I therefore affirm that, to understand our society, our dialectical method is necessary, while that of the West, non-dialectical, is of no use. But b… - Alexander Zinoviev

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I therefore affirm that, to understand our society, our dialectical method is necessary, while that of the West, non-dialectical, is of no use. But be careful: I am not talking about “dialectics” in the sense given to it by Soviet philosophies – starting with Stalin in his Dialectical and Historical Materialism; I am talking about this ability to take into account all the complexity and changing nature of formations such as our gigantic society. Ah! I'm itching to describe this method! But by giving it the efficiency, the practical sense of the Western style of thinking. Is it possible ? Who knows, perhaps the most suitable forms are born from these unthinkable compromise. p. 353

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About Alexander Zinoviev

Aleksandr Zinovyev (29 September 1922 – 10 May 2006) was a Russian philosopher, sociologist and writer

Also Known As

Native Name: Александр Александрович Зиновьев
Alternative Names: Alexander Alexandrovich Zinoviev
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Historically, Marxism was born with the ambition of explaining everything in the world scientifically. It is known, that Marx even dealt with mathematics. Although he could not solve problems which are nowadays clear for even asinine pupils, Marx left behind for the future generations his smart tips.

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I have always been surprised that cultured people with important factual data produce, on large-scale social phenomena, conclusions that are insignificant, superficial or distorted to the point of becoming absurd.The conditions of my existence and the relationships I have maintained with those around me have forced me to do the opposite: to formulate vast generalizations based on the observation of a limited number of “small” events. Over time, I discovered that these "little things" are precisely the foundations of the historical process and that, from a social point of view, the apparently grandiose phenomena are only the dross. Dialectical notions like essence and phenomenon, content and form have been very useful to me. p. 195

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