From the Dialectics of Matter to the Processes of Individuation: A Comparative Analysis of the Ontologies of Friedrich Engels and Gilbert Simondon

Modern philosophy, facing the crisis of classical metaphysical systems, actively seeks alternative approaches to understanding reality that can overcome the limitations of both substantialism and radical constructivism. While F. Engels, relying on dialectical materialism, views the world as a hierarchy of forms of the movement of matter, subject to universal laws of dialectics, J. Simondon shifts the focus from ready-made structures to processes of individuation, where being is constituted through the resolution of metastable tensions. In this context, a comparative analysis of the ontologies of Engels and Simondon acquires particular significance, as it allows for the comparison of two influential yet rarely contrasted traditions: dialectical materialism, with its emphasis on the objective laws of the development of matter, and process ontology, which foregrounds becoming and individuation. The research is relevant for addressing contemporary issues such as the understanding of complex systems, dynamics of social change, and the nature of materiality in posthuman studies. The methodological foundation of the article centers on the confrontation between two approaches: the objective dialectics of nature in Engels and the immanent ontology of becoming in Simondon. The comparative-critical analysis includes the following research methods: conceptual (categorical) analysis, textual analysis, comparative method, synthesis method, and constructive modeling. Additionally, elements of the philosophy of science, ontology, and social theory are employed to reveal the methodological limitations and advantages of each approach. The novelty of the article lies in the systematic juxtaposition of these two models, which identifies their methodological divergences and points of potential dialogue. Unlike traditional interpretations that reduce Engels' ontology to "the laws of dialectics," and Simondon's concept to a critique of substantiality, the author demonstrates that their confrontation touches on deeper questions regarding the nature of determination, the relationship between part and whole, as well as the possibilities of a non-reductionist understanding of matter. For the first time within a single study, the analysis of Simondon's critique of the "ready-made individual" and the idea of metastability raises doubts about key postulates of dialectical materialism, offering an alternative—an ontology in which order arises not from predetermined regularities but from the immanent dynamics of the pre-individual field. This opens up prospects for rethinking materialism in the context of contemporary disputes about realism, emergentism, contingency, and processuality.

Engels, Simondon, individuation, specification, transduction, pre-individual environment, dialectical materialism, hierarchy, determinism, motion of matter