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| Author | Otto Kuusinen |
|---|---|
| Original title | Marxismin-Leninismin perusteet |
| Translator | Clemens Dutt |
| Language | Finnish |
| Subject | Political Science |
| Publisher | Karjalan ASNT, Lawrence and Wishart |
Publication date | 1960 |
| Publication place | Finland |
Published in English | 1961 |
| Pages | 752 |
| 321 | |
Fundamentals of Marxism–Leninism is a book by a group of Soviet authors headed byOtto Wille Kuusinen. The work is considered[by whom?] one of the fundamental works ondialectical materialism and on Leninistcommunism. The book remains important in understanding the philosophy and politics of theSoviet Union; it consolidates the work of important contributions toMarxist theory.
The first edition ofThe Fundamentals was published in 1960. A second revised edition was published in 1963. The text draws heavily on the works ofKarl Marx andVladimir Lenin, with additional references toFriedrich Engels andNikita Khrushchev.
Part One of Fundamentals coversmaterialist andidealist philosophy, the use ofdialectics within materialist philosophy and its opposition tometaphysics, and develops a theory of knowledge, truth, necessity, and human freedom.
The text argues that only a consistently materialist approach to philosophy can be truly scientific, since it requires the recognition of the objective existence of matter, as outside and independent of the human mind.
Part Two of the work covers Marxist theories of history, orhistorical materialism, by outlining the role of themode of production,class,class struggles, the state and the individual in social development.
Part Three summarizes Marx'sDas Kapital and Lenin's theory of imperialism.
Part Four covers the Marxist–Leninist strategy of the international communist and working-class movement.
Part Five summarizes the main features of thesocialist mode of production.
