Rosa L gets a platform.

[dangeresque]

barry said:

I have never used dialectics, and I see reasons why capitalism may fall - im sure loads of people see the problems of capitalism without ever using dialectics - economists, sociologists, philosophers and the normal joe soap.

Well the concept of capitalism's inevitable fall came from a philosopher who used dialectics, as far as I know.

At the heart of capitalism is an unresolvable contradiction: the bosses must tolerate a force which can destroy them (the working class) to make a profit. That's a use of dialectics, contradictions.

But thats beside the point.

To me, that's the whole point!

Can you give an example of successful usage of dialectics in practice?

Sure, the crises in capitalism.

How could a person use it during the normal course of their life? - by which they use the scientific method all the time?

By understanding the interaction of events, beyond a mechanistic way.

Can it predict events?

It's not a crystal ball. All science deals with probability and possibility.

What differentiates it from, say, religious superstition, which can equally claim to be the basis of scientific method, of action, of creation, or indeed evolution?

DM rejects metaphysical thinking entirely.

[rosalichtenstein01]

Hi, guys; thanks for commenting on my work -- but I had to summarise some rather complex ideas in only 2000 words, which left me very little room to explain myself.

All of the critical comments made above are fielded in my essays; and there is a much more substantial introduction to my ideas here:

homepage.ntlworld.com/rosa.l/Why%20I%20Oppose%20DM.htm

[rosalichtenstein01]

Comrades might like to read a long-overdue demolition of Lenin's Materialism and Empirio-Criticism, which I have just posted here:

homepage.ntlworld.com/rosa.l/page_13%2001.htm

[Stallit 2 de Halfo]

Thanks Rosa.

Youv saved me countless hours of my life from reading dialectics.

Between you and RS2000 I havnt touched the stuff, and i dont think im any worse off ;D

[rosalichtenstein01]

Thanks for that Connolly; it was RS2000 who invited me to RevLeft and who suggested I publish my essays. If he hadn't, they would not have seen the light of day until at least 2015!

And then, only in book form.

[rosalichtenstein01]

For anyone interested in a simple explanation of Hegel's errors, and thus from which spurious 'logical' moves the 'dialelctic' emerged: I have written a very basic account here:

homepage.ntlworld.com/rosa.l/Outline_of_errors_Hegel_committed_01.htm


If anyone can't follow this, let me know, and I'll try to make it even clearer.

[Stallit 2 de Halfo]

Thanks for those links Rosa.

How is Redstar these days? - has anyone made contact with him, is he well?

And then, only in book form.

Where will your book be available to get when its out? - I know, 2015s a good bit away to be asking ;D

[rosalichtenstein01]

Well, it will be a few years off, and will have to be privately published -- no publisher is going to want to touch it unless it is ruthlessly edited, and I will resist that.

I'll probably bring it out via LuLu (if you know of them) in manageable volumes.

www.lulu.com/uk/

[rosalichtenstein01]

Comrades might like to read the latest criticism of 0.01% of my ideas here:

www.cpgb.org.uk/worker/711/marxistthinking.html

and my reply here:

homepage.ntlworld.com/rosa.l/Conrad_Heart_Of_Darkness.htm

[rosalichtenstein01]

Sorry, Connolly, RS2K is being looked after by Deborah Arro, and lives in a home a block away from where she lives. She went and rescued him from another home where he was not too happy.

We are trying to get him back on-line again.

[Stallit 2 de Halfo]

Sorry, Connolly, RS2K is being looked after by Deborah Arro, and lives in a home a block away frlom where she lives. She went and rescued him from another home where he was not too happy.

We are trying to get him back on-line again

Thanks that update Rosa. Hopefully things work out for him, and it would be great to 'see' him online again.

Comrades might like to read the latest criticism of 0.01% of my ideas here:

www.cpgb.org.uk/worker/711/marxistthinking.html

and my reply here:

homepage.ntlworld.com/rosa.l/Conrad_Heart_Of_Darkness.htm

I browsed through much of it. Well out of my depth im afraid. He clearly had a huge advantage though, with 3000 words or so and giving a response, as opposed to you trying to outline your arguments fresh and with much less space.

Will you be responding in the weekly worker, do they usually let rebuttals be printed?

[rosalichtenstein01]

No, I told then back in September that I wanted nothing more to do with them because of their lying about the SWP. I am sure they'd not print one, even if I wanted to reply.

I did, however, I send them this letter (which they might print):

Dear Weekly Worker,

Jack Conrad is to be congratulated for finding my ideas important enough to criticise, but, unfortunately, the final result makes a damp squib look rather lively in comparison.

A few errors: I am not and never have been a Popperian. Had comrade Conrad read my essays with due care and attention, he would not have made that mistake.

Nor am I a positivist, and my arguments owe nothing whatsoever to Hume. Moreover, the vast bulk of my ideas cannot be found in anyone else's work (despite what the comrade says), and I challenge Conrad to show otherwise.

I will not detain the reader with a lengthy reply (but see below); I will merely note that I was genuinely shocked that a leading comrade could write such a superficial and badly-researched article. 99.9% of what I have to say in my essays (and much of what was published in my Weekly Worker article) was just ignored.

Fair enough, no one has to read my work, but may I suggest that comrade Conrad refrains from passing knee-jerk remarks about my ideas without actually having read my essays.

Also, although I am a supporter of the SWP, it needs to be added that my opinions are my own, and do not in any way reflect the views of the SWP.

Finally, comrades will find a detailed reply to Jack Conrad at my site:

homepage.ntlworld.com/rosa.l/Conrad_Heart_Of_Darkness.htm

Yours etc.,

Rosa Lichtenstein