A Note on My Dialectic

by JACK LINDSAY
About the age of 14-15 (as I have told in Life Rarely Tells [1958] ) I began to be interested in poetry and in ree! "ythology# $eats% in his poe"s and letters% affe&ted "e strongly 'ith the idea of (eauty as a for" of )ruth% )ruth as a for" of (eauty# )hat is% the idea that the for"ative for&es at 'or! in hu"an beings sought to bring about ne' balan&es or stru&tures 'hi&h had found in (eauty their highest point of integration% and that )ruth 'as not a "ere &orre&tness of fa&tual state"ent but the "o"ent of grasping ho' those for&es thus 'or!ed# I 'ould not then have phrased "y intuitive responses in those ter"s% but it 'as along su&h lines of thin!ing that I 'as "oved to a passionate &onvi&tion of the dyna"i& and &reative nature of $eatsian )ruth-(eauty# I 'as see!ing to grasp the nature of develop"ent and 'as rea&ting against "e&hanisti& interpretations of life# )here 'ere idealisti& ele"ents in "y for"ulations% but I 'as also re*e&ting idealis" and sa' in the ter" od only an evasion of the issues# I felt in poetry and art a for&e that bro!e through a&&epted levels or stru&tures of thought% and that held the vital &lue to ne' and "ore integrated for"s of life# $eats said that% in listening to an unseen singer 'ith a lovely voi&e% one i"agined the beautiful fa&e# +)hat fa&e you 'ill see#, )hus fro" the outset I felt in poetry the &lue to the for'ard-"ove"ent of life% the for&es that 'ould so"eho' beget ne' -ualitative levels% for"s% "odes of spirit and body ("atter)% ne' unities# .ro" /helley I gained a feeling of ele"ental energies &easelessly reasserting the"selves in nature and in hu"anity% a!in at all levels% though the levels 'ere not identi&al# 0o' the lin!s bet'een artfor" and life operated I had no idea% beyond a desperate feeling that I "ust give a total obedien&e to 'hat I [page 364] felt the &reative ele"ent in poetry and art% 'hi&h 'as so"eho' &onne&ted 'ith the i"pulse to find unions outside oneself% espe&ially in love% in se1ual e1perien&es# /o"eho' the &riterion of )ruth-(eauty distinguished 'hat 'as valuable in tbe releases of that i"pulse% in the union it brought about# )here 'as a gro'ing feeling that so&iety as I !ne' it 'as organised on lines hostile to the release of the &reative i"pulse% though ho' or 'hy I had little idea# .or a 'hile I had so"ething of a personal &ult of /t .ran&is of Assisi% 'hi&h o"itted the religious ter"s and 'as &on&erned only 'ith the re*e&tion of everything that did not si"ply and dire&tly help to'ards love% union% the a&&eptan&e of the san&tity of all living# (y the age of 12-18 I had &o"e on 3lato and (la!e% ea&h of 'ho" fro" different angles strengthened the &onvi&tions started off by $eats# 3lato gave ti"e the idea of a triadi& "ove"ent of thought on to ne' levels% ne' &entres of !no'ledge and self-e1pression# )he rea&tionary for&es in so&iety held ba&! this "ove"ent% but again I had little idea of ho' and 'hy# )he do&trine of supernal .or"s that ulti"ately deter"ined the brea!through on to ne' levels of &o"prehension% I neither re*e&ted nor a&&epted in any definite 'ay# I sa' su&h .or"s rather in a $eatsian sense as the dire&tive &ore in the "o"ent of &reative a&hieve"ent% 'ithout as!ing ho' they got there# (I struggled to grasp the diale&ti&s of 0era!leitos% 'hi&h I found sti"ulating and baffling#) .ro" (la!e I gained &learly the &on&ept of &ontraries or opposites &ontinually e"erging to bring about ne' unities% the for'ard "ove"ent of life% and I sa' in his 3ropheti& (oo!s the dra"atisation of the struggle# 0ere I felt 'as the 'or!ing-out of the $eatsian syste"% a poeti& definition 'hi&h brought po'erfully out into the open the entangled and sub"erged tu"ult of "y deepest e"otions and aspirations# (.or the ne1t 45 or so years I 'as indeed to return every no' and then to (la!e to test out 'hat I had learned and to refor"ulate the ideas 'hi&h I felt seething in his 'or!#) (y the age of 19% "a!ing use of the library at the 6ueensland 7niversity# I had read and pondered 8oleridge,s Biographia Literaria and several 'or!s by (ergson% 8ro&e% entile% Ale1ander% as 'ell as parts of 0egel and oethe# 9y &on&ept of diale&ti&s 'as enlarged% even if there 'as "u&h in the 'or!

of these thin!ers that &onfused or eluded "e# I 'as studying also the poetry of :onne and the so-&alled 9etaphysi&al 3oets# I 'as strongly affe&ted by (ergson;s Time and Free Will, and hen&eforth the -uestion of )i"e haunted "e< )i"e as the repetitive and "e&hanisti& syste" of the &lo&!% 'hi&h I re&ognised as lying at the heart of all the s&ien&e 'ith 'hi&h I 'as a&-uainted -- though I !ept on trying to understand =instein in the hope that he [page 365] had bro!en through the syste"s based on abstra&t )i"e> and )i"e as the &on&rete "o"ent of e1perien&e% 'hi&h involved the diale&ti&al leap into ne' unities% ne' -ualities% ne' vital relationships# ?ne 'ay or another this proble" of )i"e has re"ained 'ith "e< abstra&t and &on&rete ti"e# 0ere I felt lay the &ore of the struggle bet'een life and death% bet'een a for'ard "ove"ent on to ne' levels and a &easeless inhibitory repetition of un&hanging syste"s# I 'as una'are at the ti"e ho' (ergson had affe&ted so "any 'riters% fro" 3roust to @oy&e> in any event "y response had an ele"ent 'hi&h I thin! 'as not present in the others# )he &on&rete "o"ent 'as for "e &reative in the $eatsian sense% revolutionary in the (la!ean sense# I had also read .reud% interpreting his ter"s and sy"bols rather in ter"s of a (la!ean universe# )he struggle% as I sa' it% 'as to transfor" the un&ons&ious% the 'hole "ass of sensuous and e"otional rea&tions heaped up fro" the "o"ent of birth% into the &reative i"age of art% 'hi&h put order into the inner universe of &onfli&ting urges% and gave life a valid "eaning and dire&tion% even though the ne1t "o"ent the a&hieved stru&ture and balan&es 'ere threatened and had to be realised afresh on a ne' level% in a ne' situation# )hose 'ho failed to resolve the &onfli&t 'ere torn by divided i"pulses or stupefied into an inert a&&eptan&e of the e1isting 'orld 'ith all its unbalan&es% in*usti&es% falsifi&ations# 9y ideas 'ere given a yet further field in 'hi&h to operate 'hen I read @ane 0arrison,s An ient Art and Rit!al% then her Themis and "rolegomena# ree! "ythology% in 'hi&h I had been so interested fro" the angle of its poeti& presentations% its sy"boli& redefinitions% &a"e fully alive% lin!ed 'ith the rituals through 'hi&h the peoples of tribal so&ieties in various stages of develop"ent had striven to understand and &ontrol their lives% in both the individual and the so&ial aspe&ts# 0ere 'as e1pressed their dyna"i& relation to nature as 'ell as the living stru&ture of the group,s e1perien&e% the transfor"ative unions and &onfli&ts# )he &on&ept of art and its fun&tions 'as ri&hly e1tended# Above all I 'as affe&ted by ilbert 9urray,s e1&ursus on )ragedy in Themis, in 'hi&h the basis of ree! dra"a in initiation ritual and its stru&ture% its i"agery of death and rebirth (the passage of one level of life or e1perien&e to another)% 'as brought out# )he diale&ti& of &hange and develop"ent 'as given a &ru&ially i"portant ne' field% 'hi&h 'as seen to have deeply affe&ted the interpretations of both history and individual gro'th# I returned to the boo!s of /pen&er and illen on Australian aborigines 'hi&h "y "other had and on 'hi&h I had bro'sed in early years# Ao' in 1919-B5 &a"e the reunion 'ith "y father% Aor"an# I be&a"e the dis&iple of the positions he had set out in #reati$e %ffort& [page 366] )his "eant for a de&ade the sharp li"itation of the ideas I had been struggling to grasp and develop# )hose ideas 'ere &ut do'n to a (la!ean s&he"e of Cos the artist% aided by his e"anation =nithar"on ('ith 'ho" he &a"e also in &onfli&t)% as the sole &onstru&tive for&e in a universe falling into dar!ness% &ontra&ting to dead "e&hanis"s% to the li"it of opa&ity% /atan# Cos by his i"agery% his rhyth"i& for"ations% resisted the fall and set into a&tion the &ontrary "ove"ent of integration and *oyous self-realisation# Dith these positions there &a"e an end to the efforts I had been "a!ing to relate art positively to so&ial pro&ess# )he "ass of "an!ind 'ere seen as inert% unresponsive to dyna"i& .or"% and therefore al'ays liable to surrender to the evil pressures of disintegration and repression% 'ith "oney and things as their sole ai"% their spiritual refle&tion# )he one i"portant ne' ele"ent 'as the thought of AietEs&he# 0ere the 0egelian diale&ti& 'as narro'ed do'n to an e1istentialist ethi& of the .ree /pirit ('ho" 'e identified 'ith the Artist) opposed to the servile "asses# AietEs&he thus strongly reinfor&ed the very 'orst aspe&ts of the A#C# aestheti&% its elitist and ra&ialist &o"ponents# (ut there 'ere ele"ents 'hi&h I &ould validly lin! 'ith ele"ents of

"y previous thin!ing< the &on&ept of the (eyond-9an# )he 'e(ermens h 'as the "o"ent% the leap into an intensified freedo"% hu"an fullness% signifi&ant a&tivity> he represented the diale&ti&al "ove"ent beyond a given state or level% 'hi&h 'as ne&essary if that state or level 'as not to stagnate and degenerate# ()o see hi" as a /uper"an 'as to vulgarise the &on&ept hopelessly% though he did also represent an ideal of transfor"ative living#) Cife 'as seen as a &easeless struggle to trans&end the li"itations of the e1isting stage of things 'ith a fuller and "ore unified &ons&iousness% 'hi&h at on&e pervaded all spheres of life and a&tion#
9an is a rope stret&hed bet'een beast and 'e(ermens h% a rope over an abyss# 3erilous is the &rossing% perilous the 'ay% perilous the ba&!'ard loo!% perilous all tre"bling and halting by the 'ay# 9an is great in that he is a bridge and not a goal< "an &an be loved in that he is a transition and a perishing # # # I love the" 'hi&h greatly s&orn be&ause they also greatly adore> they are arro's of longing for the further shore#

)he &on&ept of the 'e(ermens h thus "erged 'ith that of &on&rete )i"e 'hi&h I had built up out of (ergson# Cife 'as seen as forever brea!ing through any for"ulation that &ould be "ade of it# =very i"age% definition% e1pression% ho'ever po'erful and effe&tive in its resolution of the opposites or &ontradi&tions 'ith 'hi&h it grappled% &ould never en&o"pass perfe&tly the situation it ta&!led# Cife in its endless potentialities% &onfli&ts% har"onies% burst through every [page 36)] definition or organisation "ade out of it# )he very su&&ess of any su&h definition or organisation deepened the e"erging proble"s% the &ontradi&tory &o"ple1ities of the issues to be grasped and e1pressed% so that it started off the 'hole struggle on a ne' and "ore de"anding level# (I opened "y *ionys!s (19B8) 'ith the aphoris" that it 'as the fun&tion of thought% not to solve the riddle of the universe% but to &reate it#) )he years 19B1-B5 sa' the first 'or!ing-out of this phase% 'ith the periodi&al +ision& )hen &a"e the "ove"ent to Condon through the .anfroli&o 3ress# )hough I held generally to the A#C# positions till 19F5-F1% ne' stresses and strains !ept appearing as I sought to grapple 'ith the "odernist 'orld and its e1pressions "ore dire&tly and fully# I set out "y o'n version of the A#C# universe in *ionys!s and William Bla,e (19B2)% 'hile in the essays 'ritten for The London Aphrodite the atte"pt to deal 'ith &onte"porary &ulture sho'ed the first stages of a "ove"ent to a ne' synthesis# :uring these years I sought to 'rite poe"s 'hi&h defined a "o"ent of pure sensuous en*oy"ent% and verse-plays 'hi&h used a fusion of =liEabethan% ro"anti& ($eats to (eddoes) and &onte"porary idio"s and rhyth"s to e1press% first the liberated i"age% then the inner &onfli&ts of love that bro!e do'n the aspirations of a life lived-out in pure sensuous en*oy"ent# (Also in -arino Faliero (19B2) I tried to deal 'ith the revolutionary politi&al i"pulse 'hi&h I had no' put behind "e% using the A#C# line of @usti&e as a so&ial &on&ept i"possible of a&tualisation on earth#) In "y poe" on (eethoven,s 8 sharp "inor -uartette I atte"pted a lyri&ally philosophi& state"ent of our beliefs# I had "oved to the position that the only !ind of i"agery &apable of grappling 'ith the "odern situation 'as that 'hi&h "oved beyond the ro"anti& synthesis to that of sy"bolis"# I &alled this style the 8olour I"age and sa' Dagner as the supre"e &reator of su&h i"agery in ter"s of both lyri&al i""edia&y and dra"ati& &onfli&t# )he 'riters 'ho fro" "y later teens had "ost strongly affe&ted "e as having "ost deeply and &o"prehensively defined the stru&ture of e1perien&e in its full so&ial &onte1t 'ere /&ott% (alEa&% :ostoevs!y% /ha!espeare in verse -- though I also read and reread 'ith "u&h sy"pathy "any other =liEabethans% 9arlo'e% Debster% 8hap"an% @onson% :onne# .inally the unresolved &onfli&ts &a"e to a head in 19F5-F1% as told in Fanfroli o and After (194B)% to bring about a total revolt fro" the A#C# positions# .or so"e years of e1tre"e poverty I struggled to rebuild a 'orld vie' on the ruins< not in an abstra&t philosophi& 'ay% but as an integral part of the effort to find a basis in 'or!# A basis that [page 36. ] 'ould enable "e to &arry on living and at the sa"e ti"e &ontinue to e1press the $eatsian &on&ept of )ruth-(eauty in ter"s of the e1perien&es of the

previous t'enty years# At all &osts I had to find a ne' syste" or stru&ture% aestheti&% "oral% philosophi&% for "y 'riting% 'hi&h 'ould pass all the tests I had developed# ?ne 'hi&h &arried on 'hat I still felt as valid in "y previous stages but got rid of the &onfusions and falsities% the li"itations% that had led to the &risis of 19F5-F1# I turned to prose% to the novel% feeling that there 'as the best "ediu" through 'hi&h to build up the "ore ob*e&tive 'orld vie' for 'hi&h I 'as struggling# I 'rote a novel 'ith a &onte"porary the"e% Flat */ellers, in 'hi&h the "ain &hara&ter 'as a young girl 'ho after various se1ual e1perien&es de&ides% though she has had a &hild% to re*e&t all half-"easures and rely on herself alone# And a fantasy about an =arth of /atyrs and 8entaurs% 'hi&h is destroyed through 'ar and an e1plosion brought about by "ad s&ientists# (It thus prophesied the 'ay in 'hi&h the s&ien&e of our divided 'orld 'as "oving to'ards nu&lear fission#) )he fe' publishers I approa&hed 'ere not interested# )hen I at last &a"e through by turning to the histori&al novel and starting a trilogy set in the period of the 8aesarian revolution# I &an best e1plain ho' I arrived at the ne' basis by turning to the poe"s of 8atullus% 'hi&h I had translated 'ith a long e1egesis for the .anfroli&o 3ress# I had seen in hi" the e1istential individual vividly depi&ted in his poetry# Ao' I sought to grasp and unfold the 'orld i"pli&ated there% the so&ial totality refra&ted in the individual e1perien&e# )o reverse the pro&ess that had &reated the poe"s% to e1pand the" ba&! into the so&iety that had "ade 8atullus possible% 'ith his intense rea&tion to i""ediate events# I sa' the individual &aught up in a &o"ple1 pattern of so&ial% e&ono"i&% politi&al "ediations# (I did not yet use the ter" of Cu!a&s% but it best e1plains 'hat I 'as 'or!ing to#) )he "ediations so"eho' &a"e together in a dyna"i& "oving unity# )he pattern 'as refra&ted variously in the individuals "a!ing up the so&iety% so that so"e do"inant aspe&ts of the totality 'ere vitally at 'or! in ea&h one% but never 'ith e1a&tly the sa"e "i1ture in any t'o persons -- though there 'as an ulti"ate &onne&tion in the dyna"i& 'hole# Aever in -uite the sa"e 'ay even in the sa"e person at different "o"ents% though there 'as an ulti"ate unity of the self# At "o"ents the &o"pa&ting or unifying ele"ent predo"inated% at other "o"ents the &ontradi&tory or unbalan&ing ele"ents asserted the"selves and there 'as profound and lasting &onfli&t% 'hi&h &arried on till a ne' balan&e e"erged# I 'as still vague or &onfused as to the !ey-for&es &reating balan&e or unbalan&e (in individual or so&iety)% but I struggled to grasp the 'ay [page 360] in 'hi&h they &on&retely operated at the given "o"ent of history< that of the 8aesarian revolution# I began 'ith 8atilina and his revolt% analysing and interlin!ing all the an&ient or "odern a&&ounts I &ould get> and tried% by going as deep as I &ould into the hu"an situation to disentangle the "ain histori&al patterns% so&ial and politi&al# I then 'ent on to the &risis after the "urder of 8aesar> and after that to the &onfli&t bet'een Augustus and Antony% the battle of A&tiu"% 'hen a ne' balan&e 'as at last a&hieved# I &annot here go further into "y 'or! as a novelist% 'hi&h &ontinued for "ore than thirty years# Already in 19F2% in %nd of #orn/all I tried to e1tend the "ethod to the &onte"porary s&ene% though it 'as not till the post'ar series% The British Way, that I fully grappled 'ith that s&ene# .ro" the outset I "ay &lai" that "y "ethod 'as si"ultaneously e1istential and histori&al% see!ing to see the individual in all the i""edia&ies of his rea&tion to the "o"ent% 'hile setting that "o"ent in a definite histori&al situation -- so that in the last resort the personal situation 'as diale&ti&ally lin!ed 'ith the so&ial or histori&al# )'o "ore 'riters 'ho affe&ted "e in the l9F5s "ust be "entioned% 3roust and )olstoy# 3roust strengthened the sense of the e1istentialist "o"ent% though he abstra&ted that "o"ent fro" the stru&tures of develop"ent> )olstoy helped "e to strengthen in every 'ay the positions at 'hi&h I had arrived% "a!ing "e realise ever "ore a&utely the proble" of the living relationship of the individual and the "oving 'hole# Aear the end of the F5s I read Cu!G&s on /&ott% and felt that his analysis &larified further 'hat I 'as see!ing to do# Dhile at 'or! on "y Ho"an trilogy% I rented by &han&e a &ottage in 'hi&h the previous tenant had left

a large &olle&tion of anthropologi&al 'or!s# I 'as thus able to read the theorisers and synthesisers 9organ% .raEer% 8oo!% Hendel 0arris% 0artland% 8ra'ley 1The -ysti Rose2 and "any others as 'ell as 9alino's!y and various field-'or!ers in Afri&a and 3olynesia# I also studied afresh an&ient religion and the origins and develop"ents of 8hristianity# /u&h studies in ti"e led to the t'o versions of the 3hort 4istory of #!lt!re (19F9% 194B) as 'ell as boo!s li!e The #lashing Ro ,s (1945) and 4elen of Troy (1924)# (ut they also per"eated "y 'hole approa&h to the -uestions of &ulture% "y sense of history and of the relations of the individual and the so&ial 'hole# (y 19F5 I realised% as I turned "ore and "ore to loo! at the a&tual politi&al s&ene in =urope% that it 'as ti"e I read 9ar1# I started on #apital and other 'ritings of his% as 'ell on 'or!s by Cenin# At on&e I felt that here 'as the &lue to bringing together "y ideas in so"ething li!e a fully &oherent 'hole# I "ay &lai" that I had 'or!ed out in "y [page 3)56 photo of Lindsay in "aris for the "ea e #ongress, 7040] [page 3)7] o'n 'ay both a diale&ti&al "ethod and a theory of histori&al "aterialis"% but I had not produ&ed a stable stru&ture# I read 9ar1 'ith a sense of i""ense illu"ination% and felt that at last "y &onverging syste"s of thought had found the full basis of diale&ti&al interrelationship 'hi&h I had been see!ing# )hen the /panish 8ivil Dar bro!e out and I felt "yself dra'n passionately into the politi&al struggle% 'ith the idea of hu"an unity given flesh and blood# I no' too! as "y the"e in histori&al novels the "o"ents of de&isive &hange and great popular for'ard-"ove"ent in =ngland# In "any 'ays the "ost i"portant ele"ent for "e in 9ar1,s thin!ing 'as his &on&ept of alienation and &o""odity-fetishis"# )his enabled "e% I felt% to "a!e se&ure sense of the 'or! I had been doing in anthropology and to realise the &ontinuity bet'een the first for"s of spiritual-so&ial division a"ong hu"an beings fro" the days 'hen the separation out fro" nature 'as refle&ted in ideas of the &huringa% soul-ob*e&t or e1ternal soul% and related rituals# )here see"ed to "e a &lear &hain of spiritual and so&ial states of being that led fro" the &huringa through a vast nu"ber of for"s of the soul-ob*e&t into "oney and into religion proper% 'ith its division of body and soul# 9ar1 sho'ed ho' the final stage of this develop"ent &a"e 'ith the bourgeois redu&tion of people to things# (0is &areful use of the ter" feti hism% it see"ed to "e% proved that he 'ould have 'el&o"ed the full anthropologi&al analysis% not yet possible in his day% of the 'ay in 'hi&h inner and outer division% diale&ti&ally lin!ed% had led finally to bourgeois &o""odity-produ&tion# )he free hu"an being 'as not only one 'ho had been liberated fro" all for"s of e1ploitation> he 'as also one liberated fro" &o""odity-produ&tion# I have ho'ever found all 9ar1ists% orthodo1 or not% to be hostile to su&h an approa&h# I on&e sent a &onsidered essay on the sub*e&t to 8e/ Left Re$ie/% and had it returned 'ithout &o""ent 'ithin a fe' days#) I atte"pted to apply "y &on&ept of diale&ti&s in a large and diverse nu"ber of fields% 'hi&h I &annot analyse here# (ut I 'ish to "a!e the point that +appli&ation, 'as never a "atter of using a rigidly given set of ideas and for&ing the "aterial into their pattern# )he &on&ept "ust spring fro" the inner life and "ove"ent of the "aterial% and only then be generalised# (.or this reason the stru&tural syste" evolving 'as never stressed% and so did not see" to e1ist to readers 'ho &ould only re&ognise it if it 'ere abstra&ted and set over against the "aterial#) .ro" the start I felt that the e1tension of diale&ti&s into ne' fields 'as also a &larifi&ation and develop"ent of the "ethods used# If 'hat one found 'as "erely a syste" already for"ulated in abstra&t ter"s% then there 'as so"ething 'rong 'ith the e1ploration and 'ith the ter"s# I 'as helped in this position by the one ele"ent in AietE- [page 3)9] s&he 'hi&h I felt to be valid and 'hi&h re"ained 'ith "e (as dis&ussed above)% and by "y study of iordano (runo% his struggle to transfor" philosophy and to grasp reality as a single dyna"i& pro&ess in 'hi&h for" and "atter are inseparably united and in 'hi&h opposites are diale&ti&ally fused# +It is profound "agi& to !no' ho' to dra' out the &ontrary after having found the point of union#, )he devoted life of (runo stirred "e deeply# I 'rote a novel on hi"% Adam of a 8e/ World (19F4)% and later translated his #a!se, "rin iple, and 'nity (194B)% 'ith &riti&al apparatus#

I thus &a"e early (1944) into &onfli&t 'ith the orthodo1 defenders of 9ar1is" in a thesis in 'hi&h I set out the idea of &ulture (art% poetry% s&ien&e and so on) as a for" of produ&tion 'ithout 'hi&h here &ould be no hu"an e1isten&e% no "ove"ent for'ard# 8ulture 'as thus diale&ti&ally lin!ed 'ith e&ono"i& a&tivity% but not in any "e&hanisti& 'ay derived fro" it# 9y ideas 'ere totally re*e&ted# I 'as further atta&!ed as 'holly on the 'rong tra&! 'hen I published -ar:ism and #ontemporary 3 ien e (1949)# ?ne of "y points 'as that &onfli&t or &ontradi&tion &ould only be diale&ti&ally grasped as o&&urring inside a unity> and I 'ent on to analyse the positions in various s&ientifi& fields to bring out 'hat ele"ents there 'ere diale&ti&ally based or &apable of diale&ti&al develop"ent# I had been "u&h affe&ted by "eeting C# C# Dhyte and dis&ussing these proble"s 'ith hi"# 0e set out the ideas soon after published in The 'nitary "rin iple in "hysi s and Biology& 0is analyses 'ere "u&h &on&erned 'ith the part played by sy""etry and asy""etry in the stru&ture and develop"ent of "atter# /tarting 'ith 8urie,s aphoris" that the asy""etry &reated the pheno"enon% he 'ent on to sho' subtly ho' develop"ent o&&urred through the reassertion of sy""etry in an asy""etri&al situation# I felt strongly that su&h ideas enabled one to produ&e a fully &riti&al fo&us on post- alilean s&ien&e 'ith its basis in stable states% in sy""etry# Dith =instein% 3lan&!% nu&lear or parti&le physi&s% the possibility% the ne&essity% of a ne' s&ien&e% diale&ti&ally based% 'as present# Au&lear fission% I &a"e to realise% 'as the final disastrous 'or!ing-out of bourgeois s&ien&e 'ith its "e&hanisti& basis# )hese positions underlay "y boo!s on an&ient s&ien&e% &o"ing to a head 'ith Blastpo/er and Ballisti s (1924)# ?nly in 3oland 'as there any serious evaluation of "y boo!% in a long &riti&al but sy"patheti& essay# Dhile &ontinuing to atte"pt to +apply, "y 9ar1is" in novels% poetry% histori&al or anthropologi&al 'or!s% in biographies of 'riters or artists% and so on% I did "y best to re&ast "y dire&t for"ulations "ore effe&tively# In the 1945s I 'rote t'o 'or!s on Alienation% (ureau&ra&y in /o&ialis"% and allied topi&s% but &ould not get the" [page 3)3] published# .inally I put "y ideas together in a boo!% The #risis in -ar:ism (1981)% that atte"pted to analyse the "ain e1pressions of 9ar1ist thought after 1912 -- in /talin% Cu!G&s% (lo&h% the .ran!furt /&hool% I Althusser% :ella Jolpe% 8olletti -- and to present "y version of an open 9ar1is"% dia"etri&ally opposed to all &losed syste"s< to the dog"a of +the &o"plete% har"onious% &onsistent syste" of all the vie's and tea&hings of 9ar1, (Cenin)% and to the various &onfused or one sided atte"pts to brea! through the dog"ati& positions# In su&h a version the &ontradi&tion bet'een a diale&ti&al syste" e1pounding hu"an history and a "e&hanisti& syste" ruling in s&ien&e is at last bro!en do'n# )hat at least is ho' I see it# :espite all the &hanges% the "any &onfusions as 'ell as steady efforts to integrate afresh "y ideas in order to ta&!le ever larger issues% I feel a deep and living &ontinuity bet'een "y positions as set out in 1981 and those 'ith 'hi&h I 'as struggling over si1ty years ago in "y responses to $eats% 3lato% (la!e#
KKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK

I In Adorno the ele"ent in AietEs&he% 'hi&h I have praised as a defen&e against dog"atis"s% is &arried to its e1tre"e# )he result is a de"oralising parody in 'hi&h nothing 'hatever &an be said of life 'hi&h is not at on&e falsified# (ut to rea&h this position it 'as ne&essary also for Adorno% li!e the others of his /&hool% to &onsider the 'or!ing-&lass hopelessly integrated into &apitalis"% so that no &lass or allian&e &ould ever brea! through the i"passe of alienation and resolve the bourgeois &ontradi&tions#

SOURCE: Cindsay% @a&!# L A Aote on 9y :iale&ti&L% in< #!lt!re and 4istory6 %ssays "resented to ;a , Lindsay% edited by (ernard /"ith (/ydney< 0ale M Ire"onger% 1984)% pp# F4F-F2F#
L)he ?rigins of @a&! Cindsay;s 8ontributions to (ritish 9ar1ist )houghtL by @oel H# (rou'er

L)o'ards a 9ar1ist Aestheti&L by @a&! Cindsay Adorno and the .ran!furt /&hool by @a&! Cindsay @a&! Cindsay and (ritish 3oetry in the 19F5s% by Adrian 8aesar A <arland for ;a , Lindsay A 8he&!list of @a&! Cindsay;s (oo!s Offsite Links: @a&! Cindsay - Di!ipedia 3apers of @a&! Cindsay (1955-1995) (9/ 2148% Aational Cibrary of Australia) The =rigins of Al hemy in <rae o>Roman %gypt by @a&! Cindsay 3oe" )o 9arie :el&ourt-8urvers [09)C] )o 9arie :el&ourt-8urvers [pdf file] )he .irst and 8on&luding 8hapters

0o"e 3age N /ite 9ap N Dhat;s Ae' N 8o"ing Attra&tions N (oo! Ae's (ibliography N 9ini-(ibliographies N /tudy uides 9y Dritings N ?ther Authors; )e1ts N 3hilosophi&al 6uotations I"ages M /ounds N =1ternal Cin!s

CONTACT Halph :u"ain

7ploaded BF April B551