 Front cover of the first edition of Lenin's Materialism and Empirio-criticism, published in Moscow in 1909 under the pseudonym "Vl. Ilyin." | |
| Author | Vladimir Lenin |
|---|---|
| Original title | Материализм и эмпириокритицизм |
| Language | Russian |
| Genre | Philosophy |
Publication date | 1909 |
Materialism and Empirio-criticism (Russian: Материализм и эмпириокритицизм,Materializm i empiriokrititsizm) is a philosophical work byVladimir Lenin, published in 1909. It was an obligatory subject of study in all institutions of higher education in theSoviet Union,[1] as a seminal work ofdialectical materialism, a part of the curriculum called "Marxist–Leninist Philosophy".[2] Lenin argued that human minds are capable of forming representations of the world that portray the world as it is. Thus, Lenin argues, our beliefs about the world can be objectively true; a belief is true when it accurately reflects the facts. According to Lenin, absolute truth is possible, but our theories are often only relatively true. Scientific theories can therefore constitute knowledge of the world.[2]
Lenin formulates the fundamental philosophical contradiction between idealism and materialism as follows: "Materialism is the recognition of 'objects in themselves' or objects outside the mind; the ideas and sensations are copies or images of these objects. The opposite doctrine (idealism) says: the objects do not exist, outside the mind '; they are 'connections of sensations'."[3]
The book, whose full title isMaterialism and Empirio-criticism. Critical Comments on a Reactionary Philosophy, was written by Lenin from February through October 1908 while he was inGeneva andLondon and was published inMoscow in May 1909 by Zveno Publishers. The originalmanuscript and preparatory materials have been lost.[4]
Most of the book was written when Lenin was in Geneva, apart from the one month spent in London, where he visited the library of theBritish Museum to access modern philosophical and natural science material. The index lists in excess of 200 sources for the book.[4]
In December 1908, Lenin moved from Geneva toParis, where he worked until April 1909 on correcting the proofs. Some passages were edited to avoid tsarist censorship. It was published inImperial Russia with great difficulty. Lenin insisted on the rapid distribution of the book and stressed that "not only literary but also serious political obligations" were involved in its publication.[4]
The book was written as a reaction and criticism to the three-volume workEmpiriomonism (1904–1906) byAlexander Bogdanov, his political opponent within theParty. In June 1909, Bogdanov was defeated at a Bolshevik mini-conference in Paris and expelled from the Central Committee, but he still retained a relevant role in the Party's left wing. He participated in theRussian Revolution and in 1919 he was appointed to the praesidium of theSocialist Academy of Social Sciences.[5]: 403
Materialism and Empirio-criticism was republished in Russian in 1920 with an introduction attacking Bogdanov byVladimir Nevsky, theRector of theSverdlov Communist University. It subsequently appeared in over 20 languages and acquired canonical status in Marxist–Leninist philosophy.[5]: 117
Lenin then discusses the "solipsism" ofMach andAvenarius.
Lenin,Chernov andBazarov confront the views ofLudwig Feuerbach,Joseph Dietzgen andFriedrich Engels and comment on the criterion of practice in epistemology.
Lenin seeks to define "matter" and "experience" and addresses the questions of causality and necessity in nature as well as "freedom and necessity" and the "principle of the economy of thought".
Lenin deals with left and right Kant criticism, with the philosophy ofimmanence, Bogdanov's empiriomonism, and the critique of Hermann von Helmholtz on the "theory of symbols."
Lenin deals with the thesis that "the crisis of physics" "has disappeared matter". In this context he speaks of a "physical idealism" and notes (on p. 260): "For the only" property "of matter to whose acknowledgment philosophical materialism is bound is the property of being objective reality, outside of our consciousness."
Lenin discusses authors such as Bogdanov, Suvorov,Ernst Haeckel and Ernst Mach.
In an addition to Chapter IV, Lenin addresses the question: "From what side didN. G. Chernyshevsky criticize Kantianism?"
Lenin cites a broad range of philosophers, including:
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