The dialectic is a way of understanding that nothing is forever, everything changes.
Check it out for yourself--stop and think about the dynamic, contradictory and ever-changing aspects of anything that you want--A book? A day of the week? A person?
A book is a dialectic (a "struggle") between wood and paper, between ink on the pages and text, between text and understanding, etc., etc.
Tuesday is a struggle between night and day, between Monday and Wednesday,
maybe a struggle to get out of bed or to stay healthy, a struggle with the
teacher or boss, etc.
A person is a struggle between life and death, between I and "not-I," between poverty and prosperity, between production and consumption, etc.
Now you try it: Pick anything you can, and think of the contradictory aspects of it. Note: Don't limit yourself to one moment--the dialectic is dynamic, and not static. That means that it's not much good to look at a thing at one moment in time, like a snapshot. Things change. People change. What a thing was a moment ago it isn't any longer.
(****Hint: If you can think of something that DOESN'T have contradictory aspects or doesn't ever change, it probably doesn't belong to this world!****)
***NOT AN OFFICIAL UTEP INSTITUTIONAL WEBSITE***
Views expressed on this website do not necessarily reflect the opinions of UTEP, its agents, administration, regents, faculty or staff.
Owen M. Williamson - Education Bldg 211E - phone: (915) 747 7625 - fax: (915) 747 5655 |
The University of Texas at El Paso - 500 W. University Ave. - El Paso, TX 79968 |
Important Disclaimer |
Open Courseware | OCW |This work is dedicated to the Public Domain..