Hossein Jorjani
First publication: 2026 – 07 – 27
Dialectics may be understood as a method for apprehending movement, contradiction, change, and the plurality of reality. In this sense, it serves as a heuristic framework for inquiry rather than as a substitute for empirical explanation.
The distinction resembles the relationship between hypothesis formation and scientific investigation. A hypothesis directs attention toward certain phenomena and suggests where significant relationships may be found. It does not, by itself, explain why a particular event occurred. Explanation requires observation, evidence, comparison, and the reconstruction of concrete causal sequences.
The same principle applies in historical and social inquiry. Recognizing that a society contains internal contradictions does not, by itself, explain why a revolution occurred in one country but not another, why similar institutions evolved differently under comparable conditions, or why social groups sometimes acted contrary to theoretical expectations. Such questions require careful historical investigation grounded in specific empirical contexts.
More generally, a conceptual framework may identify important dimensions of reality and suggest fruitful directions for research without itself constituting an explanation. Confusing these distinct methodological functions transforms a heuristic into an explanatory doctrine. Dialectics is most valuable when it guides inquiry rather than when it is treated as an all-purpose explanation of historical or social phenomena.
Hossein Jorjani 