Politzer makes minor misunderstandings of internal contradictions. This is rectified in my list by adding On Contradiction right after, but taken as a single source of dialectical materialism, it can lead to errors in how we view contradiction itself, resulting in vulgar dialectics. An example is when Politzer characterizes the crushing of a flea as not an example of autodynamism, instead characterizing it as external and mechanical, while Mao more accurately shows that the winner and loser of a battle is determined by their internal characteristics.

This is a decent thread going over it, along with debate around Politzer’s understanding and dialectics in general. It’s actually what’s prompting me to take a detour from Capital Volume 3 and revisit dialectical materialism to patch up holes I may have.

Yep, will probably have to add Anti-Dühring and Materialism and Empirio-Criticism, then split the guide into “Basic” and “Advanced.” I’m unsatisfied with the level of philosophy in the current guide, but just dropping those in when the guide itself is already ballooned means it’s no intro guide.

Better to have a true intro section that covers the basics as simply and quickly as possible, and a true advanced section where I can put everything I want.