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Reason in Revolt further develops the theory of Dialectical Materialism, using the most important scientific discoveries of the 20th century as a tool. First exposed by Marx and Engels, Dialectical Materialism is a comprehensive methodology explaining the unity of the laws that govern nature, science and society, from evolution to chaos theory, nuclear physics to childhood development. First published in 1995 to coincide with Engel's centenary, Reason in Revolt has had a great success around the world. It has been published in Spanish, Italian, Greek, Turkish, Urdu, and is now being translated into German and Flemish. The Spanish edition recently went into its second edition. To date, no one has found serious fault with the science of the book. And every new discovery of science serves to confirm the statement of Engels, that "in the last analysis, Nature works dialectically."
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REASON IN REVOLT REASON IN REVOLT DIALECTICAL PHILOSOPHY AND MODERN SCIENCE Volume I Ted Grant & Alan Woods Algora Publishing New York © 2002 by Algora Publishing. All Rights Reserved. www.algora.com No portion of this book (beyond what is permitted by Sections 107 or 108 of the United States Copyright Act of 1976) may be reproduced by any process, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, or by any means, without the express written permission of the publisher. ISBN: 0-87586-156-3 (softcover) ISBN: 0-87586-157-1 (hardcover) Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data: 2002014693 Grant, Ted. Reason in revolt : dialectical philosophy and modern science / Ted Grant, Alan Woods. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 0-87586-157-1 (alk. paper) — ISBN 0-87586-156-3 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Communism and science. 2. Dialectical materialism. I. Woods, Alan. II. Title. HX541 .G736 2002 335.4'112—dc21 2002014693 Printed in the United States TABLE of CONTENTS AUTHOR’S PREFACE TO THE NORTH AMERICAN EDITION Marxism and the United States 1 1 The Importance of Dialectics 2 Marxism and Religion 4 The Big Bang 5 Marxism and the Future 7 Authors’ Foreword 11 Engels’ Role 12 PART ONE: REASON AND UNREASON 15 1. Introduction 15 Lag in Consciousness 16 “Reason Becomes Unreason” 19 Science and the Crisis of Society 22 2. Philosophy and Religion 25 Do We Need Philosophy? 25 Role of Religion 27 Division of Labor 32 Materialism and Idealism 35 VII 3. Dialectical Materialism 39 What is Dialectics? 39 “Everything Flows” 41 Quantity and Quality 43 Mendeleyev’s Periodic Table 46 Phase Transitions 49 The Electromagnetic Spectrum 51 Order Out of Chaos 51 Whole and Part 54 Complex Organisms 56 The Molecular Process of Revolution 59 The Unity and Interpenetration of Opposites 61 Positive and Negative 63 Nuclear Fission 65 Polar Opposites? 66 Attraction and Repulsion 68 The Dialectics of Capital 73 4. Formal Logic and Dialectics 77 What is a Syllogism? 81 Does Logic Teach How to Think? 84 Limits of the Law of Identity 85 Logic and the Subatomic World 91 Modern Logic 93 Notes Part One 97 PART TWO: TIME, SPACE AND MOTION 99 5. Revoluti