Relational Analysis: Four Relations
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Dialectical Materialism traces four kinds of relations that enable one to discover two things: i. What is something as a process and ii. The system in which it works. Identity/Difference: In formal logic, things are either different or identical, but in dialectics, things can be different and identical at the same time in the context of form and essence (Ollman, 1976, p.34). For example, a shaving machine and a razor are different in form but identical in relation, i.e., both are used to set a beard. This is how Marx describes profit, rent, and interest as different in forms but identical in essence (functional relation) (Marx, 1867, p. 78). All three are forms of surplus-value (the portion of wealth created by workers, their labour value, that is extracted by the owner and not returned to the worker in the form of wages) (Marx, 1867, p. 78).
Unity of Opposites: Unity of opposites can be witnessed in the universe, from an electron and proton to earth and sun, two forces penetrating eac…