Contents: pdf
Introduction to 1st edition (1985) pdf
Introduction to 2nd edition (1993) pdf
Chapter 1 THE FOUNDERS: Engels, Marx & the Dialectics of Nature pdf
Chapter 2 THE NEW GENERATION: The Marxism of the 2nd International pdf
Chapter 3 THE SHIFT EASTWARD: Russian Marxism & Pre-Revolutionary Debates pdf
Chapter
4 THE
OCTOBER REVOLUTION: Marxism in Power pdf
introduction to chapter Early
Years of the Revolution
section on Lysenko
and Lysenkoism
conclusion to chapter Soviet
Intellectual Life and the Purges
Chapter
5 THE
COMINTERN PERIOD: The Dialectics of Nature Debate pdf1
pdf2
introduction to chapter Formation
of the Communist International
sections on JD
Bernal JBS Haldane
and Christopher
Caudwell
conclusion to chapter Fate
of the Comintern
Index pdf
Dedication & acknowledgements pdf
This book attempts to give a historical account of the development of marxism as a philosophy of science as well as a philosophical account of the issues involved. It encompasses the 1st 100 years of the existence of marxism, beginning with the mid-1840s when the philosophical ideas of Marx and Engels began to emerge in mature form, and ending with the mid-1940s with the dissolution of the Comintern and the end of WW2.
It deals with both the mainstream of the marxist tradition in the development of dialectical materialism as a philosophy of science and with diverging currents advocating alternative philosophical positions. It shows the marxist tradition to be far more complex and differentiated than is usually imagined, characterised by sharp and lively controversies for contending paths of development at every step of the way.
Essentially this work is about the shifting nexus of science, philosophy and politics within marxism. It examines the multiplicity of factors coming into play, including the impact of new scientific discoveries, new philosophical trends and new political formations upon the overall process.
Among the most important philosophical issues arising are: the formation of world view vis-a-vis the process of scientific discovery; the relationship between dialectical materialism and communism; the notion of proletarian science; the concept of the dialectics of nature.
As the work is unique, insofar as there is no other history of marxist philosophy of science covering the whole period in question, it abounds in original research and original conclusions. Where there is a body of secondary literarature in existence, with respect to specific authors or specific periods, it surveys this literature and takes a specific interpretive position. On a number of matters of ongoing controvery, such as the Marx-Engels relationship and the relationship of the Oparin-Haldane hypothesis on the origin of life to marxist philosophy, a definite position is argued.
The overall conclusion reached by the book is that this is a rich and significant history, rooted in the impulse to work out a philosophical world view grounded in the most advanced science of its day and integrally connected to the struggle to revolutionise its social matrix and to create a socialist social order.
An audacious enterprise, it generated not only impressive achievements, but also tragic disasters. It is a history with a dark side as well as a bright one. An effort is made to see both in proper perspective.
jacket of 2nd edition pdf
Marxism
and the Philosophy of Science
won a Choice
award for best academic books of 1985.
To
buy this book online, go to:
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Marxism and the Philosophy of Science : A Critical History : The First
Hundred Years
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