Dialectics as Logic of Reflection

The New Major Work on Reflection Logic

Dialectics and Reflection Logic is Johannes Heinrichs’ systematic presentation of dialectics as reflection logic — the result of more than five decades of philosophical work. The book clarifies the conceptual confusion around “dialectics” and develops a precise methodology based on the self-referentiality of human consciousness.

Core Theses

1. Dialectics as Reflection Logic: Dialectics is not a mere argumentation technique, but the logic of self-referentiality. It springs from the “miracle” of self-consciousness — the unique human ability to relate to oneself.

2. Implicit and Explicit Reflection: Heinrichs distinguishes two forms of reflection: lived (implicit, ontological) reflection as the mode of being of consciousness itself, and retrospective (explicit) reflection as conscious thinking about. This distinction solves central problems of the philosophy of consciousness.

3. The Fourfold Structure (I-Thou-It-Medium): Reflection-logical analysis leads to a universal structure of four “elements of meaning”: I (subjectivity), Thou (intersubjectivity), It (objectivity), and Medium (mediation). This fourfold structure systematically opens up language, society, knowledge, and action.

4. Critique of Hegel and the Henrich School: The book shows that Hegel had not yet fully recognized the essence of dialectics as reflection logic, and refutes the Henrich School’s critique of the “reflection theory of self-consciousness.”

Topics of the Book

• Self-consciousness as the source of dialectics
• From Thomas Aquinas through Kant to Hegel
• The reflection-logical instrumentarium
• The four types of dialectics (negative, polar, complementary, total)
• Applications in ethics, politics, and philosophy of science
• The limits of formalization
• Natural dialectics and mysticism

For Whom?

For philosophy students and academics who seek a systematic introduction to reflection logic. For readers who want to understand Heinrichs’ work in depth. For anyone interested in a philosophically grounded alternative to both analytical reductionism and postmodern arbitrariness.

The key work for understanding Johannes Heinrichs’ entire philosophy.

Bibliography

Year

2025

Series

Gesammelte Werke (Volume 47)

License

Copyright

Where to Buy

Price: 29.90 EUR/USD

More from Author →