DOCSLIB.ORG

Dialectical and Historical Materialism J

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Dialectical and Historical Materialism J Dialectical and Historical Materialism J. V. Stalin September 1938 Dialectical materialism is the world outlook ethical encumbrances. We know that Feuer- of the Marxist-Leninist party. It is called dialec- bach, although he was fundamentally a mate- tical materialism because its approach to the rialist, objected to the name materialism. phenomena of nature, its method of studying Engels more than once declared that "in spite and apprehending them, is dialectical, while its of" the materialist "foundation," Feuerbach interpretation of the phenomena of nature, its "remained... bound by the traditional idealist conception of these phenomena, its theory, is fetters," and that "the real idealism of Feuer- materialistic. bach becomes evident as soon as we come to Historical materialism is the extension of his philosophy of religion and ethics." (Marx the principles of dialectical materialism to the and Engels, Vol. XIV, pp. 652-54.) study of social life, an application of the princi- Dialectics comes from the Greek dialego, ples of dialectical materialism to the phenom- to discourse, to debate. In ancient times dialec- ena of the life of society, to the study of society tics was the art of arriving at the truth by dis- and of its history. closing the contradictions in the argument of When describing their dialectical method, an opponent and overcoming these contradic- Marx and Engels usually refer to Hegel as the tions. There were philosophers in ancient times philosopher who formulated the main features who believed that the disclosure of contradic- of dialectics. This, however, does not mean tions in thought and the clash of opposite opin- that the dialectics of Marx and Engels is identi- ions was the best method of arriving at the cal with the dialectics of Hegel. As a matter of truth. This dialectical method of thought, later fact, Marx and Engels took from the Hegelian extended to the phenomena of nature, devel- dialectics only its "rational kernel," casting oped into the dialectical method of apprehend- aside its Hegelian idealistic shell, and devel- ing nature, which regards the phenomena of oped dialectics further so as to lend it a mod- nature as being in constant movement and un- ern scientific form. dergoing constant change, and the develop- "My dialectic method," says Marx, "is not ment of nature as the result of the develop- only different from the Hegelian, but is its direct ment of the contradictions in nature, as the re- opposite. To Hegel, ... the process of thinking sult of the interaction of opposed forces in na- which, under the name of 'the Idea,' he even ture. transforms into an independent subject, is the In its essence, dialectics is the direct op- demiurgos (creator) of the real world, and the posite of metaphysics. real world is only the external, phenomenal form of 'the Idea.' With me, on the contrary, the 1) Marxist Dialectical Method ideal is nothing else than the material world The principal features of the Marxist dia- reflected by the human mind and translated lectical method are as follows: into forms of thought." (Marx, Afterword to the Second German Edition of Volume I of Capi- a) Nature Connected and Determined tal.) Contrary to metaphysics, dialectics does When describing their materialism, Marx not regard nature as an accidental agglomera- and Engels usually refer to Feuerbach as the tion of things, of phenomena, unconnected philosopher who restored materialism to its with, isolated from, and independent of, each rights. This, however, does not mean that the other, but as a connected and integral whole, materialism of Marx and Engels is identical in which things, phenomena are organically with Feuerbach's materialism. As a matter of connected with, dependent on, and determined fact, Marx and Engels took from Feuerbach's by, each other. materialism its "inner kernel," developed it into The dialectical method therefore holds that a scientific-philosophical theory of materialism no phenomenon in nature can be understood if and cast aside its idealistic and religious- taken by itself, isolated from surrounding phe- nomena, inasmuch as any phenomenon in any as a development which passes from insignifi- realm of nature may become meaningless to cant and imperceptible quantitative changes to us if it is not considered in connection with the open' fundamental changes' to qualitative surrounding conditions, but divorced from changes; a development in which the qualita- them; and that, vice versa, any phenomenon tive changes occur not gradually, but rapidly can be understood and explained if considered and abruptly, taking the form of a leap from in its inseparable connection with surrounding one state to another; they occur not acciden- phenomena, as one conditioned by surround- tally but as the natural result of an accumula- ing phenomena. tion of imperceptible and gradual quantitative changes. b) Nature is a State of Continuous Mo- The dialectical method therefore holds that tion and Change the process of development should be under- Contrary to metaphysics, dialectics holds stood not as movement in a circle, not as a that nature is not a state of rest and immobility, simple repetition of what has already occurred, stagnation and immutability, but a state of con- but as an onward and upward movement, as a tinuous movement and change, of continuous transition from an old qualitative state to a new renewal and development, where something is qualitative state, as a development from the always arising and developing, and something simple to the complex, from the lower to the always disintegrating and dying away. higher: The dialectical method therefore requires "Nature," says Engels, "is the test of dia- that phenomena should be considered not only lectics. and it must be said for modern natural from the standpoint of their interconnection and science that it has furnished extremely rich and interdependence, but also from the standpoint daily increasing materials for this test, and has of their movement, their change, their devel- thus proved that in the last analysis nature's opment, their coming into being and going out process is dialectical and not metaphysical, of being. that it does not move in an eternally uniform The dialectical method regards as impor- and constantly repeated circle. but passes tant primarily not that which at the given mo- through a real history. Here prime mention ment seems to be durable and yet is already should be made of Darwin, who dealt a severe beginning to die away, but that which is arising blow to the metaphysical conception of nature and developing, even though at the given mo- by proving that the organic world of today, ment it may appear to be not durable, for the plants and animals, and consequently man too, dialectical method considers invincible only is all a product of a process of development that which is arising and developing. that has been in progress for millions of years." "All nature," says Engels, "from the small- (Ibid., p. 23.) est thing to the biggest. from grains of sand to Describing dialectical development as a suns, from protista (the primary living cells – J. transition from quantitative changes to qualita- St.) to man, has its existence in eternal coming tive changes, Engels says: into being and going out of being, in a cease- "In physics ... every change is a passing of less flux, in unresting motion and change (Ibid., quantity into quality, as a result of a quantita- p. 484.) tive change of some form of movement either Therefore, dialectics, Engels says, "takes inherent in a body or imparted to it. For exam- things and their perceptual images essentially ple, the temperature of water has at first no in their interconnection, in their concatenation, effect on its liquid state; but as the temperature in their movement, in their rise and disappear- of liquid water rises or falls, a moment arrives ance." (Marx and Engels, Vol. XIV,' p. 23.) when this state of cohesion changes and the water is converted in one case into steam and c) Natural Quantitative Change Leads to in the other into ice.... A definite minimum cur- Qualitative Change rent is required to make a platinum wire glow; Contrary to metaphysics, dialectics does every metal has its melting temperature; every not regard the process of development as a liquid has a definite freezing point and boiling simple process of growth, where quantitative point at a given pressure, as far as we are able changes do not lead to qualitative changes, but with the means at our disposal to attain the re- quired temperatures; finally, every gas has its tween that which is disappearing and that critical point at which, by proper pressure and which is developing, constitutes the internal cooling, it can be converted into a liquid content of the process of development, the in- state.... What are known as the constants of ternal content of the transformation of quantita- physics (the point at which one state passes tive changes into qualitative changes. into another – J. St.) are in most cases nothing The dialectical method therefore holds that but designations for the nodal points at which a the process of development from the lower to quantitative (change) increase or decrease of the higher takes place not as a harmonious movement causes a qualitative change in the unfolding of phenomena, but as a disclosure of state of the given body, and at which, conse- the contradictions inherent in things and phe- quently, quantity is transformed into quality." nomena, as a "struggle" of opposite tendencies (Ibid., pp. 527-28.) which operate on the basis of these contradic- Passing to chemistry, Engels continues: tions. "Chemistry may be called the science of "In its proper meaning," Lenin says, "dia- the qualitative changes which take place in lectics is the study of the contradiction within bodies as the effect of changes of quantitative the very essence of things." (Lenin, Philoso- composition.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Marxist Vol
    The Marxist Vol. XII, No. 4, October-December 1996 On the occasion of Lenin’s 125th Birth Anniversary Marxism Of The Era Of Imperialism E M S Namboodiripad The theoretical doctrines and revolutionary practices of Vladymir Illyich Lenin (whose 125th birth anniversary was recently observed by the Marxist-Leninists throughout the world), have well been called “Marxism of the Era of imperialism.” For, not only was Lenin a loyal disciple of Marx and Engels applying in practice their theory in his own homeland, but he also further developed the theory and practices of the two founders of Marxism. EARLY THEORETICAL BATTLES Born in Tsarist Russia which was seeped in its feudal environment, he noticed that capitalism was slowly developing in his country. He fought the Narodniks who advocated the doctrine of the irrelevance and no-applicability of Marxism to Russian conditions. His first major theoretical work was the Development of Capitalism in Russia where he proved that, though in feudal environment, capitalism was rapidly developing in Russia. He thus established the truth of Marxist theory of the working class being the major political force in the development of society. Further, an alliance of peasantry under working class leadership will form the core of the revolutionary forces in the conditions of backward feudal Russia. Having thus defeated the Narodniks, he proceeded to demolish the theory of “legal Marxists” according to whom Marxism was to be applies in perfectly legal battles against capitalism. He asserted the truth that the preparation for the social transformation in Russia should be based on the sharpening class struggle culminating in the proletarian revolution.
    [Show full text]
  • The Critique of Real Abstraction: from the Critical Theory of Society to the Critique of Political Economy and Back Again
    The Critique of Real Abstraction: from the Critical Theory of Society to the Critique of Political Economy and Back Again Chris O’Kane John Jay, CUNY [email protected] There has been a renewed engagement with the idea of real abstraction in recent years. Scholars associated with the New Reading of Marx, such as Moishe Postone, Chris Arthur, Michael Heinrich, Patrick Murray, Riccardo Bellofiore and others,1 have employed the idea in their important reconstructions of Marx’s critique of political economy. Alberto Toscano, Endnotes, Jason W. Moore and others have utilized and extended these theorizations to concieve of race, gender, and nature as real abstractions. Both the New Reading and these new theories of real abstraction have provided invaluable work; the former in systematizing Marx’s inconsistent and unfinished theory of value as a theory of the abstract social domination of capital accumulation and reproduction; the latter in supplementing such a theory. Yet their exclusive focus on real abstraction in relation to the critique of political economy means that the critical marxian theories of real abstraction -- developed by Alfred Sohn- Rethel, Theodor W. Adorno and Henri Lefebvre -- have been mostly bypassed by the latter and have largely served as the object of trenchant criticism for their insufficient grasp of Marx’s theory of value by the former. Consequently these new readings and new theories of real abstraction elide important aspects of Sohn-Rethel, Adorno and Lefebvre’s critiques of real abstraction; which sought to develop Marx’s critique of political economy into objective-subjective critical theories of the reproduction of capitalist society.2 However, two recent works by 1 Moishe Postone’s interpretation of real abstraction will be discussed below.
    [Show full text]
  • Marxist Philosophy and Organization Studies: Marxist Contributions to the Understanding of Some Important Organizational Forms by Paul S
    1 Marxist philosophy and organization studies: Marxist contributions to the understanding of some important organizational forms by Paul S. Adler Dept. of Management and Organization Marshall School of Business University of Southern California Los Angeles 90089-0808 Draft chapter for: Research in the Sociology of Organizations, Special Volume on Philosophy and Organization Theory, 2010, Guest editors: Haridimos Tsoukas and Robert Chia Version date: Feb 2, 2010 Author bio: Paul S. Adler is currently Harold Quinton Chair in Business Policy at the Marshall School of Business, University of Southern California.. He received his PhD in economics and management at the University of Picardie, France. His research and teaching focus on organization design, with a particular focus on technical, professional, and manufacturing operations. Acknowledgments Earlier drafts benefited from research assistance from Jade Lo and from comments by Michael Burawoy, Richard Delbridge, Steve Jaros, Martin Kenney, David Levy, Richard Marens, Mark Mizruchi, Craig Prichard, Mick Rowlinson, Paul Thompson, and Matt Vidal, even if there is much with which they still disagree. 2 Marxist philosophy and organization studies: Marxist contributions to the understanding of some important organizational forms Abstract This essay aims to how Marx’s ideas and subsequent Marxist-inspired scholarship have contributed to the analysis of the various forms of work organization. It summarizes Marx’s basic philosophy, theory of history, and critique of political economy; it distinguishes more critical and more optimistic variants of Marxist theory; and it then shows how these ideas have been used in the analysis of key organizational forms, contrasting Marxist versus non-Marxist approaches and critical versus optimistic versions of Marxism.
    [Show full text]
  • Engels, Trotsky and the Natural Sciences: a Case Study in Cosmology
    LA ÚLTIMA MORADA DE TROTSKY GABRIELA PÉREZ NORIEGA http://dx.doi.org/10.23925/1982-6672.2020v13i38p19-49 Engels, Trotsky and the natural sciences: a case study in cosmology Alex Steinberg1 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2842-5687 Abstract: The topic of this essay is Trotsky’s approach to dialectical philosophy and the natural sciences. We will first summarize the tradition whose mantle Trotsky inherited as it was developed by Engels. We will then consider Trotsky’s relationship to the natural sciences. Trotsky, echoing Engels proclamations decades earlier, maintained that a dialectical philosophy is an essential guide to the work of the scientist while at the same time granting the autonomy and 19 freedom of scientists to pursue their research. Trotsky had a lifelong interest in following the developments in the natural sciences. He also had an intuitive grasp of some important developments in the natural sciences that would only come to fruition decades after his death. We will then present a case study of how a dialectical approach to nature can assist in overcoming a crisis that is plaguing contemporary physics. Specifically we will discuss how a dialectical approach to nature can inform cosmology in the 21st century and avoid the philosophical pitfalls and dead–ends that mark the contemporary crisis in physics. Keywords: Human Sciences; Marxism; Social History; Dialectical Materialism; Philosophy of Nature. 1 Alex Steinberg has taught classes on Hegel, Marxist philosophy, the dialectics of nature, and other topics at the Brecht Forum, the New Space and the Marxist Education Project. He has been a presenter and panelist at Socialist Scholars Conference, the Left Forum and Historical Materia- lism.
    [Show full text]
  • Dialectical Materialism: Marx's Method in Human Geography?
    Dialectical materialism: Marx’s method in human geography? Ipsita Chatterjee Department of Geography and the Environment University of North Texas [email protected] Waquar Ahmed Department of Geography and the Environment University of North Texas [email protected] Abstract Dialectical materialism, we argue is a philosophical praxis that guided Marx’s critique of capitalist political economy. In this article, we have attempted a self- critique of human geography by explicating that dialectical materialism has been largely used as a metaphor within the discipline. The article has been inspired by the over-whelming use of the terms ‘dialectics’ and ‘dialectical’ in human geography. The purpose has been to lay down some of the basic tenets of dialectical materialism in Marx’s work, and then lay down some human geography research that engages with dialectical materialism. We believe that philosophical introspection on methodology, particularly within the Marxist circles, is scarce. We argue that to develop a truly dialectical materialist human geography we must push dialectal materialism from metaphor to methodology. We also think that methodology and philosophy are inseparably tied and therefore, choice of research methodology is a reflector of the researcher’s philosophy about reality and hence research praxis should be an important matter of discussion and introspection. Published with Creative Commons licence: Attribution–Noncommercial–No Derivatives ACME: An International Journal for Critical Geographies, 2019, 18(2): 364-393 365 Keywords Materialism; human geography; radical geography; methodology; praxis Introduction The beliefs upon which we rest the objectives of our study form our philosophy, our own individual view of life and living.
    [Show full text]
  • An Anthropology of Marxism
    An Anthropology of Marxism CEDRIC J. ROBINSON University of California at Santa Barbara, USA Ash gate Aldershot • Burlington USA • Singapore • Sydney qzgr;; tr!'W"Ulr:!!PW Wf' I • rtft"lrt ri!W:t!ri:!tlu • nw i!HI*oo · " • , ., © Cedric J. Robinson 2001 Contents All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or othetwise without the prior permission of the publisher. Preface Published by Coming to Terms with Marxian Taxonomy Ashgate Publishing Limited 23 Gower House 2 The Social Origins ofMaterialism and Socialism Croft Road 75 Aldershot 3 German Critical Philosophy and Marx Hampshire GUll 3HR llJ England 4 The Discourse on Economics !51 Ash gate Publishing Company 5 Reality and its Representation 13 I Main Street 161 Burlington, VT 05401-5600 USA Index IAshgate website: http://www.ashgate.com j British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Robinson, Cedric J. An anthropology of Marxism.- (Race and representation) !.Communism 2.Socialism I. Title 335.4 Library of Congress Control Number: 00-111546 ISBN 1 84014 700 8 Printed and bound in Great Brit~in by MPG Books Ltd, Bodmin, Cornwall v qzgr;; tr!'W"Ulr:!!PW Wf' I • rtft"lrt ri!W:t!ri:!tlu • nw i!HI*oo · " • , ., © Cedric J. Robinson 2001 Contents All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or othetwise without the prior permission of the publisher.
    [Show full text]
  • Futures of the Lumpenproletariat
    Lumpen: Vagrancies of a Concept from Marx to Fanon (and on) by Bennett Dempsey Carpenter Program in Literature Duke University Date:_______________________ Approved: ___________________________ Roberto Dainotto, Supervisor ___________________________ Wahneema Lubiano ___________________________ Anne Garréta ___________________________ Nancy Armstrong Dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate Program in Literature in the Graduate School of Duke University 2019 i v ABSTRACT Lumpen: Vagrancies of a Concept from Marx to Fanon (and on) by Bennett Dempsey Carpenter Graduate Program in Literature Duke University Date:_______________________ Approved: ___________________________ Roberto Dainotto, Supervisor ___________________________ Wahneema Lubiano ___________________________ Anne Garréta ___________________________ Nancy Armstrong An abstract of a thesis/dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate Program in Literature in the Graduate School of Duke University 2019 Copyright by Bennett Dempsey Carpenter 2019 Abstract This dissertation, Lumpen: Vagrancies of a Concept from Marx to Fanon (and on), tracks the concept of the lumpenproletariat from its coinage by Karl Marx through its reworking by Franz Fanon, the Black Panthers and others in the context of the colonial liberation and Black Power movements, and onwards into contemporary debates about populism, identity, politics, and the end
    [Show full text]
  • In Defense of Marxism
    In Defense of Marxism Leon Trotsky 1942 ii In Defense of Marxism IN DEFENSE OF MARXISM IS LEON TROTSKY’S PREMIER DEFENSE OF THE MARXIST METHOD OF A DIALECTICAL MATERIALISM.THIS WORK IS A COLLECTION OF ESSAYS AND LETTERS TO MEMBERS OF THE US SOCIALIST WORKERS PARTY FROM 1939 TO 1940. THE SWP WAS INVOLVED IN A BITTER INTERNAL DEBATE OVER THE CLASS NA- TURE OF THE SOVIET UNION, THE NATURE OF STALINISM AND THE FUTURE OF THE SOCIALIST WORKERS PARTY AS A REVOLUTIONARY PARTY.IN DEFENSE OF MARXISM IS TROTSKY’S CONTRIBUTION TO THIS DEBATE. IN DEFENSE OF MARXISM WAS FIRST PUBLISHED IN AN UNCOPYRIGHTED EDITION BY PIO- NEER PUBLISHERS IN 1942 FROM WHICH THIS ON-LINE VERSION HAS BEEN TRANSCRIBED BY DAVID WALTERS IN 1998. THIS VERSION BY DIMITRI VERSTRAETEN IN 2002. ADDITIONAL INFO IS ADDED FROM THE NEW PARK EDITION OF THIS BOOK (ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN 1972, 4TH IMPRES- SION IN 1984) Contents A Letter to James P. Cannon . 1 The USSR in War . 3 A Letter to Sherman Stanley . 21 Again and Once More Again on the Nature of the USSR . 23 The Referendum and Democratic Centralism . 32 A Letter to Sherman Stanley . 33 A Letter to James P. Cannon . 36 A Letter to Max Shachtman . 38 A Letter to James P. Cannon . 43 A Petty-Bourgeois Opposition in the Socialist Workers Party . 44 A Letter to John G. Wright . 63 A Letter to Max Shachtman . 64 Four Letters to the National Committee Majority . 65 A Letter to Joseph Hansen . 70 An Open Letter to Comrade Burnham .
    [Show full text]
  • Chapter Two a Recommencement of Dialectical Materialism
    Chapter Two A Recommencement of Dialectical Materialism . we are absolutely committed to a theoretical destiny: we cannot read Marx’s scientific discourse without at the same time writing at his dictation the text of another discourse, inseparable from the first one but distinct from it: the discourse of Marx’s philosophy. Louis Althusser, Reading ‘Capital’ In Chapter 1, it was argued that Althusser considered a transformation of the PCF’s political practice to be dependent upon a restoration of Marxist theory – more specifically, a renewal of historical materialism. But this, in turn, had three theoretical preconditions: (i) a critique of the dominant accounts of historical materialism, which supposedly departed from Marx, thereby vitiating development of his theory; (ii) the displacement of these versions and their eventual replacement by the genuine article (in the event, Althusser’s own reconstruction); and (iii) the elaboration of the veritable Marxist philosophy which could underwrite the scientificity of historical materialism and guide and guarantee the necessary extensions of it. It should now be apparent why the final component of the Althusserian programme was in fact – for Althusser – of paramount importance: ‘the investigation of Marx’s philosophical thought [was] indispensable if we were to escape from the... 56 • Chapter Two impasse in which history had put us’.1 What was needed was a philosophical, that is, ‘epistemological and historical’,2 reading of Marx’s œuvre which barred the route – opened by Marx himself – pursued by Marxist intellectuals in reaction against the vulgarisation and Stalinisation of Marxism. The constitution of Marxist philosophy was a sine qua non of epistemological critique and scientific reconstruction.
    [Show full text]
  • Slavoj Žižek's Dialectical Materialist Marxism
    Slavoj Žižek’s Dialectical Materialist Marxism Robert Adam Crich Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Cardiff University 2015 Declarations This work has not been submitted in substance for any other degree or award at this or any other university or place of learning, nor is being submitted concurrently in candidature for any degree or other award. Signed ………………………………………… (candidate) Date ………………………… STATEMENT 1 This thesis is being submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of PhD Signed ………………………………………… (candidate) Date ………………………… STATEMENT 2 This thesis is the result of my own independent work/investigation, except where otherwise stated. Other sources are acknowledged by explicit references. The views expressed are my own. Signed ………………………………………… (candidate) Date ………………………… STATEMENT 3 I hereby give consent for my thesis, if accepted, to be available online in the University’s Open Access repository and for inter-library loan, and for the title and summary to be made available to outside organisations. Signed ………………………………………… (candidate) Date ………………………… STATEMENT 4: PREVIOUSLY APPROVED BAR ON ACCESS I hereby give consent for my thesis, if accepted, to be available online in the University’s Open Access repository and for inter-library loans after expiry of a bar on access previously approved by the Academic Standards & Quality Committee. Signed ………………………………………… (candidate) Date ………………………… Summary This thesis offers a systematic account of Žižek’s dialectical materialist Marxism that follows the development of his work from his initial Lacanian critique of Marxism and Stalinist totalitarianism, to his attempt to develop a new form of Communist politics including a conception of a Communist utopia. The core and overarching argument of this thesis is that Žižek develops his positions in response to three challenges that he confronts after the limitations of his previous radical democratic politics become evident.
    [Show full text]
  • A Defence of History and Class Consciousness Tailism and the Dialectic
    a defence of history and class consciousness tailism and the dialectic GEORG LUKACS A Defence of History and Class Consciousness Y A Defence of History and Class Consciousness Tailism and the Dialectic N GEORG.LUKACS Translated by Esther Leslie Withan introductionb y John Rees and a postfaceb y Slavoj Zi.Zek Y VERSO London • New York This edition frrst published by Verso 2000 ©Verso 2000 Translation © Esther Leslie 2000 Introduction ©John Rees 2000 Postface © Slavoj tizek 2000 First published as Chvostismus undDialektik, by Aron Verlag, Budapest, 1996 © Erben von Georg Lukacs 1996 All rights reserved The moral rights of the authors and translator have been asserted Verso UK: 6 Meard Street, London WI V 3HR USA: 180 Varick Street, New York, NY 10014-4606 Verso is the imprint of New Left Books ISBN 1-85984-747-1 BritishLibrary Cataloguing in PublicationData A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-PublicationData Lukacs, Gyorgy 1885-1971. (Chvostismus und Dialektik. English] A defence of history and class consciousness: tailism and the dialectic/ Georg Lukacs; translated by Esther Leslie; with an introduction by John Rees and a postface by Slavoj Zizek. p. em. ISBN 1-85984-747-1 (cloth) 1. Socialism. 2. Proletariat. 3. Capitalism. 4. Communism. 5. Class consciousness. 6. Dialectical materialism. 1. Tide. HX260.5.A6L78313 2000 335.4'112-dc21 00--028980 Typeset by M Rules Printed by Biddies Ltd, Guildford and King's Lynn Contents Editorial note vii Introduction 1 byJohn Rees Introduction to the Hungarian edition (1996) 39 by liisz/0Illes Tailism and the Dialectic 45 by Georg Lukacs Postface: Georg Lukacs as the philosopher of Leninism 151 by SlavqjZiiek Editorial note Throughout the text, references to History and Class Consciousness (abbreviated as HCC) give page num:bers for the 1971 edition translated by Rodney Livingstone.
    [Show full text]
  • The Universe, the Cold War, and Dialectical Materialism
    1 The Universe, the Cold War, and Dialectical Materialism HELGE KRAGH* Abstract. Ideological considerations have always influenced science, but rarely as directly and massively as in the Soviet Union during the early Cold War period. Cosmology was among the sciences that became heavily politicized and forced to conform to the doctrines of Marxism-Leninism. This field of science developed entirely differently in the Communist countries than in the West, in large measure because of political pressure. Certain cosmological models, in particular of the big bang type, were declared pseudo-scientific and idealistic because they implied a cosmic creation, a concept which was taken to be religious. The result of the ideological pressure was not an independent Soviet cosmology, but that astronomers and physicists abandoned cosmological research in the Western sense. Only in the 1960s did this situation change, and cosmology in the Soviet Union began to flourish. The paper examines the relationship between science and political ideology in the case of the Soviet Union from about 1947 to 1963, and it also relates this case to the later one in the People’s Republic of China. 1. Introduction: Stalinism and the Sciences The Cold War was not only a confrontation between two antagonistic political systems that involved military, political and economic actions; it was also a confrontation between two world views in which science and philosophy, directly and indirectly, were parts of the political agenda. In some cases scientific theories became politicized, that is, associated with political and ideological views that made them either attractive or * Centre for Science Studies, Institute of Physics and Astronomy, Aarhus University, Building 1520, 8000 Aarhus, Denmark.
    [Show full text]