Published In
Current Topics in Cybernetics and Systems
Document Type
Post-Print
Publication Date
1978
Subjects
Dialectics, Catastrophe theory, Cusp catastrophe, Butterfly catastrophe
Abstract
The three classical principles of Hegelian and Marxist dialectics, (1) the transformation of quantity into quality, (2) the unity and struggle of opposites, and (3) the negation of negation, can be modeled with the Catastrophe Theory of René Thom and E. C. Zeeman, especially with the ‘elementary catastrophes’ known as the cusp and the butterfly.
Rights
This is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Sociocybernetics. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. The final version, © Bloomsbury Publishing, is available from the publisher: https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/sociocybernetics-9780313314186/
Persistent Identifier
https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/36177
Citation Details
Zwick, M. (1978). “Dialectics and Catastrophe.” [Post-Print] In Sociocybernetics, R.F. Geyer and J. van der Zouwe, eds., Martinus Nijhoff, The Hague, The Netherlands, 129-155.
Description
A one page extended abstract with the same title was published in Current Topics in Cybernetics and Systems and is available as an additional file below.