> This is far too general a summary of method you talk about. I presume
everyone on this List is familiar
> with The German Ideology.
I think that's an optimistic presumption.
> I was looking for something more definite than this. If there is anything
called the Dialectic, is there
> anything more specific than the three commonly known laws (e.g.
transformation of quantity into quality
> etc.) that can be described in precise terms. Surely we need to say more
150 years after The German
> Ideology.
We do need to say more. However, as I alluded previously, the problem is that there is nothing more definite by Marx _himself_ --- he was/is notoriously resistant to that kind of condensation. Other Marxist writers' formulations of "historical materialism" are controversial. From years of reading Marx's various works, I believe I have an understanding of "the materialist conception of history", but I am reluctant to try to formulate it myself at this very moment.
Also, even an in-depth knowledge of Marx's dialectic would not amount to an understanding of his method, as his method is not reducible to dialectics alone. I mean, by way of illustration, that some Marxists have attempted to dispense with the dialectic completely. Personally, I don't think that is a useful approach, but I can also understand why they would want to do that.
Regards,
Grant.