theory: Nothing exist without opposition. When opposite confront each other, change occur. In society, social change occurs in the conflict between opposing classesin capitalist society, between the working class and the capitalist class. The conflict breaks out on a day-to-day basisprotests, strikes, pickets and so forth. But when these protests come together in a united political movement against the capitalist class, a quantity of struggles can bring about a qualitative changea revolution.. Marxism dialectical theory is a living science. Can be applied not only to history but also to current events to show Marxisms continuing validity and relevances as a way of analyzing the life and world. Still today rich people dont want to change the system and make something new. Religion similarly argues that people are not the main force for change. It attributes change to a divine power, offering hope for change in an afterlife. But dialectical materialism shows that both notions are false. We strive to point out that it is material contradictions that exist under capitalism that lead to the dialectical resolution of these contradictions.Dialectics is nothing more than the scienceof the general laws of motion anddevelopment of nature, human societyand thought. (Engels, Anti-Dhring.)Marxist theory is therefore anabsolutely essential device for any activitywithin the labor movement. We needto be consciously attuned to the contradictoryforces at work in the class struggle,in order to orient ourselves to theway in which events are developing.The dialectical method of thinkingalready had a long existence beforeMarx and Engels developed it scientificallyas a means of understanding theevolution of human society.The ancient Greeks producedsome great dialectical thinkers, includingPlato, Zenon and Aristotle. As early as500 B.C., Heraclitus advanced the ideathat everything is and is not, for everythingis in ux, is constantly changing,constantly coming into being and passingaway. And further, all things ow,all change. It is impossible to enter twiceinto one and the same stream. This statementalready contains the fundamentalconception of dialectics that everythingin nature is in a constant state of change,and that this change unfolds through aseries of contradictions....the great basic thought thatthe world is not to be comprehendedas a complex of ready made things, butas a complex of processes, in whichthings apparently stable, no less thantheir mental images in our heads, conceptsgo through an uninterrupted changeof coming into being and passing away.(Engels, Anti-Dhring,)For dialectical philosophy nothingis nal, absolute, sacred. It revealsthe transitory character of everything andin everything: nothing can endure beforeit except the uninterrupted process ofbecoming and of passing away, of endlessascendancy from the lower to the higher.And dialectical philosophy is nothingmore than the mere reection of this processin the thinking brain. (Ibid.) Dialectics deals not only withfacts, but with facts in their connection,i.e. processes, Trotsky, in his ABC of MaterialistDialectics characterized the dialecticas a science of the forms of our thinkinginsofar as it is not limited to the dailyproblems of life but attempts to arriveat an understanding of more complicatedand drawn-out processes.Marxism offers thinking workersand youth a clear understanding ofsociety and their place within it. It offersthem a new world outlook. It offers thema future. In the words of Lenin, TheMarxian doctrine is omnipotent becauseit is true. It is complete and harmonious,13and provides men with an integral worldconception which is irreconcilable withany form of superstition, reaction ordefense of bourgeois oppression. (TheTrotskys ABC of MaterialistDialectics is a brilliant short explanationof Marxist philosophy. It was written aspart of a defense of Marxism againsta middle class revisionist tendency inthe American Trotskyist movement inthe late 1930s, which attempted to challengeits basic principles. (See TrotskysIn Defense of Marxism). As opposedto pragmatism and empiricism, Trotskydefended dialectical materialism as aricher, fuller, more comprehensive viewof society and life in general.He explained that the dialectic isthe logic of evolution. Just as a machineshop in a plant supplies instruments forall departments, so logic is indispensablefor all spheres of human knowledge... Iknow of two systems of logic worthy ofattention: the logic of Aristotle (formallogic) and the logic of Hegel (the dialectic).The ancient Greeks, more than2,000 years ago, made an outstandingcontribution to the development of humanthought. They sought to understand theuniverse, society and mans place withinit. As Engels explained, The ancientGreek philosophers were all natural-borndialecticians and Aristotle, the most encyclopedicintellect among them, had evenalready analyzed the most essential formsof dialectical thought. They began tosee things not as xed and lifeless, butin their real development and movement.In Heraclituss words: Everything is andis not, for everything is in ux, is constantlychanging, constantly coming intobeing and passing away. This graphicdescription is the basic core of dialectics.This corresponded to Engels view: Fordialectical philosophy nothing is nal,absolute, sacred. It reveals the transitorycharacter of everything and in everything:nothing can endure before it except theuninterrupted process of becoming andpassing away, of endless ascendancy fromthe lower to the higher. (Anti-Dhring).For the Greeks, however, dia