Contradiction

A contradiction, as understood by dialectical materialism, is a relationship consisting of the struggle and unity of opposites. Contradictions are the motivator of all change. Examples of contradictions in physical sciences include attraction and repulsion, heat and cold, or photosynthesis and cellular respiration. Separate from a “contradiction” in the mainstream sense, which refers to the occurrence of one part of an argument refuting another.

Further reading

• On Contradiction (1937), by Mao Zedong