Talk:Dialectical materialism

I really wouldn't know whether the "example of the chicken's egg" is or is not an "oft-cited criticism of dialectical materialism," but I can say at least that this explanation of it doesn't make any sense to me:

One critique of dialectical materialism is the oft-cited example of a chicken's egg. The embryo (thesis) is oppessed by the shell (antithesis) and must overcome and destroy the shell to reach the next stage of being a chick (synthesis). The error here, according to Dr. Sang Hun Lee, lies in misunderstanding the purpose and role of the eggshell. While the embryo is unformed or weak, the shell remains tough and hard to protect it. When the embroyo has developed into a chick and is ready to enter the world, the shell becomes thin and brittle. If a chick were removed from the shell by an outside force, its ability to survive would be diminished.

This is analogous to parents who restrict their children when they are young and gradually give them more responsibility as they mature. Finally, the children move out on their own and take their place in society is fully-functioning adults. They needn't rebel or murder their parents at all.

Two problems with it: (1) the founder of the Unification Church is not what I would call a leading critic of socialist theories. If this is oft-cited (outside of the aforementioned church) we ought to be able to find a more credible source. (2) As a criticism, it doesn't make any sense. Does DM imply that children should rebel and murder their parents? The article doesn't say so. --LMS

Good points, my addition was hastily written. The chick in the egg example has been cited to me by in conversation by communists in Cambridge, Massachusetts -- I haven't seen it in print. Also, Dr. Lee is not the founder of the Unification Church -- perhaps you meant Rev. Moon. The former is certainly too obscure to be a "leading critic", of course, and Rev. Moon (while well known) is not generally considered a theoretical critic. I appear to have made a hash of this addition and have egg on my face to go with the hash! -- Ed Poor

Well, I assumed that the author of the "three main books of the Unification Church" (that's what our Sang Hun Lee article says) would have been the founder, but of course that was just an assumption. Now, don't get me wrong. Maybe it's true that there is a "chicken in the egg example" that is one main criticism of dialectical materialism. I honestly don't know (I haven't studied it enough). All I was saying is that I don't understand your explanation of the problem. --LMS