Chapter Four 
                                                
                                      THE CATEGORY SYSTEM OF SYSTEMS DIALECTICS

The categories in systems dialectics are the thinking forms that reflect the essential relationships of the systematic material world, and they are the fundamental concepts in each sphere of knowledge. Each specific discipline has its own category system, which is the scientific result generalized on the basis of practice, and which, in turn, becomes a guide for further practice and cognition of the world. There are different categories in the different systems, and the different systems have their own specific contents. But in the following basic aspects they have common intrinsic characteristics: They are all the general and intrinsic reflections of the systematic material world; all the categories are in the relationship of discrepancy and synergism; they are all developed on the basis of practice, as cognition is, and then in turn guide cognition and practice.

All the categories are closely related to, rather than independent of, each other. In systems dialectical thinking, a category is not independent, but functions together with a series of such fundamental laws as the law of the optimization of wholeness, the law of qualitative change in structure, the law of level transformation and the law of discrepancy and synergism. Category is a supplement to, the expression of and development from the laws. These two aspects make up the whole system of systems dialectics. This system is formed on the basis of all the laws and categories of materialist dialectics. It has resulted from the new achievements of the theories of modern science and technology. These categories are not only applicable to a certain level or sphere of the systematic material world, but also have universality and objectivity in the natural world, human societies and human thinking. The process of gradual abstraction is not simple "introducing" or "copying"; nor is it a "leap" to a higher level after only a few examples. It is really the product of scientifically abstracting the system's dialectical qualities of objective reality itself.

The category system of systems dialectics differs from the traditional category system that is in the form of pairs. It is a category system in the form of pairs, non-pairs, chains or others. It has the characteristics of diversity, extensiveness, mobility and universality. This new category system is the result of the rapid development of science and technology, and the constant deepening of human cognition. It also stems from the need for development in modern society. It will provoke people to transform their "two-pole thinking" into "multi-pole thinking'' and "whole-system thinking" that are closer to the intrinsic relationship of the systematic material world. It will also prevent people, as they often do, from getting into the subjective, one-sided and ossified way of cognizing the systematic material world. It will further reveal the organizable, systematized and integrated nature of the universal relationships of the systematic material world.

The category system of systems dialectics is a historical product of the development of human cognition. It signifies that human cognition of the objective world has developed to the level of systematic thinking. At present, this category system is still in the preliminary stage. It has just been framed and is far from perfect, but it is sure to be gradually enriched and perfected with the development of human social practice and scientific research.

Since much study has already been done on paired categories this book will mainly discuss non-paired categories, especially the categories in the form of category chains.


                                                      Section One

                                    THE CATEGORY OF EXISTENCE (LINKS)

I. System-Structure Element

Systems and elements make up the systematic material world, with structure as inter-connection, which is the intrinsic quality of and existence form of system. Without structural linking between system and elements there would be no system, and elements would not be proper elements. Without this connection the interrelation and interaction of system and element would not exist and thus would be unthinkable. So systems dialectics combines system -structure -element into a category chain, revealing that the systematic material world is an organic whole, and revealing its laws of system and such diversities of system as causality relation, coupling relation, level structure relation, function relation, origin relation, and so on. It also reveals the concrete process of motion and development of the material system. This category chain supplies modern science with important principles, and it enriches modern scientific methods. To grasp this category chain is of great significance both in theory and practice.

(i) Denotations of System , Structure and Element
(a) Denotation of System
System is the organic whole consisting of certain interlinking and interacting elements through the medium of structure. This definition implies that system consists of three aspects: element, structure and function, none of which may be omitted.

System is an organic whole. Entirety is the fundamental characteristic of the system.

In a system the systematic whole does not equal the sum of all the independent elements. The characteristics and functions of a systematic whole can neither be deduced as the sum of the characteristics and functions of the elements making up the whole, nor can they be inferred from the concerned component elements. The characteristics and functions of a systematic whole are things that do not exist in each independent component element. The characteristics and functions of a systematic whole can only come into being when they exist as a whole. But, when the whole is decomposed into independent elements, the characteristics and ructions of the systematic whole will disappear. In the same way, the characteristics and functions of the systematic whole will not exist if both the whole and structure and elements and structure are decomposed into independent parts. The component element and the interlinking structure are only meaningful when they are in the systematic whole. When they are separated from the systematic whole they lose the sense of component element and structure. For example, life is a complex molecular system, and not just a simple sum of such chemical macromolecules as nucleic acid and protein. Only when the interaction of the genetic system relying on nucleic acid and metabolic systems based on protein takes place does the new relationship between information, transformation, control, adjustment and interlinking structure start within the multimolecular system, and the living characteristics such as metabolism, self-reproduction, growth, development, heredity and variation arise. When nucleic acid and protein leave this complete framework of life and exist independently from each other without the linking network structure they lose the effect and function of life as a whole. It is thus clear that system, element and structure are related to each other and to organic quality as a whole. When the elements and the whole are determined, the interlinking structure becomes the determining condition, only with whose existence can organizability of the whole be maintained.

(b) Denotation of Element
Element is the component unit making up a system. Element is the base and practical carrier of system. Separated from elements, the system would be sourceless water or a rootless tree. The component units of system have the characteristic of divisibility into different levels; the more complex a system is, the more levels its components have. In a given system the elements are independent of, extrinsic to and discrepant from each other; elements interrelate, interact and form a certain structure at a certain Irate. And the same element has different characteristics, posit ions and functions in different material systems.

In a system which can be divided into several sub-systems, elements are dualistic. The elements have, besides their own qualities, the positions and properties of the sub-systems.

(c) Denotation of Structure
Structure is the intermediate connections between system and elements, such as connection in causal structure, in level structure, in functional structure, in source structure, etc. Structure here no longer means the same as its original concept; it is the medium that a system uses to link elements. Its characteristics are as follows: In the category chain of system and elements structure is relationship and reaction. It is an objective and universal existence instead of being symmetrical; it always exists in the forms of matter, energy, information and many others.

(ii) The Dialectical Relationship of the Category Chain of System--Structure--Element
(a) System and Element Are Interrelated and Interact Through Structure
System, element and structure rely on each other and take each other as conditions. There would be no elements or structure without the system, no system or structure without elements, and no system or elements without structure. There would be no method or passageway to relate them without the mutual reliance and reaction of the three. In the systematic material world, system--structure--elements always come into being together, develop together and die out together. None of them can do this independently.

When a system is in a condition of balance and stability the whole system is controlled by a structure which decides the positional order, quality and extent of the reaction. Also, it governs the characteristics and functions of each element and coordinates the proportions between all the elements.

What is more, the dependence of system on elements is possible only through the connection of system, under the condition of structural linking elements also determining the system. This means elements connect and interact through structure, and generally and dialectically decide the characteristics, functions and laws of system. The multi-sequence, multi-dimension, multi-level and non-linear relationship of all the structural connections of elements decide the diversity of function in the system as a whole.

(b) Through Structure System and Element Interchange in Given Conditions
The differences between the quality and position of system --structure--element are relative. They interchange in given conditions. On the one hand, when a system, through the interaction of structure and surrounding environment, forms a higher system in a given relationship the original system will be transformed into component elements of the higher system. On the other hand, the component elements of any system, through the interaction of structure, will also form a lower system in a given relationship. At this time, the elements themselves in the original system will change into a lower system. For example, when two atoms, through a given interaction, combine into a molecule then nucleus and electrons--the component elements of the atom--can further change into a new nucleus system and electron system in a given structure. It is only because of the change of position and quality of system--structure--element that the grades and levels are formed in nature.

The interchanging relationship of a complex system and its elements, with the reaction and connection of structure, is more complex. For example, the human body is subdivided into relatively independent specific units of function, such as the nervous system, the digestive system, the circulatory system, and the muscular system. They share the function of the living whole. This situation can be considered as the limited and partial transformation of a systematic whole function, through different human structures, into elements. It can also be considered as a subdivision of the whole function, through structure, into the function of elements. The structure in this situation is made up of energy and information supplied by the whole, so that the transformation can happen. And the transformation of the partial function of elements into the function of the systematic whole can only be realized through structural linkage. For example, disturbance or damage to the human internal system, through the connecting structure of nerves and brain, causes disorder and imbalance in the whole human biological function. The structure in this situation is causal structure. Partial function is transformed into the function of the systematic whole through this relationship.

(iii) Significance of the Category Chain of System--Structure--Element
The appearance of the category chain of system--structure --element is the product of a tortuous, long and complex cognition of history and modern science and technological development. Since the 1940s science and technology have tended to develop toward integrity. All the disciplines infiltrate each other, forming a united whole. General subjects such as the formed system have become the natural tendency for modern scientific cognition. Natural dialectics has abstracted the category pair of system and element, and systems dialectics has further abstracted the systematic category chain of system --structure--element. This is of great theoretical significance for enriching and developing Marxist philosophy, and of great practical significance in attempts to understand and remold the world.

(a) The Category Chain of Systems--Structure--Element Reflects and Deepens the Dialectical Materialist Principle of the Universal Relationship of Objects

Systems dialectics believes not only that the world is a material one; the material world is made up of systems; systems are made up of elemental units; and elemental units are connected with structure to become systems. It also interprets the way elements connect at different levels. Systems structure--element form the organic systems whole. This world outlook reflects and deepens the dialectical materialist principle of the universal relationship between objects.

Engels said, "The whole nature we are facing forms one setup, i.e. the whole of all kinds of interrelated objects" (Engels, Dialectics of Nature, P. 5). About this, systems dialectics has the following comments: First, Engels has the same trend of systems thought, but it is not complete yet, not systematic. Second, "setup" means system, "all kinds of objects" means elements, "interrelated" is not explained in a specific way here. Third, Engels did not raise the scientific concepts of "system" and "element," or the ways and means of their linking, namely "structure." The category chain of system--structure--element is not clearly mentioned either. These subjects can only be taken up today. Therefore, it cannot be said that this is not the further development of the dialectical materialist principle of the universal relationship of objects.

This category chain deepens the viewpoints on relationship. Systems dialectics takes relationship as something to interact, to connect, through the structure of intermediary linkage between system and elements, elements and elements, between levels within a system, and system and external environment. This makes relationship a network and network structure, and makes the systems material world stereoscopic because the material world is a stereoscopic network structure after all.

(b) The Category Chain of System--Structure--Element Reflects an Important Principle of Modern Scientific Epistemology
System transforms the subject of cognition from "object-centered theory" to "system-centered theory," and develops the way of thinking from two-dimensional to three-dimensional or multi-dimensional thinking. This transformation symbolizes a reform of the cognitive structure. To some extent, it changes the principles on which people observe and understand the world; system--structure--element--structure--levels--structure--regressive system--structure--external environment...On the one hand, people start from a systems wholeness, through elements and levels, and return to a systems whole, which agrees with the principle of cognition of the systems world: that systems wholeness is both the start and the destination of people's understanding. On the other hand, structure turns its relationship and function into the real existence of system from emptiness, and so structure is the medium through which people know the objective world.

The systems world contains quite a number of items: the integrity, complexity and organic property of the system; the structural relationship and functions between system and elements, elements and element system and environment; the regularity of systems motion, change and development; and the optimization of systems structure, function and motion process. The world outlook of systems dialectics is able to make some principles of materialist dialectics quantified and precise, so that the theory of materialistic dialectics is upgraded to a higher stage of development--the systems dialectics stage. It can more effectively solve practical problems as well.

The category chain of system--structure--element supplies scientific understanding with interrelative principles and the principles of integrity, sequence, mobility and optimization. If we apply these principles in modern science and technology, and all the other areas, this is the scientific systems method.

(c) The Category Chain of System--Structure--Element Enriches and Deepens the Scientific Methods of Analysis and Synthesis

According to analysis and generalization, and their way of thinking, the logical conclusion is usually derived from the view that good partial functions will make a good whole function, and bad partial functions will make a bad whole function. In the complex systems material world, such a conclusion is usually not perfectly accurate.

The category chain of system--structure--element, in the way of methods, vests traditional analysis and generalization with new contents and meaning, enriches and deepens dialectical logical analysis to produce a generalization. It stresses starting with the whole, after the preliminary generalization of the whole structure and function, through the medium of structure, then analyzing the elements in a concrete way to set llp a necessary mold and them returning to the whole general-
ization. The way of thinking is as follows: Firstly, generalization is treated as both a starting point and a destination, and takes as purpose the thorough understanding of matter's complexity. It compares analysis and generalization through a medium, then connects them closely with each other. Analysis and generalization accompany each other on the basis of structure. What should be noticed is that the category chain of generalization-comparison-analysis is three-dimensional or multidimensional thinking instead of two-dimensional thinking, and it takes generalization as a guide in analysis, and not as postlude. In the same way, generalization is made through necessary analysis, but is not separated from analysis. Here, a comparison exists through all the processes of generalizing and analyzing. It is of greater significance to make a study of a complex system by the means of generalization--comparison--analysis.


                                       II. Structure--Fluctuation Function

Structure--fluctuation function form a category chain which is the intrinsic property of the systems material world, the nuclear category of systems dialectical categories.

(i) Denotations of Structure, Fluctuation and Function
(a) Denotation of Structure
Structure is the means of the interrelationships and the interactions of all component elements in the systems material world. It is the total sum of connections and interrelationships between elements. The means of interaction is the exact form of certain permutations and combinations of elements in space, and it is the form of concrete linkage and function between elements.

The systematic material world is always existing, moving and changing in a certain structural form. In the natural world matter and structure can never be separated. For non-living things, general star systems, star system clusters, star systems, stars, planets, macro objects, molecules, atoms, nuclei and elementary particles are all in structure. For living things, cells, organs, systems, individuals, colonies, etc., have structures of their own, too. For human society, science and technology, productive forces, relations of production, superstructures and others constitute the whole social structure, and industry, agriculture, commerce, communi cation, transportation and construction constitute the active economic structure. Also, family, factory, shop, school, association, party and class are all wholes with structures. Human ability also has structures, for example, observation, attention, comprehension, imagination, thinking and working ability constitute the structures of people's cognition and thinking. So structures are universal and objective in the systematic material world, and are in motion and change too.

Different structural forms of systematic elements give different materials having different properties and functions. When the concrete connecting forms between elements are different after fluctuation, the order, distance and position (direction) of elements are different in space, they produce different structural forms, and they make systematic matter with different properties and functions. Structure has three aspects: the kinds of elements taken into the structure, the number of elements in the composition, and the way elements combine and their degree of organization in structure. The three aspects of structure are the substantial basic elements of structure. The means of combination and the degree of organization are the substantial and nuclear elements of structure.

The way structures combine and their degree of organization rely on the structuring force. Structuring force has four basic interacting forces: gravitational force, electromagnetic force, strong force and weak force. This is the essential basis of structural existence. It makes all the elements in a structure interrelate and interact. Structuring force helps elements to adjust to each other, refine each other and coordinate with each other.

Since structuring force makes elements an organic system, it has entirety, hierarchy, centricity, sequence, stability and variability. Except for centricity, all these properties are explained in this book, therefore no further explanation is given here. The centricity of systematic structure means that when elements combine in a system they are seldom completely and evenly distributed in time and space, but always have differences in :density and complexity. At any stage of development elements may be denser and more complex, but at another stage of development they may be relatively sparse or simple. Where they are dense and complex this is structural core. Structural core exists universally. For example, the galaxy has its galactic core, the solar system has its solar core, the earth has its core, an atom has a nucleus, and to does a cell. tn addition, the brain is the core of the human body, and the capital or wherever the central government is located is Ihe political core of a state. The structural core is the nucleus which determines the whole structure. Therefore, the reform of the structural core must precede the reform of the structure. The key point in forming a new structure is the creation of a new structural core.

(b) Denotation of Function
Function is the behavior, ability and effect of the systematic material whole. There are two kinds of functions--external and internal functions.

External function is the action, ability, behavior and effect that the systematic material whole must have to suit and change the internal environment as it interacts with the external environment. It is the external expression of system in organizational structure.

Internal function is the reaction, ability, behavior and effect of the systematic whole on elements. For example, the internal function of the human brain is to coordinate the two hemispheres and all the other areas, and to store, process and arrange the obtained information.

The external function of the human brain is to control, adjust and restrict the organ to respond to external stimuli.

Function is the intrinsic generalization of the common properties of the systematic material world. Function, whether simple or complex, is varied and arranged in hierarchies.

(c) Denotation of Fluctuation
Fluctuation, in the category chain of structure--fluctuation--function, refers to the way that structure and function relate in a system. Systematic elemenlts, through the structuring force, combine elements to bring structure into existence. The mode of structure determines the function of structure. The appearance of function relies on the reaction and relationship of internal and external environments and systems, and the reactions and relationships are results of the fluctuation of the function of systematic structure; conversely, it is in fluctuation that the function of structure emerges. So, fluctuation is the method of interlinking of the interrelation and interaction between structure and function; it is objective reality and the effects of structure and function combined. Structure and function can, through fluctuation, connect each other, restrict each other and postulate each other (see figure). Fluctuation is the change of a structure's up and down movement and the function's increase and decrease. It can be seen clearly from the figure that structure postulates and guides function through fluctuation; function, in turn, affects and changes structure through fluctuation. During the development of the systematic material world structure and function, through fluctuation, form the structure which postulates function, which in turn changes the infinite motional order of structure.

(ii) Dialectical Relationship Between Structure--Fluctuation-Function
(a) Structure--Fluctuation--Function Interdepend and Inter-restrict
The interrelationship of structure and function through fluctuation is complex and various. There are three kinds of common relationships: First, same structure and same function. A systematic structure has its own corresponding function through fluctuation. The same structures function just the same in fluctuation. For example, urea, whether it is natural or synthetic, has the same structure, and after relating to agriculture, fluctuation arises and urea's function is carried out to help crops grow better. If urea does not relate to agriculture, and fluctuation does not arise, the function of urea cannot be carried out. Second, same structure but different function or one structure but many functions. The disappearance of a function from the structure does not mean that there exists pure structure without function. As a matter of fact, there still exist some other forms of function, and a structural system still has its function. The function of this structure again shows that fluctuation comes into being, develops and dies out together with structure and function. Third, different structure but same function. Different structures can have the same function. For example, a plastic bottle and a glass bottle are different in structure, but they both can, through relationship with fluctuation, show the function of being filled with oil, water or other liquids.

Structure and function restrict each other through fluctuation. On the one hand, structure determines function. The structure of a system will show its corresponding function. The stable structure of system stipulates and restricts the quality and level of system function; it also restricts the size and extent of system function. For example, in mechanics, if three sticks of the same kind are nailed together respectively in the shapes "N," "H" and "A, "their stabilities are quite different. This explains that it is with the effect of fluctuation that the structural function of sticks appears. On the other hand, functions are relatively independent of each other and counteract structure, which must, of course, be through the fluctuation of function and structure. Function is a relatively active element, and structure is relatively conservative. Function, under the effect of all external elements and fluctuations, keeps changing, which in turn influences structure. There are two kinds of effects that function has on structure: One is that functional optimization and evolution influence the orderly evolution of structure. For example, a cow chews a large quantity of plants. The long-term best "functional exercise" causes the growth of molars and the palate, and certain changes in its head structure. Another is that degeneration of function leads to the degeneration or disappearance of structure. For example, a tapeworm may be lodged in the cow's intestines, and has long been used to eating "ready food," so it does not have to take "functional exercise." So the structure of its digestive organs has disappeared, and the structure of its nervous system is also variated degeneratively, reactions that are both suitable So and different from each other. Structure controls the size, extent, quality and level of function, and function is variated under the effect of environment and then, in turn, affects structure. Function may cause changes of structure and even break the restraints of the original structure.

(b) Structure and Function Interchange in the Condition of Fluctuation
Structure and function are able to interchange in the condition of fluctuation. On the one hand, the category chain of structure--fluctuation--function is connected and is able to interchange. Structure itself can be a system, so a structural system has functions of its own. In the same way, function itself is able to form a system, and the functional system has a structure of its own. Structure contains function through system, and function, too, contains structure through system. On the other hand, the causal relationship of structure--fluctuation-function interchanges. Structural change causes functional change. Function changes,when structure does, and then old objects turn into new ones. Conversely, functional change causes structural change. Structure and function are cause and effect to each other. Functional change is caused by structural change. Conversely, functional change is the cause of structural change. This is a reversible, non-linear two-way process. The process of heredity and variation in the evolution of living things is a good example of structure and function being non-linearly causal to each other through fluctuation in given natural conditions.

(iii) Significance of the Category Chain of Structure--Fluctuation-Function
(a) The Structure Method is an Important and Universal Method to Cognize and Study the Laws of the Systems Material World

The structural method is the method of turning the theory of structural category into scientific cognitive method and scientific research method. Thistheory supplies both natural and social sciences with understanding and research methods. The category chain of structure fluctuation function promulgated by systems dialectics enriches and develops the structural method. When structure and function are studied the subject must be studied in fluctuation, which makes it of greater practical and theoretical significance.

The structural method may guide and help natural scientific research. This is significant in two aspects. First, the study of the internal structure of system means the study of the laws of system. The reason is that the internal law of system is a generalization and summary of the internal structure of system, which is expressed by the structure of system. The mastery of law and achievement of freedom are inevitably expressed in cognition of the internal structure of the systems material world. The category chain of structure--fluctuation--function is, in nature, the method of promulgating the internal law of system from the interacting ultimate cause. Second, the study of the structural form of system solves the problem of same structure but different elements. The problem of same structure but different elements is that, in certain situations, systems are similar in structural form, even though their contents are different. For example, spheroids of all kinds are called "globular." The study of structure reveals a relationship between the volume and the diameter of a spheroid. What has to be done is to work out the formula for spheroid volume, then the volume of any kind of spheroid can be worked out through the formula.

(b) The dialectical Relationship Between Structure, Fluctuation and Function Offers Important Principles and Methods for the Cognition and Remaking of the World.

Following the principle that structure determines function and function reflects structure and reacts to structure, it is possible to work out function from the known structure, or work out structure from the funcction of the known subject.

Following the principle of same structure and same function, human beings can make up synthetics that have the same structures and same functions as natural objects. In 1965, based on the fact that natural bovine insulin has the same structure as natural insulin, China synthesized bovine insulin for the first time in the world. The synthetic bovine insulin has the same biochemical energy as natural insulin.

The basic principle of the systems dialectical relationship of structure--fluctuation--function is to set up the theoretical base and instructive principle of the simulation of modern function. Using this principle, a new way was found to seek scientific design in the living world.

For example, a fly's eye is made up of over 4,000 small eyes with very high resolution. By simulating the function of a fly, a fly-eye type camera was made, of which the lens is made up of 1,329 small lenses. It can take 1,329 photographs at a time with the resolution of 4,000 lines per centimeter. This high-resolution camera has the same resolution as a fly's eye.

(c) The Systems Dialectical Relationship Between Structure, Fluctuation and Function Offers Principles and Methods for Changing Society

At present, social changes are taking place everywhere in the world. Social change actually takes place under the guidance of certain types of social thinking and values to create artificial social objects. The reformation of economic structure will eliminate an ineffective economic structure, and its function is to establish a more scientific economic structure that can stimulate the growth of the productive forces. The value of social change is to promote new functions in the reformed area. And the making of a new function has to start with reforming its structural core, that is, the government structure. For example, in order to fully raise a government department's guidance function, service function, synergism function, supervision function and control function, its setup or structure must be adjusted. Function can only be performed through setup, so function would lose its effectiveness without adjustment or reformation of the setup that hinders the function from being performed. It is clear now that the issue of structure and function is considered in the present social reform as the essential one.

The category chain of structure fluctuation function is extracted and distilled on the basis of present-day science and practice. It is a necessity of Marxist philosophical development.


                                           III. State--Process--Change

(i) Denotations of State, Process and Change
The systems material world can be divided into several levels. In systems there universally exists the phenomenon that the lower level may change in methods or forms while qualitative change does not take place at the higher level.

(a) Denotation of State
State is the condition the characterizing systematic matter is in. State is the existing way or form of expression of systematic matter in a certain period of time while the quality has not changed. The existing way or form of expression is a process.

The state of systematic matter and the systematic matter itself are different in quality. State can never exist without system, and any systematic matter is always in a certain state. State as a property of systematic matter is the existing way or form of expression of systematic matter. Systematic matter is categorized as a higher level, while state is categorized as a lower one. When systematic matter does not change in quality, the change of its state can only be a kind of quantitative change of the systematic matter. For example, an atom is at a higher level, and the state of the orbital energy level in an electron's transition is at a lower level. For atomic layers, the transition of the energy level state is a kind of quantitative change.

In the systematic material world, state is objectively universal and diverse. The appearance of a specific state has its quantitative and qualitative linnits and has a certain nodal extent. Within this certain nodal extent state may change to some degree, but this change is only a matter of quantity, not quality. For example, while the chemical property of the water molecule stays unchanged, under given pressure water may have one of three physical states--solid, liquid or gas. The three states all have their own tempera ture limits. When temperature changes within a certain limit the three states stay unchanged. In this period the temperature change of water is only a quantitative change as far as the physical state of the water is concerned.

(b) Denotation of Change
Change characterizes a certa in change of systematic matter at the state level. Change is actually the transformation or alternation of states. The transformation or alternation may take place between two states; it may also take place between multiple states. The change referred to here is different in quality from the property change of systematic matter. The property change of systematic matter is categorized as a higher level. Once this change takes place systematic matter will change into another type of systematic matter. Change is categorized as a lower level and is subordinate to the change of systematic matter. Change is a transitional form of systematic matter, i.e. physical change. For the material system to which the state is subordinate, change of state is quantitative change. For the changed state itself, change of state is qualitative change. While changing, the transformation from one qualitative state into another is just the replacement of an old state with a new one. For example, when the property of an atom is unchanged its electrons are transmited from one orbital energy level to another, the change taking place between the states of energy level. For atom layers this is a quantitative change not a qualitative one. However, as for the state of electron energy level, the transmission of electron energy level is the change of one state of energy level into another, so it is categorized as a qualitative change.

In the relationship between state, change and the systematic matter of a higher level, state transformation is a subordinate one. State is subordinate to systematic matter, and change is a special form subordinate to the change of systematic matter. When no qualitative change takes place in systematic matter of a higher level, then change of state is a quantitative change of the higher level. But change of state is a qualitative change for the state of the lower level.

(c) Denotation of Process
Process is two forms of state and change of a material system. The relationship of change between them may be taken as the interchange between one state and the other. As for the way of a material system's own existence, the original state can be regarded as a relatively stable one, and the process of change of one state into another is regarded as the medium of the two forms of state and transformation, regarded as dynamic state. The dynamic state of a changing process changes into a new and relatively stable state. The change of one state into another as a whole process consists of two stages, that is, the change from a relatively stable state into a dynamic state, and the change from a dynamic state into a stable state. If there is a sub-stable state in a dynamic state, the change from the stable state into the dynamic state is clearer.

In the North China mountains, where there are dark conifer forests, between poplar birches and conifers there is a hybrid state of poplar. This is a changing process or sub-stable state.

Any material system, while its property remains unchanged, can only express the stability of its state in a relative way, with the change element included. When the change element grows to a certain limit the material system changes into a new state from the old one. The series of changes expresses the process, which is the medium of state changes.

(ii) Dialectical Relationship Between State--Process --Change
State and change have different properties and characteristics. Systematic matter, checked at a given level and within a given extent, has a fixed limit for its state and change. But these two, in any given condition, rely on each other and interchange. They have what can be called integrity.

State and change interrelate. State is the basis and grounds for change. There would be no change without state; no change will take place when it is separated from state. Change is a kind of trend and expression of state. Without changes, state would not be able to exist at the same level in many relationships, such as causality. There is the inseparable relationship of process between state and change. In the final analysis they come from the relationship of system and motion at a higher level. The reason is that state is the means of existence or form of expression of systematic matter. And change is the means of existence or transformation and alternation of forms. State must undergo the changing process to change from the material system of the old state to the material system of the new one. So, from the fact that matter is inseparable from motion is derived the conclusion that state process--change are inseparable.

The situation in which change of state takes place is quite complicated. At the same level one state may change in many ways if this happens through different processes. Take a balanced state of chemical reaction, for example. When the concentration of reactants is increased the balanced state may move toward a positive reaction. Conversely, when the concentration of reactants is decreased the balanced state may move toward a regressive reaction. Changes of state are categorized into two types: accumulation and sudden change. In the former, one state changes into another through the accumulation of new qualitative elements and the gradual disappearance of old qualitative elements. In the latter, the old state changes quickly into a new state as soon as the condition for the change appears. Level transition between ecosystems in different stable states is an accumulation type of change. In certain conditions the sublimation of sulphur from solid to gas is a sudden type of change. But the opposite also takes place. A similar change may come about from a different state. In normal conditions solid iodine sublimates into gaseous iodine. In the same way, if conditions permit, liquid iodine can also evaporate into gaseous iodine. The interdependent relationship between state and change helps us to understand the state of material systems as well as change of state, and then state is determined. At the same time it also becomes clear that when the state of any systematic matter is transformed there needs to be a changing process. If the existence of a state-changing process is neglected it is impossible for a state to change.

State and change are locked into an interchanging process. Treated at the same level, the two may interchange in position and function. State, in certain situations, may be transformed into change. Conversely, the changing thing, under certain conditions or relationships, may also become state. Any state is the product of certain conditions and processes. The state at any given stage is both the destination of the past state of change and the start of change at the next stage. Changes take place in all states when the internal discrepancy and external conditions develop to a certain degree. State--change (motion state)--process--new state--process--new change (motion state), cycle and recycle, is the basic developmental process and trend of systematic matter's existing form of expression.


(iii) The Significance of the Category of State Process Change
The philosophically important significance of the category of state--process--change is that it enriches and develops the law of qualitative change and quantitative change, and supplements and perfects the principle of structural quantitative change.

The law of qualitative change and quantitative change reveals partial qualitative change in the process of total quantative change of objects at the same level, and it reveals the diversity and complexity in quantitative change of objects at the same level. These principles have important guiding significance for understanding the law of the change of process of material motion in the natural world. The categories of state and process further enrich and develop some of the principles of the law of qualitative change and quantitative change.

First, it further observes and studies, on the basis of the relationship between quantitative change and qualitative change in a system level, and the relation between quantitative change and qualitative change at bo th high and low levels. It also reveals that on two levels there are two forms of quantitative change and qualitative change taking place at the lower level under certain conditions, which take place under the condition that no qualitative change takes place in the material system at the higher level. There is a changing process in the transformation of the two forms.

Second, the two forms and processes of quantitative change and qualitative change at the lower level, in turn, reveal the complexity, and possible trends of quantitative change in systematic matter at the higher level, which reveals that quantitative change in human society and the natural world takes place in the non-linear way of multi-elements, instead of the simple increase or decrease of quantity.

Third, it reveals the diversity of quantitative and qualitative changes at the lower level, and the law of their relationship and the changing process.

The category of state--process--change also raises a new topic of the relationship between higher and lower levels from a perspective of the relation between matter and motion. For each,natural science it is not enough only to make a study of the concrete laws of motion, change and development at the main material levels related only to this topic, it is also necessary to study the law of the relationship between material levels, to study the law of motional change and development within the lower level when the interchange takes place at the higher level, to study the special laws of motion, change and development within the lower level under the guidance of the law of the higher level, and to study the special laws of lower-level motion forms under the control of the law of higher-level motion forms.

The category of state--process--change offers methodology to natural science in its further formalized research. So long as no property change takes place at the higher level of systematic matter, any process of motion and change at the lower level may be taken as a series of changes within a state. Because the expressive state of systematic matter is relatively stable any fixed existence of a state can make the state formalized, fixed in quantity and preciseness, allowing us to formulate the rules for characterizing a state. In the same way, since the change between two states is only a change in form, the property of the object itself does not change. So this change can also be formalized, allowing us to formulate the rules of change. The category of state--process--change is of important significance in guiding mankind in its understanding and practice. With the development of human cognition the description of the material system of state process--change and the description of the relationship of the material system of state--process--change will gradually become perfect. And as the category becomes more precise and richer day by day, human cognition of the objective world is continuously deepening and developing.


                                                       Section Two 

                           THE CATEGORY OF DEVELOPMENT

                                  I. Gradual Change--State Variance--Sudden Change

Gradual change and sudden change are very common phenomena in the motional change and transforming process of systematic matter. Generalizing these phenomena leads to the formation of the category chain of gradual change--state variance-sudden change.

(i) Basic Denotation of Gradual Change, State Variance and Sudden Change
Gradual change is the unnoticeable, slow process of change that is completed within a longer period of time. Its basic characteristic is that, compared with the sudden change process at the same systematic structural level, gradual change takes a longer span of time, develops at a slower speed, is smaller in amount, changes more weakly and is usually expressed as a continuously changing curve. Gradual change exists universally .in the motion of the material world. It is especially obvious in living things. The origin and development of life, most formations of species, the growth of the embryo and many others are all slow, gradual and continuous processes of change.

Sudden change is the obvious, rapid process of change that is completed in a short period of time. It is, at a certain material structural level, a drastic motion form that happens suddenly and rapidly. Its basic characteristic is that, compared with the gradual change process at the same level, a sudden change lasts a shorter span of time, is more rapid and severe in intensity, is greater in amount, and is generally expressed as an interruption. Volcanoes, earthquakes, explosions of supernova, severe collisions of objects, unusual explosions in the sun, floods, atomic fusion and fission are all exarlaples of this.

Gradual change and sudden change are two states of object development, as are quantitative change and qualitative change. Quantitative change is a gradual and unnoticeable change, i.e. gradual change. Qualitative change is the change of essential properties. It is the sudden change of an object from one form of quality to another. Quantitative change and qualitative change and gradual change and sudden change are the same. Their interchanges are the universal law of systematic
object development. The medium of interchange for quantitative change and qualitative change is the demarcation point. The medium of interchange of gradual change and sudden change is state variance.

The concept of state variance is a new denotation that systems dialectics gives to the category chain of gradual change --state variance--sudden change after it has absorbed the theory of sudden change, the latest theoretical achievement of modern times. Some systematic objects do not change (relatively speaking). Some change gradually, others change suddenly. Why is this? The theory of sudden change, after studying state variance, answers this question in a general way. Control of variance and state variance are two basic concepts in the theory of sudden change. Control variance is the continuous changing of elements as the cause of sudden change; state variance is the quantity that may cause sudden change. When control variance remains unchanged, state variance is in a stable state. When control variance changes, state variance changes with it, and it is usually in a gradual state of change; when control variance reaches a certain point the original stability in state variance disappears and sudden change takes place. For example, in the physical change of water, control variance is temperature and pressure. They change continuously all the time; state variance is the density of water. Under normal atmospheric conditions water boils at 100 degrees Celsius, and turns from liquid to gas. Under zero degrees Celsius water turns from a liquid to a solid--ice. This is a typical example of sudden change. R. Tom, the creator of the theory of sudden change, after exact inference, proved that when state variance is less than 2 and continuous change elements are less than 4 the variety of sudden changes in the world can be expressed in seven basic mathematical models. They are: multi-folded model, sharp-pointed model, swallowtail model, butterfly model, double-curve model, ellipseshaped model and parabola model. These models supply the further understanding of quality state change with a scientific foundation. Its sudden change mode shows that qualitative change can be realized by the sudden method as well as the gradual method. It also gives the demarcation point and condition for the realization models of the two qualitative changes. Therefore, a new method of examination is supplied to observe and study the sudden or gradual changes of a process. Under strictly controlled conditions, if the medium state of a qualitative change is not stable it will be a sudden process. If the medium state is stable it will be a process of gradual change. This explains that, in certain situations, a mere change of controlled conditions may turn a sudden process into a gradual one, and vice versa. This supplies a new method for correctly understanding, utilizing and reforming the objective world.

(ii) The Dialectical Relationship Within the Category Chain of Gradual Change--State Variance--Sudden Change
The transformation from gradual change to sudden change takes place when a system reaches an extreme state, which is
characterized by things developing in the opposite direction when they become extreme, so systems turn into opposites when they reach a peak. "The whiter a thing is the more easily it gets dirty, and the taller a thing is the more easily it falls." A seemingly perfect and stable system, through some random element and after some disturbance or fluctuation, may change all of a sudden, just like an avalanche. The transformation from sudden change to gradual change is different from that of gradual change to sudden change. The transformation from sudden change to gradual change often takes place after the sudden change takes place in a system and arrives at a new steady changing state by the stipulation of a new quality. When sudden change is completed in a system and severe change ends, a new change cycle starts. At this time tiny disturbances and fluctuations have no noticeable effect on the system.

Gradual change and sudden change in a system are opposite to and united with each other. Opposite means that gradual change and sudden change represent the difference of two qualities in systematic material motion forms either in space and time or in intensity and manner, and that they have their own different requirements. At the same level of the changing systems material structure sudden change is sudden change, and gradual change is gradual change. There is a strict limit between the two, so gradual change and sudden change are groups of opposite concepts.

But, besides being opposite to each other, gradual change and sudden change are also united. The unity is mainly expressed in the following three aspects:

First, just as the daily concepts of fast and slow, big and small, up and down are relative, gradual change and sudden change are also relative. Actually, it is not easy to identify the state of a certain quality in a systematic object, or to vary the absolute limit of the two different concepts. This is because the system always keeps continuity of its own, and there are always intermediate transitional links or intermediate levels between the objective contents reflected in all the different concepts. This is what is called medium. This is significant in that all the differences are relative. In the evolving process of the earth, sudden change is even more relative. For example, the Himalayas are still rising at a rate of 2 centimeters per year, which geologists think is a very severe orogeny. But, compared with the speed at which everyday objects move, it is obviously an extremely slow, gradual change. In the same way, an earthquake or an eruption of a volcano is a sudden change in a local area both in scale and in the amount of energy discharged. But as regards the earth as a whole, and as regards all the energy stored inside it, it is a very small, gradual change because one earthquake or volcanic eruption can cause no obvious change to the earth's total structure or all the energy inside it.

Gradual change and sudden change are relative and have no absolute limits either in space, time or speed, either in structure and form or in degree of energy change. The absolute property of gradual change and sudden change can only exist in relativity.

Second, gradual change and sudden change have a hierarchy. Their hierarchy is the evolution of structures that are formed by the change methods of different properties during the course of development of the system. For the change method of a con crete object, the closely related gradual form of change and sudden form of change will establish a level. For example, the sudden change in a gene, for a gene that has been stable for thousands of years, is a sudden change. The sudden change and the steady, slow and tiny change of gene form a level. At the same level sudden change and gradual change are both absolute. But, because of the positive sudden change of a gene, after a very long accumulation within natural selection, the old species gradually changes its quality to form a new species, reaching a second level. At this second level the first sudden change of a gene is only taken as a very tiny gradual change in the whole gradual process of change related to forming a new species. And it is the tiny sudden changes at the first level that form the long, gradual change process at the second level. That is to say, the gradual change at the second level is transformed from the sudden change at the first level, and contains the sudden change at the first level. At different levels, gradual change and sudden change do not display absolute division, but the two are relative. After the new species comes into being it is, for thousands of or even millions of years, in a slow, continuous gradual process of change that is not possible for human beings to notice. But, when the environment that some species inhabit changes severely, or when a species is in a position of inferiority in an existing struggle, or when a large-scale disaster happens on the earth, a species, or a large number of species will become extinct. Thus the gradual evolutionary process of some species is ended.

Global disasters may cause the extinction of many species or even cause a fault in the history of species evolution--temporary degeneration. The sudden change in the species, partial or large-scale extinction, is obviously a sudden change different from the genetic suddden change taking place in the evolutionary process. It is on the same level as the slow evolutionary process of a whole species. This kind of sudden change can be categorized as macro sudden change.

For the same reason, the above macro sudden change can be also taken as a gradual change on the second level. As far as the motion of matter on a higher level is concerned it is only a ripple in a gradual process of change. For example, no matter how large the scale of a sudden change that takes place on the earth, it is, for the solar system, for the galaxy, for the whole universe, only a ripple in its long evolutionary process, and can cause no qualitative change in the solar system, the galaxy or the whole universe.

It can be seen, from the levels of gradual change and sudden change, that the unity of the two is that the gradual change at the higher level (the level more advanced in order) encompasses sudden changes at the lower level. Sudden changes at the lower level make up the gradual change at the higher level. There is a distinct division between gradual change and sudden change at the same level, but there is no distinct division between gradual change and sudden change at different levels. There can be no gradual change at the higher level without sudden change at the lower level, and there can be no sudden change at the lower level without gradual change at the higher level. So it is a metaphysical point of view to regard gradual change and sudden change as being independent. Gradual change and sudden change not only interchange, they also depend on, infiltrate and unite with each other.

Third, the unity of gradual change and sudden change is also expressed in the interchange of the two. Under certain conditions gradual change can turn into sudden change, and vice versa. And also, because the interchange of gradual change and sudden change presupposes certain conditions, therefore in many situations gradual change does not necessarily turn into sudden change, nor does sudden change into gradual change. For example, the vaporization of sea water can be said to be a gradual process of change all the time, that is, vaporizing gradually. So far as we know, there is no kind of force on earth that can turn the vaporization of sea water into a sudden change. Another example, when a positive electron and a negative electron collide and are annihilated they are turned into two photons. This kind of change can not possibly come about as a result of gradual change. What is more, not all of the sudden changes are caused by gradual change. It is true that the sudden change caused by an accident does not have gradual process of change as its cause. For example, in everyday accidental events there is no gradual process of change beforehand as the direct cause of this sudden change. The interchange of gradual change and sudden change is intricate and complex; it is precisely this complexity that makes the diversity in the forms of system develop and change.

(iii) Significance of Gradual Change, State Variance and Sudden Change
The category of gradual change--state variance--sudden change is a new theory based on the theory of sudden change. It is applied in many areas, in the fields of both natural science and social science. Though there are, at present, many controversies about its applications in social science, it still has an attractive future. Some foreign scholars apply the theory of sudden change in the study of the collapse of a stock market and the outbreak of local war or hostilities, using the "cost of war" and "intimidation" to explain a country's choice between war and peace, using a prisoner's "nervous feeling" and "lone-liness'' to explain the outbreak of revolt or appearance of peace, and even using "economic benefit" and "population density" to explain the rise and decline of some ancient cities. Some people also use the theory of sudden change to study the human brain, city development models, and so on. In the matter of how to use this theory to control sudden changes in a society, the key is to master the "demarcation point" from quantitative change to qualitative change, that is, the "state variance" from gradual change to sudden change. This is a problem that sociologists worldwide are studying.

Scientific research into gradual change and sudden change shows that it is not sufficient to take gradual change as the basic theory or to take sudden change as the basic theory. Practice proves that the theory of gradual change and the theory of sudden change ("sudden change" can also be translated as "disaster change" or "drastic change") reflect respectively one aspect of an object's development and change, and both have rational elements. The theory of sudden change raised by--Tom is a product of combining the two. Though he continued to use the term "sudden change" used by Cuvier, his basic idea differs completely from Cuvier's theory of disaster change. He gives deep and complete theoretical explanations of all the complexities in the sudden change caused by gradual change. Some scholars call the creation of the theory of sudden change "another intelligent revolution," "a breakthrough in describing with the tool of delicate mathematics, complicated phenomena of living things and social science. So, it is of great significance to correctly cognize gradual change--state variance--sudden change, the process of expression and form of system motion, for further understanding the law of development and evolution of human society and the natural world.


                                     II. Equilibrium-Fixed Value--Disequilibrium

The various types of systematic matter in the universe are all in both a state of equilibrium and a state of disequilibrium, in which any systematic matter, its objective self, is in discrepancy with and in synergism with the motion of equilibrium and disequilibrium. It also goes through the development process and the motion cycle from equilibrium to disequilibrium and then to new equilibrium. There exists, everywhere in the universe, a systems dialectical relationship between equilibrium and disequilibrium, their interrelation and interchange.

(i) Denotations of Equilibrium, Fixed Value and Disequilibrium
Equilibrium fixed value--disequilibirum is the category showing the discrepancies and synergism of objects. There are different elements within all objects, and the elements always form a certain ratio and relationship among themselves. When the elements of a natural object arrive at and keep a certain fixed ratio, the elements will come into a relationship of synergism, harmony, identity, suitability and balance. At this time we say that the systematic matter is in a state of equilibrium. Conversely, if the elements of a natural object are not in fixed ratios and the elements are out of synergism, harmony, identity, suitability or balance we say that the systematic matter is in a state of disequilibrium. The important concept of "fixed value" between the interchanges of equilibrium and disequilibrium is the medium of the category. "Fixed value" is a general concept. According to the specific characteristics of an object, it can be described as "proportional quantity," "synergism promotion," "negative entropy," etc. For a specific equilibrium state, the relation of its synergism ratio is relatively unchanged rather than absolutely unchanged. The proportional quantity (fixed value) may change in various ways in relationship to the synergism ratio. Only if its ratio value remains unchanged is the material system still in equilibrium. So equilibrium can be a mobile equilibrium. The same principle exists in the disequilibrium state. There exist limitless multi-polar material system levels in the disequilibrium, among which each pole' s stable material system level is a general kind of system in a state of equilibrium. Any system with stable qualities is in disequilibrium.

But there exists a discrepancy and synergism process in any material system's self-motion, which follows a periodic cycle from equilibrium to disequilibrium and then to a new equilibrium. There is no single equilibrium process from beginning to end, nor is there a single disequilibrium process from beginning to end. For example, there is always the alternation of severe motion and relative standstill on earth. Individual motion tends toward equilibrium, but the whole motion breaks the individual equilibrium. It is in the alternation and cycle of equilibrium and disequilibrium that the earth has gone through the development history of palaeozoic era, mesozoic era and genozoic era. Life evolves from rudimentary level to advanced optimization.

Equilibrium states can be divided into three types:
The first type is contradistinction equilibrium. This type is the relative standstill of the different factors within the material system, which takes place in the state of counteraction, neutralization and equalization of the qualities of two opposites, or when the algebraic sum of all the factors is nil, keeping the ratio between all the factors generally ill a stable, balanced and equalized state, and the systematic matter in relative equilibrium. Contradistinction equilibrium call be expressed as either standstill equilibrium or dynamic equilibrium.

The second type is transformational equilibrium. In this type of equilibrium all the factors and aspects in a material system interchange with each other in certain conditions. This occurs when the ratio of all factors and aspects reaches a certain fixed value in quantity while interchanging, with the relationship between all factors and all aspects in a state of evenness, equilibrium or identity. At this time, the material system is ill the transforming equilibrium. This type of equilibrium includes, besides positive and negative aspects and positive and negative factors, many factors and various aspects, its characteristic is that the systematic matter's macro equilibrium only appears after the change takes place.

The third type is synergetic equilibrium. This type is the synergetic, harmonious and compatible relationship between all the factors and all the aspects at a certain ratio during the complicated interaction of different elements and all aspects in the systematic matter, and the interaction of system and environment. So the whole system comes into a stable state in the ordered structure. In synergetic equilibrium there are some factors of contradistinction equilibrium and transformation equilibrium, but it is different from either. Synergetic equilibrium exists more often in complicated and advanced motion forms.

Engels said, "In the living organism we see continual motion of all the smallest particles as well as of the larger organs, resulting in the continual equilibrium of the total organism during the normal period of life, which yet always remains in motion, the living unity of motion and equilibrium" (Engels, Dialectics of Nature, p. 224). The equilibrium inside the organism is the result of the motion of all the component parts inside the organism. The motions of these component parts are not counteracted or neutralized by each other. They are coordinated. harmonious and compatible with each other. The equilibrium in the organic whole is obtained in the synergetic motion of the relatively independent parts. For example, in a biotic system, such factors of living things as animal community, plant community and micro organism, and such factors of non-living things as earth, air. light and sound waves, temperature, water, carbon dioxide, oxygen, wind, snow and electricity also interact and restrict each other in very complicated ways. They form an open system, and matter and energy can flow into and out of this system. Between them, transformational compensation and interchange continuously take place. When the input and output of energy and matter are equal and the matter stored in the system is relatively stable a certain ratio is kept among all the elements, and they coordinate and fit each other. A stable and ordered state appears between living things and the environment, and a coordinated and ordered state appears between the structure and function of the food chain, and relations of rational proportion and coordination in the communities of living species appear. The stable and ordered ecosystem is a synergetic equilibrium.

(ii) The Dialectical Relationship Between Equilibrium, Fixed Value and Disequilibrium
Equilibrium and Disequilibrium rely on each other, and condition each other's existence. The ratio of different elements within any systematic matter will not stay unchanged for ever. That is, when all the factors are kept in a certain ratio and are coordinated and identical in a state of equilibrium some factor is likely to increase or decrease in quantity and diverge somewhat from the former ratio. Then some changes in quality, quantity and sequence take place. This is disequilibrium ill equilibrium. For example, in a general ecosystem that is generally in equilibrium there are always disequilibrium factors, such as eruption of volcanoes, earthquakes and other natural disasters. This disequilibrium affects, in turn, the general equilibrium.

Conversely, when factors cannot keep within a certain ratio and break the synergism to put systematic matter into general disequilibrium, a small number of factors may form a temporarily coordinated relationship in a local area and, under certain conditions, may create a relatively temporary equilibrium in the local area. For example, in the general ecosystem of disequilibrium caused by a long drought there may be relative and temporary equilibrium in a local area as the result of a naturally adjusted climate due to luxuriant forests and artificial rainfall. Thus, in the development process of naturally systematic matter there certainly exists mutual dependence and the interaction of equilibrium and disequilibrium. There is no absolute equilibrium separated from disequilibrium, nor is there absolute disequilibrium separated from equilibrium. Tile equilibrium or disequilibrium of systematic matter can only be decided according to the ratio of all the factors in the dominant position. Because the system in equilibrium contains disequilibrium factors, and the system in disequilibrium contains equilibrium factors, equilibrium and disequilibrium may interchange. When a factor is added to or taken from the equilibrium system, or the strength and structure of a factor is changed to a certain value, the former coordinated and suitable ratio might be broken so that equilibrium changes into disequilibrium. Conversely, by changing the quantity and quality of one or several factors in a disequilibrium system, the former unbalanced ratio will be again changed into a synergetic ratio and change the former disequilibrium into equilibrium. For example, an excess of forest and grassland destruction may make the input of matter and energy unequal to the output, and the former synergetic and appropriate ratio between factors is broken. The serious consequences of this are the imbalance of climate, floods and droughts, soil erosion and desertification. And the balance of nature is turned into an imbalance of nature. Conversely, if forests and grasslands are exploited and made use of scientifically, the existing forests and grasslands are protected actively and the new ones are developed actively, the new coordinated ratio can be set up on a new foundation. Thus disequilibrium is changed into equilibrium. In the dialectical relation of equilibrium and disequilibrium the most important aspect is that they are in both relative and absolute systems dialectical relationships. Engels said, "All rest, all equilibrium, is only relative, only has meaning in relation to one or other definite forms of motion" (Marx and Engels, Selected Works, Vol. 3, p. 99). Again, "All equilibrium is only relative and temporary" (Engels, Dialectics of Nature, p. 224). Their main expressions are: equilibrium conies from transformation in certain conditions, and always exists in correspondance with disequilibrium, so it has resemblance, similarity, and incompletion; equilibrium is the partial and special expression of disequilibrium. Relative rest is a special state of motion: equilibrium requires certain conditions and any equilibrium must be set up within certain conditions. For example, the equilibrium of thermodynamics can only appear in critical conditions of temperature and pressure. When these conditions disappear, the equilibrium of the system is broken, and the system is transformed from equilibrium to disequilibrium.

In the modern history of philosophy, the theory of absolute equilibrium turns up now and then. For example, Auguste Comte, Herbert Spencer, Karl Eugen Duhring and others took the law of balance in mechanics as absolute, and insisted that balance is the natural state, while disequilibrium motion is only a temporary, abnormal state, in biology, some people still maintain the theory of mechanical balance, and deny the steady and orderly dynamic equilibrium and coordinated equilibrium that exist in the synergetic evolution of living things and the environment. Therefore, while studying the relationship between equilibrium and disequilibrium the theory of absolute equilibrium and the theory of absolute disequilibrium should also be disputed, for they sever the dialectical relationship of the two.

(iii) The Significance of the Category Chain of Equilibrium --Fixed Value--Disequilibrium
The law of the cyclical development of equilibrium disequilibrium-new equilibrium provides man with the objective basis for cognizing and reforming the world. That the factors' ratio is synergetic and identical within any systematic matter is always temporary and relative, as there always exist disequilibrium factors. When the strength and quality of disequilibrium factors in a system change to a certain extent, or a factor is added or subtracted, the former synergetic and identical ratio relation is sure to be broken, the original equilibrium is destroyed and disequilibrium appears. Disequilibrium propels the systematic matter to develop further, and all the factors can attain new unity and synergism under new conditions and enter a new state of equilibrium. This shows that equilibriunl and disequilibrium are inevitable stages and important link in systematic matter development. Equilibrium-disequilibrium-new equilibrium is a universal law of systems motion and development. The equilibrium and disequilibrium appearing in the development of objective things are generally dualistic. They both can either promote and accelerate the system or destroy and retard it. Therefore, we should not make subjective and random judgment about what is good, what is bad, what is active or what is passive. The concrete situation must be taken into consideration in objectively analyzing and scientifically expounding on a system, so that an effective method and measure can be attained.

The law of dynamic equilibrium supplies man with important tools for comprehending and changing the world. People use different methods in dealing with equilibrium: One is to continue to maintain the quantity and proportional relationship of the former elements, structure and levels both within and outside the equilibrium system, so that the equilibrium will be still in the old equilibrium state; another is to change the quantity and proportional relationship of the elements, structure and levels, and certain conditions both within and outside the equilibrium system, so that the old equilibrium state is transformed into a new one. The change of an equilibrium system may take place in different directions: one enhances the quality and proportional quantity, relationship and conditions of all the factors both within and outside the system, so as to establish a more advanced or active equilibrium; another decreases the quality and proportional quantity, relationship and condition of all the factors both within and outside the system, so as to establish a lower-grade or passive equilibrium. But no matter which method or which direction is taken, it should be taken as the norm both to follow the objective laws and benefit mankind. Take the production of synthetic ammonia for example. At ordinary pressure, the equilibrium constant is small, so the output is small. As the pressure is raised, the equilibrium constant grows larger, as does the output of ammonia. At a certain temperature and pressure, different proportions of nitrogen and hydrogen affect the amount of output. When nN2: mH2 = 1:3 the equilibrium constant is large, and the output of ammonia is the largest. The output is small without a catalyzer, but is greatly raised with a ferrous catalyzer and at the temperature of 500 degrees Celsius. Therefore, the above laws of chemical dynamic equilibrium can be converted into scientific methods, and the various conditions and factors can be generalized so as to establish a dynamic equilibrium of the whole optimization while making efforts to save labor, materials and time, in order to attain the best material products, and to achieve the lofty human goal of' understanding and changing the world. Synergetic evolution is an important principle for mankind in its attempts to understand and change the world. In any equilibrium state beneficial to mankind the ratio of its internal factors is always suitable and proper. But it should also be noticed that the propositional relationship of synergism, harmony and suitability is not absolutely unchanged or solitary, it is changeable and multiple, in order to understand and master the equilibrium beneficial to mankind we should follow the above principles, pay attention to the important proportional relationship at each stage of material motion, control conscientiously the proper increase and decrease of all the factors in quantity, and keep the synergetic, harmonious and suitable proportional relations unchanged and strengthened between all the factors, so that the systematic whole may develop in the direction of becoming more and more beneficial to mankind.

In this century, with the development of science, especially with the development of the theory of disequilibrium of self-organization, people's understanding went from equilibrium state to near-equilibrium state and then further to farequilibrium state. Prigogine's theory of dissipative structure reveals the process of development of system from equilibrium state to near-equilibrium state and then further to far-equilibrium state. Hu Chuanji, a Chinese economic researcher, using this theory, put forward the economics of the disequilibrium system. This economics of the disequilibrium states that the national economic system is an enornlous "dissipative-structure economic" system. On the one hand it needs all kinds of raw materials and energy to be continuously supplied by the outside world; on the other it needs to export all kinds of products. In this way, both the inside and outside can form a convection of matter, energy and information, and the whole national economy can become alive and remain in a state of order and stability. In order to attain this state, an "inward open system" and an "outward open system" should be gradually established in the whole national economic system, and the two should be combined to form a "living," vital, two-way recycling "dissipative-structure economic system." The economics of disequilibrium also proposes a kind of coordinate "synergism-promoting force" among the elements within the national economic system. When tile "synergism-promoting force" is positive it stimulates the degree of synergism of all the elements within the system to increase, and to assist the formation and development of the "dissipative-structural economy." When the "synergism-promoting force" is negative it decreases the degree of synergism of all the elements within the system, or even destroys the synergism function, and causes disorder in the whole economic system. In the national economic system there is the motion of people besides the motion of objects. At the same time, the motion of people goes in the direction of, at the speed of, and ill the manner decreed by its own laws. Disequilibrium systematic economics has not attained the status of a complete theory, but if we can grasp this theory and perfect it gradually it can be of great theoretical and practical significance in promoting tile development of the national economy.


                                     III. Attraction-Energy-Repulsion

(i) The Denotations of Attraction, Energy and Repulsion
Attraction--energy--repulsion is all old philosophical category. In both the Chinese and foreign histories of philosophy, the question o1' attraction and repulsion was raised a long time ago. Many ancient Greek materialists believed that all the things on earth are made up of certain fundamental substances (water, fire, air, etc.), and all things can be reduced to some fundamental substances through "separation." Liu Zongyuan, a Tang Dynasty (618-907) philosopher, said, "Heaven and earth are boundless. Yin and yang (feminine and masculine, or negative and positive, the two opposing principles in nature) are infinite. In these, infinity and boundlessness are interlocked, either joining or separating, inhali-ng or exhaling, recycling and dominating" (Liu Zongyuan, Selected Works of Liu Hedong, pp. 748-749). "Joining" and "separating, ""inhaling" and "exhaling" are all the specific expressions of attraction and repulsion. So it is clear that attraction and repulsion are a very old category of two opposite factors.

In the modern history of philosophy there are also many people who studied attraction and repulsion. Immanuel Kant employed the interaction of attraction and repulsion to explain his nebular hypothesis. He thougtht that nebulae developed in the solar system by the force of attraction and repulsion. He said of attraction and repulsion: "The two forces are the same in reality, the same in simplicity, They are also elementary and universal in the same way." (Kant, Introduction to the Development of the Universe, pp. 24-25).

In the history of philosophy it was Hegel who made a systematic study of the categories of attraction and repulsion. He thought, "Repulsion is the self-differentiating of the one, at first into many," "In attraction ... the many ones turn into one." (Hegel, The Science of Logic, pp. 177-178) He also said, "The essence of matter is attraction and repulsion, the two are the unity of opposites and interchange under certain conditions." (Hegel, Small Logic, pp. 213-217). But restricted by the stage of development of science at that time, it was impossible for him to supply enough scientific evidence for the old two-pole opposites of attraction and repulsion. Generally speaking, it was still at the stage of thinking, guessing and supposition.

Since the 19th century natural science has developed greatly. Engels generalized and summarized the achievements of natural science, and in the chapter "Basic Forms of Motion" and the related notes in Dialectics of Natttre, Engels expounded on the dialectical relationship between attraction and repulsion, turning the old two-pole opposites of attraction and repulsion into an important category in the dialectics of nature. He concluded that the basic forms of motion in the non-living world are attraction and repulsion. Engels also emphasized that attraction and repulsion should not be thought of as "attraction force" and "repulsion force," but should be taken as simple forms of motion.

The development of modern science not only proves that the category of attraction and repulsion is the elementary form of motion in the inorganic world, but also further proves that it is a form of material motion in the organic world. This is a point that Engels did not raise then because there was no molecular biology at that time, and this was a limitation of the times. Today, with the development of science, molecular biology has fully proved that the elementary properties of life are assimilation and dissimilation, heredity and variation and metabolism and self-reproduction. A living body is actually a complicated open-system. During the course of metabolism the system will continuously exchange substances, energy and information, so as to adjust itself and the relationship between the environment and itself. A living body takes in substances from the environment and turns them into part of itself. This is the process of assimilation. Assimilation is just the expression of attraction; at the same time, it continuously decomposes its own substances, and discharges its waste into the environment. This is the process of dissimilation. Dissimilation is just the expression of repulsion. So it can be said that assimilation and dissimilation of a biotic body is a more advanced form of attraction and repulsion.

The assimilation and dissimilation process of a living body is carried out with the help of enzymes and through a series of biochemical reactions. That is, it is carried out through a series of complicated reactions of combination and decomposition. And the combination and decomposition are the specific expressions of attraction and repulsion in chemical reactions. As for heredity and variation, modern genetics has revealed that heredity and variation take place on the basis of a chromosome pair's separation and recoupling, and on the basis of the DNA doublechain's separation and sell-reproductive recoupling. In the process, the separation of chromosome pairs and of the DNA double-chain is a repulsive motion, and the recoupling of chromosome pairs following separation and the respective self-reproductive re-coupling of the DNA double-chain following separation is a motion of attraction. Thus, heredity and variation are also carried out on the basis of attraction and repulsion. The category of attraction and repulsion, as a category of systems dialectics, is of still wider significance. It not only contains the basic forms of systematic material motion at all the levels in the natural world, organic and inorganic alike, but also matches the systematic material motion in all areas in human society. So, in a generalized way, attraction is the motion trend and tendency while systems associate; repulsion is the motion trend and tendency while systematic objects vary and separate. Both attraction and repulsion take place with the help of energy. So while studying the motion of attraction and repulsion, attention should also be paid to the medium--energy, which causes their interaction. As mentioned above, the assimilation and dissimilation process of a living body takes place with the help of enzymes. Undoubtedly, "enzymes" are the medium of interaction of assimilation and dissimilation. There would be no attraction and repulsion motion without the help of the medium. In research into attraction and repulsion, special attention to the study of amount and hierarchy of energy will help people to grasp the strength of diversity between attraction and repulsion, to grasp the systems dialectical relationship between attraction and repulsion.

(ii) The Dialectical Relationship Between Attraction, Energy and Repulsion
Attraction and repulsion premise and interact with each other. The motion of matter is the entirety of attraction and repulsion. In this entirety, attraction and repulsion premise each other, and neither can be dispensed with. There would be no separation of objects without their first approaching. There would be no decomposition without combination, and no fission without fusion. There would be no DNA self-reproduction and recoupling without DNA double-chain separation. Without peace in human society war would not be known. The attraction and repulsion in all the systems material motions premise each other. The attraction and repulsion not only premise each other, but also interact with and supplement each other. They exist coordinately in discrepancy. Engels said, "Where there is attraction, it must be complemented by repulsion'' (Engels, Dialectics of Nature, p. 222). And vice versa. The reason is that only the interaction of attraction and repulsion can cause motion, otherwise motion would cease. For example, planets revolve around the sun in elliptical orbits. This is the result of the .joint action of attraction and repulsion. Without attraction, planets would fly away from the sun; without repulsion, they would fall into the sun. Only the relatively balanced state between them can keep the solar system in motion. So Engels said, "The motion of the heavenly bodies is due to 'the approximate equilibrium .of attraction and repulsion in motion" (Ibid., p. 225) Marx also once said, "When an object both keeps falling onto and keeps getting away from another object, it is a contradiction. And ellipse is one of the motion forms in which the contradiction gets started and solved. The contradiction here is not the simple unity of opposites, but the discrepancy and synergism of multifactors."

Attraction and repulsion can interchange under certain conditions. Modern astronomy reveals that the evolution of a star usually goes through such stages as the gravity contraction stage, the main-sequence star stage, the red giant stage and the compact star stage. At the gravity contraction stage the star keeps contracting due to self-attraction. At this stage the evolution of the star is in a contraction process, that is, at the attraction-dominating stage. With the self-contraction of the star large amounts of gravitational potential energy are transformed into thermal energy, and the temperature of the star gets higher and higher. When the temperature within the star gets to seven million degrees Celsius in the center of the star it starts a process of thermonuclear reaction in which fusion takes place, first from two hydrogen nuclei into one deuteron, and then into helium nuclei. The thermonuclear reaction gives off large amounts of thermal radiation. When the thermonuclear reaction develops to a given extent the force of repulsion that is caused by the thermal radiation given off by the reaction offsets its own force of attraction, and t hen the star no longer contracts but stays in a relatively balanced stage of attraction and repulsion. This is the main-sequence star stage in star evolution. After a star has reached the stage of a main-sequence star, with the development of evolution, the hydrogen nuclei in the center are gradually consumed, so the reaction which transforms hydrogen into helium moves away from the center to the outer part. At this time the temperature keeps going up within the star. When the internal temperature gets to 100 million degrees Celsius in the center of the star it starts a new thermonuclear reaction in which a fusion takes place from helium into beryllium, carbon and others. Then the star gives off even greater thermal radiation and produces still greater repulsive force. When the repulsive force becomes greater than the attractive force the star expands rapidly, until the evolution of the star reaches the stage of red giant. At this moment, as judged from the discrepancy of contraction amd expansion the evolution of the star is at the expansion-dominating stage or repulsion-dominating stage. At the red giant stage the star's internal energy is gradually consumed. When the energy of the red giant is getting close to the end its internal force of repulsion is overwhelmed by the force of attraction, then the star gets to the stage of contraction again, which is the attraction-dominating stage of a compact star. For a state of specific substance or specific environment, attraction or repulsion may be dominant one over the other, but "All attractions and all repulsions in the universe must mutually balance one another." "The sum of all attractions in the universe is equal to the sum of all repulsions" (Ibid., p. 55D. In the universe the principle of the conservation of the balanced motion of total attraction and repulsion resembles the law of the conservation of energy. Here, energy is the measurement of motion of matter and is very closely related to attraction and repulsion. So. as above, energy is the intermedium of attraction and repulsion. Energy, the natural science term, can be borrowed to describe the category of attraction and repulsion. The practical expression is attraction--energy--repulsion.

Attraction and repulsion have diversity and entirety in their forms. Modern natural science reveals fundamentally four interactions of attraction and repulsion. They are strong interaction, weak interaction electromagnetic interaction and gravitational interaction. Among these four kinds of interactions, both sides of attraction and repulsion of strong and weak interactions are approximately symmetrical, and those of electrical and magnetical interactions are symmetrical, too. But, up to now, no magnetic monopole has been found, so there is some symmetrical breakage to a certain extent. And in the interaction of gravitational forces there is only universal gravitation, but no universal repulsion, which is a severe breakage in symmetry. There is a very fundamental reason for the fact that the symmetry of attraction and repulsion in strong and weak interactions goes through a symmetrical breakage of some kind in the attraction and repulsion of electromagnetic interaction, to the severe breakage of symmetry in the attraction and repulsion of gravitational interaction. So we know that the universe is a structure of symmetrical breakage, which is the final cause and elementary motive of evolution. The category of attraction and repulsion is clearly defined from the philosophical point of view. The two must not be taken as an equivalent to a form of interaction: neither can they be simplified as a kind of "force." Attraction and repulsion are dialectic and inseparable, and at the same time they are variable and coordinates in discrepancy.

(iii) The Significance of Attraction, Energy and Repulsion
The category of attraction and repulsion further replenishes the law of discrepancy and synergism from the development of systems outlook and world outlook. Much has been previously explained about the discrepancy and synergism of attraction and repulsion. The expression of the interchange of quality and quantity in the process of the transformation of attraction and repulsion is a process of one side's increase and the other side's decrease. When the increase and decrease attain a given level, i.e. a linking point, transformation takes place in attraction and repulsion. And the transformation of attraction and repulsion is sure to cause a level-transforming process of attraction--repulsion--attraction or repulsion--attraction repulsion. This offers an important foundation for the general laws for revealing the motion of matter in the universe as a whole.

The category of attraction and repulsion further deepens the general principles of dialectical materialism from the relationship of the conservation of motion. It is of important methodological significance to correctly understand attraction and repulsion and their dialectical transformation, and to master their diversity and entirety. Once again, a star can be taken as an example. The theory of celestial evolution postulates that when all the nuclear fuel burns up gravitation contraction will play a dominant role. When the mass of a star is less than 1.3 times that of the sun it will become a white dwarf. When its mass is between 1.3 and three times that of the sun it will become a neutron star. When its mass is larger than three times that of the sun it will evolve into a "black hole." It was believed that a "black hole" was a celestial body that had only attraction but no repulsion, and it seemed like a bottomless cave that only sucked in but never ejected. But in recent years many astronomers and physicists have come to believe that a black hole is not a celestial body having only attraction but no repulsion. Due to quantum mechanics and other reasons it can also continuously radiate particles, i.e. it also has repulsion. Someone called this phenomenon the "self-vaporization" of a black hole. Scientists say that the smaller the mass of a black hole, the faster it radiates particles. They also think that there are black holes in the universe that have the same amount of mass as the sun. Though these black holes "self-vaporize" at faster speeds than those that are three times greater than the sun in mass, the speed is still very slow, and it takes them 1066 years to vaporize completely. But a "proto-black hole," with a mass of only 100 million tons, vaporizes quite rapidly, and it can "vaporize" completely within 10.23 seconds. Actually, this kind of black hole is no longer called a black hole, but turns into a "white hole" that keeps radiating substances. So we say that black holes and ,white holes are two extreme expressions of attraction and repulsion. And the two are interlinked. This shows that attraction and repulsion have both the diversity and synergism of multi-discrepancy.


                                                    Section Three

                                           THE CATEGORY OF PROCESS

                                   I. Order--Degree of Orderliness--Disorder

Order-degree of orderliness--disorder is a category chain to describe the relationship between objective matter and the internal elements of objects.

(i) Denotations of Order, Degree of Orderliness and Disorder
The category of order indicates the order property of structure and the order property of motion. The order of structure means that a material system presents itself regularly in a certain fixed structure of proper sequence, and the order of motion means that each unit of a system stays in a fixed regular state of motion. Disorder means that the structure of a material system and the structure of a motion state are not fixed or regular. In short, the order property of a material system is the determining degree at which the amount of each unit's properties, namely, structure property and motion property in a system choose value by certain laws and in certain directions. If all the chosen values of all the units can be determined by given laws or in vectors the ideal order is revealed. On the other hand, if the fixed value is not properly determined that is the worst order. Between the two, the higher the determining degree of the chosen value is, the higher the degree of the other property. For example, in a library all the books are placed regularly in fixed positions, which is called the best order. If readers place the books irregularly, the order property is reduced. The higher the determining degree of the irregularity, the worse the disorder is. Another example: In group callisthenics, if everyone performs the determined actions in a fixed routine it is the best order; if everyone moves as he wishes, the order property is reduced, and the more arbitrary it becomes the worse the order is.

From the above we know that there are two aspects of quantity and quality in order and disorder. The determining degree of a property's chosen value decides what kind of property the order property quantity is. That is, if the state determined by the chosen value is regular and is in a determined direction (or position) it is the quality aspect of the order property. Order and disorder are two comparative aspects and they are relative. Any object or process is a dialectical unity of order and disorder in different degrees. The different degrees of unity form a certain sequence of an object or state, which is called "ordered degree" or "degree of order." "Degree of order" is the general term for degrees of order and disorder. In different disciplines different measures are used to measure the order or the degree of order of their subjects. For example, in thermodynamics, "entropy, "a physical measure, is often used to express the degree of disorder in a material system, and negative entropy is used to express the degree of order. The theory of phase transformation and the theory of synergism use order parameters. And the theories of systems, informatics and cybernetics use the amount of information to measure the sequences in a system. In a system the greater the entropy the lower the degree of order, and the greater the amount of order parameter information the higher the degree of order. In the area of society, fixed amount or semi-fixed amount are used to try to describe the order of society. For example, the rate of increase of the economy, the average national income per capita, population growth, employment rate, vegetation rate, crime rate and other indices are often used to describe the state of a social system degree of order.

(ii) The Dialectical Relationship Within the Category Chain of Order, Degree of Orderliness and Disorder
Order and disorder are relative. No system can be in absolute order or in absolute disorder. In a system of order there are always factors which destroy its regular permutation or motion of order, such as fluctuation, disturbance, undulation, noise and displacement. For example, the micro-structure permutation of metal is very regular, but there is misplacement; the phase, frequency and direction of lasers are all in good order, but there are some other scattered rays in other directions; the original magnet permutation of ferromagnetics is in good order, but is not all identical. If its directions are all the same the macro-magnetic strength is four degrees of magnitude greater than that of ordinary ferromagnetics. The third law of thermodynamics tells that absolute zero degree is impossible to attain. That means the entropy of a system cannot be zero--a system cannot have absolute order. In the same way, no system of absolute disorder exists. For example, macrocosmically, a certain regularity and sequence can be seen in the thermal motion of atoms and molecules, such as the temperature and pressure of gas. To simplify, just like long and short or heavy and light, order is something relative to disorder, and disorder is something relative to order. For example, a piece of natural crystal, compared with a sculptured crystal handicraft, is in relative disorder, but compared with fragments of broken crystal it is in relative order. The systematic matter concerned in the discussion of order and disorder is actually not a single system but a large number of systems under the same conditions (i.e. order cluster). A single system or independent element, at its corresponding level, is not affected by order or disorder. The comparison of order and disorder can be done not only among systematic matter of the same kind, but also in systematic matter of different kinds. In this instance the amount of entropy is the measuring standard. That is putting aside the difference of contents of order property and extracting the quantitative property of order property for comparison. Because the value of systematic entropy changes with the angle from which the study is made, the comparison itself is somewhat relative.

Order and disorder can interchange under certain conditions. The two are more connected than separated. For example, the scattered, disordered nebulae may change into a solar system of order; disordered natural light may change into a laser. These are the transformation process of order and disorder. In practical systematic matters the transformation of state may be carried out either from order to disorder or from disorder to order, accompanied by an energy exchange of matter with the outside world. For example, a heat engine transforms the thermal motion of relative disorder into a mechanical movement of relative order. There are a large number of examples of disorder developing into order in the production system in which human beings participate.

The order and disorder of a system are of various kinds. If divided according to time and space, there are the order of space and the order of time and space, which are called the order of structure. They are the symbols of regularity and order of systematic structure. Corresponding to the order of structure, a system has the order of function. No system functions in chaos, but with a certain order and regularity. "This is the function order of the system. People's diets should be adjusted according to time and season; left and right legs should take turns to move while walking; going upstairs should be floor by floor; while operating computers, the first and last codes should be put in according to the program. No result or only a wrong result will be achieved if the program is violated.

The category of order and disorder has some internal relationships with such philosophical categories as regularity, causality, chance and necessity. When motion and change of system are in the state of order it is easy to see the causal relationship. But, in the structure of disorder and in developing and transforming series of disorder it is difficult to grasp the causality chain.

In this situation the only tool that can be used is average statistics, namely, exploring the law of statistics from the overall necessity. Law is the internal and intrinsic linking, of a system. This linking is somewhat in order. So it can be said that it is only with order that there is regularity. And it is very difficult to find regularity in a completely chaotic system or state. Order and symmetry also have internal relations. The chaotic state of complete disorder (or highest order) has the most symmetry. With time increase of order accompanied by the breakage of symmetry, a variety of structures and states is formed, and rich and colorful natural phenomena appear. For example, in the disordered phase of an alloy the seats of two kinds of atoms are of the same value and symmetry; but in the phase of order the symmetry is lost. Because the symmetry of the order phase is always lower than that of disorder, accompanying the phase change there is the breakage of symmetry. So the scale of symmetry is usually taken as the measure of degree of order.

There are many required conditions in the category of order and disorder. We should master the dialectical relationship between the two, as well as these conditions, so that the category is better employed in the objective practice of understanding and changing the world.

(iii) The Significance of the Categories of Order Degree of Orderliness--Disorder
The history of the development of both the natural world and human society is the history of evolution and development from order to disorder and from disorder to order. Any systematic matter, whether a celestial body or the earth, non-living thing or living thing, undergoes the process of coming into being, developing and dying out. Coming into being and developing is a process from disorder to order. Dying out and declining is a process from order to disorder. As mentioned above, elementary particles of disorder form the atoms and molecules of order; the nebula of disorder forms the galaxy and the solar system of order. During the course of the earth's cooling down, mountains and valleys, rivers and seas of order were formed from chaos. All the processes from microorganisms to fishes, to reptiles, to apes, to man are developments from disorder to order. But the dying process of an individual living thing, the extinction of some species in the evolution of living things, the weathering of rocks, soil erosion, and even the dying process of the solar system and other stars are processes from order to disorder. But the two kinds of processes cannot actually be separated. At the same time, in the same subject, there are both growing and developing factors and dying factors. The two kinds of factors, as two sides of discrepancy, contradict each other, change into each other and coordinate with each other. This is of great significance in our study of the evolution of the natural world and the development of human society.

The study of order and disorder and their dialectical transformation is of great theoretical and practical significance. Before the 1960s man had made brilliant achievements in the study of the structure of order. On the problem of order and disorder there was once a severe argument in the areas of both science and philosophy. This was a debate on "the theory of heat death." According to the second law of thermodynamics, with the continuous increase of the total amount of entropy, the order property of the universe continuously decreases as time advances, and dies out in the end, resulting in the end of the world. Marxist philosophy believes that "heat death" is impossible. Engels said, while criticizing the theory of heat death, that heat lost in space is sure to change, in one way or another, into another form of motion, in which it will come together again and restart. This outstanding thought was only an inspired guess at that time. But the achievements of modern science have proved Engels to have been right. Order and disorder are not only of great theoretical significance in modern astronomy and philosophical explanations, but also of great significance in the further study of life essence, and the protection and harnessing of the ecological environment. The study of this category can make it known, at the philosophical level, that order comes from chaos, and order becomes chaos. But chaos is not completely without order, and much higher order may be contained in it at the same time. This is of even greater significance in guiding us to correctly understand and reform the objective world.


                               II. The Finite--Status Quo--the Infinite

The finite and the infinite are an old pair of philosophical categories which has not been clearly defined after thousands of years of disputes. Here we guide our discussion by emphasizing the meaning of each and the dialectical relationship between them.

(i) Denotations of the Finite, Status Quo and the Infinite
As David Hilbert once said, "The final clarification of the essence of the infinite is far beyond the interest of each specific discipline, and becomes a touchstone of human rationality itself. No other problem has ever touched man's feelings as deeply as the infinite; no other concept has exerted such an inspiring and effective impact on human rationality. And yet, there is no other concept that can be clarified in the same way as the infinite" (Hilbert, On the Infinite, p. 8).

The finite means that which is restrained by conditions and has life and death, beginning and end as well as bounds. It is specific, temporal and relative. It can be said that the finite is what is relative to the infinite. The finite is not separated from the infinite, just as the infinite is associated with the finite. The finite refers to that which systematic matter has as its certain scale and scope in its form of existence. It belongs to the specific levels and types of systematic matter. It has definite structure and function, and its transformation happens in a specific way, in specific space and at a specific time. What the category of the finite symbolizes is the infinite property of specific system.

The infinite--"not finite"--refers to the unconditioned and unlimited, which has no life or death, no beginning or end, and no bounds. It is universal, eternal and absolute being. The infinite refers to the diverse ways systematic matter exists and its property of endless transformation in movement. The levels and types, structures and functions inside the systematic material world are infinite. The same is true of space and time the forms in which systematic matter exists--and it is true of the way and process in systematic matter's transformation. The symbol of the category of the infinite is the unlimited property of system or motion.

Though the systems material world is varied and complicated, every system has its own specific qualitative formula. The qualitative formula is a restraint on the system. It is by the qualitative formula that one object differs from other .,objects. The system is specified within particularly restrained limits. Thus it is specific and limited. Hegel explains this well as "the imminent determination of the something itself, which latter is thus the finite" (Hegel, The Science of Logic, p. 11 1). For instance, we can have carbon dioxide in a liquid state, a gaseous state or a solid State, which is commonly called dry ice. Only at normal atmospheric temperature under different pressures and under specific qualitative formulae, does it exist in any of the three states. All are finite. The endless procedure in which the three states change into each other, and the common basis or grounds upon which the change takes place are infinite. In the most universal sense, if we say that the finite is the specific "being," the infinite is the general "being." As another instance, laws are infinite while their specific expressions are finite. So it can be said that understanding laws is of endless significance. Provided the conditions under which laws exert their functions exist, laws will function endlessly. In this sense, once we have mastered laws, we are sure to understand the infinite.

The infinite in the true sense is the endlessly diverse forms expressing the development of system. Also included are the infinite properties of time and space--the forms in which substance exists. To be specific, the infinitude of the universe is the inevitable way systematic matter functions. It is the absolute expression of the law that systematic matter has no life and no death, there is no end to motion, and forms endlessly change into each other. From the development of nebulae into the solar system to the formation of planets with living things on them, and the evolution of life from a lower form to a higher form, all are links in the infinite development of the systematic material world. The ceaseless beginning and end of the celestial bodies in the universe--stars, galaxies, etc.--build up the infinite development of the universe. The infinite divisions of systematic matter reflect the unlimited levels of systematic matter in quality, quantity and sequence.

The philosophical concept of the infinite is the abstraction of the true objective relations in the realistic world. Numerous counterparts can be found in the realistic world. The concept of the infinite should not be an object of pure thought, or an abstract ideal, "useful and imagined" factor, which is isolated from time and space, separated from systematic matter or independent of the achievements of natural science. It is on this point that our view of infinity differs from other such views. The finite and infinite are in dialectical unity. The infinite is made up of the finite, but it is not a piling up of finite objects at rest. The process cannot be reduced to a monotonous or negative process of repetition, and it cannot be seen as the terminal point of an expansion of infiniteness. There is no terminal point to the series. The finite is to be known by grasping the meaning of development, transition and suddenness. The infinite is development, which includes two aspects: one is the constant march (elongating process); the other is the relative fulfillment (exhaustion) process (or result). The infinite exists in the dialectical unity of the two processes, with neither to be excluded. It is true that the progression and fulfillment processes are not empty deserts or the perpetual repetition of the same thing. In the inevitable way systematic matter functions it has its fixed contents, levels, stages, and upward or downward, forward or backward or enlarging or contracting developments.

Space, as demonstrated by modern science, cannot be completely understood to be the type of space interpreted by Euclid. The immense universe does not have Euclidean features, so the infinitude of space cannot be completely equal to that of flat space envisaged by Euclid's geometry, or that of Democritus. The infinitude of space has a broader sense. In the past we saw no difference between the infinite and the boundless. Where the infinitude of space is concerned, it was understood as one space with another space outside of itself, just like extending one walking-stick after another, and the infinite was only meant to refer to the boundless. The infinite and the boundless are not completely the same. Therefore, finitude and boundlessness do not repel each other. In mathematics, examples are easily found to demonstrate that boundlessness is not infinity, like the series Xn = n(ml)n. Sometimes, boundlessness is taken as the infinite, mainly because the infinite is seen as a process of monotonous repetition and negation. Because the infinite develops, and the infinite is formed in that development, it easily leads to another meaning. Whether the infinite is infinity or infinitesimal, its makeup has levels. The infinite can have different contents and be derived at different levels. In this sense, the infinite at a certain level is made up of the finite; the finite includes the infinite of a different level. It follows that we can say that the infinite is made up of the finite, and it is composed of sections or parts as well.

Systematic matter can be divided infinitely. The infinite division is absolute. "Divide a one-foot stick in half every day, and this will go on for ever." Infinite division does not mean division from big size to small size, an endless mechanical dividing process. This never-ending dividing process is made up of different stages based on the structural levels of systematic matter, from substance to molecule, from molecule to atom, to elementary particle. The division at the linking point of this stage is relatively finished and exhaustive. "In chemistry there is a deformation point, beyond which bodies can no longer act chemically--the atom; and several atoms are always in combination--the molecule. Ditto in physics we are driven to the acceptance of certain--for physical analysis--smallest particles'' (Engels, Dialectics of Nature, p. 222). As far as specific systematic matter is concerned, divisibility is finite. As all systematic matter exists as one link in the infinite series of the structure of systematic matter its division is relatively finite. Atoms, elementary particles, including quarks, cannot be taken as simple objects or smallest particles. All of them are links. But this by no means restricts the divisibility of systematic matter.

The contents and forms of division differ at different stages and at different levels. The quantitative division of systematic matter is one, but not the only, form of division. Division can be mechanical, chemical, electromagnetic, etc. It does not necessarily go from big-size to small-size, from heavier to lighter. It is possible to progress to the bigger or to the heavier. In molecular physics we have such an example. The total static mass of two protons and two neutrons released from helium are heavier than the static mass of helium itself. This instance illustrates a type of the division that creates "heavier" subdivisions.

To sum up, we have found that the infinite division of systematic matter is the dialectical unity of the finite and the infinite, and it is the unity of unconditioned absolute division and conditioned relative division which is the unity of progression and fulfillment. The finite and the infinite are a pair of categories in systems dialectical unity. The exact meanings are to be understood in their discrepant and synergetic relationship.

(ii) The Dialectical Relationship Between Finite—Status Quo—Infinite
Engels once said, "Infinity is a contradiction, and is full of contradictions. From the outset it is a contradiction that an infinity is composed of nothing but finites, and yet this is the case" (Marx and Engels, Selected Works, Vol. 3, p. 90). We should comprehend the relationship of the finite and the infinite on the basis of this.

First of all, it should be made clear that the finite and the infinite are in synergy with discrepancy. With the development of science we know that the properties appropriate to the finite cannot be applied directly to the infinite. For instance, the part is smaller than its whole; the existence of maximum and mini-mum; interchangeability of terms in formulae, and factors in joint multiplication. The infinite has the property that its parts can correspond to the whole one by one, while the finite could not possibly have such a property. This is the fundamental difference between the finite and the infinite. For instance, the even number compilation in the proper subset of sub-compilation of natural numbers—the half of the natural number compilation—can correspond to its whole one by one. The famous "Galilean Paradox" in history is not a real paradox, while it illustrates the property of the infinite. Another remark-able instance can make it clear that the whole "while reflected in its own parts" is similar. This is what is known as Royce's map explanation: He imagined that it is possible to draw the map of a country on a part of the country's ground (even on a table of the country). If the map is exact it will completely correspond to its original parts respectively. Therefore, though our map is only a part of the whole it is in a corresponding ralation to the whole, it contains the same number of points as thee whole does, while the number of the points is infinite" (Russell, Introduction to Mathematical Philosophy, p. 77).

What is more, the finite and the infinite infiltrate and are transformed into each other. They embody each other. Neither of them can exist independently of the other, and there is no priority in their existence. The finite system itself includes some self-negating factors. The potential for changing endlessly is great. "No external power converts the finite into the infinite, but its (finite's) nature" (Lenin, Philosophical Notebooks, p. 114) "It has been demonstrated above that finitude exists only as a passing beyond itself; it thus contains infinity, which is its other..." (Ibid., p. 115) Any of the finite embodies the infinite. The finite is one expression of the infinite under certain conditions. "In the same way, infinitude is just the transcendence of finitude. It therefore essentially contains its other." "The finite is not sublated by the infinite as by a power existing outside it; on the contrary, its infinity consists in sublating its own self (Hegel, The Science of Logic, p. 145). Not only does the infinite exist by one or the other form of the finite, it also exists by all the forms of the finite relative to it. It is only in this sense that the infinite itself is purely made up of the finite.

The finite and the infinite are prerequisites for each other. The infinite independent of the finite or finite independent of the infinite is inconceivable. The infinite is implied by the finite. The infinite exists only through the finite. The infinite embodies the finite. It is the sum total of the finite. The relationship between the finite and the infinite is expressed in the differences between the one and the multiple, the simplified and the complex. The infinite cannot be understood from a solitary simplified point. For instance, the mono-measure, mono-time, one and simplified hierarchy, etc., cannot interpret the infinite. But the one can change into the multiple, and the simplified into the complex, thus the finite can be transformed into the infinite.

The finite and the infinite can change into each other. As Hegel said, "It is the nature of the finite to pass beyond itself, to negate its negation and to become infinite." (Lenin, Philosophical Nootbooks, pp. 114-115). In the same way, the infinite passes beyond the finite. The infinite is embodied by the finite. Here we cite the formation of the natural number series as an example. The natural number series starts from 1, then goes to 2, and then to 3... the finite number is continuously added by one and goes on. When it comes to any natural number "n," however big "n" is, it is finite. And the transition from the finite to the infinite must go through the sudden stage which expresses the sublation of "the repetition of finitude," which progresses to fulfillment so as to reach the minimum infinite cardinal number group 1, 2, 3, 4,... n.... Here the finite and infinite, the infinite procedure and result, infiltrate each other and transit before coming to the exact infinite.

(iii) The Significance of the Category Chain of the Finite, Status Quo and Infinite
To understand and master the meanings of and dialectical relationship between "the finite and the infinite" is not only an inevitable outcome of the logical cognition of system and elements, structure and function, state and change, but it is also of significance to the epistemology and methodology of systems dialectics.

First of all, it makes it clear to us that infinite cognition is a gradual process of the infinite, just as "All true knowledge of nature is knowledge of the eternal, the infinite, and hence essentially absolute. But this absolute knowledge has an important drawback, as the infinity of knowable matter is composed of purely finite things." Here again we meet the previous contradiction, "So the infinity of thought which knows the absolute is composed of an infinite number of finite human minds" (Engels, Dialectics of Nature, p. 212). "The sovereignty of thought is realized in a series of extremely unsovereignly-thinking human beings. This is a contradiction which can be resolved only in the course of infinite progress, in what is—at least practically for us--an endless succession of generations of mankind" (Marx and Engels, Selected Works. Vol.3, p. 126). "The cognition of the infinite is therefore beset with double difficulty and from its very nature can only take place in an infinitely asymptotic progress" Engels, Dialectics of Nature, p. 212). We must correctly understand and master the meaning and dialectical relationships of the finite and the infinite before effectively and consciously practicing the gradually advancing procedure.

The inite and the infinite are the abstracted summary from the objective realistic relationships of the realistic world. The
loyalty to authenticity of the infinite is based on this point of view. We cannot expect to understand these abstract terms by using the five senses, just as we cannot expect to see time or smell space. All the authentic exhaustive cognition lies in our thought when we boost the individuality of an individual thing to the level of generalization. We seek the finite from the infinite, and the permanent from the temporal, and determine them. We can understand and master the infinitude of the realistic world only through the cognition of the diverse infinite in natural science.

Modern cosmology presents many models of this. These models are the generalization and summary of finite knowledge, but they partially reveal the properties of the infinite universe. The infinite cannot be understood without limited things like models or the cognition of them. Modern cosmology is a domain with a great number of hypotheses. It is amazing to see how great their numbers are and how rapidly they are replaced. Obviously we cannot take hypotheses not yet completely demonstrated by specific scientific subjects as universal philosophical views. In the same way, we cannot restrict scientific development by arbitrarily applying philosophical categories to the problems of natural science. Philosophy can only go forward. The systematic material world is diverse in structure of form, hierarchy and type. The transformation process of systematic matter's motion will never be exhausted. The infinite is relative to the finite. Neither the absolute finite nor the absolute infinite exists, with the universe not excluded, which is the natural unity of the finite and the infinite, whose specific way of unity can only be determined by the gradual development of science. Just because the cognition of the infinite is an infinitely and gradually advancing process this process is in levels, and there is the principle that the cognition of the infinite can never exhaust its infinite hierarchy. This is scientifically demonstrated by Godel Kurt's law of incompletion.

To be specific, any infinitely progressing process of a junior level is not likely to exhaust or list all the fixed contents of one level senior to it. It is unlikely that the contents discussed in the infinite process of senior levels could be tested or fully cognized by a theory based on the advancing or fulfilling process of the junior level. This is what determines the difference between the infinitude of the realistic world and the ability of human understanding.


                                   III. Control—Information—Feedback

Now a scientific and technological revolution is going on in the world. Many scholars think that we are now in an era advancing from the "industrial world" to the "information society." In an era such as this, it is particularly significant to fully understand and master the category of control—information—feedback.

(i) Denotations of Control, Information and Feedback
Information, from the ontological point of view, is a particular method of interrelationship between the inside of systematic matter and the system itself, and it is the particular reciprocal action between the inside of the system and its sub systems. It symbolizes the relationship of the existence and changes of the system, and jt is an attributive property of systematic matter. From the point of view of epistemology, information is new contents about the motion and change of the objective world that man has detected with the help of specific systematic matter. It enables man to clear up doubts about certain knowledge, and enables him to be educated from the stage of ignorance, and to go from uncertainty to certainty.

Any form of systematic matter in the objective world is in constant change and reciprocal transformation and can be the information source which transmits information constantly, regardless of detection by man. It is the materialism of information. For instance, the universal body in development and change transmits the information that characterizes its motion and change, regardless of detection by man, and does so both before the appearance and after the disappearance of human beings. For man, only the association of information at its source with destination, the objective with the subjective is meaningful. This is because people receive information to cognize and reform the world through practice and technology. The information, information source, information channel and information destination of systematic matter are all systematic matter. All kinds of carriers of information, like light, electricity, sound, magnetism and heat are all the material state in motion without exception, just as we say it is inconceivable to imagine motion without systematic matter. After all, information is the basic attribute of systematic matter. It is the particular interaction between bodies of systematic matter. It is by no means "a third entity" which exists neither as substance nor as consciousness. Information is closely associated with the motion of matter. The delivery, storage and transformation of information are all realized by motion. There would be no information without motion, while motion is the motion of systematic matter. It is impossible to imagine the isolation of information from systematic matter and its motion.

The information capacity comes from the reciprocal association of the communicative system, presupposed by the integrity of the system and its generalization in procedure, so it can be defined by how well its received information can eliminate
the uncertainty through the receiving system. If little uncertainty can be eliminated after information is received the information capacity is minimum. If the uncertainty is eliminated completely after information is received the information capacity is maximum. In communications the certainty and uncertainty are expressed through entropy. Entropy is smaller as
certainty rises, and vice versa. The information capacity is defined by entropy. In this sense, information equals negative entropy.

The control, from a philosophical point of view, is the modulation of a system to its various elements and to the relationship between system and its environment. The modulation enables it to achieve coordination, otherwise there is loss of control. For example, an organism and a society can be regarded as systems, which receive information constantly and which react accordingly to modulate their internal relations and external connections so as to adapt themselves to changes, so that they can maintain their existence and progress. The modulating process is the controlling procedure.

Feedback is the process in which the output of information reacts upon the input and affects it. in this process, if the input is strengthened it is called positive feedback; if the input is weakened it is negative feedback. It is obvious that the output and input are processes of reaction. In a controlling system two sub-systems depend upon and act upon each other. One of them is the active system, and the other is the passive system. The active system is the system which controls, the one which actively functions. The passive system is the one which is controlled, the one which acts passively. Control and feedback refer to the reactions between two systems. From the above, control is the action of the active system upon the passive system. Control is the action with an end in view, which enables the system to move in a fixed direction. Feedback is the reaction of a passive system upon an active system, which enables the active system to modulate itself and adjust its objectives.

The interaction of control—information—feedback is clearly shown in science and technology. For example, when a man-made satellite orbits the earth its orbit is controlled by the active system, i.e. the control center on the earth, which sends out signals to exert action upon the satellite to enable it to follow the expected orbit. This is the control. The man-made satellite (the passive system) reports to the control center about its motion by sending signals. This is the reaction. If any deviation in its action motion occurs, the feedback will react. As a result the control center sends out a signal to correct the orbit of the satellite. The reaction which leads to modulation by the control center is the feedback. The satellite is kept in the correct orbit through the interaction between control and feedback.

The systems material world has a system of different levels. The interactions of control and feedback exist wherever the control system is. From the development of science and technology. systems with different qualities may display the same action and function, so it is universally significant to seek the dialectical relationship inside a system or between systems.

Control and feedback expose the interaction of the parts of a system and uncover the universal properties of systematic matter and its motion of different spheres in nature, the dialectical synthesis of two basic concepts of natural science and technological science.

Control and feedback reveal the universal circulatory property in nature. Various circulatory systems of different levels exist in nature. Inside one circulatory system sub-systems coexist and restrain each other, which shows the universal existence of control and feedback. One biosphere on the earth, which is an immense biological system, is classified as many ecological systems. In all the biological systems the organisms and non-organisms circulate and transform their matter and energy by certain means. Control is classified into various types, for example, split-ring control, loop-locked control, random control, conjugated control, etc. In the same way, feedback has its various types: whole feedback, partial feedback, positive feed back, negative feedback, etc. Control itself has its types in classified categories, and feedback has its corresponding types, also in classified categories.

Everything in the world experiences interaction. It is unavoidable that every system acts as an element of one or another system in an interactive relationship. Interaction between control and feedback exists wherever the result follows the action of the doer and the result reacts upon the doer, the new action being reflected on the doer itself as a result. The number of links in this process has nothing to do with the existence of control and feedback. As it experiences infinite interactions with other systems no system can be isolated from the connection between control and feedback.

(ii) The Dialectical Relationship of Control—Information —Feedback
In the control system control and feedback premise each other and coexist at the same time. As the two aspects of the difference, they are linked inseparably. Control is the action of the active system upon the passive system, but the action differs from the usual action, in that it requires the potential space selected by the active system. It follows that control is the action which enables the acted-upon object to develop in a certain fixed direction. In addition, the basic point of control lies in that it is not a time action, but can only be an action that causes the circulatory effect. The potential space of the controlled object is an indispensable condition, while the full prerequisite is the action which results in the circulation between the active system and passive system, and leads to the development of the system in a fixed direction, it is clear that control cannot exist independently of the reaction of the passive system upon the active system, i.e. feedback, although it is the action of the active system upon the passive system.

Feedback is the action of the passive system upon the active system, but the action differs from the usual one. Because the direction of feedback is from passive to active it is a counteraction. It counteracts upon the active system based on the result of control and produces corresponding new control. In his cybernetics Norbert Wiener talked about feedback, but feed back is nowhere to be found isolated from control.

Information and feedback is the basic concept in cybernetics. Wiener thinks that the objective world is universally connected, and the connection is information. An organization is stabilized due to its ability to obtain, keep, deliver and make use of information. This alternating process of information can be simplified as information—input—store—process—output—information, with feedback information included. Feedback is the reaction of output information upon input information in a system, which reacts upon, controls and modulates the re-inputting of information as a result. The law of systematic automatic control made up of information and information feedback is the essence of the category of information—control —feedback.

In a control system control and feedback premise each other, stay in unity and interchange under certain conditions. The establishment of control and feedback is not isolated from the division of the two sub-systems in control, namely, the active system and the passive system. Control is the action of the active system upon the passive system through information, while feedback is the counteraction of the passive system upon the active system through feedback information. In certain control systems the difference of the active and passive systems is relative in meaning, so the control and feedback are likely to exchange their positions, and they are likely to change into each other.

The diversity in control and feedback results in the diverse natures and forms in the connection between control and feed back. The active effect of control is brought on by the diverse natures and forms of the differences between control and feedback. But in split-ring control feedback cannot produce a lasting effective and active influence. In random control the feedback produces an effect on control by its speed, but does lot do so by its nature. In loop-locked control and conjugated control and the control which has memory different feedback produces a decisive effect on the nature and ability of control feedback. Both of them function in the circulatory motion of the control system, but as far as the deviation of the controlled object is concerned, they go in opposite ways; one enlarges the deviation, and the other narrows it.

Positive feedback extends the distance to the target of control, so it is a process of gradually losing that target, or a process of diverting from the planned target. Negative feedback shortens the distance to the target. Every modulation of negative feedback takes as input the potential space of the controlled target from the previous output, and enables control to make new choices in the potential space of the new target of control. Negative feedback time and again reacts on control, and time and again shortens the distance to the target of control so that control can reach its target. It is obvious that negative feedback plays a key role in strengthening control and the achievement of its final goal.

The action of feedback upon control is revealed through the change of the positive feedback and negative feedback. Positive feedback and negative feedback are interchangeable under certain conditions. The control will change accordingly after the change takes place in feedback. In this case, feedback plays the leading role in the relationship with control.

(iii) The Significance of the Category Chain of Control, Information and Feedback
Control—information—feedback reveals the universal relationship between action and counteraction in the objective world and scientific cognition. It is significant for the re-evaluation of the mechanism and dialectical law in the cognizing process, and for guiding the development of scientific cognition.

Action and counteraction exist universally in the objective world, through which the system is propelled to move, change and develop. The relatively independent system can self organize and self-modulate by action and counteraction, which are control and feedback.

Control and feedback is not only the key link of modulation and control, but also the key link in the cognizing process, dynamic of the cognizing process and its internal mechanism.

The higher nervous system of human beings is a kind of information feedback system (as illustrated by the following diagram). Now the development of "artificial intelligence" com bines research on electronic computers, human intelligence and artificial intelligence, probes and promotes the development of the imitation of intelligence and makes artificial intelligence an extension of human intelligence. It brings forward new theories and researches ways to more thoroughly understand human intelligence. In this way, some of the human thinking activities get "externalized" from the human brain to a machine. The two help each other. The future might be the era of synergetic co-existence of man and machine. The information era is only a transitional period. The study of techniques of controlling machines can be used for reference in the study of part of human thinking activities.

The relationship between practice and cognition is a recycling relationship of action and counteraction in the long history of cognition, including the relationship of control and feed back.

The relationship between perceptual knowledge and ration al knowledge is also one of action and counteraction, and also one of control and feedback. Any scientific process of cognition must go through the repeated cycle of control and feedback in perceptual knowledge and rational knowledge, and must go through the repeated cycle of control and feedback in practice and cognition, so as to gradually shorten the distance to the target and attain the goal of scientific cognition. The application of control and feedback in the dialectical process of development of cognition further makes the cognizing process and cognizing mechanism concrete and precise, and more deeply repeals the dynamic process of reflection.

Because the category of control, information and feedback not only reflects the dialectical contents of the objective world. but also the dialectical contents of scientific cognition, it is of important significance for methodology. For any relatively independent system, the analysis of the dialectical relationship of its special control and feedback can reveal, in one respect, its dynamic structure and property, and reveal its causality and laws, so that it is possible to reform it and utilize it for a given purpose, according to its properties and laws. For example, biological cybernetics, through the study of the adjustment and control process and the laws of the information motion of a biological system, reveals the secrets of living things and their skillful and perfect control methods, and makes a study of the dynamic process of living things from the interrelation of all the parts in the biological system. Another example: Social cybernetics uses control and feedback in the whole of society, examines all the mechanisms of social control in the total system of society—culture—economy, and tries to grasp the all-related social system of multi-pole factors. Any effective understanding process must be a negative feedback system. If it is not, the first thing that should be done is to make the understanding a negative feedback system, and then the analysis can be carried out to improve the function of the negative feedback adjustment, so as to shorten the distance to the target faster and more effectively; thus the goal of cognizing the target is attained. Control and feedback can be a tool either of the analysis system or for mastering the laws of cognition.



                                                     Section Four

                            THE CATEGORY OF SOCIETY

The laws and categories of systems dialectics suit the needs of both the social and natural sciences. A series of category chains, such as nature—labor—human society, labor force —productive force—social development force, individuality —collectivity—society, and so on, is the specific application of the laws and categories of systems dialectics to human society. That is how historical systems dialectics or social systems dialectics comes into being.

Historical systems dialectics is the scientific theory which deals with the general laws governing the development of human society with the aid of ontology, epistemology, methodology and axiology. Historical systems dialectics enriches and develops Marxist historical materialism.

In this section a series of categories within human society will be dealt with so as to make possible a thorough understanding and grasp of the laws of historical systems dialectics.

                                        I. Nature—Labor—Human Society

Nature—labor—human society belongs to the philosophical category of historical systems dialectics. Human society emerges from nature over a long period of motion and changes. Meanwhile human society is gradually understanding and re forming nature so as to make it meet the needs of human beings. But the whole process can be accomplished only through the medium of labor and practice of human beings. Without human labor as the medium it would be impossible for nature and human society to directly enter the category of philosophy respectively. Nature—labor—human society is considered as a category chain of systems dialectics. Then the denotations, dialectical relationships and significance of these aspects are meticulously studied, which is essential for acquiring correct systematic natural and social viewpoints.

(i) Denotations of Nature, Labor and Human Society 
With regard to the interrelationships between nature, labor and human society, Marx gave a brilliant explanation: In production people do not have contact merely with nature. If they do not co-act in a certain mode, or exchange their activities, it will be impossible for them to carry out production. In order to produce, people have to keep certain contacts and relationships with each other. Besides, only within the social contact and relationships can they contact nature and carry out their production. This not only explicitly explains the interrelationships and contacts between nature, labor and human society, but it also scientifically explains and proves the systems dialectical theory that nature—labor—human society should be regarded as a category chain.

(a) Denotation of Nature
Nature is the material prerequisite for the existence and development of human society. Nature is the unified and objective systems material world that exists independently of consciousness. Nature is an organic system whole. And the system whole has structure, and the structure within the system has hierarchy. Nature is a huge system, and its overall unity results from its systematic materiality. Nature is in a state of eternal motion, change and development. There are things of all shades and kinds in nature, and they come into being, die away and develop, as the outcome of motion and development in nature. For example, in nature there is the organic sphere and the inorganic sphere, plants and animals, including human beings, advanced animals. These are all the outcome of the development of nature over a long period of time. Human conscious ness is the most advanced product of natural development, whereas human society is a special part of nature. Instead of adapting itself to nature passively, human society can under stand nature in an active way so as to serve the needs of human beings. The changes and development of human society are so much greater than those of nature that they are even beyond measure. Systems dialectics holds that nature is the material prerequisite for the existence and development of humansocie- ty on the one hand, and that the decisive elements that deter mine the development speed of human society are the general state of the labor force and the transformation of its corresponding relationship with production on the other.

(b) The Denotation of Human Society
Human society is the sum total of people interrelated on the basis of common activities of material production. It is "The product of man's interaction upon man" (Marx and Engels, Selected Works of Marx and Engels, Vol. 4, p. 320).The production of material goods is the fundamental condition for the existence of human society. The sum and sub stance of the relations of production which are formed in production and also suit the needs of a certain stage in the development of the productive forces constitute the social economic foundation, on which the corresponding superstructure is set up. The development of human society is a natural and historical process, and its motion and development proceed in accordance with objective laws which are independent of man's will. Marx said, "The total sum of production relationships forms the so-called society relationships and forms a so-called society, a society that is at a certain historical development stage and has its own special characteristics. Ancient society, feudal society and bourgeois society are all such total sums of production relationships, in which each total sum of production relationships represents a special stage in the development of human history" (Ibid., Vol. 1, p. 363). Marx's statement explains human society as a special social organism based on people's contacts for material production and economic relationships. Labor creates human society as well as man himself. At the same time, man himself is the historical product of the development of nature and social relationships. It was only in the process of labor, and it was only when he had learned how to make tools that man separated himself from animals and really became man. The essential differences between human society and the animal world lie in labor, purposeful social production and relationships between people in production. Such relation ships in production are the foundation for all social relation ships.

Nature and human society are organically integrated by the labor of human beings. Without labor there would be no human beings, nor human society nor nature transformed by man.

(c) The Denotation of Labor
Engels in his The Function of Labor in the Transformation from Ape to Man pointed out: "In a certain sense, labor creates man himself (Ibid., Vol. 3, p. 508).

Here labor means the purposeful activities conducted by people using certain implements of production to work at the subject of labor and to acquire material wealth and spiritual values. Labor is the most fundamental condition for the existence and development of human society. Labor plays a decisive role in the making of human society. The ape, the ancestor of human beings, became tool-making man only after a long period of labor. Labor holds a different position and plays a different role under different social systems. The subject of labor is the general term for everything processed in working. It can be either matter presented to us by nature, such as trees and ores, or processed raw materials, such as cotton, steel and so on. The forms of labor can be divided approximately into two types: physical and mental labor. But both types are combinations of mental labor and physical labor, which jointly create material wealth and spiritual values.

With regard to the topic "labor creates man himself," systems dialectics holds that this involves three stages: Nature is pregnant with human beings while it is changing and developing; human beings emerge while making stone artifacts; human beings are separated from the animal world in the process of learning to use fire. Hence labor is the intermediary link in the category of nature—human society.

(ii) The Dialectical Relationship Between Nature, Labor and Human Society
(a) Nature and Human Society Interrelate and Interact Through Labor
Nature and human society are interrelated by means of labor. On the one hand, over a long period of motion and change life appeared, man came into being and human society emerged in nature. Nature supplies human society with perpetual and essential living necessities and means of production. The subjects of labor are either supplied by nature or obtained by human society from nature. The implements of production are also made of materials from nature. Nature provides human beings with fertile soil, dense forests, a large number of animals and plants, abundant marine products and such natural resources as mineral reserves of all kinds, sources of water, wind, energy and others. Therefore, there would be no human beings or human society without nature. Nature plays roles which both speed up and delay the development of human society, which indicates the extent of the dependence of human society on nature.

On the other hand, instead of passively depending on nature, human society actively seeks to grasp the laws governing the development of nature and takes advantage of those laws to remake nature dynamically by means of labor so as to make it provide consumer goods and means of production. This shows the interaction between nature and human society. For example, the ecological system in nature comprises both the biological community, which is made up of plants, animals and microorganisms, and the entirety, which is composed of such inorganic environmental elements as interactive climate, water, soil, light and heat. Rivers, lakes and oceans are some examples. They depend on each other, condition each other and constitute a constantly changing and developing ecological system on the surface of the earth in nature. In this huge system all the elements exchange matter, energy and information to keep a relative balance. Once the environment is polluted by the labor production of human society it is bound to obstruct and destroy the balance and development of the ecological system, which is likely to cause social effects of pollution and endanger people's health and life. The interrelationships between human society and nature are in a constant motion of exchange between matter, energy and information, which is displayed in constantly being assimilated, fixed, transformed and circulated. This explains the dialectical relationship between human society and nature in interrelating to each other, interacting with each other, depending on each other and restricting each other. It Also explains that the dynamic role of human society as regards nature is restricted by the objective laws of nature. Human society will pay a severe penalty if it violates natural laws. Denudation of forests, erosion of soil, increase of desertification, salinization of fertile farmland etc., all deserve our care-pondering.

(b) Under Certain Conditions Nature and Human Society Interchange Through Labor
The distinction between human society and nature is relative, and may change under certain conditions. On the one hand, in the course of motion and development of nature there appeared micro-organisms, plants and animals, which evolved from a lower stage to a higher stage and in turn evolved to man and man's consciousness. These are all different forms of motion and development of matter in nature. In a narrow sense, human society evolved from nature and man is a special component in the transformation of matter in nature. On the other hand, apart from belonging to nature, human society can act upon nature, that is, dynamically affect nature so as to release from it more energy that will meet the needs of human beings. In the condition of labor human society and nature are in a constant state of exchange, circulation and transformation of matter and energy. This process will never end; if it did it would signify the death of human society.

(iii) The Significance of the Categories of Nature, Labor and Human Society
Nature and human society are connected as a category chain through labor, which is an achievement of research into social history systems from the standpoint of systems dialectics. On the relationship between nature and human society, namely, the relationship between human society and labor, dialectical materialism has made a profound explanation, but it did not take nature, labor and human society as an organic social category in its study. Therefore, nature and human society can surely be regarded as an entire system if we understand nature and human society as connected through the medium of labor. Compared with the partial concepts of nature, human society and labor in the conventional way of thinking, this concept is more unified, organic and cohesive. This category chain is of important practical significance for understanding and reforming nature and human society. It also enriches and develops Marxist philosophy.

In the first place, the category chain of nature—labor—human society reflects and deepens the principle of dialectical materialism on the universal connection of things. Engels once made an explanation of the universal connection of things, and made an effort to "present in an approximately systematic form a comprehensive view of the interconnection in nature" (Marx and Engels, Selected Works, Vol. 4, p. 242). The development of modern science and technology further illustrates that nature is a whole system, that human society is a whole system and that labor production and creation are a whole system. They together form a bigger system which is an entire organic system. Systems dialectics proposes that nature and human society are constantly exchanging, circulating and changing matter and energy through labor, which is a practical activity of decisive significance. They are universally connected in system, in struc- ture and in hierarchy. The exchange, circulation and transformation of matter, energy and information are the specific forms of system connection. And this connection continues steadily, first by the laws of nature and then by all the laws of human society. In the system connection attention should be paid to the critical point of demarcation permitted by the laws. If human society only talks about its own laws and does not obey the laws of nature it is destined to make mistakes. For instance, exhausting the soil, felling trees indiscriminately and filling in lakes all violate the laws of nature in varying degrees, and punishment inevitably results from this.

Second, the category of nature—labor—human society reflects the cardinal principles of modern scientific epistemology. 

The category chain of nature—labor—human society changes people's understanding. People have turned from the isolated and simple "theory centered on material objects in nature" and concept of history to the "theory centered on system." Also, monistic and dualistic thinking turn to trinal and pluralistic thinking in understanding nature, labor and human society. This is a tremendous change in people's way of thinking and it signifies the transformation of the cognitive structure. If we approach the objective world by means of systems dialectics we will be struck by the entirety, complexity and organic unity of nature. We find that nature and human society relate to, act on, depend on and condition each other through the medium of labor. The regularity of motion and change in nature affects that in human society. Therefore, the systems dialectical concept of history can make some principles of dialectical materialism and the materialist conception of history quantified and precise to a certain extent so as to enrich and develop dialectical and historical materialism.

Thirdly, the category chain of nature—labor—human society gives the traditional category of nature and society new contents and denotations in methodology, and brings the traditional category to a new stage. In the form of thinking, emphasis is laid on considering problems from the big system of nature, and the category chain is regarded as both the starting and ending point for mankind to understand and reform the objective world. This leads to a great change in the form of thinking in which human society is considered as it stands. To keep human society developing people should consider that the amount divided among the exchanges of matter, energy and information between nature and human society should be in a relationship of coordination, harmony and adaptation so as to maintain the dynamic equilibrium and stability in the big sys tem of nature and human society, and to make nature and human society develop in the direction of better structure and perfect order.


                                      II. Labor Force—Productive Force 

                           —Social Development Force

Labor force, productive force and social development force are the motive force system in social development. The motion, change and development of human society are all propelled by the social motive force system. To study the motive force system in social development and its interrelationship is of vital significance.

(i) Denotations of Labor Force, Productive Force and Social Development Force 
Human society is in a process of constant motion, change and development in accordance with its own innate regular pattern. How can society move, change and develop? The systems dialectical concept of history believes that the answer lies in the motive force system of social development, that is, the product of propulsion by labor force, productive force and social development force.

(a) The Denotation of Labor Force
Labor force is man's capability to work, namely, the total organic whole of mental work and physical work utilized in the production of all material, spiritual and civilized tools. In the motive force system of social development labor force is not only the exploiter and user of natural resources, but also the designer, manufacturer and user of the raw materials and means of labor. It is also the creator and user of science, technology and culture, the organizer and executor of production management, the executor and receiver of educational training.

Labor force is a dynamic system structure, and its quantity, quality and sequence are historically changing and developing. During the period of simple stone artifacts and hand tools, namely, in the conditions of production by physical strength, the quantity of labor force is of decisive significance for the development of social production. But in the conditions of mechanical and intelligent implements the development of the labor force is mainly decided by the level of competence of the labor force. Modern society is in a unified era of mechanical and intelligent implements, in which the proportion of physical work in the labor force is decreasing gradually, while the proportion of mental work is increasing gradually. The function of traditional experience and technical ability is declining gradually, while the function of scientific knowledge and specialized technical ability is growing gradually. Therefore, the physical labor force suited to stone artifacts and hand tools which puts physical work first will gradually shift to the technical labor force suited to mechanical implements which puts general technical ability first. And it is further developing toward an intelligent labor force suited to intelligent implements, combining mental work and physical work. In history every major change in labor force structure brings about great changes in social production. There are different structures of labor force in different periods of social development, and even in the same period of social development there exists a multi-level structure.

(b) The Denotation of Productive Force
Productive force is man's ability to understand and to reform nature. It signifies the relationship between man and nature. Besides the basic elements, such as subjects of labor, means of labor, laborers, science and technology, etc., modern productive force includes such elements as production management, production information and education, etc. In the motive force system of social development, productive force is the decisive element of social development. The development of productive force causes the daily increase of the material and spiritual wealth on which society depends to exist and develop. It not only meets man's increasing demands, but also creates new needs so as to "activate" the coordinated advance of production and needs to give impetus to social development. The development of productive force makes the exchange of matter, energy and information between society and nature increase constantly and causes society to acquire more and more natural materials, energy and information in order to achieve the ability of self-promotion, increasingly strengthening society. The development of productive force promotes the appearance of science and technology and their constant renewal to continuously improve man's ability to conquer and reform nature. The development of productive force gives rise to relevant modifications in man's life style and his thinking so as to make them increasingly holistic and comprehensive. The development of productive force leads to the corresponding modification in the structure of social formation and in turn brings about the evolution and improvement of the whole social formation so that the replacement of the old social formation by the new becomes the fundamental motive force. As Engels said, "In acquiring new productive forces men change their mode of production. And in changing their mode of production, inchanging their way of earning their living, they change all their social relations" (Marx and Engels, Selected Works, Vol. 1, p. 108).

(c) The Denotation of Social Development Force Social development force is the consequence of a whole combined force which comes from numerous interlaced forces and numerous parallelograms of forces in human society, that is, the non-linear systematic combined force. This non-linear systematic combined force is a social development force. In the motive force system of social development social development force is the fundamental motive force in social development.

The Marxist materialistic concept of history categorizes the motive force of social development as the development of social productive force, that is, it categorizes it as economic. But the economic element cannot be regarded as the only motive force behind historical development. Also, historical materialism can not be categorized as "economic materialism." Engels once pointed out that if the viewpoint of historical materialism concerning decisive elements of historical development is that the economic element is the only decisive element, that is a serious misrepresentation of Marx's materialist concept of history. He said, "According to the materialist concept of history, the decisive element in the historical process is after all the production and re-production of realistic life. Neither Marx nor I have ever confirmed more than this. If someone tries to misinterpret this by saying the economic element is the only decisive element, he has turned the proposition into empty, abstract and absurd prattle" (Ibid., Vol. 4, p. 477). It is by no means a unitary force that gives impetus to social development, but a consequence of the interaction of many elements. He also said. "The economic state is the basis, but what affect the progress of the historical struggle and mainly decide the struggle mode in many situations are the factors of the superstructure: class struggle's political modes and its outcome—the constitutions and others made by the class after its victory ... The interactions between the factors are expressed here. Thus there would be innumerable interlocked forces and innumerable parallelograms of forces, from which a general outcome would take place, that is, an incident in history" (Ibid., pp. 447—488). The achievements of modern society and natural science and the practical experience of human society prove that there is indeed a complicated motive system which is made up of quite a few factors in the process of social development. It is the motive system that pushes forward social development and gives impetus to the advance of history.

(ii) The Dialectical Relationship Between Labor Force, Productive Force and Social Development Force
(a) In the system of productive force all factors are causal to each other, premise each other and exist side by side. They are in a system of discrepancy and synergism. The productive force system is an organic entirety which comprises the factors of "man" (labor force) and "things" (means of production and tools of production). On the one hand, in order to strive for existence, produce descendants, save their own labor and meet their own needs, labor forces, as the most active leading factors in productive force, are seldom satisfied with the ready-made tools of production that they have. They make great efforts to improve their tools of production and invent new ones to create more material and spiritual wealth. While using the tools of production to work at the subject of labor, labor forces are constantly getting a deeper understanding of nature, accumulating production experience and upgrading their technical skills so as to improve their tools of production and to invent new ones. By applying science and technology in the process of production through the labor force, the development of science and technology accelerates the consummation of production tools and eventually leads the means of production to epoch-making transformations. With the improvement and invention of production tools labor productivity can be greatly enhanced and can bring about the change of subject labor more effectively so that more and better products meeting needs can be produced to push productive force to a higher stage. On the other hand, the improvement and invention of production tools, especially the epoch-making transformation of production means, are always under the control of a minority of the labor force at the beginning. For most of the labor force, only after much study and practice can they become utilizes of the new means of production. Through this transformation, the labor force's understanding of nature, production experience and the technical skills of production will reach a new level so that the new tools of production will be improved and reach a new level of invention. This is a cycle which continuously pushes forward the development of productive force.

(b) As a medium, productive force together with labor force and social development force interrelate and interact to promote social advance. The systems dialectical concept of history proposes that productive force is the determinant of the push forward of social development. But in social production labor force is always men in certain relations of production, and productive force is a factor in the unified mode of production, which cannot be separated from the restriction of productive relations. Therefore, it must be fully recognized that the productive relation and its superstructure counteract the development of productive force. There are two aspects in the counter action: One is the promotion of the development of productive force. With the development of productive force the reformation of the old production relationship and its superstructure, and the establishment of the new ones will arouse the labor force's initiative for production, and encourage them to give full play to their mental and physical powers. They can use the mastered material means to reform the subject of labor so as to lead to the rapid development of productive force. Once the new production relationship and its superstructure are set up they will become a positive and dynamic force to promote the development of science and technology and accelerate its advance to give impetus to innovation and the spread of productive techniques. The enormous leaps of productive force in history often appear not before but after the new production relationship and its superstructure. The other aspect of counteraction is its impediment to the development of productive force. If a kind of production relationship and its superstructure have changed from bolstering productive force to impeding the development of productive force, there will be no initiative for production in the labor force, the innovation and spread of the production techniques will be hindered and the achievements will be aborted, which will result in the slow development of the productive force. Thus, it can be seen that the counter action of the production relationship and its superstructure to the development of productive force must not be underestimated. Meanwhile, to talk about the development of the productive force isolated from the production relationship and its super structure will inevitably distort Marx's materialistic concept of history and lead to "economic materialism."

(iii) The Significance of the Category Chain of Labor Force, Productive Force and Social Development Force
In systems dialectics labor force—productive force—social development force is considered the motive system in social development, which is of great significance for our correct understanding of the Party's cardinal line in the primary stage of socialism.

(a) The understanding of the system chain of labor force, productive force and social development force supplies us with a powerful weapon for understanding the complicated social phenomena in the world at the present time. Many countries in the world today are at the capitalist stage, and in the absence of a new social revolution the social productive forces develop at a fairly high speed. On the other hand, owing to a poor foundation to start from and various weaknesses, the economies of the socialist countries are developing slowly, and we need to discuss and solve many social problems. The superpowers have turned from confrontation to dialogue, from isolation to in creased international intercourse and opening to the outside world, from war to peace, and so on. How should these problems be looked upon? They should be systematically analyzed and synthesized from the aspect of dynamic organism of social development. In the motive system of capitalist social development, its structure and function can still be suitable for the development of productive force in some degree. Modern science and technology also pour vigor into the development of productive force so that it can continue and develop. That there exist some problems in socialist society shows that this motive system is not perfect in structure and its function has not been fully performed. At present, the on-going reform of economic systems and political systems and reforms of other kinds are aimed at reforming the production relationship and its super structure, which are no longer suited to the development of productive force so as to perfect the structure of the socialist system and to consummate the socialist motive organism. Thus its function can be properly performed and the superiority of the socialist system can be brought into further play. Practice proves that reform is an important intrinsic motive force in the development of socialism.

(b) Labor force, productive force and social development force are the motive system of social development. We should look upon the three as an entirety of organic structure and not attend to one thing and lose sight of another, that is, either to concentrate only on means of production (materials) and lose sight of productive force (man), or vice versa; either to concentrate on productive force only and lose sight of production relationship and its superstructure, or vice versa. Productive force is the medium between labor force and social development force, which then form the category chain of the motive force for social development. Only when they are considered as a group in an organic category chain can the deeper understand ing of the replacement of one mode of production by another and. in turn, the changes of social formation from a lower stage to a higher stage be obtained. Only when we master holistic optimization and effectively exploit and utilize the motive force system of social development can society be pushed forward and develop rapidly.


                                  III. Individual—Collective—Society

The category chain of individual—collective—society be longs to the society category. It reveals the organic property and integrity of human society. It also reveals the systems dialectical relationship of the individual, collective and society in human society as well as its development law; it brings to light the specific process of the motion and development of human society too. To study and master this category chain is of great significance in theory and practice.

(i) Denotations of Individual, Collective and Society
(a) Denotation of Individual
In human society individuality is an individual person. Marx pointed out: An individual person "may therefore be a particular individual (and it is precisely his particularity which makes him an individual, and a real individual social being)" (Marx and Engels, Complete Works, Vol. 42, p. 123). Individuality refers to the individual body as opposed to the collective body. This individual body is an individual unit with social, spiritual and corporal characteristics. From the perspective of systems dialectics, individuality, i.e. the individual body, is a system, and its social attributes, spiritual attributes and biological attributes (natural attributes) are the essential elements of the individual system. Natural attributes are the material base for the existence of the individual system. Spiritual attributes are the dynamic factor for the development of the individual system. Social attributes are in the dominant position in the individual system and reflect the essential attributes of the individual body. That is to say, individuality always has inter relation and interaction with the superstructure, such as concrete social structure, social relationship and cultural and educational structures, etc., to exist and develop. Their organic relationship forms the systematic whole.

Every person in history plays a certain function in the development of social history, and thus is sure to leave a certain mark on history. Generally speaking, those who have comparatively little influence on history are called common people by us and those who have great influence on history and have left obvious marks are called historical figures. The historical figures are divided into positive characters, neutral characters and negative characters, according to the function they play relative to the development of productive force, that is, whether it is a promoting function or retarding function or hindering function that they play. The former are called outstanding persons, among whom the statesmen are called leaders. This classification is of course relative and the understanding of individuality is far from sufficient for this stage. In each period of history the common laborers, as individuals, are always the majority. Without them, social history would not develop, society would not form into systems, and there would be no outstanding persons. They are the creators of material wealth and spiritual values in society and the fundamental motive force in the development of history. But the motive force does not take shape by the simple addition of individual bodies. It is the total result of social forces. Meanwhile, there is the core force in the development of society, which causes the social nucleus to take shape. The outstanding persons in each period are the nucleus of the social nucleus of that era.

The historical figures have had striking effects on history and their historical impact is displayed in the following aspects: One is that they are persons involved in historical events. They are actually the immediate participants, sponsors and directors of significant events and they leave on historical events marks and a remarkable influence of their own. They exert an active and promoting effect on the development of history. Another is that the historical figures are the initiators of the historical task. They stand higher and see farther ahead than the common people and have a stronger desire to accomplish the historical task. They can clearly and definitely put forward the historical task which can push forward the development of history and conceive feasible plans for the historical task. They have a great sense of historical responsibility, while the negative characters are just the opposite. Here is a quotation from Plekhanov on the great personage in history: "A great person is great not because his own characteristics give the great historical events their specific outlook, but because his characteristics make him the most able to meet the needs of the great society that arise under the influence of the general and special causes at that time. In his well-known works on great figures, Karel called the great figure an initiator... which is a very proper name. A great figure is truly an initiator because his knowledge goes farther than that of others and his desire is stronger than that of others. He gets the scientific task arising in the development process of the previous social intelligence to solve; he clearly points out the new social needs arising in the development process of the previous social relationship, and he shoulders the initial responsibility to meet these needs" (Plekhanov, Selected Philosophical Works of Plekhanov, Vol. 2, ,p. 372). Another is that they are the persons who affect the development of history. They can affect and even determine historical events. They can accelerate or retard the accomplishment of the historical task. They exert certain influences on the development of history from beginning to end, and even exert a decisive effect at a given time and in a given place. But they can by no means determine the general trend of the development of history. "The people, and the people alone, are the motive force in the making of world history" (Mao Zedong, Selected Works of Mao Zedong, Vol. 3, p. 932). The historical figure's activity itself cannot escape the control of historical laws and the restrictions of the historical conditions of society.

As far as the function of proletarian leaders is concerned, it belongs to the individual body from the viewpoint of individuality, but it can never be attributed to the individual body only. They are the representatives of the masses, class, political party and leading group, and they have a strong sense of the times and a sense of social responsibility. Lenin pointed out clearly and definitely in his "Left-wing" Communism—an Infantile Disorder: political parties, as a general rule, are run by more or less stable groups composed of the most authoritative, influential and experienced members, who are elected to the most responsible positions, and are called leaders" (V. I. Lenin, Select ed Works, Vol. 4, p. 197). Lenin here lists four items: individual qualifications—the highest prestige, the greatest influence and the richest experience; the way of emergence—being elected rather than self-proclaimed; the position they are in—holding the most important posts, being member of the masses, but not ordinary members; and the state of formation—being a collective group rather than an individual, being a comparatively stable group rather than an isolated individual.

The leaders of the proletariat and its political party should possess the following excellent traits: In the first place, they have the characters and morals of revolutionaries and theoreticians. On the one hand, they are revolutionists and are specialized in practice. They should stand in the forefront of the revolutionary practice and lead the masses to strive for the truth. On the other hand, they should have high theoretical accomplishments and a scientific spirit and know the laws of development of society. Besides, they should proceed in all cases from the interests of the party, the class and the masses. They work for the public wholeheartedly and in all cases. They work willingly as public servants and work for the interests of the masses heart and soul. They adhere to the revolutionary principles and are full of thoroughgoing revolutionary spirit. They dare to struggle and know how to struggle. They are loyal, devoted, selfless and fearless. They bend their backs to the task until their dying day. Thirdly, they stick to unity and observe discipline. They have a democratic style of work, believing in and depending on the masses. Fourthly, they are modest and prudent, never exaggerating the individual's function or concealing faults and glossing over wrongs. They are good at criticism and self-criticism. Lenin thought that Marx and Engels themselves had "the qualities of scientists and revolutionaries" (Ibid., Vol. 1, p. 81). Stalin said, "A. Axelrod, when he was a Marxist, wrote of Lenin that he happily combines the experience of a good practical worker with a theoretical education and a broad political outlook" (Stalin, Selected Works, Vol. 1, p. 136). Those are all the fair-minded appraisals of the revolutionary teacher's excellent qualities.

(b) The Denotation of the Collective
As far as its most general meaning is concerned, the collective is not a simple accumulation of individual bodies, but an aggregation of people connected by some common bond. The collective has different structures and levels, and there are not 
only differences in quantity but also distinctions in quality between collectives at different levels.

In different societies collectives have different contents and qualities. In general circumstances, there are approximately the following existing forms of collectivity: classes, stratums, political parties, mass organizations, nationalities and families. About the concept of class, Lenin said, "Classes are large groups of people differing from each other by the place they occupy in a historically determined system of social production, by their relationship (in most cases fixed and formulated in law) to the means of production, by their role in the social organization of labor, and, consequently, by the dimensions of the share of social wealth which they dispose of and by their mode of acquiring it. Classes are groups of people one of which can appropriate the labor of another owing to the different places they occupy in a definite system of social economy" (V. I. Lenin, Selected Works, Vol. 4, p. 10). Class is a historical category and an outcome of the private ownership of the means of production. It is also an economic category, which refers to the stratum that takes a dominant place in the economy and takes a dominant place in politics as well with the aid of state power. Owing to the relationship of ruling and being ruled, exploiting and being exploited, class antagonism and class strug gle are bound to appear. In a word, private ownership separates people. On the other hand, socialist society is built on the basis of public ownership of the means of production, which deter mines that the collective becomes an organic entirety of a social system combined together on the basis of identical fundamental interests. Each collective can develop as coordinated on the premise of the same goal. But because socialism is still at the primary stage and its labor force is comparatively lagging behind, this specific development stage of society determines that there are different relationships of interest among collectives. And this will certainly lead to discrepancies between collectives, between individuals and between the collective and society. Yet, generally speaking, these discrepancies can be regulated and eliminated through the socialist system. To correctly understand and deal with the discrepancies between the three is a major topic in the systems dialectical concept of historical studies.

Stratum refers to the numerous hierarchies caused by different economic statuses in the same class. For example, in the landlord class there are rich landlords, richer landlords and richest landlords; among the peasantry, there are poor peasants and middle peasants. Middle peasants are further divided into lower-middle peasants and well-to-do middle peasants. Besides, there are intellectual strata, and so on.

A political party is the outcome when the class struggle reaches a certain stage, as a tool for class struggle. A political party is the nuclear part representing the interests of its own class. Before the seizure of power it leads its own class to struggle for political power, and after the seizure of power it still struggles to consolidate its own political power. A political party represents a certain class, stratum and group and it is a political organization to safeguard their interests. A class is usually led by a political party.

To sum up, we have clarified the existing forms of the collective by explaining class, stratum and political party. There also exist nationality and family intersecting with them, and there are different forms of collectives as well. Nationality generally refers to a community of all kinds of people which takes shape in history and exists in different stages of social development. Stalin said, "In history, people form one stable community with a common language, common territory and common economic life, which expresses the same psychology on the basis of the same culture" (Stalin, Complete Works, Vol. 2, p. 294). Nationality is a historical category and it has a process of formation, development and synergism. The process of synergism is a very long historical period. With the development of economy and, science and technology, material civilization and spiritual civilization will be greatly improved and the differences between nationalities will gradually die out so that they intermingle to form a new and stable community. This embodies the historic process of system entirety optimization and discrepancy and synergism in the development of human society. In the primary stage of socialism we have to acknowledge the diversity of nationality and national characteristics first. Meanwhile, we must help each national minority to develop its own economy and culture to bridge the gap between it and the advanced nationality as soon as possible, to eliminate the inequalities existing in economy and culture, to form a harmonious society of national unity and equality and to help it make its own contribution to the realization of the socialist modernization of our motherland.

The family is a fundamental element in the collective. It is a form of organization of social life on the basis of conjugal and consanguineous relations. Engels said, "The first form of the family was based not on natural but on economic conditions, namely, on the victory of private property over original, naturally developed, common ownership" (Marx and Engels, Selected Works, Vol. 4, p. 60). Different social modes of production determine the function, quality, form and structure of the family and the different moral concepts concerned. The characteristics of family relationships in a private ownership society are that men are exalted and women are made subordinate, men control women and men and women are unequal. Under the socialist system a new harmonious and united relationship of the family is set up, in which men and women are equal. A new morality and customs take shape in socialist society. But be cause socialism is still in the primary stage there are quite a few problems to be discussed and solved in this area. The family is the "cell" of society and dealing with family relations correctly is of great importance for the maintenance of social stability and unity.

(c) The Denotation of Society
Society is a body of people interrelated on the basis of common activities of material production. The production of material goods is the basic condition for the existence and development of society. The economic basis of society is com posed of the total production relations suited to the development stage of certain productive forces which people form in the course of production, and on the basis of which its corresponding superstructure is built.

In systems dialectics it is considered that human society is one big system, and that it is a developing, living and organic entirety. Lenin said, "The dialectical method requires us to regard society as a living organism in its functions and development" (V. I. Lenin, Selected Works, Vol. 1, p. 54). Society refers to the special objective material form which consists of all social elements and is organically unified and developing. Society is the sum total of such essential elements as production relation ships, economic basis and superstructure, which take shape in material production engaged in by the individual, the collective, the masses, classes, political parties, family and nation. At the same time, as an organic system, society completes the exchange of matter, energy and information with nature.

In society people are the basic and essential elements. Society is inseparable from people's individuality and collectivity. Society is always a people's society and is made up of people, who are the main body of society. Without people, social structure, social hierarchy and social relations would lose their main body, and society would not exist any longer. Marx said, "But the essence of man is no abstraction inherent in each single individual. In its reality, it is the ensemble of the social relation ships" (Marx and Engels, Selected Works, Vol. 1, p. 18). People are beings who live in certain social relationships and engage in economic endeavors.

This shows that, besides people's natural attributes, people are marked by all the social relationships of the time and space in which they live. Through research and discussion on people's innate qualities, the nature and features of social relationships can be reflected to a certain extent from this "assembly point." For example, through research on the individual characters, such as Jia Baoyu, Lin Daiyu and others, in A Dream of Red Mansions, all sorts of relationships in the Jia family and feudal society at large can be deduced.

As far as the trend of social evolution is concerned, it is a tenet of systems dialectics that the general trend of social development is in conformity with the materialist law of social evolution: that it develops forward and upward from a lower stage to a higher stage. The history of development of human society is a historic course from the realm of necessity to the realm of freedom, and communism is a leap of human society from the realm of necessity to the realm of freedom. Marx said. "Communism is the positive transcendence of private property as human self-estrangement, and therefore as the real appropriation of the human essence by and for man" (Marx and Engels, Complete Works, Vol. 42, p. 120).

Mao Zedong said, "Mankind makes constant progress and nature undergoes constant change; they never remain at the same level. Therefore, man has constantly to sum up experience and go on discovering, inventing, creating and advancing" ("Premier Zhou Enlai's Report on the Work of the Government to the First Session of the Third National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China"). That is to say, even when man reaches communist society he will continue evolving endlessly.

(ii) The Dialectical Relationship Within the Category Chain of Individual, Collective and Society
The category chain of individual—collective—society is an organic system whole. The individual is the essential element of the collective, and both the individual and the collective are the essential elements forming society. The three interrelate and condition each other, and thus they are in a relationship of dialectical unity.

(a) The Relationship Between Individual, Collective and Society
On the one hand, the individual relies on the collective, and no collective means no individual. Similarly, the individual and the collective rely on society. First, man's ancestors were animals living in groups, and labor made them human. Yet, man's labor is social labor from the beginning. Separated from society and the collective, solitary man cannot exist, and would not be man. Second, society and the collective cause the individual body's power to be brought into play and strengthened. In the commodity society of private ownership, the individual body's labor can be performed in isolation, but it cannot be separated from society. He must have his products pass through social exchange to survive. The labor based on social mass production is the labor of people's combined efforts, and people's total labor is a part of social labor. Absolute individual activity separated from society and the collective does not exist. In modern mass production the individual body's strength is rein forced by society and the collective. Marx said that we know that an individual body is weak, but we also know that in aggregate bodies are powerful. Third, society and the collective can meet an individual's needs. In socialist society individual interests and those of society and the collective are approximately consistent. Only when the collective has developed and the country is rich, strong and prosperous can the individual's increasing needs for material and cultural life be served step by step. Finally, society and the collective create favorable conditions for the individual's development. Mao Zedong said that the establishment of a socialist system opens up a new road leading to the ideal realm, but the realization of the ideal realm relies on our own industrious efforts. Society, as man's circum stances of existence, has a great influence on the individual's cultivation, education and development. In a socialist system a nation creates favorable conditions for the individual to give free rein to his intelligence and wisdom and to develop his individual characteristics. On the other hand, the individual influences the collective and the collective acts on society, while the existence of society depends on the collective and the individual. In the first place, the individual is the basic unit of society and the collective, and the essential element for the formation of society. Without a certain amount of individuality there would be no collectivity or society. Without the individual's activity there would be no activity of human beings or development of society.

Next, the extent to which the individual's strength is brought into play influences the power of the collective, while the extent to which the collective's power is brought into playing turn affects the whole of society. Also, the degree of satisfaction of the individual's interests affects the interests of the collective and society. When the proper rights and interests of the individual are comparatively and rationally satisfied, this initiative will be better brought into play and the interests of the collective will be augmented. This is the process of the systematic optimization of holism. On the other hand, if the proper rights and interests of the individual cannot be satisfied, the individual will cause chaos in the collective so that the benefits of the collective and society are harmed. Finally, the quality of the individual also affects the cohesion of the collective. If the individual has excellent quality he will have the ability to resist all kinds of interferences, and the orderly progress of the activities of the society and the collective will be guaranteed. Conversely, individuals of poor quality will adversely affect the collective and the society.

We should deal properly with the relations between the individual and the collective, and continue to advocate the spirit of collectivism. In dealing with the relationship of the interests of the collective and the individual, the latter should first obey the collective and the collective should obey society. At the same time, society should also deal properly with the relation ship between the collective and the individual, so that the interests of society, the collective and the individual are organically connected to make the social system develop toward the optimization of holism.

(b) The Relationship Between Leaders and Masses.
Lenin said, "Not a single class in history has achieved power without producing its political leaders, its prominent represent actives able to organize a movement and lead it" (V. I. Lenin, Selected Works, Vol. 1, p. 210). This explains that the leaders' function is vitally important. Without leaders the mass movement would be in a state of spontaneousness, laxity, chaos and anarchy. Under the correct directions of the leaders, society, class and the political party will be in proper order, so as to give impetus to the greater development of society, which is the result of the self-organization of the social system. It is thus evident that leaders perform the function of a leading nucleus in the category chain of society—masses—class—political party. They can put forward correct theories for the masses, class and political party, and formulate correct guidelines and general and specific policies, and point out for society and the collective the direction of advance. The leadership is not one person, but a group, and the banner and nucleus of the unity of the masses, class and political party.

In the overall system of society leaders are in the nuclear position of the social system structure from beginning to end. Therefore, we call the special position which the leaders hold the "social nucleus" of the masses, class and political party. In the overall system of social motion, without the "social nucleus" functioning as the "assembling force" and "synergism-provoking force," the social motion would be in anarchy and the sub systems of society would not work in a coordinated fashion. What is more, social upheavals would probably ensue and hinder social progress.

The "social nucleus" of the leading group is not self-proclaimed. It is the outcome of the specific period of history. They emerge from the masses and are generally acknowledged by the masses. The leaders are also members of the masses and they are molecules around which cluster the class and political party. Those who separate themselves from the masses, class and political party are not worthy of the name of leaders. The relationship between the leaders and the masses is like that 'between fish and water. Therefore, they must maintain close ties with the masses, depend on the masses and serve the people heart and soul.

Systems dialectics holds that the "social nucleus" is divided into system and hierarchy. In different hierarchies of different systems there are different "social nuclei." For example, the outstanding natural scientists, Marxist theorists, economists, philosophers, writers and artists, educators, historians, sociologists, inventors, model workers, advanced workers, and so on, all perform the function of the "social nucleus" in each different system and hierarchy, and give impetus to the development of society in varying degrees. This should be kept in mind when we examine the individual's function in history.

(c) The Relationship Between the Four Hierarchical Structures of the Masses, Class, Political Party and Leaders
In this regard, Lenin said, "It is common knowledge that the masses are divided into classes; that political parties, as a general rule, are run by more or less stable groups composed of the most authoritative, influential and experienced members, who are elected to the most responsible positions, and are called leaders" (V. I. Lenin, Selected Works, Vol. 4, p. 197). This shows that leaders are in a nuclear position among the masses, class and political party, and are in a level-by-level leading relation ship. The leaders should represent, depend on and obey the party, the party should represent, depend on and obey the class, and the class should represent, rely on and obey the masses. Lenin pointed out that the revolutionary party of the proletariat "will not merit the name until it learns to weld the leaders into one indivisible whole with the class and the masses" (Ibid., p. 206). In the transformation process of the masses, class, political party and leaders, on the one hand, the higher links in the hierarchy influence the lower ones, and on the other, the interests of the lower level change to those of the higher level and then they will change into unified interests and spread over the whole of society. At this point, leaders are the nuclear link, and class and political party are key links, while the masses are the basic link.

(iii) The Significance of the Category Chain of Individual, Collective and Society
First, firmly grasping the category chain of individual —collective—society supplies us with the key to understanding society scientifically and systematically. That is, we should firmly establish the viewpoint that the people are the motive force of world history. We should know that individual strength can be demonstrated only when the individual acts in coordination with the collective and society. Otherwise, the individual would get nowhere, generally speaking. In special conditions, the individual has a decisive impact, e.g. the individual function of the inventor.

Second, to study the category chain of individuality—the collectivity—society is of considerable significance in recognizing the general trend that the development of society is always advancing from a lower stage to a higher stage. There is relative and absolute duality in the progress of each historic era. The historic progress in each specified era is always related to the specific historical conditions and characteristics of that era. Without the historical conditions and characteristics the historical progress would be hard to define. This is the relative side of social progress. The other side is that the social progress in each specific historical period is a link and a stage in the whole chain of historical progress, which itself is a component part of the entire social progress. Social progress is the succession of history, while social progress in the specific historic era presents a general trend for the progress of the whole of society. This is the absolute side of social progress. The general trend of social progress is the leap from the realm of necessity to the realm of freedom.


                                                    Section Five 

                                         THE CATEGORY OF COGNITION

In this section we shall make a study of the category chains, such as subject—practice—object, characterizing—characterization—the characterized, and unitary determination—probability—probable determination.


                                      I. Subject—Practice—Object

Subject and object become, on the basis of practice, the most important category chain in the epistemology of systems
dialectics. That is because subject and object are the essential elements or prerequistes for man's practical activities. In China profound discussion on the criterion of truth brings the question of subject and object into focus.

(i) The Denotations of Subject, Practice, Object 
Systems dialectics holds that it is of important, practical and immediate significance to have a correct understanding of the interrelation between subject, object and practice.

(a) The Denotation, Form and Attributes of the Subject First, the denotation of the subject. The subject is the individual person or group who has the brains to think and is engaged in socially practical and cognitive activities. Marx pointed out clearly and definitely: "The subject is mankind" (Marx and Engels, Selected Works, Vol. 2, p. 88). That is because man is a system of organic matter made up of the organs of labor, sense and thinking. He is the actual and visible (tangible) entirety of a system of matter. What is more, man comes from nature, demands means of production from nature, expresses and confirms his masterful position over nature and has the characteristic of initiative. Therefore, Marx made it one of the fundamental conditions of the subject that the subject is man, yet man is a "natural, corporeal, sensuous, objective being" (Marx and Engels, Complete Works, Vol. 42, p. 167). The subject referred to here is man, but not every individual man is the subject. The man as subject must possess the following qualifications: First, he must have the fundamental technical ability to grasp practice, experience and scientific and cultural know ledge existing in a certain field at a specific stage of historical development, and only then can he attain the subjective position of the conscious and energetic actor in the field. In this respect, the man as subject is required to have an understanding of the nature of the object of practice and to have corresponding theoretical knowledge; he can then put forward and work out the theoretical schemes and plans and relies on corresponding scientific theories for guidance. He can manipulate the process of practice, appraise the result of practice and achieve a certain technical ability. Second, he can conduct practical and cognitive activities. If a man does not conduct practical activities and cannot make contributions to society he cannot express and confirm his subjective position. During the course of reforming nature man reforms himself at the same time to fit in with the need of transforming the object so that he can constantly confirm and consolidate his own subjective position. Hence, the man who is engaged in practical activities is subject.

Second, the form of subject. There are many kinds of subject forms. From the structure of activities, there are mainly three fundamental forms: individual subject, collective subject and social subject. Individual subject means that the subject is the individual person. The individual subject refers to the individual body which acts in a relatively independent way on the basis of a social supply of material and spiritual conditions, and there are obvious characteristics of individual activities in practical activities. Moreover, the existence of the individual person as subject is a prerequisite for the existence of society. The cognizing ability of society is reflected in the cognition of the individual body. Engels said that the realization of consciousness, thinking and cognition is brought about by the individual activities of each generation. He said, "Is it the thought of the individual man? No. But it exists only as the individual thoughts of many millions of past, present and future men" (Marx and Engels, Selected Works, Vol. 3, p. 125). At the same time, the individual subject is prone to limitations. On the one side it is restricted by science and culture, knowledge accomplishment, thinking ability, emotional will, political attitude and physiological conditions, while on the other it is icted by the range and quality of practical activities. Collective subject means that the subject is a group of people. The collective subject refers to a group acting in concert which is organized according to specific beliefs, goals, interests and standards (norms), etc. Owing to internal relationships, "While working together with others according to plans, a laborer breaks away from his personal limitations and exerts his species ability" (Marx and Engels, Complete Works, Vol. 23, p. 366). The collective subject creates a new capability, namely, the function of a group system. There is a distinction in nature between this function and individual ability, and it is greater ban the simple accumulation of individual abilities. On the other hand, there is limitation in the collective subject, that is, there is a limit to the number of people and the abilities in the group, and there is parochialism in its beliefs, goals, interests and standards. For example, the prejudices of class and nationality are glaring expressions of such limitations.
The social subject is the subject as a specified society, It refers to the total of related people on the basis of common activities. It has all the superiority of the group subject but extricates itself relatively from some limitations of the group subject. It possesses the power of the whole society and the ability of the whole society to pursue scientific work. Therefore, it fits in with the needs of social development and scientific advance in a better way as the supreme form of the subject.

Third, the attributes of the subject. There is a variety of attributes of the subject, the major ones being naturalness, sociality and consciousness. That is to say that man as the subject is the synthesis of natural man, social man and thinking man.

In the first place, there is naturalness in the subject. The man as subject appears as an extension of nature and a new stage in the development of nature. Its natural properties are displayed in that the subject is the result of the existence and development of nature, in which it further exists and develops. That is to say, man's natural organism comes from the long-term development of nature and it has vitality and natural forces, which are the material basis for man to obtain the position of subject. Nature supplies man with natural requirements, such as food, clothing, shelter and others, and with a certain living environment and conditions. Man makes the exchange of material, energy and information with nature, and nature is the source of the life and power of the subject. Besides, there is objective reality in the subject. The subject can never extricate itself from the restrictions of external nature and internal nature; it is limited and restricted by nature and has the property of being moved, acted upon and impelled. In addition, the consanguineous relationship between man and nature endows the subject with natural force, which provides practical possibilities and internal motive force for reforming nature in accordance with man's natural demands.

Second, there is sociality in the subject. The sociality of the subject is displayed in that man is not only a product of nature, but also a product of society. The human body takes form in labor, while labor is a social activity from the very beginning. Marx said, "Only here has what is to him his natural existence become his human existence" (Ibid., Vol. 42, p. 122). Man emerges from society and also develops in society. The sociality of the subject is displayed in that it is based on socially practical activities. "A social relationship—social in the sense that it denotes the cooperation of several individuals" (Marx and Engles, Selected Works, Vol. 1, p. 34). That is to say, man's strength comes from social relations. Marx pointed out: "The individual is a social being. His life, even if it may not appear in the direct form of a communal life carried out together with others—is therefore an expression and confirmation of social life" (Marx and Engels, Complete Works, Vol. 42, p. 123). For example, when a writer is creating, his means of subsistence, the source materials for writing, books, thinking and the language to be used in writing are all the outcome of society. Meanwhile, the writer's works must be acknowledged by society and serve society. On the other hand, nature will not automatically satisfy man. Man must rely on the collective to reform nature, to gain means of production, to keep alive and to promote and give impetus to the development of groups and society. Only in this process can man become the master of nature.

Third, the subject is a conscious existence and has consciousness. The consciousness of the subject refers to the conscious man who is different from the animals and the instinctive man. He is rational and can think. First, for the active and direct perception of the perceptual target, that is, the phenomenon and relationship of the reflected target, man can process the acquired perceptual phenomena and understand the nature and the laws of the reflected target. Next, the subject can take his own practice and cognizing activities as the direct object of consciousness. The consciousness of the subject is an important foundation for the activity of the subject. Marx said, "The animal is immediately identical with its life-activity. Man makes his life-activity itself the object of his will and of his conscious ness. He has conscious life-activity" (Ibid., Vol. 42, p. 96). Besides, the consciousness of the subject is displayed in that there is a goal in man's activities. Lenin said, "Men's ends are engendered by the objective world and presuppose it" (V. I. Lenin, Complete Works, Vol. 38, p. 201). Without the conscious ness of the subject there would be no goal or initiative for the subject.

The naturalness, sociality and consciousness of the subject are all important attributes of the subject. They do not exist independently, but are organically combined, and their basis is objective, dynamic social practice. Social practice is the concentrated embodiment of the essential attribute of the subject. 

(b) The Denotation, Form and Attributes of the Object
First, the denotation of the object. The object refers to the objective systematic things which come into the area of activities of the subject and have relations with it. It is the target of the practical and cognizing activities of the subject. The object should possess the qualifications of objective reality and being a natural thing, although natural things are not necessarily objects. The object is the target of the practical and cognizing activities of the subject in nature. The object keeps changing and developing in the course of practice and there appear different relationships when subject and object act on each other because the goals, thinking, culture and emotions of the subject change. Marx said, "The care-burdened man indeed has no sense of the finest play. The dealer in minerals sees only the mercantile value but not the beauty and the unique nature of the mineral; he has no mineralogical sense." "Just as music alone awakens in man the sense of music, and just as the most beautiful music has no sense for the unmusical ear—it is no object for it, because my object can only be the confirmation of one of my essential powers ...goes only so far as my senses go" (Marx and Engels, Complete Works, Vol. 42, p. 126). This shows that music is taken as an object only by those who have an ear for music. To those who know nothing about music it has no sense of an object, for it is sound that has an impact on them rather than temperament. Therefore, the object Marx referred to is only one side or one part of objective reality. Its area in the activities of the subject is relatively fixed as a definite target and it is acted on with the aid of possessed means.

Second, the form of the object. The object has a variety of forms, and the main ones are natural object, social object and spiritual object.

In the first place, natural object refers to systems and phenomena in nature. As the outcome of nature, the subject takes nature as the primary target. Without nature the subject would not perform targeted activities, and its existence would be impossible. Natural object comprises not only the natural things existing in nature, but also the man-made nature that takes form in the production activities of the subject. The object is not the whole of nature, but only the nature that has practical relationships with the subject. Because man's power and ability are limited they set the boundaries of the object. The object is only a part of nature and, in a sense, the object is set by the subject. The activities and power of the subject keep developing, so that the object keeps expanding. The object is not only the target of practice, but also the outcome of practice. In a certain sense, the range of the object is determined by the practice of the subject. As Lenin said, “We all have, hundreds of thousands of times, seen the simple and clear transformation of ‘natural being’ into the phenomenon of‘self-being’” (V. I. Lenin, Select ed Works, Vol. 2, p. 118).

Next, social object refers to social reality and social consciousness as determined by social reality. Man, as subject, is the outcome of nature, and the outcome of society as well. When reforming nature men create their own social reality and form their own social relationships. Only as social beings can men form nature in social relationship. Hence, the object includes society. The cognition of social objects comprises the cognition by the subject of itself. If they cannot take themselves as the object, men cannot perform activities as the conscious subject. Take self-cognition, self-transformation, self-cultivation as examples, people all take themselves as the object of these target ed activities. Men take themselves as object by taking others as intermediaries and reflect themselves through others.

Finally, spiritual object. Since the object is the target of the cognizing and practical activities of the subject, the cognizing targets include systems material phenomena and spiritual phenomena. When people take thinking activities of their own as the target for study, the targeted thinking activities will become the cognized object. There are different types of spiritual object. Some are spiritual activities, like thinking, conscious ness, psychology, etc. Some are materialized spiritual activities, which are called spiritual products, such as books, tapes, copies, works which take computer memory systems as the material carrier, and so on. In the era of the rapid increase of science and technology, it is all the more important to acquire indirect experience via spiritual objects. We can grasp spiritual objects by means of the material outer covering or carriers, but the aim is to grasp its spiritual content.

Third, the attributes of object. The main attributes of object are objectivity, social history and property of target.

In the first place, the primary attribute of the object is objectivity. Whether it is a natural object, social object or spiritual object, it is all objective reality independent of the will of the subject. The natural object is beyond man's consciousness and it exists independently of man's consciousness. When it makes contact with the subject it does not lose its objectivity, but continues to change and develop. Yet man's initiative is to find out these laws, to understand and study them, and to utilize them in practice to attain his goals. The social object is com posed of men, but there are aims and consciousness in all men's activities. This does not affect the objectivity of the social object. Social development is a natural process of history, in which there is intrinsic regularity independent of man's will. Engels said, "In the history of society.... the actors are all endowed with consciousness, and are men acting with deliberation or passion, working toward definite goals; nothing happens without a conscious purpose, without an intended aim. But,... cannot alter the fact that the course of history is governed by inner general laws" (Marx and Engels, Selected Works, Vol. 4, p. 243). There is objectivity in spiritual object as well. Engels said, "Our consciousness and thinking, however supra-sensuous they may seem, are the product of a material, bodily organ, the brain" (Ibid., Vol. 4, p. 223). This shows that there is objectivity of systematic matter in spiritual object. In addition, there is a special law of its own. There is objectivity in the content of the spiritual object. Once the spiritual product emerges it is independent of people's will whether it correctly reflects objective systematic reality or not. Spiritual products have an objective influence of this kind or that on people by their own objective reality.

Next, there is the target property in an object. This means that the object is a thing that has functional relationships with the activities of the subject in the objective world and is the specific target instead of having an independent existence of its own. Only through the influence and action of human activities can external things acquire the attributes of object and become the object of the activities of the subject. A new object will appear when a new target is touched upon by the activities of the subject. Marx said, "The nature which comes to be in human history—the genesis of human nature which comes to be in human history—the genesis of human society—is man's real nature" (Marx and Engels, Complete Works, Vol. 42, p. 128). The process of man's practice is a process of creating a targeted world. The target shows that the subject and object are interdependent and premise each other. That is to say, without the subject there would be no object. Conversely, without the object there would be no subject. The subject possesses a dynamic function over the object.

Finally, there is sociality in the object. The sociality of the object is determined by the social history of the activities of the subject. As time advances and human society becomes civilized and the range of subjects expands, the content of the object keeps changing and becomes enriched. In the activities of the specific historical stage, what has a direct relationship with man is not the whole of nature or the entire external world, but only a part or an aspect of it. Whether the systematic object will become the target of human activities is decided by the practical ability, cognitive extent and development of human generations. There is still a process of recognizing the part of the world that has come within the range of human activities. It is a historical process for people to discover all sorts of attributes and their use value as systematic matter. With the development of history people will constantly discover something now. This shows that the unity of the subject and nature is a progressively realized process based on social practice.

In the organic unity of objectivity, social history and target property of the object, target property is an important indication of the object's attributes. Objectivity is the basis of target property and only when the target is acted upon by the subject can its objectivity be verified; social history is the outcome of the activities of the target of the subject. The object is the direct target of the activities of the subject.

(c) The Denotation of Practice
Practice refers to all social, objective, and material activities of human beings aimed at reforming nature and exploring the world purposefully and dynamically. Productive activities are the fundamental practice that determines all other activities. Besides, scientific research, artistic activities, political activities, class struggle and so on are all practice. All the practical activities are social and historical activities, and the masses are their subject. The individual body's practice is a component part of social practice.

Practice is the basis of cognitive activities. Cognition develops with the development of practice. Practice is the sole criterion of truth. The viewpoint of practice is the most important and fundamental viewpoint in epistemology. Practice is one of the most fundamental activities of the human subject and is also the prerequisite for the object to be the object. Practice is the basis, source and motive force for understanding. That is because the cognitive source of the subject cannot be attributed just to the target of understanding or just to the systematic material world. It can only be attributed to the practical activities of the subject. Understanding comes only from practice. Human understanding begins, develops and advances through the interrelationship of practical activities between subject and object. The means resorted to by practice will break through the subjective perception and threshold value and cast off the unstable subjective factors entirely. Practice causes the subject itself and its activities to become its own cognitive target. In practice man faces not only nature and social objects but also the interaction between subject itself and object, which makes the subject self-targeted. That is an essential attribute of practice. Practice is the source, basis and motive force of cognition, which is expressed mainly in the following aspects: First, cognition originates in the differentiation between subject and object based on labor practice. Cognition is the dynamic reflection of subject on object. Practice itself comprises the essential elements of cognition, and cognition is the indispensable link for the carrying out of practice. Cognition and practice are two inseparable aspects of the differentiation and unity of subject and object. Second, practice creates the tools of understanding, which are the indispensable, essential elements for the cognitive structure, reflecting the cognitive level of human beings. Third, the target of practice and the target of cognition are consistent. The cognizing target is the target created by practice, and the practical activities themselves constitute the main target of understanding. Fourth, practice determines man's development of understanding. The history of human understanding and the development of practice tell us that in the final analysis the level of the development of practice restricts man's ability to under stand.

As far as the structure of practice is concerned, systems dialectics studies at least three dimensions. Practice is a structure composed of material elements, spiritual elements and organizing and administrating elements. The material element ; the basis of practice, and it comprises the subject of practice itself, material means and material target. The spiritual element takes the intermediary position in practice and its specific forms of thinking have such links as practical purpose, aim, design and method. Its specific forms of non-thinking include emotions, will, mood, social psychology, and so on. The organizing and administrating element performs the crucial function in practice. As far as modern labor practice is concerned, the administration includes staff, goods and materials, energy, funds, construction, information, time, etc. The function of administration comprises projects, organization, instruction, adjustment, supervision, accounting, and so on. Since practice is the social activity of the subject, it is accomplished through administration to reach a common ideology and a common objective, to coordinate actions, to unify will, to work cooperatively, to optimize the whole, etc. Only by scientific administra tion in practice can we have every person doing the right job, all the implements performing their best functions and every thing put to full use so as to get the best results with the minimum consumption and to attain the required goal. Through the above proposal it can be seen that subject is man in the practical process and object is the target of the practical process. But the interaction between subject and object is prac tice, which is the basis, source and motive force of cognition. Therefore, we can say that this category chain is far from that of subject—practice—object in the simple sense; it should be an interdependent, interactive and involved category, which is composed of "subject—practice—cognition—object—re-practice—re-cognition—object."


(ii) The Dialectical Relationship Between Subject, Practice and Object
The relationship between subject—object and practice —cognition is one of systems dialectical quality. They are specified properties of different qualities. They interdepend, interrelate and interchange under certain conditions.

Subject and object not only interdepend and condition each other but also create and restrict each other.

As far as the relationship of subject and object creating each other is concerned, Marx said, "Production therefore produces not only an object for the subject, but also a subject for the object" (Marx and Engels, Selected Works, Vol. 2, p. 95). Due to labor practice, subject and object diverge from nature at the same time, and they become developed with the development of practice. The emergence and development of subject and object are synchronous. The subject's knowledge level, technical means and ability to tame nature determine the extent and quality of the reformation of the object. The broadening of object domain and the deepening of hierarchy in turn set out higher requirements for the subject. The increasing complication of object obliges people to invent and implement systems to extend their limbs, to invent and use motive force to magnify natural forces and intelligent machinery to increase and extend the efficiency of thinking organs. All these, in turn, make the practice system integrated and scientific, and they give impetus to the object to reform itself systematically for the sake of the whole so as to realize the optimization of holism. Marx said, "It shows that circumstances make men just as much as men make circumstances" (Ibid., Vol. 1, p. 43). Such is the systems dialectical interactive relationship between subject and object.

Subject and object restrict each other, which is another expression of the interrelationship between subject and object. The dynamic force in the subject is an important factor that distinguishes it from the object. The subject is the conscious master of nature, society and spirit. The object is the target which is reformed, reflected and evaluated by the subject. To exist and develop, the subject invents and uses scientific apparatus and equipment to act on the objective target and to actively reflect the quality and attributes of the object. Then, according to the quality, attributes and development law of the object, the subject can utilize and control it to make it develop in the direction favorable to the subject. That is the aspect in which the subject restricts the object. The reason why the initiative of the subject is restricted by the object is that people engage in 11 their activities on the premise of the existence of the external rorld. Marx said, "Man can work only as Nature does, that is by changing the form of matter. Nay more, in this work of changing the form he is constantly helped by natural forces" (Marx and Engels, Complete Works, Vol. 23, pp. 56-57). The initiative of subject is limited by the quality and the laws of the object. It is also restricted by the material conditions of the objective world. As a natural being, man can never extricate himself from the restrictions of the objective laws. Man's initiative and freedom are the understanding of the laws of the object, and they put the restrictions of the object under the control of the subject.

The subject and object transform each other under certain conditions. First, in the process of man's reforming the world the aims, schemes and wishes of the subject become the target world of the objective reality which is opposite to the subject. Second, the distinction between the subject and the object is both absolute and relative. As the performer of the activities, man is the subject; but, when relative to other people, he is in the position of the object. To books, students are the subject of study, and to students, teachers are the subject of teaching, and students become the target of teachers' teaching, making them the object. Third, in the process of the self-understanding, self-transformation and self-appraisal of the subject, some aspects of the subject will become objects of its activities. That is why people often say that in the historical arena man is both actor and audience.

That the object changes into the subject is displayed in the following aspects: First, man reflects the world and the target is humanized. The object is transferred into man's brain and reformed by the brain into man's thought and knowledge. Second, man reforms nature and makes the original natural things, i.e. the objects, become the implements of man's activities. Implements are the extension of the organs of the subject, and they become things subordinate to the subject in a certain sense. Marx said, "Man makes tools, instruments, etc. Thus Nature becomes one of the organs of his activity, one that he annexes to his own bodily organs, ...extending his natural limbs" (Ibid., p. 203).

Social practice is the basis for the relationship between subject and object. It is the medium between subject and object and the crux of the dialectical relationships. The viewpoint of practice is not only the pith and marrow of materialistic dialectics but also that of systems dialectics about subject and object. Marx said, "The coincidence of the changing of circumstances and of human activity of self-change can be conceived and rationally understood only as revolutionary practice" (Marx and Engels, Selected Works, Vol. 1, p. 16).

Without social practice there can be no dialectical relation ship between the subject and object. Practice will always be the base of the interaction between subject and object.

(iii) The Significance of the Category Chain of Subject, Practice and Object
Subject—practice—object form a category chain which is the central category of the epistemology of systems dialectics. 
Within the range of epistemology there is nothing more to understand apart from the subject, object and practice. In this sense the epistemology of systems dialectics is the theory with which to study and summarize the interrelationship between the essential elements in the overall system of subject, object, practice and cognition. Hence, to grasp and understand the interaction between the essential elements in the system of epistemology and its systematic entirety and structural hierarchy is of significance for the establishment of a scientific epistemological system.

First, the establishment of the epistemological system composed of subject, object and practice greatly enriches and develops the epistemology of materialistic dialectics. In systems dialectics subject, object and practice are considered as an organic system of cognition which forms modern, scientific epistemology. It not only deepens the concept of subject, including the cognition of nature, society and spiritual object, but also establishes epistemology on a more scientific basis. The traditional cognitive pattern, that is, the two-pole correspondence of practice—cognition—re-practice—re-cognition, is developed into a three-pole correspondence which expresses the entirety and hierarchy of the human cognition system. 

Second, the category chain of subject, practice and object carries the discussion of the criterion of truth a big step forward. Cognition is the active reflection of subject to object. In epistemology, any question, such as the source, motive force, process of cognition, the criteria of truth, etc., cannot be given a penetrating explanation without the thorough study of the interrelationship between subject, object and practice. For ex ample, the question of the absoluteness and relativity of truth has a close relationship with subject, object and practice. Truth here is the correct understanding of the subject which conforms to the object, whose content is objective and absolute. And since it is restricted by certain historical conditions when it reflects the object and moves close to the object it is relative as well. With the deepening of the discussion about the criterion of truth, people will put forward such questions as how is truth verified by practice and how can practice become the criterion of truth? In the cognition system we should probe into the essential elements of practice, namely, the interrelationship between subject and object, to explain that truth is the unity of absoluteness and relativity. Therefore, it will push forward the understanding of truth by a big step to understand and master the structure, function and interrelationship of hierarchy between subject, object, practice and the essential elements of cognition in the cognitive system.

Third, practice is the central link in the category chain. In the cognition system of subject, practice, object, practice is of particularly important significance.

In the cognition system practice is the source of the cognition of the subject and the motive force for the development of cognition of the subject; it is also the premise and basis on which to determine the object. The object is explored and developed with the deepening of practice. Practice is the sole criterion of truth and the destination of cognition. Hence, practice is the central link in the cognition system. Without the central link there would be no subject, object or human cognition.

Fourth, the category chain unifies the categories in epistemology organically. It displays the system entirety and hierarchy of human cognition and deepens and develops epistemology. The corresponding pattern of practice and cognition does not reflect the whole process of human cognition. If we recognize that the cognitive relationship between subject and object is based on a practical relationship without knowing the practical relationship between subject and object we cannot really understand the cognitive relationship between subject and object. Hence, a scientific epistemology cannot be formulated. It is thus clear that subject, practice and object are an inseparable system entirety. The traditional epistemology cannot completely explain the hierarchical relationships in the category chains of subject and object, and practice and cognition in epistemology. So practice is equated with matter when the importance of practice is emphasized, and consciousness is equated with cognition when the relationship between consciousness and cognition is emphasized. The element of object is eliminated when practice and cognition are in a two-way correspondence, but when there is a need to explain what truth is, one then has to "import" object into epistemology. In fact, the category chain in epistemology can only be a category chain which takes subject and object as the center and practice as the medium. It distinguishes them and relates them in the two groups of categories: matter and consciousness, cognition and practice.


                                II. The Characteristic—Characteristics 

                             Chain —The Characterized

The development of science and technology and experimental instruments helps man to achieve a further understanding of the systems material world, the relationships between its attributes and the reflection process of cognition. The characteristic —characteristics chain—the characterized is, in epistemology, the summarization and generalization of the development of modern science and technology and the understanding of the outcome of science and technology. It belongs to the cognitive category of systems dialectics. 

(i) Denotations of the Characteristics, Characteristics Chain and the Characterized
Between the systems material world and its attributes exists a universal and systematic relationship, which is displayed by a particular systems relationship. The category of the characteristic—characteristics chain—the characterized is a particular form of systems relationship between the systems material world and its attributes.

Characteristic means that some systematic things and their attributes can definitely express other systematic things and their attributes. First, systematic things and their attributes comprise thought. This category chain applies to nature and the process of dynamic reflection in human cognition. Next, the relationship of systematic things and their attributes referred to here can be either the relationship between systematic things, the relationship between systematic things and their attributes or the relationship between the attributes of systematic things. The systematic things or their attributes can be single ones or permutations and combinations of multiple ones. Third, there exists the relationship of characterization in the internal attributes of systematic things. Finally, the relationship of characterization must be a definite corresponding relationship. For example, color can characterize the wavelength of light; temperature can characterize the state of systematic matter; the chemical property of systematic matter can characterize specified molecular structure; the protein or nucleic acid structure in an organism can characterize the kinship relationships in living beings, and so on and so forth. There are definite corresponding relationships between all of them.
The characterized refers to the kind of relationships in which certain systematic things and their attributes are ex pressed by other definite systematic things and their attributes. For instance, blood pressure is characterized by the mercury column in a sphygmomanometer.

The characterization chain is the medium link of systematic things and their attributes of characteristic and characterized in the process of inter-transformation. It is the attribute of systematic things themselves, and it can combine the characteristic with the characterized at the same time. The characterization chain shows that the characterization and the characterized exist not only between two systematic things or the attributes of two systematic things, but also between multiple systematic things or the attributes of multiple systematic things successively. Take the active remote sensor, for example. It sends out an electromagnetic wave and receives its echo after being reflected over the earth's surface and records it in the form of film images, magnetic tapes or figures, which are made into photos or pictures easy to read after technical treatment. From this, the forests, mineral resources, deserts, rivers, volcanoes, plains, etc., on the earth are characterized in the end by the photos or pictures which can be read directly through the medium link, namely, through the chain of the characteristic and the characterized.

The characteristic and the characterized exist universally. All things and their attributes can characterize other things and their attributes, and they can in turn be characterized by other things and their attributes. For example, as far as the attributes of systematic things are concerned, whether they are quality, quantity, motion, development, time, space, physical state or function, structure, system, applied force, and so on, all are generally characterized through the medium link of the characterization chain. Meanwhile, they can either characterize other systematic things and their attributes or be characterized by other systematic things and their attributes.

(ii) The Dialectical Relationships Between the Characteristic, the Characterization Chain and the Characterized
The characteristic, characterization chain and the characterized form a kind of relationship between systematic things and their attributes. This is a systems dialectical relationship and a discrepant and synergetic relationship. Only when there s discrepancy among the systematic things can they be characterized. Without discrepancy, the characteristic, characterization chain and the characterized cannot be identified. For example, red characterizes red, water characterizes water, etc., among which the characteristic, characterization chain and the characterized cannot be discerned. Only when there is a discrepancy between the things and their attributes can they characterize each other.

First, they premise each other in the category chain. With out the characteristic there would be no characterization chain or the characterized. Without the characterized there would be no characteristic or characterization chain. Without the characterization chain there would be no characteristic or characterized. For example, there are always different ways for a proposition in mathematics to be proved and to reciprocally characterize and be characterized. Thus we can know whether the proposition is correct or not. Besides the relation of reciprocally characterizing and being characterized, there are other characterization chains interrelating at the same time between systematic things and their attributes. Therefore, in the category of cognition we find the characterizing objects and the characterized objects, and above all the characterization chain. That will help us to understand the essential attributes of characteristic and the characterized.

Second, in characteristic, the characterization chain and the characterized there is the definite aspect and the relative aspect as well. They can interchange under certain conditions. In systematic objects and their attributes in the particular relation ship of characteristic, characterization chain and the characterized, there is a difference between the positions of the three. On the one hand, one is the characterizing object, another is the characterized object, and the third is the characterization chain. As far as the relationship of the characterizing object to the characterized object is concerned, it is a characterizing relation ship. As far as the relationship of the characterized object to the characterizing object is concerned, it is a characterized relationship. As far as the relationship of the characterization chain to the characterizing object and the characterized object is concerned, it is a relationship of intermediately connection. The relations between the three are of only relative significance. And in the link of intermediary connection the characterizing and the characterized can interchange with each other. Take the microwave in a remote sensor for example. To the target on the ground it is a characterizing relationship, while to the remote sensing instrument which receives radiation it is a characterized relationship. Between the target on the ground and the remote sensor the microwave is the object of the characterization chain. To a third party the characterizing object and the characterized object can interchange, and the positions between them are both definite and relative.

Third, the connecting properties of the three are change able. There is a historical development in the relationships between the three and there is a qualitative leap in that development. There is neither an active nor a passive relationship, nor a dynamic role in the relationship of the non-living objects in nature and their attributes. But when non-living objects have evolved into living objects, even if they are plants, there are, in a sense, active, passive and intermediary relationships and a dynamic quality as well in the relationships between the three. When they have further evolved into animals there obviously exist active, passive and intermediary relationships and dynamic roles in the relationships between the three.

Man is an animal with a high degree of intelligence. Every sense organ in the human body can characterize systematic objects in nature and their attributes. The nerves and the brain can characterize the sense organs' different sense perceptions engendered by the effects of systematic objects in nature. Especially because man has the power to think, he can create conditions with the purpose of reforming natural targets so as to create a man-made characterization chain to characterize natural objects and their attributes. Thus the relationships between the characteristic, characterization chain and the characterized make a qualitative leap and become endowed with a conscious dynamic role. The relationships of the characteristic and the characterized with the conscious dynamic role have developed to the fullest extent in human scientific practice. First, on the basis of the characterization chain existing in nature, scientific practice can purify it by human perception. Besides, in the course of scientific practice a man-made characterization chain can be created by reforming natural conditions so as to characterize the state or attributes of systematic objects under man-made conditions. Third, machines can be manufactured to characterize thinking to a certain extent. The information processor represented by electronic computers is such a machine. The characteristic, characterization chain and the characterized in human activities are highly developed active, passive and intermediary relationships, which obviously have conscious dynamic roles. In human scientific practice this relation and its specific property are even more typical, especially when artificial intelligence has been fully developed.


(iii) The Significance of the Category Chain of the Characteristic—Characterization—The Characterized

The category of the characteristic—characterization—the characterized belongs to epistemology in systems dialectics. It is the scientific generalization of information theory and modern scientific practice. It enriches and develops Marxist philosophy and it is of important directive significance.

First, this category chain enriches and develops the dialectical materialist theory of the universal relationship of objects. Man has realized that horizontal space and vertical time are related to systematic objects; people have also realized the relationship between the characteristic, characterization chain and the characterized, which makes information a philosophical concept that is as important as matter and consciousness.

Second, the category chain provides a reliable argument that the entirety of the world lies in systematic materiality. Thinking is an attribute of systematic objects and its characteristic is that it can reflect objective systematic objects and their attributes consciously and dynamically. The special attribute of thinking is the highly developed outcome of a relationship between objective systematic objects and their attributes, and it is the active, intermediary and passive relationship of the characteristic, characterization and the characterized. During its development a new quality is added, that is, the characterizing eliminating the limitations of direct party has the ability of self-reflection. This ability is an attribute of systematic objects.

Third, this category enables us to have a further under standing of the cognition of elementary philosophical questions. Non-living objects can characterize living objects. For example, fossils can characterize ancient living beings. The systematic objects and their attributes can characterize thinking as well. For example, speech and writing can characterize thinking; bionic technology can characterize living bodies; and the electronic brain can partly characterize the human brain and its attributes. Whether the non-living characterize the non-living, or the non-living characterize the living, they all illustrate the primacy of systematic objects and the primacy of existence.

Fourth, the characterization chain combines thinking with the cognizing target. This is especially the case with the function of the man-made characterization chain, which further purifies people's understanding of nature and the objective systematic objects, and eliminates man's intuitive limitations. Besides, the man-made characterization chain can enlighten people's thinking and help people to characterize the state and attributes of systematic objects under man-made conditions. 

The man-made characterization chain is man's implements, bridges and ways to understand and reform natural society. The man-made characterization chain optimizes the objective entirety and brings it to serve the people.

Fifth, the characteristic, characterization chain and the characterized are of great significance for methodology in scientific practice. To accomplish scientific research tasks people should give full play to their subjective initiative and attain the goal of understanding the objective world via the characterization chain. People should cognize the attributes and the laws of the target in scientific ways. In the theoretical research into modern epistemology, semiology, semantics, theory of interpretation, mathematical logic, etc., all touch upon the cognizing targets and their attributes as well as the relationship between the cognizing ways and means of the characteristic, characterization chain and the characterized. This shows that the category chain is of great value to epistemology. To identify the characterization chain is important for the thinking and working methods needed for cognizing and reforming the objective world.


                                      III. Unitary Determination—Probability
 
                                —Probable Determination

Unitary determination, probability and probable determination are a group of category chains in the universal relationship of the systems objective world in systems dialectics. It is an important task set by modern science and it belongs to the category of systems dialectical epistemology.

(i) Denotations of Unitary Determination, Probability and Probable Determination
Unitary determination refers to a definite connection existing in the systems material world. The definite connection means that the existence or appearance of one systematic object is destined to lead to the existence or appearance of another definite systematic object. Conversely, if the existence or appearance of one systematic object either can lead to the existence or appearance of another definite systematic object or cannot do so the connection between them is an indefinite connection. For example, the positional change of an object is subordinate to Newton's mechanical law. The displacement of objects alters with the change of time. That is to say, objects all have their definite positions at specified times. Then the relationship between time and position is a definite connection, in which the existence or motion state of the former systematic object is destined to produce the existence or motion state of the latter systematic object.

Probable determination means that if no systematic objects or phenomena occur in large quantities there is an indefinite relationship between them, but if systematic objects or phenomena occur in large quantities, there exists a definite relation ship between them. The large quantity of occurrence of a systematic object or phenomenon here can be either many occurrences of a single systematic object or phenomenon, or only one occurrence of many systematic objects or phenomena. For example, tossing a coin of uniform quality is related to a single systematic object. When it drops on the tabletop either the obverse side or the reverse side will be up. The appearance of the obverse side or the reverse side is uncertain whether it is tossed once or several times. But, if the coin is tossed repeatedly quite a few times, it can be seen that there is a definite relationship between the number of times the coin is tossed and the number of times the obverse side or the reverse side appears, namely, the probability of their appearance is 50 percent, respectively. Besides, the more times the coin is tossed, the closer to the probability of 50 percent appearance of the coin's obverse side or reverse side are. To toss a single coin repeatedly is equal to tossing a large number of coins of uniform quality once. The probability of the appearance of the coin's obverse side or reverse side is 50 percent in this case as well.

Nature, human society and thinking as well as the specific systematic objects or phenomena are all the unity of necessity and chance. But the goal of cognition is to find "the inherent necessity and regularity that asserts itself in this chance" (Marx and Engels, Complete Works, Vol. 4, p. 171). Unitary determination is directly based on necessity. In the process of finding necessity through chance people can neglect the influence of contingent factors and view the necessity relationship as emerging directly. Necessity is the incontestable trend in conformity with the laws of the development of systematic objects and it is inevitable under certain conditions. The unitary determination established on the basis of inevitable relations manifests its predictability. For example, the solar system abides by the law of universal gravitation that planets revolve around the sun and satellites revolve round planets. Therefore, people can infer the times of solar eclipses and lunar eclipses accurately, according to the orbits of the earth revolving around the sun and me moon revolving around the earth.

Probable determination takes the combination of chance and necessity as its premise. Necessity has to be found through chance, yet chance cannot be neglected. Since it is an indefinite connection with the appearance of the two phenomena once or a few times the indefinite connection is that0 of a certain chance.. Thus, probable determination should be first manifested in chance, namely, "probability." Although a phenomenon emerges definitely it is hard to ascertain beforehand whether another phenomenon will emerge or not. With regard to this point it is unpredictable. But when the same kind of phenomenon occurs repeatedly the necessity in chance will emerge. At this time the relationships of the same kind of necessity emerge more and more repeatedly. With regard to this point it is predictable again. Marx said, "The internal laws of necessity can only be seen on the basis of a large number of generalizations of the necessity" (Ibid., Vol. 25, p. 396). That is an incisive explanation of probable determination. 

Probability refers to the degree of likelihood of the out come when systematic objects and phenomena are in unitary determination and probable determination. In unitary determination probability is one and there exists no chance, and the phenomenon and outcome are fixed. For example, solids in friction can generate electricity. In probable determination probability is an indefinite number and is the necessity that emerges after the survey and calculation of innumerable contingent phenomena. Yet this necessity is not the only one, and it is relative. For example, in a box there are three balls colored red, yellow and green, respectively. If a blindfolded person takes one ball at a time, it can be seen that the likelihood of it being the red, yellow or green ball is only 33.3 percent for each. Therefore, in unitary determination probability is the definite value and is predictable. Meanwhile, in probable determination it is indefinite, contingent and hard to predict. But after repeat ed analysis and calculations, to find the inevitable outcome through chance is of considerable significance and is the active cognitive function of probability in probable determination.

(ii) The Dialectical Relationship Between Unitary Determination, Probability and Probable Determination
The dialectical relationship between unitary determination, probability and probable determination is manifested in that they are different from each other, related to each other and can interchange with each other under certain conditions.
Unitary determination, probability and probable determination are identical in determination. They all reveal the laws governing the development of systematic objects through the causal relationship and positive connection of objects and phenomena in the systems material world. The distinction between unitary determination and probable determination reveals the different types of laws in the systems material world. The difference between the two determinations mainly lies in the different targets of research and examination as well as the forms of examination.

The targets of examination in unitary determination are the individual body and individual phenomena. On the one hand, multiple examinations of the individual body and a single examination of the individual body are equal in value; on the other hand, the examination of the aggregation (the collective) as individuality and the examination of the individual body are equal in value. This shows that the regularity of objects in aggregation can be revealed through the study of the regularity of the motion of individual objects, while the properties and laws of individual objects are the representation of the proper lies of the objects of aggregation.

The aggregation of individual bodies is the target of examination in probable determination. Here, property and motion are different in the aggregation of individual bodies. As far as each individual body is concerned, they can be either identical or different and there is a certain chance in motion. Only When the total of the individual bodies is examined can there be certain laws to abide by. This aggregation of individual bodies is probability in mathematics and the googol phenomenon or the collective phenomenon referred to in mathematical statistics. This can be composed of a large number of different individual bodies, or it can be composed of the googol phenomenon of the single individual body which appears many times. The law of the googol phenomenon is a statistical law. For example, in quantum mechanics waves are not made up of particles and particles are not made up of waves. Then how can we understand the wave-particle duality in micro-particles? The experiment of electronic diffraction fully indicates that the fluctuation property of the electrons is the statistical result of many electrons in the same experiment on the one hand, and the statistical result of one electron in many identical experiments on the other. Thus the fluctuation property of the particles is defined as a probability wave and it is subordinate to the statistical law.

Unitary determination and probable determination can interchange and be transformed under certain conditions. Unitary determination can change into probable determination. Since unitary determination is a causality, to a single individual body the result is definite only if there is a reason. The contingent reasons can be neglected and there is no need to bother about the influence brought about by them, while the inevitable reasons play a decisive role in the definite result. The inevitable reasons are often expressed in a certain number of indispensible conditions. Therefore, unitary determination leads to a definite and inevitable result when the certain number of indispensible conditions needed by a single individual body are fully supplied. If the different indispensible conditions needed by unitary determination are not fully provided, lacking one or several, they have to be replaced by other contingent conditions. Hence, the contingent conditions in the probability relation become factors which cannot be neglected. Thus all kinds of indefinite possible results may emerge. On the premise that probability is not unique, unitary determination is changing toward probable determination. But when this indefinite, probable determination occurs repeatedly it manifests chances of the aggregation phenomenon, namely, statistical law. If each probability is completely definite unitary determination will finally change into probable determination.
Probable determination can change into unitary determination as well. As causality, probable determination produces indefinite results for each individual body. The indefinite results are due to the fact that contingent reasons and necessary reasons are interwined. Neither should the contingent reasons and necessary reasons be separated, nor should the contingent reasons be excluded. Hence, the necessary reasons cannot be abstracted. Only after the examination of repeated occurrences of each individual body's results or the examination of aggregations composed of individual bodies can the necessary reasons concealed in the different contingent reasons in each individual body be revealed. The results are endowed with definite proper ties, and the statistical laws in causality are revealed. In probable determination, when the necessary conditions and the contingent conditions are integrated the necessary reasons are in a dominant position, but they are not sufficient. The contingent conditions are in a subordinate position, but they cannot be neglected. Hence, there are generally two ways for probable determination to change toward unitary determination. One is that the necessary conditions are fully provided and are in a dominant position. Then the contingent conditions drop to a subordinate position and are neglected, and probable determination changes into unitary determination. The other is that the contingent conditions are excluded and separated from the necessary conditions and only the necessary conditions are left to take effect and to accomplish the transformation from probable determination to unitary determination.

(iii) The Significance of the Category Chain of Unitary Determination, Probability and Probable Determination
The universal connections of objects and phenomena in the systems material world can be divided into definite relationship and indefinite relationship from one or several occurences. On the basis of the two relationships people generalize and summarize unitary determination and probable determination. They are two basic forms of expression of the universal laws governing the development of the systematic objects and phenomena, and they apply to the different targets under different conditions, respectively. It is of considerable importance to under stand this point. It is productive to consciously explore different circumstances, guided by the two forms of determination. 

Furthermore, with the development of science and technology systematic objects and phenomena will more closely approach the laws governing the development of the systematic objects. In the face of the manifold, numerous and miscellaneous systems world one can seldom achieve the goal of cognition merely by depending on unitary determination. While it is possible for probable determination to adapt itself to complicated phenomena probability supplies unitary determination and probable determination with the thoroughfare of interrelation ship and, interchange. Hence, this category chain provides the principles of methodology for cognizing the systems material world.