Dialectics East and West
A Humanities Institute Working Group
began January 2016
Πάντα χωρεῖ καὶ οὐδὲν μένει– All things move themselves and nothing abides.
Heraclitus
The Dao produced One; One produced Two; Two produced Three; Three produced All things. All things leave behind them the Obscurity (out of which they have come), and go forward to embrace the Brightness (into which they have emerged), while they are harmonized by the Breath of Vacancy.
Laozi, Daodejing,Chapter 42
sabbe sankhara anicca–All conditioned phenomena are impermanent
Dhammapada 277
Consciousness knows and comprehends only what falls within its experience; for what is contained in this is only spiritual substance,and this too, as object of the self. But Spirit becomes an object because it is just this movement of becoming an other to itself… [E]xperience is the name we give to just this movement, in which the immediate. . .becomes alienated from itself and then returns to itself from this alienation, and is only then revealed for the first time in its actuality and truth.
Hegel, Phenomenology of Spirit, Paragraph 36, Preface
As individuals express their life, so are they. What they are thus coincides with their production, both with what they produce and how they produce as well… it is not consciousness that determines life but life which determines consciousness.
Marx, The German Ideology, MEW 3:21, 27
What is dialectic? A force of nature? A way of thinking? A discovered path? Today the best-known variations on dialectic are those of Hegel and Marx, but dialectic has a long history in Western philosophy, beginning with the Pre-Socratics. Dialectic is also found in Asian traditions such as Buddhism, the Vedas, and Taoism. Our Working Group examines how the dialectic appears in these diverse sources to better understand its nature and relevance for our lives.
Dialectics are often shrouded in mystery and misconceptions. Since Plato and Aristotle, dialectic has been understood as a method. Against this tradition, Hegel and Marx return to the Pre-Socratic understanding of dialectic as self-movement, the movement of consciousness becoming conscious of itself. This rediscovery of the dialectic was itself subjected to mechanistic reduction (a tendency already evident in Engels, then in Plekhanov), leading 20th century Marxists to conceive of dialectic as the tool of a state apparatus. Since the demise of self-proclaimed communism, it may be possible to resume historical thinking on dialectical philosophy. As with Marx, our motivation is social critique. But if we limit ourselves to addressing social defects, we imagine the force of dialectic as external. In this way we would avoid what Hegel and Marx understand as the work of dialectic, which involves self-criticism – the labor of negation – leading to emancipation.
Yet grasping dialectic today also requires a geographical sensitivity that takes us beyond Hegel and Marx. For dialectics is mportant not only in Western philosophy, but also in Eastern traditions. To generalize, Eastern dialectical thinkers teach that social defects cannot be overcome by merely pointing them out. For thinkers like Buddha, Laozi, and Confucius, social change requires clarifying consciousness and purifying motives. This bears comparison to what Hegel and Marx understand as the work of dialectic.
In the face of the society of the spectacle, with its aversion to dialogue and critical thinking, an encounter between Eastern dialectical traditions and Western dialectics may be salutary. This Working Group provides a place for study and discussion contributing to dialectical understanding. If dialectic is to be a path of criticism leading to emancipation, it must examine the social, material and historical forces that structure both the world and our subjective experience. The ability to think dialectically may help participants develop a synthetic vision of reality and how it unfolds, with practical value for our lives and social existence.
Group Objectives
This Humanities Institute Working Group is:
[a] a group dedicated to the comparative study of Eastern and Western texts to better understand both recurring patterns and novel forms of the dialectic;
[b] a space for public dialogue about the the individual and society with participants from diverse backgrounds and disciplines, from the university and the community;
[c] a site where experts and researchers can share their works and ideas with a wider public.
All are welcome to attend as many or as few meetings of the Working Group as they choose. There will be a keynote lecture for each of the three semesters; during the semester there will be seminars on three primary topics, and discussion groups on related materials.
Our Group
Our group has been meeting since September, 2013, and has organized approximately40 meetings. Members of the group read texts prior to the meetings, which are the basis for discussion. These discussions are open to the entire Columbus community, but have attracted mainly students and faculty of OSU.
Beginning in January, 2016, we plan to meet weekly under the auspices of the Humanities Institute to discuss works of dialectical philosophy. While the precise texts will be decided on by the group, we anticipate reading Eastern and Western writers from ancient (e.g. Heraclitus, Plato, Buddha, Laozi) and classic (Hegel, Marx) sources to contemporary ones (Debord, Karatani).
These meetings will be publicized and open to all in the university and the wider community. OSU faculty and graduate students will be asked to lead discussions on areas of expertise. The study of dialectics is intrinsically interdisciplinary, and involves us in dialogue with faculty and students not only in Philosophy, Geography, and Classics but also in Comparative Studies,History, and Germanic among other fields.
There will be one keynote lecture for each semester of the working group’s existence. We aim to bring speakers that are known to be both brilliant thinkers on the questions of the dialectic, but also effective at engaging diverse publics. Speakers will give a public lecture and then lead smaller seminar discussion. Prof. Thomas Kasulis will deliver the first keynote address on April 7, 2016.
Finally, our working group will create a website to provide public access to its findings, including texts, bibliography, and videos of lectures by invited speakers. The website aims to be interactive, providing a forum for public contributions and discussion on the theme of dialectics east and west.