This law essentially refers to the idea that the resolution of a contradiction leads not merely to a simple cancellation or neutral state, but to a new form or state that has progressed from the original. It suggests a process of development and transformation, where each negation is a leap that brings about a higher level of existence or consciousness.
It’s part of Hegel’s dialectics and was later adopted and adapted by marxist theory to explain the progression of history and societal change.
We can interpret it in various ways:
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In the process of labor: The first negation is the transformation of nature by labor (for example, turning a tree into a piece of lumber), and the second negation is the further transformation of that product by labor (turning the lumber into a chair). The final result is not merely a return to the natural object, but the creation of a new, socially defined object.
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In the history of society: The first negation could be seen as the movement from primitive communal society to a society divided into classes (with the advent of private property), and the second negation as the movement from this class-society back towards a communal society, but at a higher level (communism).
The struggle of form and content
The form (the structure of society, the physical form of an object, etc.) and content (the relations of production in society, the function or utility of an object, etc.) are in a dialectical relationship, with changes in content often pushing against the limitations of form and necessitating the transformation of the latter.
The social relations of production (content) will eventually come into conflict with the capitalist mode of production (form). This struggle will lead to the dissolution of the capitalist form and the emergence of a new society (socialism and, ultimately, communism).
Overcoming of the capitalist system does not merely signify a return to primitive communal living but signifies a progression towards a higher form of society.
Further Examples
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