December Dialectics Workshop

Alex Steinberg

Dialectics is rightly considered to be linked to revolutionary politics. But the meaning of the term evades easy description. There are as many myths and half-truths told about dialectics as there are about Santa Claus. In this class we will demystify dialectics and demonstrate that it does not have to be an esoteric topic reserved for a tiny group of initiates.
This 3 session series will be a hands-on workshop in dialectical analysis. After a brief introduction of some of the leading concepts of dialectical thinking we will examine several examples of dialectics in different areas ranging from our everyday experience, to political and social phenomena to the most radical scientific theories about the origin of the universe. Participants will be asked to create their own dialectical construction in the final workshop. The goal is a greater understanding of that which is hidden in plain sight, our dialectical world and how we can change it.

ALEX STEINBERG taught three classes at The Commons: Engels and the Dialectics of Nature during the Spring of 2014, Dialectics of Nature and the Multiverse in the Fall of 2014 and a class on Nietzsche, Heidegger, Fascism and Left-Nietzscheans last Spring. He has previously given classes on Hegel and Marxist philosophy and been a presenter at the Left Forum. He has also served on the local and national boards of radio station WBAI. Alex participated in the revolutionary events leading up to the historic “NO” vote against austerity in Greece this past summer and capped his activity with a lecture in Athens to an audience of activists on the subject of The Dialectics of Revolutionary Strategy and Tactics.