QUALITY AND QUANTITY. LAW OF TRANSITION OF QUANTITATIVE CHANGES INTO QUALITATIVE CONCEPTS OF QUALITY, QUANTITY, MEASURES

Each thing has countless properties that indicate its similarity with other things and its difference from them. The properties inherent in a thing characterize it from two sides: some show what the thing is, others express its size.

The set of properties indicating what a thing is, what it is, constitutes its quality. The set of properties that characterize the size of a thing, its dimensions, constitutes quantity.

Each item has its own unique quality. But it has not only this specific quality, but also an infinite number of other qualities common to other objects. For example, a person has the qualities of extension, gravity, metabolism, heredity, etc. These qualities characterize not only a person, but also other bodies; they are essentially qualities of matter in general, substance in general, living things in general, etc. When they talk about the quality of an object, they usually mean the specific quality of a given object, which is always the same.

Along with quality, each thing also has quantitative characteristics; they necessarily have some size, some volume, mass, etc. In society, for example, there is a certain degree of development of productive forces and production relations, the number of population, the number of products produced products, etc.; a chemical substance can be in the amount of one molecule, 100, 1000 molecules, one gram, one kilogram, etc. Water can have a temperature of 10 o C, 20 o C, 30 o C, etc., a building can have 1, 2, 3, etc. floors. As science develops, there is a transition from a qualitative description of phenomena to their expression in a precise quantitative, mathematical form. It is one thing to characterize water as colder or less cold, and another thing is to accurately measure it with a thermometer.

Until the beginning of the 19th century. In physics, the qualitative description of electrical phenomena prevailed. Subsequently, the knowledge of quantitative characteristics and relationships of electrical phenomena takes place, expressed in the form, for example, of Ohm's law, Joule's, and even later in the 60s - 70s. in the mathematical theory of electrical phenomena - Maxwell's electrodynamics.

Being associated with relative rest, quality always has a certain stability, quantity is associated with absolute movement, due to which it is constantly changing - increasing, decreasing. However, changes in the quantitative side have certain limits or boundaries. This or that body can be increased or decreased, but not unlimitedly; in particular, having reached one molecule during division, we will receive a new quality. For one molecule in particular, it cannot be said whether it is in a liquid, solid or gaseous state. Further, any material can withstand various loads in tension, compression, shear, etc., but up to certain limits, beyond which the material collapses.

These boundaries of quantitative changes possible within a given quality are called a measure. Each item has a certain measure, which expresses the unity of quality and quantity.

For example, the measure of water as a liquid at normal pressure is expressed in temperature limits from 0 o C to 100 o C Celsius.

If the lower limit (0") is violated, water will turn into ice; if the temperature exceeds the upper limit, the liquid will turn into steam. Further, sodium, as a liquid, exists within the range from 97 o C to 880 o C, iron - from 1,530 o C to 2,840 o C, tungsten from 3,370 o C to 4,830 o C. The measure in chemical and nuclear processes is even more strictly fixed. For example, H is atomic hydrogen, H 2 is a new quality - molecular hydrogen, H 2 O. - again a new quality - water.

In nuclear processes, an increase in the nuclear charge by one gives a new chemical element; the nuclear charge cannot increase by 0.5 or another part of the unit. This is an elementary charge, and if it increases or decreases by one or another integer, then a new element arises.

The boundaries of the measure can be less defined; it is possible to establish with an accuracy of, say, one kilometer where the atmosphere ends and interplanetary space begins; the boundaries of climatic zones, for example, temperate, subtropical, tropical, are very flexible and uncertain. The same can be said about the seasons: it is impossible to indicate the day, or maybe the week or month, when autumn ended, winter began, etc.

DIALECTICS OF QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE CHANGES

As stated earlier, objects, things are not eternal, unchanging. They change, and this change occurs in such a way that the transformation of the quality of a thing is determined by corresponding quantitative changes, the latter going beyond the limits of measure.

Let us assume that we impart a horizontal velocity to a body at an altitude of two kilometers. (Here we neglect air resistance). If this speed is 1000, 2000, 7000 m/sec up to 7910 m/sec, then it will fall back to Earth.

But if the speed reaches 7911 m/sec, then the body will not fall to the Earth, but will turn into its satellite. A qualitative change will occur: earthly flight will turn into space flight. With a further increase in speed, the body will rotate in increasingly elongated elliptical orbits. At a speed of 11,188 m/sec, the body will still rotate around the Earth, but at a speed of 11,189 m/sec, a new jump will occur: the body will break away from the Earth *.

As F. Engels pointed out, this law celebrates its greatest triumph in the field of chemistry. “Take oxygen: if three atoms are combined into a molecule here, and not two, as usual, then we have before us ozone - a body very definitely different in its smell and action from ordinary oxygen” **.

* See: A. A. Sternfeld. To the law of transition of quantitative changes into qualitative ones. "Questions of Philosophy", 1960, N 7, p. 111.

** K. Marx and F. Engels. Soch., vol. 20, p. 387.

A brilliant confirmation of the truth of the law of the transition of quantitative changes into qualitative ones is the periodic law of D.I. Mendeleev, according to which the properties of chemical elements, as well as the forms and properties of their compounds, are periodically dependent on the value of their atomic weights.

Like other laws of dialectics, the law of the transition of quantitative changes into qualitative ones is a universal law, that is, it operates not only in nature, but also in human society. For example, the union of individual independent commodity producers does not simply mean their sum; it leads to the emergence of a new quality - cooperation.

Profound qualitative changes associated with the transition from one socio-economic formation to another are determined by previous quantitative changes in the development of productive forces, the gradual intensification of contradictions between productive forces and production relations, between opposing classes.

So far we have talked about the transition of quantitative changes into qualitative ones. But qualitative changes, in turn, lead to new quantitative changes, i.e. not only quantity turns into quality, but also quality into quantity.

If an increase in the charge of the atomic nucleus leads to the emergence of a new quality, that is, a new element, then, in turn, this new element has other quantitative characteristics.

For example, increasing the nuclear charge of a sodium atom by one turns it into magnesium. But magnesium has different quantitative characteristics: if sodium is monovalent, then magnesium is divalent, it has a different melting point and boiling point, a different density, magnesium has less pronounced metallic properties than sodium, it is less chemically active, etc.

Breeders develop new varieties of plants and breeds of animals, which, being a new quality, also have other quantitative characteristics. For example, egg production in chickens, growth rate in pigs, sheep, calves, the number of grains in an ear of wheat, etc. increase.

In society, the emergence of a new socio-economic formation leads to new quantitative characteristics.

For example, under socialism, faster growth of the productive forces, science, culture, and other social activity of the working people, i.e., here too, new quality leads to new quantity.

One of the main directions for increasing the efficiency of production in industry, says the report of L. I. Brezhnev at the XXIV Congress of the CPSU, is “a significant increase in the quality of manufactured products and, accordingly, the development of production facilities that provide a solution to this problem. In the current conditions, if we have in In appearance, the effect for the entire national economy is better - this almost always means more. One modern computer-controlled machine replaces a dozen machines of an outdated design, one heavy-duty vehicle replaces several ordinary trucks, one aircraft engine with an increased service life replaces two or three engines of the previous type." .

*L. I. Brezhiev. Report of the Central Committee of the CPSU to the XXIV Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. M., 1971, p. 73.

If we move from individual examples to consider the development of phenomena over a longer period of time, then it appears before us as a unity of quantitative and qualitative changes, a unity of continuity and discontinuity. Quantitative changes are changes that occur while maintaining a given quality and are therefore continuous. But the continuity of change sooner or later leads to discontinuity, to the replacement of one quality by another. A new quality gives rise to new quantitative changes, etc.

Thus, the law of the transition of quantitative changes into qualitative ones and vice versa reveals the mechanism of development.

The development of living nature is a ladder of qualitative steps: small, cumulative quantitative changes within a given species lead over time to the formation of a new species. Then there is again a quantitative development of this species, which again leads to qualitative transformations into another species, etc.

LEAP AS A GENERAL FORM OF TRANSITION FROM ONE QUALITY TO ANOTHER

The transition from quantitative to qualitative changes occurs through a leap. Gradual quantitative changes in a given thing lead to a leap, to a new quality. A leap is the process of transition from quantitative changes to qualitative ones, that is, the process of transition from an old quality to a new one. The concept of a leap emphasizes a break in gradualism.

The qualitative diversity of things and phenomena existing in objective reality determines the diversity of leaps. However, all leaps can be reduced to two types: leaps that occur in the form of an explosion, and leaps that occur in the form of a gradual transformation of one quality into another. The type of jump depends both on the nature of the measure, i.e., its greater or lesser certainty, and on external conditions. If the quality of an object is strictly connected with a certain quantity, as is the case, for example, in chemical and many physical processes, then a change in quality occurs not through the gradual accumulation of quantitative changes, but through a one-time destruction of the old quality and the emergence of a new one. In this case, quantitative and qualitative changes can occur simultaneously.

For example, during radioactive decay, a decrease in the nuclear charge by two units is simultaneously both a quantitative and qualitative change, the transformation of one element into another.

In chemical transformations, a change in the number of atoms in a molecule simultaneously and immediately also means a qualitative change in the substance.

In cases where the measure of an object allows for different quantitative characteristics, a qualitative change occurs after the preliminary accumulation of quantitative changes.

Moreover, the leap itself can also occur through the one-time destruction of the old and the emergence of the new. This type of jump includes the transition of matter from one state of aggregation to another, the example we mentioned above of the transformation of terrestrial flight into space flight, etc.

Leaps, during which a new quality appears as a result of a one-time and short-term destruction of the old quality and the emergence of a new one, can be called jump-explosions.

In cases where the measure of an object is less defined, the process of going beyond its limits, that is, the process of a leap, becomes less fixed in time and space.

So, for example, in order for a particular chemical body to turn into a star, a minimum mass is required at which such pressure and temperature are created inside this body that thermonuclear reactions of converting hydrogen into helium become possible. A body with a mass above the minimum star, below - a cold body (planet). The jump here is less defined in terms of the amount of mass and pressure.

Another example. The process of turning winter into spring occurs gradually. This is again due to the objective, less defined boundaries of winter and spring. Jumps of the same type take place during the transition from the atmosphere to outer space, from day to night, from one species of animals and plants to another, etc.

In all these leaps the transition from one quality to another occurs slowly. This type of jump can be called a gradual jump.

Thus, a jump in the form of an explosion occurs in a shorter time compared to a jump in the form of gradual changes. Of course, the short duration of a jump in the form of an explosion is relative. In many physical and chemical processes, the explosion may last seconds or fractions of a second, whereas in, say, social phenomena, a jump in the form of an explosion may take months or years. Such leaps and explosions were the Great French Revolution of 1789 - 1793 and the Great October Revolution of 1917.

A leap in the form of a gradual qualitative change differs from the gradualness of quantitative changes. A jump always lasts less time compared to the quantitative changes that preceded it. A leap is a transition from an old quality to a new one, while quantitative changes always occur within the framework of the old quality. Quantitative changes are continuous changes, and a leap is always a break in gradualness and continuity.

A few words about the beginning of the jump period and its end. A leap begins when quantitative changes go beyond the measure. This output is easily established when the measure itself is precisely defined. For example, atomic hydrogen H, the combination of two hydrogen atoms means going beyond the limits of measure and the formation of molecular hydrogen H 2. Further, an increase in speed even by 1 m/sec, as we have already seen, turns terrestrial flight into space flight. If the measure is uncertain to one degree or another, then the moment at which the jump begins is also uncertain. This occurs, for example, during the transition from winter to spring. But here, too, the beginning of the leap is the beginning of the transformation of an old quality into a new one, and its end is the completion of this process. Thus, the period of the leap is the time when the body began to lose one quality, but has not yet acquired a new quality.

The difference between quantitative and qualitative changes is, of course, not absolute. What in one respect is a quantitative change, that is, not affecting the quality of the thing, in another respect may be a qualitative change. To determine whether we are dealing with a qualitative or quantitative change, we should always keep in mind what kind of quality we are talking about.

So, for example, if we consider the development of nature, then the transition from one form of movement to another is a qualitative change; changes within individual forms are quantitative. At the same time, in each of the forms of movement of matter there are qualitatively different phenomena, and therefore the transition, say, from unicellular organisms to multicellular ones will be a leap, a qualitative change. In relation to a single-celled organism, all differences within multicellular organisms will be quantitative. If we take quality in an even narrower sense, then among multicellular organisms we will find a number of qualitatively different types. Thus, chordates are qualitatively different from the lower types of animals, and in this regard, all differences within chordates, for example, between skullless and vertebrates, will be quantitative, etc.

Therefore, when the question is raised, for example, whether there is a qualitative change during the transition from pre-monopoly capitalism to imperialism, this question cannot be answered unequivocally.

The point is that it is unclear what quality we are talking about. If we mean the capitalist socio-economic formation, then there is no qualitative change here. The formation remains the same. If we are talking about pre-monopoly capitalism as a quality, then the transition to imperialism means a qualitative change. At the same time, there are qualitative differences within each phase of the development of capitalism and corresponding leaps.

So, what is quantitative in one respect is a qualitative change in another, that is, a leap.

With this relativity in mind, F. Engels wrote that “there are no jumps in nature precisely because it is composed entirely of jumps” *.

* K. Marx and F. Engels. Soch., vol. 20, p. 586.

CRITICISM OF METAPHYSICAL AND IDEALIST VIEWS ON QUANTITY AND QUALITY

The problem of quality and quantity and their relationship was posed already in ancient philosophy. Interesting in this regard are the arguments attributed to Eubulides. He asked, for example, his students: does one grain make a heap? They answered him: of course not. Well, what about two grains? - No. What about three, four, five, etc. grains? At some stage of quantitative increase, we still had to admit that in the end we had a bunch of grains.

Or: does a person become bald if he loses one hair? - No. And two, three, four, etc. When does he become bald? And is there a qualitative difference between a grain and a pile of grains, bald and non-bald? Ancient philosophers were unable to correctly understand this issue and came to the conclusion that qualitative differences between objects are only apparent. Both in these cases and in others, there are only quantitative differences: a heap is also grains, a grain is a heap of one grain. Bald and non-bald also differ only in the amount of hair. “Everything flows, everything changes,” said the ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus. This is correct, but in the flow, in the changes of things, one cannot miss the moment of relative peace, the qualitative certainty of things. Otherwise, dialectics can turn into sophistry.

This, in particular, happened with the ancient Greek philosopher Cratylus, who, having absolutized the variability of things, came to a metaphysical point of view - the denial of qualitative differences between things. If Heraclitus said that one cannot enter the same river twice, then Cratilus argued that one cannot enter the same river once. Everything is so fluid that it is impossible to say anything definite about anything, since while we are talking, the subject has already become different. Therefore, as legend says, he preferred not to name the object, but to point at it with his finger.

The ancient Greek materialist Democritus reduced all qualitative differences between things to different combinations of atoms, not understanding that quantity can turn into quality, that natural objects, despite the fact that they consist of identical particles, are qualitatively different from one another. The views of Democritus were further developed in the mechanistic and metaphysical systems of modern philosophers.

The law of the transition of quantitative changes into qualitative ones was first formulated by Hegel. Hegel criticized metaphysical ideas and developed dialectical ideas about connection, the mutual transformation of quantity into quality.

However, Hegel's teaching was idealistic. In the dialectic of concepts, V.I. Lenin noted, Hegel only guessed the dialectic of things, no more. From Hegel’s point of view, quantity and quality, as moments of self-development of an idea, existed before the material world and independently of it. Quantitative and qualitative changes in nature and society are only an imperfect expression of the dialectic of the categories of quantity and quality.

This understanding of these categories led to the fact that the place of the actual connections of nature was replaced by a connection invented by the philosopher; the so-called natural philosophy was created, in which the relationship between nature and thought was inverted, where thought dictated the connections and laws of nature.

With the emergence of Marxist philosophy, where a scientific materialist understanding of the law of the transition of quantitative changes into qualitative ones was first given, attempts were made to distort and pervert the views of Marxism on this issue.

So, for example, the metaphysician Dühring calls Marx’s ideas that quantity turns into quality confusing and vague, and at the same time slips Marx the following thought: “since, according to Hegel’s law, quantity turns into quality, then “therefore an advance; Having reached a certain limit, it becomes capital" - therefore, the exact opposite of what Marx says."

* See: K. Marx and F. Engels. Soch., vol. 20, pp. 127 - 129.

From the point of view of Marxist dialectics, the law of the transition of quantitative changes into qualitative ones is the law of reality itself; people are just discovering and cognizing it. Moreover, the law itself does not determine what quantity will turn into this or that quality. This specific knowledge does not arise from a given law, but from the study of specific circumstances.

The transformation of money into capital occurs not due to the law of the transition of quantitative changes into qualitative ones, but due to the specific economic circumstances of a capitalist society. For example, under socialism, no quantitative increase in money will turn into capital, although, of course, the law of the transition of quantitative changes into qualitative ones is fully valid here too.

As for modern bourgeois philosophers, their attitude towards dialectics in general and towards the law of the transition of quantitative changes into qualitative ones is extremely negative and even hostile. In this case, a far from original technique is used: distortion of the content of the law and the corresponding categories, and then “criticism” of them is given.

In this regard, the reasoning of the American philosopher Leff is typical: “The term quality is the result of convention or personal judgment.” And in support of this he gives the following examples: “There is no means of verifying that a height of 6 feet is long, but 5 feet 8 inches is short, or that having less than any amount of hair means being bald.” *.

Here Leff attributes to dialectical materialism the assertion that the law of the transition of quantitative changes into qualitative determines such a transition on a given number of inches, hairs, etc. In fact, as we have seen, the specific forms of the transition of quantitative changes into qualitative ones in each individual case are not determined law, but specific conditions. In particular, in the case of a gradual jump, it makes no sense to look for the exact moment at which the jump occurs, since it is extended in time, space, etc.

“Of course,” Leff further admits, “change involves crossing a boundary. For example, in order to become tall, fat, etc., a point must be reached where we can say so... But this does not mean that the whole process is a process of sudden revolutionary transformation" **.

Reading these “refutations”, it is clear how little the author cares about elementary consistency and logic. Indeed, “dialectics inspires only anger and horror in the bourgeoisie and its doctrinaire ideologists” ***. One can admit, contradicting oneself, both a qualitative change and a crossing of the border, but in no case sudden revolutionary transformations. Moreover, “sudden revolutionary transformations” is another distortion of Leff, because, from the point of view of dialectical materialism, revolutionary changes are always prepared by previous evolutionary changes and are not sudden.

* G. L e f f. Tyranny of concepts. A Critique of Marxism, Alabama, 1969, p. 69

** Ibid., p. 71.

*** K. Marx and F. Engels. Soch., vol. 23, p. 22.

Thus, the law of the transition of quantitative changes into qualitative ones is a universal law operating in nature, society and knowledge. It reveals the essential aspects of the “mechanism” of development as a unity of quantitative and qualitative changes, continuity and discontinuity.

The law exists in objective reality, and its correct reflection in consciousness is one of the principles of the dialectical method, which focuses on understanding the developing reality in all its complexity, and serves as a faithful tool in the fight against the metaphysical theories of reformism, revisionism, and anarchism.

Transition from quantity to quality

The basis of the law is the relationship between two properties - quality and quantity.

For description, any phenomenon can be “split” into qualitative and quantitative certainty.

Quality distinguishes a thing from others, and quantity binds.

Despite significant differences, quantity and quality are the same, since they represent aspects of the same object.

If the measure is violated, quantitative changes entail a qualitative transformation. Thus, development acts as a unity of two stages - continuity And jump.

continuity in development - the stage of slow quantitative accumulation, it does not affect quality and acts as a process of increasing or decreasing the existing one.
leap- the stage of fundamental qualitative changes in an object, the moment or period of transformation of an old quality into a new one. These changes occur relatively quickly even when they take the form of a gradual transition.

The following types are distinguished jumps:

according to the scale of qualitative changes: intrasystem(private) and intersystem(indigenous);
according to the direction of the changes occurring: progressive(leading to higher quality) and regressive(leading to a decrease in the level of structural organization of the object);
according to the nature of the underlying contradictions: spontaneous(resolution of internal contradictions) and induced(as a result of exposure to external factors).

IN thermodynamics of nonequilibrium processes(I. Prigozhin, Belgium) the central idea is the idea of bifurcations. Jumps occur at bifurcation points - critical states of the system, at which the system becomes unstable with respect to fluctuations and uncertainty arises: whether the state of the system will become chaotic or whether it will move to a new, more differentiated and high level of order. An example of an unstable state leading to bifurcation is the situation in the country during the revolution. Since the direction of the jump is determined by fluctuations, the future is, in principle, unpredictable, while at the same time, any person, generally speaking, can determine the course of history. Jumps at bifurcation points lead to both progress and regression.

IN catastrophe theories(R. Thom, France; V. I. Arnold, Russia), attention is focused on such an important aspect as the possibility of jumps (catastrophes) occurring as a sudden response to small, smooth changes in external conditions. It has been applied to the study of heart contractions, optics, embryology, linguistics, experimental psychology, economics, fluid dynamics, geology and particle theory. Based on the catastrophe theory, research is carried out on the stability of ships, modeling of brain activity and mental disorders, prison uprisings, the behavior of stock exchange players, and the influence of alcohol on vehicle drivers.

The two described directions, together with others (G. Haken, Germany; S. P. Kurdyumov and E. N. Knyazeva, Russia) are usually considered as a new interdisciplinary scientific direction, called synergetics. Various schemes of the relationship between dialectics and synergetics have been proposed, including ideas about synergetics as an integral part of dialectics or about the development of dialectics into synergetics.

Examples

The law of the inverse relationship between the content and volume of a concept
Periodic table: adding 1 electron to a chemical element leads to a qualitative change in chemical and physical properties

Examples of measure and jump

Notes

Links

A little more about the law of transformation of quantity into quality, V.V. Mitrofanov

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See what “Transition of quantity into quality” is in other dictionaries:

One of the main laws of materialism dialectics, according to which a change in the quality of an object occurs when the accumulation of quantities. changes reach a certain level. limit. This law reveals the most general mechanism of development.... ... Philosophical Encyclopedia

Transition is the process of moving from one position or state to another; as well as a place suitable or intended for such movement: Contents 1 In construction 2 Movement 3 In physics ... Wikipedia

This term has other meanings, see Quality. Quality is a philosophical category that expresses a set of essential features, features and properties that distinguish one object or phenomenon from others and give it... ... Wikipedia

QUALITY and QUANTITY- traditional philosophical categories from among ten predicates, the list of which goes back to Aristotle’s Categories and Topics. Quality, or what, according to Aristotle, can be considered in four different senses: 1) stable or transitory... ... Modern philosophical dictionary - QUALITY, a, cf. 1. A set of essential features, properties, features that distinguish an object or phenomenon from others and give it certainty (special). Categories of quality and quantity. Transition to a new section 2. This or that property, sign... Ozhegov's Explanatory Dictionary

One of the basic laws of materialist dialectics, according to which a change in the quality of an object occurs when the accumulation of quantitative changes reaches a certain limit. This law reveals the most general mechanism...

A philosophical category that expresses its essential certainty, inseparable from the existence of an object, due to which it is precisely this and not another object. K. reflects the stable relationship between the constituent elements of an object, which... ... Great Soviet Encyclopedia

The law of mutual transition of quantitative and qualitative changes answers the question of how development proceeds. It reveals the mechanism of change and shows in what forms these changes occur. According to this law, development occurs as a result of a transition from one qualitative state with its inherent quantitative characteristics to another qualitative state with new quantitative characteristics. Before revealing the content of this law, let’s consider the concept of “quality”; "quantities" and "measures". Quality, quantity, measure, and also leap are the main categories that are included in the definition of this law.

Quality is external and internal certainty, a system of characteristic features of an object, losing which objects cease to be what they are.

Quantity is the unity of the moments of number and magnitude. In order to find the quantitative certainty of an object, it is necessary to compare its properties with the homogeneous properties of some other object, taken as a standard or starting value for measurement.

A measure is a certain quantitative range of property values within which a given quality can exist. Those. turning points, from which further quantitative changes lead to fundamental qualitative changes, are called the boundaries of the measure. Measure boundaries do not always have precise, fixed values. The measure is precisely defined if changes in quality depend on one or two defining parameters, as is the case in many phenomena of inorganic nature. But the measure can be mobile and changeable if changes in quality depend on a large number of parameters, as is the case in biology and social phenomena.

Quantity and quality are interconnected and this relationship represents a unity of opposites (quantity is constantly changing, quality is relatively stable, remains unchanged until quantitative changes reach a certain limit and go beyond the boundaries of the measure. The departure of quantitative changes beyond the boundaries of the measure causes changes in quality, its transformation into another quality. But with the advent of a new quality, the quantitative characteristics also change, a new quantitative certainty appears).

Items can change their quality:

1) by quantitative addition or decrease of matter, energy and information as a result of the interaction of an object with the environment;

2) by redistributing matter and energy within a given structure (mutations within a chromosome that occur by moving sections of a chromosome);

H) by replacing at least one of the elements of the structure with a qualitatively different element;

4) by changing the quality of at least one of the elements that make up the given structure of the subject;

5) as a result of an increase or decrease in the lifetime of an object or due to a change in the power of many events, due to which unlikely events turn into highly probable ones and vice versa.

The transition from an old quality to a new quality is always associated with a leap.

A leap is a period or phase of a radical change in the qualitative state, when new conditions and internal connections become incompatible with the old form of their organization and the latter undergoes a breakdown. During the leap, internal connections are restructured, old connections are broken and new ones are established.

Horse racing is divided into:

1) mechanical, physical, chemical, biological, social

(based on the forms of motion of matter);

2) fast and slow (based on the flow time);

3) single and complex (based on their scale);

4) indigenous and non-indigenous (based on the nature of the transformations);

5) progressive, regressive, single-level (based on their role);

The metaphysical interpretation of this law consists in the absolutization of either quantitative or qualitative changes.

· The concept of the laws of dialectics

· The law of unity and struggle of opposites

· The law of the transition of quantity to quality part 1

· The law of transformation of quantity into quality part 2

· Law of Negation Part 1

· Law of Negation Part 2

The law of mutual transition of quantitative changes into qualitative ones reveals the mechanism of thinking, showing how, through quantitative changes, a transition occurs from one quality to another, from one object to another.

The law of the subject of transition has revealed the paths from new to old through such categories as quantity, quality, measure.

Quality is a set of properties, characteristics that belong to a thing, phenomenon and distinguish them from other objects.

Hegel characterized quality as the internal certainty of a thing identical to the properties of being.

Quality is what makes a thing exactly this thing, and not another, defines a thing as this, and not another. Quality is objective, that is, it is inherent in the thing itself and exists independently of us. A thing, a phenomenon of quality, has boundaries of its existence beyond which it becomes another thing, this means that the quality of a thing is identical with its finitude. The quality of a thing is manifested in its properties.

Properties are features, attributes, features of an object recorded with the help of the senses.

Properties characterize a thing on the one hand, while quality gives an idea about the object. In general (malleability, fluidity, yellow light are signs of gold, but taken individually they are its properties, together they determine its quality).

Quantity finds its expression in size, number, volume.

What does it mean that quantity is the certainty of a thing and is indifferent to the property of being?

This means that the quantitative characteristics of a given quality changed to certain limits without changing the existence of the thing.

Unity, quantity and quality are called the measure of the world. The measure of peace is the interval within which finite changes do not lead to a change in quality.

The measure of different objects is different.

Beyond measure, old qualities give way to new qualities. There is a renewal of the existing, which constitutes the essence of dialectical development. Hegel called the transition from one measure to another the nodal points of a measure.

A leap is a form of transition from one quality to another.

The leap is the greatest period. intensive development, a period of transformation of old quality into new.

It was prepared by the entire previous course of development and represents a natural form of transformation of one quality into another.

Jump forms:

1. form………….. relatively rapid transformation of one quality into another.

2. a form of gradual transition from one quality to another. When the quality does not change immediately, but in separate lines (decay of Uranus under natural conditions).

3. The law of negation of negation reveals the direction of movement and continuity in development.

4. The effect of the law allows you to answer the questions:

5. 1. Is there a connection between……….. what existed previously and what arose.

6. 2.What are these connections, is there any direction in the infinite number of changes in the world.

7. The law of negation of negation expresses essential, necessary connections and deviations between the present and the future.

9. Dialectical negation and metaphysical negation.

10. Metaphysical denial - denial as simple destruction.

11. Revealing this law of the negation of negation in his work “Dialectics of Nature,” Engels wrote: “metaphysical negation is a voice,” ...., fruitless negation, a negation in which there cannot be development ....... (spread the barley grain, crush the caterpillar).

12. Dialectical negation is “not naked, invisible negation, but negation as a moment of connection between the new and the old, as a condition and moment of development with the content of everything positive.”

13. In dialectics, to deny, Engels said, “is not just to say no, or to declare a thing non-existent...”

14. The dialectical type of negation is a type of negation in which the received. its development...”

15. So, dialectical negation has two essential features:

16. 1.it is a condition and moment of development;

17. 2.it is the moment of connection between the new and the old.

18. Denial, as a condition and moment of development, means that only that negation that serves as a prerequisite for the emergence of some new, higher and more perfect forms is “positive negation.”

19. Denial, as a moment of connection between the new and the old, means that the new, as a negation of the old, previous, does not leave behind a “desert”, not just destroying it, but, as it were, “reducing it”.

20. Sublation means that what precedes is both erased and preserved. It persists in a double sense. First, without previous development there would be no basis for the development of new forms. Secondly, everything that is preserved from the previous stage of development moves to the next stage in existence in a transformed form (the human embryo, its development in a removed form goes through all levels of development of living matter from a cell to a human child); students in a removed state go through the entire path of development of consciousness .

21. Due to the action of the law of negation of negation, development has the shape not of a line, but of a circle, which the final theory does not coincide with the initial one, but because Since this coincidence occurs on a higher basis, the development takes the form of a spiral.

22. Development is the goal of dialectical negations, each of which not only corresponds to the previous links, but also preserves the positive contained in it. More and more concentrating wealth in development as a whole at the highest levels.

23. Development is the emergence of new, higher forms that create the prerequisites for further development. Hence the general natural trend of development - from simple to complex, from lower to higher, i.e. trends of progressive, upward development.

24. Irreversibility is a characteristic feature of the process of the law of negation of negation.

25. The law of negation of negation shows the action of conditioning the connection, determination between negation and the negator, as a result of which the dialectics of negation acts as a condition of development, holding and preserving everything positive that precedes the stage of development.

MAIN PROBLEMS IN THE THEORY OF KNOWLEDGE

Cognition as a reflection of reality.

The second side of the main question of philosophy is whether the world is knowable?

Dialectical materialism, based on the experience acquired by man.

On the conquest of science, he believes that the world is knowable. The human mind is capable of forming an idea of the world. From the point of view of dialectical materialism, knowledge is the reflection of external objects in a person’s head; the limitations of such views are reflected in the fact that:

1.they failed to apply dialectics in the process of consciousness.

2. Consider reflections as a passive imprint of things and phenomena in human consciousness.

3.incomprehensible activity of the knowing subject.

4. we do not understand the rank of the practice of knowledge.

In the dialectical-materialistic point of consciousness, practice appears as:

1. the basis of process cognition, and the initial

2.as criteria of truth.

Practice is the active activity of people to transform nature and society.

Types of practice:

1. material production;

2.socially transformative activities;

3.scient. dispersion.

Practice is ex. point and basis of knowledge, because

1. knowledge itself arises on the basis of practice under the influence of developing capitalist production. In the period of modern times there is a rapid development of science.

2. practice sets certain goals for knowledge, this moves knowledge forward.

3. practice equips knowledge with certain tools and equipment (space exploration is impossible without modern technologies)

Practice is the goal of knowledge. A person learns about the world in order to use the results of knowledge in his practical life. activities.

What is the object of knowledge?

From the point of view of objective idealism, the object of knowledge is the absolute idea of myrrh……………………………………

From the point of view of objective idealism - human sensation.

From the point of view of dialectical materialism - all of nature, the surrounding world, human society and man himself.

What is the subject of knowledge?

The subject of knowledge, i.e. its carrier is human society. Recognition of the social nature of knowledge is the most important feature in the dialectical materialist so-called Knowledge.

DIALECTICAL CHARACTER OF THE COGNITIVE PROCESS

The dialectical nature of the cognition process.

From the point of view of dialectical materialism, knowledge is an endless process of movement of thought from ignorance to knowledge, from incomplete and unstable knowledge to more accurate and more complete knowledge.

The development of knowledge occurs from living consciousness to abstract thinking, from it to practice; this is the dialectical path of the process of cognition of truth.

The philosophy of modern times has paid close attention to the process of cognition. There are two directions in the theory of knowledge: sensationalism and rationalism.

Rationalists exaggerated the role of ... thinking, cognition, empiricism,

Sensationalists exaggerated the role of experience in the process of cognition.

Skeptics have expressed doubts about the reliability of our knowledge.

From the point of view of dialectical materialism, knowledge always begins with a person’s acquaintance with objects of the external world, with the help of the senses, which give us correct knowledge about objects.

Through the senses, the external world penetrates into human consciousness; thanks to them, a person experiences color, taste, etc.

The first step in the process of cognition is sensibility; second-thinking.

Boolean

1. concept

2. judgment

3. inference

forms of feelings of cognition, consciousness:

1.feeling

2.perception

3.presentation

4.imagination

Forms of the sensory side of cognition:

Sensation is a reflection of certain properties, characteristics of the sides of an object (cold, red, etc.).

Perception is an image of an object as a whole; it reflects objects in the totality of all sides (a round, red sweet apple).

Representation is the reproduction in the human mind of a previously perceived memory.

Imagination is the ability to combine sensory material differently from how it is connected in reality (the serpent - Gorynych, Baba Yaga).

The law was formulated by Friedrich Engels as a result of his interpretation of Hegel's logic and the philosophical works of Karl Marx.

The formulation of the law was given by F. Engels.

Formulation and content of the law

The basis of the law is the relationship between two properties - quality and quantity.

For description, any phenomenon can be “split” into qualitative and quantitative certainty. The category “quality” denotes such a certainty of a phenomenon that distinguishes an object from others, makes it what it is. Quantity expresses what is common to different things, in which they are similar, and is a collection of sets and quantities that characterize a thing. To find the quantitative certainty of a thing means to compare it with another that has the same property.

Despite significant differences, quantity and quality are considered in dialectical materialism as parts of one whole, representing aspects of the same subject. This unity is called a measure and represents a boundary that defines the limits of possible quantitative change within a given quality.

The transition of quantitative changes beyond the limits of a measure (as an interval of quantitative changes within which the qualitative certainty of an object is preserved) leads to a change in the quality of the object, that is, to its development. This is the law of the transition of quantity into quality - development is carried out through the accumulation of quantitative changes in the subject, which leads to going beyond the limits of measure and a spasmodic transition to a new quality .

When a measure is overcome, quantitative changes entail a qualitative transformation. Thus, development appears as a unity of two stages - continuity and leap. Continuity in development is a stage of slow quantitative accumulation; it does not affect quality and acts as a process of increasing or decreasing the existing one. A leap is a stage of fundamental qualitative changes in an object, a moment or period of transformation of an old quality into a new one. These changes occur relatively quickly even when they take the form of a gradual transition.

It should be noted that quantity itself does not translate into quality. Typically, certain quantitative changes lead to changes in parallel accompanying qualities. In this case, quantity transforms into another quantity, and quality, with a certain change in quantity, transforms into another quality. The widely used expression “transition from quantity to quality” is actually an imprecise formulation and can be confusing to those who are not familiar with the issue.

The principle of transition from quantitative to qualitative changes has received significant development and specification in synergetics. Knowledge about transitions (jumps) at all levels of development of matter, from elementary particles to society, has been significantly detailed and deepened.

Examples of measure and jump

In synergetics

IN catastrophe theories(R. Thom, France; V.I. Arnold, Russia), attention is focused on such an important aspect as the possibility of surges (catastrophes) occurring as a sudden response to small, smooth changes in external conditions. It has been applied to the study of heart contractions, optics, embryology, linguistics, experimental psychology, economics, fluid dynamics, geology and particle theory. Based on the catastrophe theory, research is carried out on the stability of ships, modeling of brain activity and mental disorders, prison uprisings, the behavior of stock exchange players, and the influence of alcohol on vehicle drivers.