The Principle of Contradiction

The near-total suppression of Edward Conze’s ‘The Principle of Contradiction’ by the Nazi regime was a huge loss to 20th Century Marxist scholarship. Holger Heine’s discovery of a rare copy of the German manuscript, and production of an English translation, is undoubtedly one of the great gains of the 21st. There is much in the work to interest Marxists of course, but it also makes contributions that are of significance to all scholars of contemporary Philosophy of Logic. Moreover, anyone with an interest in the history of radical thought will find much food for thought within its pages, particularly in Heine’s excellent introduction. The work itself is a tremendously thorough investigation of the notion and nature of contradiction, and the different purported logical, metaphysical, psychological, and social principles that had (at his time of writing) historically been taken to govern it. Simply for this reason, the book should be of interest to anyone working in the philosophy and history of logic, quite regardless of their own theoretical tradition, or opinion of Conze’s.... Heine has achieved something truly wonderful with this translation. He has made available for study an early yet insightful text from a truly great thinker. Its contents resonate with, and bring together, many themes of contemporary thinkers. For the English-speaking academy to lose it to totalitarianism would have been an intellectual tragedy; to now have it available is an intellectual triumph. * Marx and Philosophy Review of Books *
The Principle of Contradiction, written by the German polymath Edward Conze in 1932, was all but lost to the world in the Nazi purges of 1933. Fortunately, a few copies survived. Heine is much to be praised for making it generally accessible again in English translation. The book is a fascinating window into the mind of Conze himself and German Marxist thought in this dark period. Conze’s book is notable for its Aristotelian and Marxist erudition, but also resonates with both Buddhist thought and developments in contemporary logic. Heine’s introduction beautifully locates the book in its historical and intellectual context. This is an impressive piece of scholarship all round. -- Graham Priest, CUNY Graduate Center
This is a truly remarkable work, a scholarly discovery of major importance. Undoubtedly the most comprehensive work on the dialectical principle of contradiction from a Marxist perspective, and beyond that an encyclopedic history of ideas about contradiction from the ancient Greeks onwards, and an outstanding work of synthesis. Originally published in the 1930s but then effectively lost, it now appears in an excellent translation with a full and useful Introduction by the translator. It will be an essential point of reference for all future philosophical work in this area. -- Sean Sayers, Emeritus Professor of Philosophy, University of Kent