The rise, decline and revival of dialectical materialism
The rise, decline and revival of dialectical materialism
The first section of the thesis attempts to show that Engels and Bukharin contributed to the development of dialectical materialism in terms of elaborating the ontological principles for understanding material and social reality. The recent philosophical work of Roy Bhaskar is used as a contemporary comparison in order to show their rich contribution to Marxist ontology. This section shows that Engels utilised the advances within science to enrich the ontological principles of Marxism. Furthermore Bukharin's theory of equilibrium is compared to the recent development of chaos theory and its account of the understanding of the relationship between chance and determination within reality. Engels and Bukharin represent a paradigm of what it means to develop Marxist philosophy in a principled and explanatory manner.
However, the second section of the thesis outlines the reasons why dialectical materialism seems not to have developed beyond its promising beginnings, and instead has become the justification of philosophical dogma. Firstly, the political reduction of dialectical materialism to party ideology is analysed in the work of Leon Trotsky. Secondly, Alan Woods and Ted Grant's equation of dialectical materialism with scientific progress seems to deny the necessity of an independent and distinctive role for dialectical materialism, and so dialectical materialism's ontological imperatives become repudiated. Thirdly, the orthodox dialectical materialist George Novack has difficulty in differentiating dialectal materialism from pragmatism, and this also seems to raise important questions about the philosophical validity of dialectical materialism.
The third section shows that Joseph Dietzgen's neglected form of dialectical materialism represents important progress in the elaboration of the ontological and epistemological principles of Marxism.
University of Southampton
Walden, Philip L
8e03b366-f841-4151-99d6-f587d028b316
2002
Walden, Philip L
8e03b366-f841-4151-99d6-f587d028b316
Walden, Philip L
(2002)
The rise, decline and revival of dialectical materialism.
University of Southampton, Doctoral Thesis.
Record type:
Thesis
(Doctoral)
Abstract
The first section of the thesis attempts to show that Engels and Bukharin contributed to the development of dialectical materialism in terms of elaborating the ontological principles for understanding material and social reality. The recent philosophical work of Roy Bhaskar is used as a contemporary comparison in order to show their rich contribution to Marxist ontology. This section shows that Engels utilised the advances within science to enrich the ontological principles of Marxism. Furthermore Bukharin's theory of equilibrium is compared to the recent development of chaos theory and its account of the understanding of the relationship between chance and determination within reality. Engels and Bukharin represent a paradigm of what it means to develop Marxist philosophy in a principled and explanatory manner.
However, the second section of the thesis outlines the reasons why dialectical materialism seems not to have developed beyond its promising beginnings, and instead has become the justification of philosophical dogma. Firstly, the political reduction of dialectical materialism to party ideology is analysed in the work of Leon Trotsky. Secondly, Alan Woods and Ted Grant's equation of dialectical materialism with scientific progress seems to deny the necessity of an independent and distinctive role for dialectical materialism, and so dialectical materialism's ontological imperatives become repudiated. Thirdly, the orthodox dialectical materialist George Novack has difficulty in differentiating dialectal materialism from pragmatism, and this also seems to raise important questions about the philosophical validity of dialectical materialism.
The third section shows that Joseph Dietzgen's neglected form of dialectical materialism represents important progress in the elaboration of the ontological and epistemological principles of Marxism.
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Published date: 2002
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Local EPrints ID: 464688
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/464688
PURE UUID: a3291b63-22f1-4e0e-9889-ab3bf68b2bf7
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Date deposited: 04 Jul 2022 23:56
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 19:42
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Philip L Walden
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