СПИРАЛЬ В РАЗВИТИИ

Spiral in Development

A figurative description of the outcome of development employed by Engels and Lenin in elucidating the law of the negation of the negation. The process of development produces in phenomena an "apparent return to the old" (Lenin) in the course of change; this implies the repetition at a higher level of some features of a lower level. This may be depicted graphically as a Spiral in which each new turn repeats the preceding one, but at a higher level. The general impression of ascendant and progressive development is thus created. Development in a spiral form is at once opposed to the typically metaphysical idea of development as being motion along a closed circle without any new elements.