The Dynamics of Hegelian Dialectics, and Non-Linearity in the Sciences

Abstract

The specific question to which this paper is addressed is the relevancy of Hegel to contemporary science. However, in order to show how Hegel is relevant, it is extremely important to read Hegel from the perspective of awareness that modern science is in the process of developing, in order to see whether there are any formulations explicitly or implicitly expressed by Hegel that touch on the central issues of contemporary science. As will become evident in the paper, the problem of Non-Linearity in the sciences is regarded here as an all-encompassing question, and one which furthermore is inseparably related to the problem of formulating a dialectic logic of relations. However, the dialectic nature of Non-Linearity proceeds from an awareness of relations that is not usually found in the approach most interpretators of Hegel take. Hegel’s system presents an awesome structure of categories and it is very easy to get lost in them, if one has not grasped the essential dynamic that flows through them, a dynamic, which, from a nonlinear perspective, turns out to be a most valuable insight in Hegel’s system.