Logic is a simple and at the same time difficult subject to understand. For some, it comes easily, for others, it gets stuck in ordinary tasks. It mostly depends on how you think. One of the clearest examples of simplicity and complexity at the same time is the law of double negation. In classical logic, it seems to be very simple, but as soon as it comes to dialectics, the situation changes dramatically. For a better understanding, consider the base: the laws of affirmation and negation.
Statement
A person constantly encounters statements in everyday life. This is, in fact, just a message of some information, and the truth of the message is assumed. For example, we say: "A bird can fly." We report the properties of an object by insisting that they are true.
Denial
denialoccurs at least as often as the statement and is its complete opposite. And if affirmation implies truth, then negation implies an accusation of falsity. For example: "A bird cannot fly." That is, there is no desire to prove or report anything, the main goal is disagreement with the statement.
Thus, the conclusion suggests itself: for negation, the presence of an affirmation is necessary. That is, simply denying something is illogical. For example, we are trying to explain something to a perplexed person. He says: "Don't talk like that! I'm not stupid." We will answer: "I did not say that you are stupid." Logically, we are right. The interlocutor expresses denial, but since there was no affirmation, there is nothing to deny. It turns out that in this situation, denial does not make sense.
Double negative
In logic, the law of double negation is formulated quite simply. If the negation is false, then the assertion itself is true. Or twice repeated negation gives an affirmation. An example of the law of double negation: "If it is not true that a bird cannot fly, then it can."
Take the previous laws and make a big picture. The statement is made: "A bird can fly." Someone tells us about their beliefs. Another interlocutor denies the veracity of the statement, saying: "The bird cannot fly." In this case, we want not so much to support the assertion of the first as to refute the denial of the second. That is, we work only with negation. We say:"It is not true that a bird cannot fly." In fact, this is a paraphrased statement, but it is precisely the disagreement with the denial that is emphasized. Thus, a double negative is formed, which proves the truth of the original statement. Or minus times minus makes plus.
Double negation in philosophy
The law of double negation in philosophy is in its separate discipline - dialectics. Dialectics describes the world as development based on contradictory relationships. The topic is very extensive and needs a deeper consideration, but we will focus on its separate part - the law of negation of negation.
In the dialect, double negation is interpreted as an inevitable pattern of development: the new destroys the old and thereby transforms and develops. Okay, but what does that have to do with denial? The whole point is that the new, as it were, denies the old. But there are a couple of important details here.
Firstly, negation is incomplete in dialectics. It discards negative, superfluous and useless properties. At the same time, useful ones are preserved and evolve in the object's shell.
Secondly, the movement of development according to the dialectical teaching takes place within the framework of a spiral. That is, the first form - a statement that has been negated - is transformed into a second form, opposite to the first (because it denies it). Then a third form arises, which denies the second and consequently denies the first twice. That is, the third form is a double negation of the first, which means it affirms it, but since the movement is in a spiral, thenthe third shape is transformed on the basis of the first, and does not repeat it (otherwise it would be a circle, not a spiral). It eliminates all the "harmful" properties of the first two forms, being a qualitative transformation of the initial product.
This is the way development is carried out through double negation. The initial form meets its opposite and enters into a confrontation with it. From this struggle, a new form is born, which is an improved prototype of the first. Such a process is endless and, according to dialectics, reflects the development of the whole world and being in general.
Double negation in Marxism
Negation in Marxism had a broader concept than it seems to us now. It was not understood as something negative, causing doubts and degradation. On the contrary, negation was considered the only step towards correct development. To a greater extent, this was influenced precisely by dialectics and the negation of negation in particular. Supporters of Marxism believed that the new could be built only on the ashes of the old and obsolete. For this, it is necessary to resort to denial - to reject the boring and harmful, to build something new and beautiful.
