Continuity and Discontinuity

Continuity and Discontinuity


philosophical categories that characterize both the structure of matter and its process of development. Discontinuity refers to the “granularity” and discreteness of the spatiotemporal structure and state of matter, as well as the elements of which matter is composed, the aspects and forms of its existence, and the process of its motion and development. Discontinuity is grounded in the divisibility of matter and in the specific degree to which matter is internally differentiated in its development. It is also grounded in the relatively independent existence of the stable elements that compose matter—qualitatively determinate structures, such as elementary particles, nuclei, atoms, molecules, crystals, organisms, planets, and socioeconomic formations.

Continuity, on the other hand, expresses the unity, interconnection, and mutual dependence of the elements constituting one or another system having a specific degree of complexity. Continuity is grounded in the relative stability and indivisibility of an object as a qualitatively determined whole. It is precisely the unity of the parts of a whole that permits the existence and development of an object as a whole. Thus, the structure of any object or process is revealed as the unity of discontinuity and continuity. Discontinuity makes the complex, internally differentiated, and heterogeneous structure of things and phenomena possible. The granularity, or separateness, of an object is a necessary condition for each element of the structure to perform its specific function within the whole. At the same time, discontinuity makes it possible for the separate elements within a system to be supplemented, replaced, or interchanged.

The unity of the discontinuity and the continuity also characterizes the developmental process. Continuity in the development of a system expresses its relative stability and its constancy within the framework of a given measure. Discontinuity, on the other hand, expresses the transition of the system to a new quality. One-sided emphasis on discontinuity in development implies a total break between the moments and hence a loss of any connection. Recognizing only continuity in development leads to a denial of any qualitative shifts and in fact renders the very concept of development meaningless. It is typical of the metaphysical way of thinking that it isolates continuity from discontinuity. Dialectical materialism stresses not only the opposition between the two but also the connection—the unity of continuity and discontinuity, which is confirmed by the whole history of science and by social practice.


Osnovy marksistsko-leninskoi filosofii, 3rd ed. Moscow, 1973.


References in periodicals archive ?
In his December 2005 speech to the Roman Curia, Pope Benedict XVI avoided such simplification by distinguishing between a hermeneutic of discontinuity and one of reform, and then devoted the larger part of the speech to illustrating how reform entails both continuity and discontinuity on different levels.
In contrast to the space accorded the first two Gospels, Luke and John endure relatively short shrift, with the result that problems of continuity and discontinuity, not to speak of attitudes, in these last two Gospels are obscured by overly facile treatment.
Continuity and discontinuity, unity and uniqueness: One cannot chose between them, as Spillman would have us do.
There we learn that the original conference title has been replaced because the editor wants to sidestep issues of continuity and discontinuity and focus instead on the currently fashionable topic of "the function of the book.
The pope, however, went on to bring together "discontinuity," "reform," and "continuity" but not "rupture," when he said, "It is precisely [in a] combination of continuity and discontinuity at different levels that the very nature of reform consists.
The first volume contains an introduction to the series and chapters on definitional conundrums; perpetrators, victims, and collective unreason; and continuity and discontinuity in the historical record.
There is continuity and discontinuity in the resurrected body, as there will be in our resurrected bodies as well.
Indeed, "it is precisely in this combination of continuity and discontinuity at different levels that the very nature of true reform consists.
In The Origins of the Authoritarian Welfare State in Prussia, Hermann Beck promises to revise our understanding of the Prussian bureaucracy and to integrate his own findings into "the larger frame of the debate on continuity and discontinuity in German history.
Toth is clearly interested in the effects of temporal and spatial continuity and discontinuity that can be achieved by rotating the camera.
90) Applying a neurological analogy to understand the nature of development in the liturgy in light of its inherent plasticity provides a way for both the continuity and discontinuity perspectives on postconciliar liturgical change to be considered within a single analogy.
Substantially updated and expanded from previous editions, this third edition continues to emphasize the philosophical and historical bases of the key conceptual issues in the field, the centrality of the nature-nurture issue, the importance of understanding the dynamics between continuity and discontinuity across the life span, the ways in which stances on the nature-nurture and continuity-discontinuity issues frame theories of human development, and on the associations among philosophy, concepts, theories, methods, and applications of developmental science.