The Scientific Connotation and Practical Implications of the Marxist Concept of Happiness

Happiness is an unchanging topic, and the question of human happiness is the most important concern of Marxist philosophy, and the achievement of the common happiness of all human beings is the starting point and the anchor point of Marx and Engels’ scientific worldview and methodology. Then, it is of great academic value and practical significance to correctly understand the theoretical connotation and spiritual essence of Marxist concept of happiness.

Materialism dialectic și istoric în comunismul românesc (I)

The article (to be published in 2 parts) analyzes the expression and evolution of Marxist philosophy in communist Romania, as seen in the evolution of the official handbooks and courses of dialectical materialism and historical materialism. Its first part looks at the original Marxian foundations (Marx and Engels’ views on metaphilosophy and their actual philosophical practice), the Soviet mediations (the institutional and conceptual reconfigurations of Soviet Marxist philosophy until the death of Stalin) and the initial local configuration, as seen in the first two editions of the handbooks, published in the early 50’s and early 60’s respectively. The second part of the article will follow this evolution further, up to 1989, and will conclude by developing a series of observations on the uses and abuses of Marxist philosophy in communist Romania.

Mathematical expression and application of Marxism

Marxism is a scientific theoretical system about the understanding of the regularity of nature, society and human thinking. Marxism mainly includes Marxist philosophy (i.e. dialectical materialism and historical materialism), political economy and scientific socialism, among which Marxist philosophy is the theoretical basis, political economy is the main content and scientific socialism is the core and highest goal of Marxism. When analysis is made of the histories of mathematics, philosophy and economics, we are led to the inference that philosophy, economics and mathematics have a natural internal connection. This paper mainly discusses the relationship between philosophy and mathematics and Marx's evaluation of and research on mathematics, and then tries to express some basic and important principles of Marxist philosophy and political economy with the tools and ways of mathematics (formulas), in order to understand the profundities of Marxism much more easily.

Hacia un marxismo cubano. El Departamento de Filosofía de la Universidad de La Habana en sus primeras etapas (1962-1965).

El Departamento de Filosofía de la Universidad de La Habana fue creado fruto de la Reforma Universitaria (enero de 1962) que introducía la obligatoriedad de enseñar filosofía marxista en todas las carreras universitarias y socializar la teoría científica adoptada por la Revolución cubana. Existiría hasta 1971, año en el que cambió de denominación, programas y profesorado. El artículo arroja luz sobre el proceso de creación del Departamento y la evolución de su visión respecto a la enseñanza y teoría del marxismo-leninismo en sus primeras etapas: desde un marxismo ortodoxo y manualista hacia la búsqueda de un punto de referencia cubano, antiimperialista y tercermundista. A través de fuentes orales y de archivo, el trabajo pretende analizar cómo y por qué nació el Departamento, sus objetivos y fuentes teóricas, y el cambio de perspectiva que experimentó su profesorado desde su creación hasta 1965, así como los principales factores que lo incentivaron. The Philosophy Department of the University of Havana was created as a result of the University Reform (January 1962) that incorporated the obligation to teach Marxist philosophy in all university degree programmes and to socialize the scientific theory adopted by the Cuban Revolution. It would exist until 1971, the year in which it changed its name, programmes, and teaching staff. The article casts light on the formative process of the Department and the evolution of its conception regarding the teaching and theory of Marxism-Leninism in its early stages: from an orthodox and manualist Marxism towards the search for a Cuban, anti-imperialist, and Third-Worldist point of reference. Through oral and archival sources, this work aims to analyse how and why the Department was born, its objectives and theoretical sources, and the change in perspective that its teaching staff experienced from its creation to 1965, as well as the main factors that encouraged it.

Marxist and Personalist influences in Paulo Freire’s pedagogical anthropology

Paulo Freire was profoundly influenced by Marxist philosophy and Mounier’s personalism, both in terms of civic engagement, particularly in the constant search for practices of human emancipation, and in specific aspects of his thinking. In this paper, I focus on the legacy of both in Freire’s pedagogical anthropology by drawing from the idea that, in Freire’s works, the point of entry to pedagogical problems is anthropological. In the second and third sections of the paper, I focus on how Freire met Marx and highlight the link between the two thinkers. In the fourth and fifth sections, I analyse the legacy of Latin American personalism in Freire’s pedagogical anthropology. In conclusion, I argue that the originality of Freire’s thinking and its relevance stem from how he mixed the two traditions.

Marxism as Spinozism? One episode in the history of Soviet philosophy

This paper seeks to reconstruct philosopher Aleksandr Bogdanov’s approach to the philosophy of Spinoza in the context of the debate against Plekhanov. I demonstrate that the Soviet interest in Spinoza’s theory has never been purely historical, but rather, it served an important function in developing the theoretical foundations for Marxist philosophy. However, Bogdanov was one of only a very few who objected strongly to Plekhanov’s attempt to relate Spinoza’s philosophy to Marxism in a direct way. Two principles underlie Bogdanov’s critique: one being methodological, the other—systematic. The methodological principle has a hermeneutical character, since it demands that we treat historical concepts by taking into account their context and their changes during the time. According to Bogdanov, failing to fulfil this principle results in the dogmatization and instrumentalization of philosophy, and transforms it into political doctrine. The systematic principle concerns Bogdanov’s radical rethinking of the relationship between extension and thought. I argue that by rethinking Spinoza’s concepts in the framework of “ideo-empirical parallelism”, Bogdanov develops his own theory of cognition, which he called “empiriomonism”. When considered in historical context, I argue that these debates can serve as a window into the foundational role the Spinoza’s philosophy has played in the formation of different versions of Russian Marxism, as well as in the development of Russian Marxism in general.

Basic Principles and Advancing the Popularization of Marxist Philosophy in Contemporary China

With the current domestic reform and opening-up, China has increased the construction and development of social economy whereas Marx’s philosophy has become a key research topic for social research scholars. This article focuses on the basic principles of the widespread practice of Marxism in the Chinese society and conducts a brief analysis on its journey of popularization.