Dialectical materialism

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Allen W. Wood
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Religious Belief ◽  
Karl Marx ◽  
Dialectical Materialism ◽  
Empirical Science ◽  
German Philosophy ◽  
Sense Data ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Friedrich Engels ◽  
Metaphysical Standpoint

Dialectical materialism is the official name given to Marxist-Leninist philosophy by its proponents in the Soviet Union and their affiliates elsewhere. The term, never used by either Karl Marx or Friedrich Engels, was the invention of the Russian Marxist Georgii Plekhanov, who first used it in 1891. Engels, however, favourably contrasted ‘materialist dialectics’ with the ‘idealist dialectics’ of Hegel and the German idealist tradition, and the ‘dialectical’ outlook of Marxism with the ‘mechanistic’ or ‘metaphysical’ standpoint of other nineteenth-century materialists. Dialectical materialism proclaims allegiance to the methods of empirical science and opposition to all forms of scepticism which deny that science can know the nature of reality. Dialectical materialists reject religious belief generally, denying the existence of non-material or supernatural entities (such as God or an immortal human soul). Unlike other forms of materialism, however, dialectical materialists maintain that the fundamental laws governing both matter and mind are dialectical in the sense in which that term is used in the philosophy of G.W.F. Hegel. Although dialectical materialism is supposed to constitute the philosophical underpinnings of Marxism, Marx’s only major contribution to it was his materialist conception of history. The more fundamental philosophical views of dialectical materialism have their main source in the writings of Engels, especially Anti-Dühring (1878), Dialectics of Nature (1875–82) and Ludwig Feuerbach and the End of Classical German Philosophy (1886). To this last work Engels appended the eleven ‘Theses on Feuerbach’ written by Marx in 1845, which contrasted the ‘old’ or ‘contemplative’ materialism with the practically oriented materialism which was to be the basis of the proletarian movement. Further developments of dialectical materialism are found in writings by V.I. Lenin and subsequent Soviet writers. Lenin’s chief additions were his critique of ‘empirio-criticism’ (the empiricist phenomenalism of certain Russian followers of Ernst Mach, who argued that matter was to be reduced to sense data), and his conception of the ‘partisanship’ of all philosophical views.

scholarly journals THE PRINCIPLE OF PEACEFUL COEXISTENCE OF TWO SYSTEMS AND THE INTERPRETATION OF ITS THEORETICAL SOURCES IN RESEARCH ON THE HISTORY OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF THE SOVIET UNION

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (5) ◽  
pp. 64-69
Author(s):  
Chengzhang Zou ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Communist Party ◽  
Karl Marx ◽  
Structural Features ◽  
Peaceful Coexistence ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Two Systems ◽  
History Of ◽  
Friedrich Engels ◽  
Soviet Historiography

The article presents the results of the author’s study of the interpretation of the theoretical sources of the principle of peaceful coexistence of two systems in Soviet studies of the second half of the 20th century, devoted to the history of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. The author established a chronological framework for studying the principle of peaceful coexistence of two systems in Soviet historiography, and revealed Soviet historiographic markers of this principle in the corpuses of the works of Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels and Vladimir Ulyanov (Lenin). The article also presents a historical description and analysis of the way Soviet historians of the party interpreted the principle of peaceful coexistence of two systems in the works of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. The author identified the historical features of Soviet historians’ interpretation of the principle of peaceful coexistence of two systems in the works of Vladimir Ulyanov (Lenin), systematized approaches to the interpretation of the theoretical sources of the principle of peaceful coexistence of two systems that were formed in Soviet studies on the history of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, revealed their structural features, and also developed a model for their typology.

100 Years of the CCP – The “long road” and the triumphant advance of the People’s Republic and its party

2021 ◽  
pp. 01-11
Author(s):  
Feldbacher Rainer
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Communist Party ◽  
Migrant Workers ◽  
Chinese Communist Party ◽  
Karl Marx ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Friedrich Engels ◽  
The Chinese Communist Party ◽  
Title One

This year not only celebrates the founding of the Chinese Communist Party 100 years ago, but it is also the 110th anniversary of the 1911 revolution, which in addition to many developments in this specific phase played a role – such as the May 4th Movement. Another starting point for the development of the CCP were the communist and socialist positions of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels – the two ultimately formulated the idea – as well as Vladimir Ilyich Lenin and later Josef Stalin, the leaders of the first socialist state. From these approaches, Mao Zedong developed an independent strategy adapted to the Chinese situation. This so-called Maoism spread in particular through the so-called “Red Book”. After the successful revolution that led to the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, the Chinese Communist Party under Mao pursued its own communist path from 1956. In 1960, China and the Soviet Union broke completely because of Khrushchev's policy of de-Stalinization. This development culminated in the Chinese Cultural Revolution initiated by Mao from 1966 onwards. It was based on the theory of a permanent revolutionary transformation of society; the communist ideals should be anchored throughout the Chinese people. From 1979, under Deng Xiaoping, an economic change of course took shape (keyword special economic zones), which led to the opening to capitalist economic forms without having to abandon the CCP's claim to leadership at the political level, but enabled rapid economic, technological and scientific advances that up to stop today. At the same time, the CCP is endeavoring to alleviate the poverty of migrant workers in the coming periods, to solve the ecological challenges in the course of economic growth and at the same time to close the world with the aid of the Silk Road, which once connected continents – now under the title "One Road, One Belt". This global cooperation now seems all the more necessary as in times of the COVID-19 pandemic, the party successfully shows and should prove how this crisis can be contained – for the benefit of the economy, society and health.

Vanguard of the Revolution

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. James McAdams
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Communist Party ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
North Korea ◽  
Karl Marx ◽  
Modern World ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Revolution

This book is a sweeping history of one of the most significant political institutions of the modern world. The communist party was a revolutionary idea long before its supporters came to power. The book argues that the rise and fall of communism can be understood only by taking into account the origins and evolution of this compelling idea. It shows how the leaders of parties in countries as diverse as the Soviet Union, China, Germany, Yugoslavia, Cuba, and North Korea adapted the original ideas of revolutionaries like Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin to profoundly different social and cultural settings. The book is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand world communism and the captivating idea that gave it life.

The Trials of Arnošt K.

2017 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 320-348 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael D. Gordin
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Philosophy Of Science ◽  
Communist Party ◽  
Dialectical Materialism ◽  
Eastern Bloc ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Secret Police ◽  
Bolshevik Revolution ◽  
Soviet Authority ◽  
The Soviet Union

The Prague-born philosopher and historian of science Arnošt Kolman (1892–1979)—who often published under his Russian name Ernest Kol’man—has fallen into obscurity, much like dialectical materialism, the philosophy of science he represented. From modest Czech-Jewish origins, Kolman seized opportunities posed by the advent of the Bolshevik Revolution to advance to the highest levels of polemical Stalinist philosophy, returned to Prague as an activist laying the groundwork for the Communist coup in Czechoslovakia in February 1948, was arrested and held for three years by the Soviet secret police, returned to work in Moscow and Prague as a historian of science, played vastly contrasting roles in the Luzin Affair of the 1930s and the rehabilitation of cybernetics in the 1950s, and defected—after 58 years in the Communist Party of the Soviet Union—to Sweden in 1976. This article argues that Kolman’s biography represents his gradual separation of dialectical materialism from other aspects of Soviet authority, a disentanglement enabled by the perspective gained from repeated returns to Prague and the diversity of dialectical-materialist thought developed in the Eastern Bloc. This essay is part of a special issue entitled THE BONDS OF HISTORY edited by Anita Guerrini.

Utopianism

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lyman Tower Sargent
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Former Soviet Union ◽  
Karl Marx ◽  
Industrial Society ◽  
Intentional Communities ◽  
Thomas More ◽  
Friedrich Engels ◽  
Charles Fourier ◽  
Life On Earth ◽  
Better Than

Utopianism is the general label for a number of different ways of dreaming or thinking about, describing or attempting to create a better society. Utopianism is derived from the word utopia, coined by Thomas More. In his book Utopia (1516) More described a society significantly better than England as it existed at the time, and the word utopia (good place) has come to mean a description of a fictional place, usually a society, that is better than the society in which the author lives and which functions as a criticism of the author’s society. In some cases it is intended as a direction to be followed in social reform, or even, in a few instances, as a possible goal to be achieved. The concept of utopianism clearly reflects its origins. In Utopia More presented a fictional debate over the nature of his creation. Was it fictional or real? Was the obvious satire aimed primarily at contemporary England or was it also aimed at the society described in the book? More important for later developments, was it naïvely unrealistic or did it present a social vision that, whether achievable or not, could serve as a goal to be aimed at? Most of what we now call utopianism derives from the last question. In the nineteenth century Robert Owen in England and Charles Fourier, Henri Saint-Simon and Étienne Cabet in France, collectively known as the utopian socialists, popularized the possibility of creating a better future through the establishment of small, experimental communities. Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels and others argued that such an approach was incapable of solving the problems of industrial society and the label ‘utopian’ came to mean unrealistic and naïve. Later theorists, both opposed to and supportive of utopianism, debated the desirability of depicting a better society as a way of achieving significant social change. In particular, Christian religious thinkers have been deeply divided over utopianism. Is the act of envisaging a better life on earth heretical, or is it a normal part of Christian thinking? Since the collapse of communism in eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, a number of theorists have argued that utopianism has come to an end. It has not; utopias are still being written and intentional communities founded, hoping that a better life is possible.

African Studies in the U.S.S.R.

1966 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 359-366
Author(s):  
V. G. Solodovnikov
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Special Interest ◽  
Karl Marx ◽  
Slave Trade ◽  
African Studies ◽  
Arts And Crafts ◽  
Way Of Life ◽  
Deep Roots ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Soviet Union

African studies in the Soviet Union have deep roots in the past. The nature of Africa, the African peoples' way of life, their culture, arts, and crafts have long been of special interest to scholars in the Soviet Union. We have never had any mercenary motives, for our country never had colonies in Africa and never aimed at seizing African lands. No Russian soldier has ever been to Africa. Moreover, many Russian progressive intellectuals strongly protested against any form of exploitation and slavery. More than once they spoke in support of Africans and attacked the slave trade and the policy of turning the vast regions of Africa into what Karl Marx called ‘field reserves’ for the hunting of Africans.

Reviews: The British Ombudsman, The History of the Liberal Party 1895–1970, Lancashire and the New Liberalism, Ireland's English Question, Liberalism in South Africa 1948–1963, The Gentle Anarchists: A Study of the Leaders of the Sarvodaya Movement for Non-Violent Revolution in India, The Finnish Political System, Politics and Society in De Gaulle's Republic, Fédéralisme et Nations, The Soviet Union Under Brezhnev and Kosygin, The Behavioral Revolution and Communist Studies, The Origins of Polish Socialism: The History and Ideas of the First Polish Socialist Party 1878–1886, The Intellectual Origins of the Prague Spring: The Development of Reformist Ideas in Czechoslovakia 1956–1967, The Secret Vysočany Congress: Proceedings and Documents of the Extraordinary Fourteenth Congress of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, 22 August, 1968, the Czechoslovak Experiment 1968–1969, Democracy, Polyarchy, Empirical Democratic Theory, Voting and Collective Choice, Social Movement, Constitutional Theory, Magna Carta: The Heritage of Liberty, Natural Law in Political Thought, A Dialogue between A Philosopher and A Student of the Common Laws of England, from Kingdom to Commonwealth, Adam Smith's Science of Morals, Auguste Blanqui and the Art of Insurrection, Alienation: Marx's Conception of Man in Capitalist Society, the Thought of Karl Marx: An Introduction, Capitalism & Modern Social Theory, Introduction to International Politics, a Theoretical Overview, Instructor's Guide(for Introduction to International Politics, International Politics Today, Contemporary International Politics: Introductory Readings, Every War Must End, Politics and the Stages of Economic Growth

1972 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 226-266
Author(s):  
Geoffrey Marshall ◽  
J. Rasmussen ◽  
P. M. H. Bell ◽  
J. H. Whyte ◽  
D. J. Murray ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Karl Marx ◽  
International Politics ◽  
Constitutional Theory ◽  
Liberal Party ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Conception Of Man ◽  
Intellectual Origins ◽  
History Of ◽  
Instructor's Guide

Book Reviews: Parliament and Pressure Politics, Peacekeeping in International Politics, Nuclear Deterrence Theory: The Search for Credibility, Nuclear Ambitions: The Spread of Nuclear Weapons 1989–1990, Posterity and Strategic Policy: A Moral Assessment of Nuclear Policy Options, Behavior, Society and Nuclear War. Volume One, Moscow and the Middle East: Soviet Policy since the Invasion of Afghanistan, Soviet Politics in the Middle East: From World War II to Gorbachev, The West and the Soviet Union: Politics and Policy, The Strategic Implications of Change in the Soviet Union, Soviet Policy Perspectives on Western Europe, Soviet Power, West German Resistance, and the Battle of the Euromissiles, Unofficial China: Popular Culture and Thought in the People's Republic, the Diplomacy of Zhou Enlai, China and the Open Door Policy, behind the Tiananmen Massacre: Social, Political and Economic Ferment in China., Intifada: The Palestinian Uprising, Israel, Palestinians and the Intifada: Creating Facts on the West Bank, European Competition Policy, Competition Law in the European Community, Homo Aestheticus: L'invention du goût à l'âge démocratique, Leviathan, Behemoth or the Long Parliament, Marx and the New Individual, Karl Marx and the Philosophy of Praxis, Marx and Ethics, Karl Marx: Socialism as Secular Theology, Capitalist Democracy on Trial: The Transatlantic Debate from Tocqueville to the Present, Alternatives to Capitalism, Capitalism

1991 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 575-592
Author(s):  
David Nicholson ◽  
Anthony Parsons ◽  
Oliver P. Ramsbotham ◽  
John Barnes ◽  
Michael Cox ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Middle East ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Karl Marx ◽  
Open Door Policy ◽  
The West ◽  
Soviet Policy ◽  
Secular Theology ◽  
The Soviet Union

Philosophy in Russia

Philosophy ◽  
1935 ◽  
Vol 10 (38) ◽  
pp. 222-224
Author(s):  
Natalie Duddington
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Natural Science ◽  
Social Democracy ◽  
Dialectical Materialism ◽  
Fiftieth Anniversary ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Materialist Dialectic

In U.S.S.R. dialectical materialism is still the only subject discussed by writers on philosophy. Philosophical publications during the last year include Lenin’s Philosophical Note-books; Dialectical Materialism and the Theory of Balance, by Selektor; Marx’s Philosophical Development, by Lipendin; A Course of Dialectical Materialism, by Markuse; Dialectical Materialism and Social Democracy, by Rudash; The Idealistic Dialectic of Hegel and the Materialist Dialectic of Marx, by L. Axelrod. On the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of Marx’s death the Communist Academy Institute of Philosophy has published a Symposium containing papers on materialistic dialectics, on the relation of Marxism-Leninism to culture and natural science, and discussion of those papers. A number of small textbooks on dialectical materialism, or Diamat as it is called for short, are issued for university schools not only in Russian but also in some of the languages spoken in the Soviet Union.

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