There is no specific Marxist philosophy of
nature, as Karl Marx didn't conceive of Nature
as separate from Society. As the young Marx
exposed in the Economic and Philosophical
Manuscripts of 1844, labour transforms Nature
which becomes the "inorganic body" of Man.
In the same way, Marx's conception of "human
nature" (Gattungswesen) is problematic, since
he opposed himself to the traditional conception
of an eternal human nature which remained
the same in all places and times. Later, Friedrich
Engels wrote the Dialectics of Nature (1883),
in opposition to German Naturphilosophie.
Marx and Engels' thought was then codified
into "dialectical materialism", which is what
is usually referred to when speaking of a
"Marxist philosophy of nature". Such a doctrine
was rejected by several Marxist philosophers,
starting with Georg Lukács and Walter Benjamin.
== Basic overview ==
The basic Marxist idea is that everything
can be explained by one thing -- Matter. Matter
is the total explanation for space, nature,
man, psychic consciousness, human intelligence
and every other aspect of existence. Marxism
then assigns the task of knowing all truth
to science. If science can get to know everything
about matter, then it can get to know about
everything. Conclusively, matter is accepted
as the beginning and ending of all reality.
Taking the concept of matter, Marxism then
sets forth to answer three questions:
What is the origin of energy or motion in
nature?
What causes galaxies, solar system, planets,
animals and all kingdoms of nature to constantly
increase their numerical quantity?
What is the origin of life, the origin of
species and the origin of consciousness and
mind?
Marx and Engels answer all of these questions
with three laws. The law of opposites, the
law of negation and the law of transformation.
=== Law of opposites ===
Marx and Engels first started with the observation
that everything in existence is a combination
or unity of opposites. For example, electricity
is characterized by a positive and negative
charge and atoms consist of protons and electrons
which are unified but are ultimately contradictory
forces. Even humans through introspection
find that they are a unity of opposite qualities.
Masculinity and femininity, selfishness and
altruism, humbleness and pride, etc. The Marxist
conclusion being that everything "contains
two mutually incompatible and exclusive but
nevertheless equally essential and indispensable
parts or aspects."¹ The basic concept being
that this unity of opposites in nature is
the thing that makes each entity auto-dynamic
and provides this constant motivation for
movement and change. This idea was borrowed
from Hegel who said: "Contradiction in nature
is the root of all motion and of all life."
=== Law of negation ===
The Law of Negation was created to account
for the tendency in nature to constantly increase
the numerical quantity of all things. Marx
and Engels decided that each entity tends
to negate itself in order to reproduce itself
in higher quantity. Engels often cited the
case of the barley seed which, in its natural
state, germinates and out of its own death
or negation produces a plant. The plant in
turn grows to maturity and is itself negated
after bearing many barley seeds. Thus, all
nature is constantly expanding through dying.
The elements of opposition which produce conflict
in each thing and give it motion also tend
to negate the thing itself; but out of this
dynamic process of dying the energy is released
to expand and produce many more entities of
the same kind.³
=== 
Law of transformation ===
This law states that a continuous quantitive
development by a particular class often results
in a leap in nature whereby a completely new
form or entity is produced. This theory draws
many parallels to the theory of Evolution.
The Marxist philosophers concluded that matter
is not only auto-dynamic and inclined to increase
itself numerically, but through quantitative
accumulations it is also inherently capable
of "leaps" to new forms and levels of reality.
Marx and Engels saw these laws as the discovery
of the greatest mystery of all: What is life?
== The origin of life ==
On the basis of these principles the Marxist
Philosophers decided that the phenomenon of
life was the product of one of these leaps.
Engels stated that the complex chemical structure
of matter evolved until albuminous substance
was formed, and from this substance life emerged.
He insisted that just as you cannot have matter
without motion, so also you cannot have albumin
without life. It is an inherent characteristic
of albumin, a higher form of motion in nature.
He also suggested that as soon as life emerged
it would gradually grow in complexity. Consistent
with evolutionary theories of punctuated equilibrium,
Marxists believe that new forms in nature
are not the result of gradual change but that
quantitative multiplication gradually builds
up momentum for a "leap" in nature which produces
a change or a new species. They believe that
incidental to one of these leaps (and leap
may be regarded as a set of genetic mutations)
the phenomenon of consciousness emerged. The
creature became aware of the forces which
were playing on it. Then at an even higher
level another form of life appeared with the
capacity to work with these impressions and
to arrange them in associations. Thus mind
evolved as an intelligent, self-knowing, self-determining
quality in matter. However, matter is primary
and mind is secondary. Therefore, there can
be no soul and no God. They believe that everything
in existence came as a result of objective
tendencies (i.e. movement, negation, etc.)
inherent in nature. There is no law, or design,
or God. Only matter and force in nature. As
for man, he is an accident like all other
forms of life except he had the good fortune
to possess the highest intelligence in existence.
This is said to make man the real god of himself
and the universe.
== Opposing views ==
Since the creation of the ideology of Marxism
it has been scrutinized greatly. Opponents
of dialectical materialism point out a number
of fallacies. They point out that the Law
of Opposites is intended to explain the origin
of motion, but two contradictory elements
would never come together in the first place
unless they already had energy in themselves.
Contradictory forces in nature are found to
have energy independent of each other, bringing
them together simply unifies motion or energy
already in existence. Therefore, opponents
point out that the Law of Opposites does not
explain motion but presupposes it. The Law
of Negation is critiqued as only describing
a process of nature. Not only that, but the
law doesn't take into account that its negation
may be unrelated to its reproduction, and
that it may reproduce many times or not at
all before it negates. Opposition also point
to the Law of Transformation as merely describing
a process in nature without accounting for
it. They claim that the possibility of a series
of accidents leading to something as complex
as the eye, circulatory system or other parts
of the body and then making them work in perfect
unison are extremely low. Such an argument
bears similarities to irreducible complexity,
a common argument against evolution.
== See also ==
Communism
Economic determinism
Entropy and life
Evolution
Friedrich Engels
Matter
Negative entropy
Universe
What Is Life?
== References ==
¹ Conze, E., "Dialectical Materialism"
² Quoted by V. Adoratsky. "Dialectical Materialism"
³ Engels, Friedrich, "Anti-Dühring" Pg 138
Engels, Friedrich, "Anti-Duhring" Pg 78, 85
Anton Pannekoek, Anthropogenesis: A Study
in the Origin of Man
== External links ==
Compassion and empathy: living matter at the
heart of dialectical materialism
The Marxist View of Nature
Life as matter in movement
