How to treat inevitability and contingency in the historical process

First, the general principles of inevitability and contingency.

Necessity and contingency are a pair of philosophical categories, which reveal two different trends in the development of things.

(A) the definition of category

1, inevitability is an inevitable trend in the process of things' existence and development.

2. Chance is a variety of possible and uncertain trends in the process of things' existence and development.

(2) Dialectical relationship

The relationship between inevitability and contingency is unity of opposites.

1, opposite (difference)

Inevitability is the definite trend of the development of things and is in a dominant position;

Chance is an uncertain trend in the development of things and is in a subordinate position.

2, unified (contact)

First, interdependence.

(1) inevitability is inseparable from contingency, and inevitability is expressed through contingency;

(2) contingency and inevitability are inseparable, and inevitability is hidden behind contingency.

Second, mutual transformation.

(1) In the historical evolution, accidental things become inevitable things, and inevitable things become accidental things.

For example, commodity exchange was accidental when it began to appear at the end of primitive society.

Later it became an inevitable economic phenomenon.

② In different relationships, the same phenomenon is inevitable in one relationship and accidental in another.

Second, the inevitability and contingency in the historical process

(A) the definition of category

1. Inevitability in the historical process is an inevitable trend in the process of social development.

2. Chance in the historical process is a variety of possible and uncertain trends in the process of social development.

(2) Dialectical relationship

1, the inevitability of history is expressed by contingency.

The historical inevitability of the times creating heroes is realized by chance.

An accidental conspiracy caused the meeting to turn sharply, and finally established Comrade * * *'s leading position in the Red Army and the CPC Central Committee.

2. Historical contingency includes historical inevitability.

The historical contingency of the protagonist's situation changes contains historical inevitability.

Even without * * * *' s witty counterattack and the Zunyi Meeting's failure to make a correct choice, the China Revolution will inevitably produce other great figures in a more difficult course.

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Extended data:

Necessity and contingency

A pair of philosophical categories that reflect different types of connections between things from essential factors and non-essential factors.

Necessity refers to the inevitable connection and the only possible trend determined by essential factors in reality; Chance refers to the connection among various possible states determined by non-essential and intertwined factors in reality.

All processes in the objective world are restricted by causality. There are essential reasons and non-essential reasons among the factors that affect the movement and change of things.

The essential and fundamental reasons determine the definite and stable direction of the development process of things, and determine that things can only exist in a unique way under given conditions and be transformed into reality with the only possibility, that is, the inevitability of things' development.

However, in the development process of things, there are complicated and interwoven non-essential and secondary reasons, which make the overall fixed process show the characteristics of uncertainty and instability in specific links, that is, the contingency of phenomena and events.

A specific contingency may or may not occur, it may appear in this way, or it may appear in another way.

A correct understanding of the dialectical relationship between inevitability and contingency is of great significance to scientific research and people's practical activities.

Necessity is the main feature of regularity. Only by understanding inevitability can we grasp regularity.

In scientific activities, we can't abandon contingency to pursue inevitability, and we can't just study the accidental details of individual objects.

The task of scientific exploration is to reveal the inevitability through a lot of contingency, so that the cognitive movement can realize the transformation from phenomenon to essence, from individual to general, from experience to theory.

In scientific and technological activities, people often encounter unexpected accidental opportunities, and we can gain new knowledge by carefully analyzing the phenomenon of opportunities.

Freedom is the understanding and conscious application of inevitability. Only by correctly understanding inevitability can revolutionary practice have freedom of action.

Chance can accelerate or delay the inevitable process of the development of things, and we should be good at grasping favorable chance to make it an opportunity to promote the development of things.

For accidental changes that may be harmful, we should nip in the bud and try to limit its scope of action when it appears.