Negation in logic is the act of refuting a statement that does not correspond to reality. At the same time, this act unfolds into a new thesis. The law of negation of negation briefly represents the emergence of something new that cancels and then replaces the old. When did this provision come into force? What is the law of negation of negation? Examples and explanation will be given later in the article.
General information
When something new appears, the old one is cancelled. Thus, the reality of the former is denied by the fact of the existence of the new. Who was the first to use this term? This law was first applied by Hegel. With the help of it, the thinker explained the cyclical nature of the development of reality. Since reality itself is the activity of the Absolute idea itself, and therefore of the Absolute Mind:
- First of all, if an Idea accomplishes anything, then it is reasonable. Consequently, its activity refers by its source to Reason.
- The idea, secondly, is not material. From this it follows that any action belongs to the Mind, not onlysource, but also by nature in general.
The nature of the activity of any Mind
The fulfillment of something by any Mind, Absolute, including, consists in the complete negation (permanent cancellation) of each existing state by the next state after it. The new is born in the form of a ripe internal contradiction. How does the law of negation of negation manifest itself? The essence of the internal contradiction, ripening in the Mind and canceling the current state, is that this phenomenon is the cancellation of a definition, concept or thought that has just been proposed and approved. Now he has to renounce this because of his own inner movement of thought. This state is the emergence of an internal contradiction of the Mind to Itself - its first denial. Thus, the first manifestation of something new occurs. The contradiction that is forming in the Mind is nothing but an internal rejection of the former content. At the same time, a certain necessity for the activity of thinking is revealed. This work should be aimed at understanding and resolving the situation that has arisen.
Further activity of the Mind
The above was an example of the manifestation of the first denial. This process further stimulates and pushes towards the resolution of everything in which it manifests itself. The work of thinking is carried out actively enough to remove the appeared contradiction. To resolve the situation, he has to form a newthe content of Reason, which would cancel the old - where the contradiction was sharpened. After the state is resolved sooner or later and is eliminated, then a new content and state of Mind will appear. Thus, the law of double negation will work - the cancellation of the first refusal. As a result, there is an aggravation of internal contradictions. It follows from this that the first negation is the discovery of a contradiction. The second is his resolution. Having defined the concept of negation, the law of negation of negation will be the process of formation of a new state in the Mind. It will be characterized by exacerbation of internal contradictions, their resolution and the formation of new content in the Mind.
The essence of the processes occurring in the Mind
The dialectical law of negation of negation expresses a gradual increase by Reason of the complexity of its state and its progressive movement forward. Step by step thinking goes from simple to complex. Hegel's law of negation of negation is a development of the Absolute Idea. As a result, the progression of world reality is its own, internal self-movement, self-improvement of the Absolute Mind. The course of this process is cyclic, that is, it occurs in the same type of phases.
Stages of development of reality
- Thesis. This stage is the formation, assumption of some existing reality, its approval as the initial one.
- Antithesis. This phase is a process of oppositionthe original given to itself. Her self-negation manifests itself in the form of a certain contradiction growing within her, requiring the abolition of the current state and movement towards a new one - towards its resolution.
- Synthesis. This stage consists in the removal, elimination of the internal contradiction of the original. That is, there is a denial of the first denial of the given due to the formation of a new state.
Harmonic state
Considering the law of negation of negation, one can see that the new state of the given is formed from the old one. At the same time, overcoming the disharmony of any existing contradiction is noted. In this regard, the new state is always more harmonious than the one that it denied. If we talk about the mind, then harmony in this case will be expressed to a greater extent in proximity to the truth, and if we talk about material processes, then in approaching the goal set by the Absolute Idea at the end of the development of the world.
Development
According to Hegel's law, development cannot be defined as a sequence of states of reality that grows linearly upwards. This process is unstoppable due to the continuous formation of contradictions. Therefore, the stage of synthesis dialectically passes into the first stage of the thesis. This is how it all starts from the beginning. Thus, the law of negation of negation actually represents the return of reality to its original state, even if in a newer and more perfect quality. Concerningdevelopment takes place in a spiral. There is a constant return to the original state after a double negation. In this case, the initial state will already be at a higher level of development. The progressive path - the direction to the higher from the lower - is provided by greater complexity, harmony of the content of each new stage. This happens because negation itself (according to Hegel) has its own character, not metaphysical. What is its difference? First, in metaphysics, negation is a process of discarding and complete, final elimination of the former. The contradiction manifests itself in the appearance of the new instead of the old by replacing the second with the first. Dialectically, negation is the transition of the former into the new, while preserving all the best that was in the original.
The law of negation of negation in philosophy is the transfer of the best
In the process, a constantly expanding spiral is formed, along which reality develops, constantly revealing a contradiction in itself. By this, it denies itself, and then denies this denial itself by resolving the discovered contradiction. At the same time, at each stage, reality acquires an increasingly progressive and complicated content. As a general result, understanding proceeds from the fact that the former is not completely destroyed by the new, but, preserving in itself all the best that was available, processing it, raises it to a higher, new level. In other words, the law of negation of negation constantly requires each timevarious progressive innovations. This determines the progressive character of the developing reality.
Results
The main meaning of the law of negation of negation can be expressed in several ways:
- This or that contradiction is first detected by the first negation, and then resolved by the second.
- The result of the process is the destruction of the old and the establishment of the new.
- When a new one appears, development does not stop, since any emerging new one does not remain forever frozen. A new contradiction is formed in it, a new denial occurs.
- Development manifests itself as countless contradictions following one after another, as an endless continuous replacement, overcoming the lower by the higher, the old by the new.
- Due to the fact that by denying the old, the new not only preserves, but also develops its positive characteristics, development as a whole becomes progressive.
- The process takes place in a spiral, providing for the repetition of individual features and sides of the lower stages in their new higher ones.
Conclusion
The law of negation of negation, which refers to the idealistic concept of the development of the world, was used by the philosophical current to form a materialistic concept. According to Engels and Marx, contradiction is an essential element in the progression of material reality itself. So, for example, the formation of the earth's crust passed through several geological periods. Each successive erastarted on the basis of the previous one. That is, in this case, the new denied the former. Each new type of animal or plant in the organic world arises on the basis of the previous one and at the same time is its contradiction (cancellation). In the history of mankind, one can also find examples of the operation of the law. So, for example, the primitive system was replaced by the slave-owning system, which, in turn, was supplanted by the feudal system, on the basis of which capitalism subsequently arose, and so on. Negation contributes to the development of knowledge, science, since each new theory is the abolition of the old one. However, at the same time, the connection between the new and the previous is preserved, the best of the old is preserved in the new. So, for example, higher organisms contradict the lower ones, on the basis of which they arose, nevertheless retained the cellular structure inherent in the lower ones. In general, we can say that the law of negation of negation in materialistic dialectics is considered as the law according to which thinking, society, nature develop, determined by the internal characteristics of matter.
