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Examines the respective roles of Karl Marx & Friedrich Engels in the development of the Marxian laws of dialectics, drawing on an analysis of their relevant writings. It is suggested that the extant literature has erroneously assumed either that Marx & Engels were intellectual twins or intellectually incompatible on this subject. Marx is shown to have been interested in the contribution of theories of natural science to universal dialectical laws long before Engels. However, after referencing the notion that changes in quantity eventually lead to changes in quality in Capital (1867) & its corresponding application in the field of chemistry, Marx never developed the insight. In contrast, Engels developed a sophisticated thinking on dialectics that proceeded in three stages, culminating in the publication of Dialectics of Nature (1876). Thus, Engels is taken to have developed insights first revealed, but left fallow, in Marx's earlier work. 31 References. D. Ryfe

In this article I shall argue that a fundamental and often overlooked trait of ideas and opinions is their controversial or, if you prefer, dialectical character. This means that an idea or an opinion—the words here being used in a general sense—must be seen in connection with its opposite, especially if we are concerned to find its social roots and meaning. To express an idea, to state one's view about something, is a certain kind of action. The purpose of this action is not only to establish a fact but also to exclude other opinions about this fact and, directly or indirectly, to argue against competing opinions, ideologies, theories, and groups. The local or temporal dominance of any particular opinion prompts the question, Why was this position so emphatically maintained? Which were the competing opinions to be excluded?