Dialectics Deep Dive: History and Philosophy of Dialectical Materialism
Added 2021-04-28 00:43:01 +0000 UTCMatthew Furlong joins the show to discuss the history and philosophy of dialectics and dialectical materialism. Working through keystone dialectical thinkers like Mao, Marx, Engels, Heraclitus and many more, Matthew and Breht explore the development of this fundamental element of Marxist Philosophy.
Read the supplement to this episode, written by Matthew after recording, for more: https://write.as/roarwithblood/the-beothuk-the-irish-the-island
Previous Episodes on Dialectics:
- Hegelian Dialectics: https://revolutionaryleftradio.libsyn.com/hegel
- The Principal Contradiction: https://revolutionaryleftradio.libsyn.com/contradiction
- Red Menace "On Contradiction": https://redmenace.libsyn.com/on-contradiction-mao
- Anarcho-Primitivism: https://revolutionaryleftradio.libsyn.com/anarcho-primitivism-civilization-symbolic-culture-and-revolutionary-rewilding
Outro Music: "Education" by Modest Mouse
Comments
I loved Matthew Furlong's knowledge of Christian dialectical authors. I grew up in a Christian family and went to Seminary even because I wanted to be a pastor in the hyper-conservative Evangelical tradition. I was fully bought into that culture and way of thinking for many years, but around the time Trump was elected, I started to question the Church's support of him, which led me down toward getting behind Bernie Sanders, and then the pandemic and the discussion started by George Floyd et al. really pushed me toward communism. I was still in seminary as recently as March 2020, and seeing the Evangelical hatred of leftism, dialectics, and basic human compassion caused me to investigate and eventually deconstruct my faith entirely. Breht genuinely helped me though that process, especially starting with his first episode on Buddhism, and now I consider myself a mystic, and though I don't consider myself a Christian per se, I find myself feeling at home with the language Christian mystics and leftists use. Leaving the Church has been an insane process, people calling me the Antichrist and telling me there's no chance God will ever love me (I was on staff at my church), but RevLeft has really guided my thinking through it all. This episode in particular was really interesting. I've absolutely LOVED the recent string of content on mysticism and dialectics, learning from Sufist, Jewish, and Buddhist traditions. I appreciated feeling "at home" with some of the references to dialecticians and mystics from the Christian tradition. I would absolutely love to hear Matthew Furlong do more deep dives with you on figures like Meister Eckhart, Leo Tolstoy, St. Francis of Assisi, and all those guys he referenced in this episode I'm not sure if you read comments from episodes this far in the past, but if you do, seriously. I can't thank you enough for this podcast. Not to be overly dramatic for no reason, but listening to Breht and guests explain the problems of the world between RevLeft, Red Menace, and Guerrilla History, explaining a "better way," and the talk about spirituality have probably given me a will to live that I really would not have had otherwise. Sincerely, I am SO thankful. Solidarity, comrade
Ryan Spencer
2021-06-24 17:25:31 +0000 UTCVery well said and I agree with you completely. There is absolutely a neoliberal co-opted version of the practice that reduces it to a mere breathing exercise whose primary benefit is to make people slightly better adapted to the rotten social conditions of late capitalism rather than using the full practice for its true purpose: radical transformation. As for the Dark Night stuff, its super interesting. Ive certainly suffered some of its less than positive side effects; they can sometimes be necessary growth pains but other times its not so clear. In any case, I support the efforts to study this stuff scientifically and to weave these findings into our understanding of the practice. Id also say that There is a risk in both overstating the negative effects as well as under stating them. In most cases a thoughtful and moderate meditation practice will be overwhelmingly positive for most people in most contexts.
Revolutionary Left Radio
2021-05-09 23:33:59 +0000 UTCCool episode. Just to irrationally fixate on one thing you mentioned in passing: I think you mentioned the Dark Night Project, I looked into them a bit. It's funny, back in 2010 I tried contemplative meditation for school. I had mildly negative symptoms like weird thought spirals at night that would cause insomnia. It's interesting because nobody had ever mentioned that meditation might cause negative side effects. But for a long time I've been suspicious of this idea of mediation as neoliberal panacea - it seems more like a secular religion for an age of inequality. Acting out at school? Not because your school's underfunded! You just need some mindfulness meditation! I think this is something you discuss a bit in Eco Dharma. But yeah important to keep in mind that, like the force, this is something that can be used (to put it crudely) for any purpose, it has a light side and a dark side also.
Matt
2021-05-05 22:15:20 +0000 UTC
