Abstract
Both Lenin’s attitude towards philosophy and his philosophical legacy have been highly controversial. This chapter considers ‘Materialism and Empiriocriticism’ on the background of its historical and polemical context. For Lenin, philosophy was not just the field for ideological polemics, since he shared Plekhanov’s opinions about the necessity of a sound theoretical background for any successful practice. Moreover he connected philosophical thought with the problem of the relationship of the revolutionary élite and the proletariat. Lenin’s involvement in the polemics against Machists was at the same time a strategic task and an authentic theoretic enterprise. The analysis of the relationships between Lenin and Bogdanov shows both the overwhelming polemical way of discussing in Lenin’s work, but also some theoretical cores in his ideas. In particular, a central issue in the intellectual debate became how to combine the claim for truth and the risk of dogmatism.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
Bibliography
Aksel’rod, Ljubov’ I., Filosofskie ocherki. Otvet filosofskim kritikam istoricheskogo materializma [Philosophical Essays. An Answer to Philosophical Critics of Historical Materialism], Sankt Peterburg: izd. M. M. Druzhininoj i A. N. Maksimovoj, 1906.
———Na rubezhe [In Between], Sankt Peterburg: Nashe vremja, 1909.
———Recenzija Ortodoksa [Ortodox’s Review], in V. I. Lenin, Sochinenija [Works], izd. 3-oe, Moskva-Leningrad: Gosizdat, 1928, vol. 13, pp. 329–333.
Althusser, Louis, Lénine et la philosophie [Lenin and Philosophy], Paris: Maspero, 1969.
Andreeva, Marija F., Perepiska. Vospominanija. Stat’i. Dokumenty [Correspondence. Memories. Articles. Documents], 3-oe izd., Moskva: Iskusstvo, 1968.
Ballestrem, Karl G., “Lenin and Bogdanov”, in: Studies in Soviet Thought, 1969, 9, pp. 283–310.
Baron, Samuel H., Plekhanov: The Father of Russian Marxism, Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1963.
Bazarov, Vladimir, Na dva fronta [On Two Fronts], Sankt Peterburg: Prometej, 1910.
Bogdanov, Alexandr A., Kratkij kurs ekonomicheskoj nauki [A Short Course of Economic Science], Moskva: izd. A. M. Murinova, 1897.
———Osnovnye elementy istoricheskogo vzgljada na prirodu [Fundamental Elements on the Historical View of Nature], Sankt Peterburg: Izdatel’, 1899.
———Empiriomonizm. Stat’i po filosofii, Moskva: izd.vo S. Dorovatovskogo i A. Charushnikova, 1904.
———[Rjadovoj], Iz-za chego vojna i chemu ona uchit? [Why the War and What Does It Teach?], Genève: izd. CK RSDRP, 1904.
———[Rjadovoj], Liberal’nye programmy [Liberal Programs], Genève: izd. RSDRP, 1904.
———[Rjadovoj], Liberaly i socialisty [Liberals and Socialists], Genève: izd. RSDRP, 1904.
———[Rjadovoj], O socializme [On Socialism], Genève: izd. Socialdemokraticheskoj partijnoj literatury, 1904.
———[Rjadovoj], Roza Ljuksemburg protiv Karla Marksa [Rosa Luxemburg Against Karl Marx], in Id.—M. S. Ol’minskij [Galerka], Nashi nedorazumenija [Our Misunderstandings], Genève: izd. Avtorov, 1904, pp. 46–59.
———“Otkrytoe pis’mo tov. Plekhanovu” [Open Letter to Comrade Plekhanov], in: Obrazovanie, 1907, 12, pp. 46–51.
———“Bojkotisty i otzovisty” [Boycotters and Recallers], in: Proletarij, 1908, 31, pp. 2–3.
———“Ernst Mach und die Revolution”, in: Die Neue Zeit, Jhrg. XXVI, Bd. I, pp. 695–700; German translation of “Chego isskat’ russkomu chitatelju u Ernsta Makha?” [What Should a Russian Reader Look For in Ernst Mach?]. In E. Mach, Analiz oshchushchenij i otnoshenie fizicheskogo k psikhicheskomu [Analysis of Sensations and the Relation of the Physical to the Psychical], Moskva: Skirmunt, 1907, pp. III–XII.
———Prikljuchenija odnoj filosofskoj shkoly [The Adventures of a Philosophical School], Sankt Peterburg: Znanie, 1908.
———Padenie velikogo fetishizma. Vera i nauka [The Fall of the Great Fetishism. Faith and Science], Moskva: izd. S. Dorovatovskogo i A. Charushnikova, 1910.
———“Zametka” [Note], in: Proletarskaja Revoljucija, 1926, 1 (48), p. 28.
Bonch-Bruevich, Vladimir D., Izbrannye sochinenija [Selected Works], vol. 2, Moskva: AN SSSR, 1961.
Brandist, Craig, The Dimensions of Hegemony: Language, Culture and Politics in Revolutionary Russia, Leiden-Boston: Brill, 2015.
Callinicos, Alex, “Leninism in the Twenty-first Century? Lenin, Weber, and the Politics of Responsibility”. In Lenin Reloaded: Toward a Politics of Truth, edited by Sebastian Budgen, Stathis Kouvelakis, Slavoj Žižek, Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2007, pp. 18–41.
Danilenko, V. D., “V. V. Vorovskij o knige V. I. Lenina ‘Materializm i empiriokriticizm’” [V. V. Vorovskij on Lenin’s Book “Materialism and Empirio-Criticism”], in: Voprosy filosofii, 1957, 3, pp. 122–123.
Deborin, Abram M., “K istorii ‘Materializma i empiriokriticizma’” [On the History of “Materialism and Empirio-Criticism”], in: Pod znamenem marksizma, 1927, 1, pp. 5–18.
Dejch, G. M., “Iz istorii pervogo izdanija raboty V. I. Lenina ‘Materializm i empiriokriticizm’” [On the History of the First Edition of Lenin’s Work “Materialism and Empirio-Criticism”], in: Voprosy istorii KPSS, 1969, 5, pp. 37–48.
Elizarova, Anna I., “K istorii pojavlenija v svet knigi V. I. Lenina ‘Materializm i empiriokriticism’. Pis’ma k materi i sestre A. I. Elizarovoj 1908 i 1909 gg.’ [On the History of the Publication of Lenin’s Book “Materialism and Empirio-Criticism”. Letters to His Mother and Sister A. I. Elizarova in 1908 and 1909], in: Proletarskaja revoljcuija, 1930, 1 (96), pp. 108–113.
Esaiashvili, V. G., V. I. Lenin i Gruzija [Lenin and Georgia], Tbilisi: Sabochta Sakartvelo, 1970.
Fel’shtinsky, Ju. G. Chernjavsky, G. I., “V preddveri polnogo raskola. Protivorechija i konflikty v rossijskoj social-demokratii 1908–1912 gg.” [On the Threshold of a Whole Schism. Contradictions and Conflicts in the Russian Social Democracy in 1908–1912], in: Voprosy istorii, 2010, 6, pp. 3–36; 7, pp. 3–37; 9, pp. 3–34.
Frank, Semen L., “Filosofskie otkliki. Filosofskaja rasprja v marksizme” [Philosophical Echos. A Philosophical Feud in Marxism], in: Russkaja mysl’, 1910, 4, pp. 136–145.
Gloveli, Georgij D., “‘Socialism of Science’ Versus ‘Socialism of Feelings’: Bogdanov and Lunacharsky”, in: Studies in Soviet Thought, 1991, 42, pp. 29–55.
Gorky, Maxim, Neizdannaja perepiska [Unpublished Correspondence], Moskva: Nasledie, 1998.
———Polnoe sobranie sochinenij. Pis’ma [Complete Works. Letters], Moskva: Nauka, 1997–2015.
Gorky v zerkale epokhi [Gorky in the Mirror of the Epoch], Moskva: IMLI RAN, 2010.
Il’enkov, Evald V., Leninskaja dialektika i metafisika pozitivizma. Razmyshlenija nad knigoj V. I. Lenina “Materializm i empiriokriticizm” [Lenin’s Dialectics and the Metaphysics of Positivism. Reflections on Lenin’s Book “Materialism and Empirio-Criticism”], Moskva: Gospolitizdat, 1980.
Izgoev, Aleksandr S., “Na perevale. III. Makhomakhija v lagere marksistov” [On the Pass. III. Makhomakia in the Marxists’ Field], in: Russkaja mysl’, 1910, 2, pp. 106–114.
Jaubert, Alain, Le commissariat aux archives. Les photos qui falsifient l’histoire [The Ministry of Archives. The Photos That Fake History], Paris: Barrault, 1992.
Krupskaya, Nadezhda K., O Lenine. Sbornik statej i vystuplenij [On Lenin. Collected Articles and Speeches], 4-oe dop. izd., Moskva: Gospolitizdat, 1979.
Lefebvre, Henri, La Somme et le Reste [The Total and the Rest], Paris: La Nef, 1959.
Lengnik, Fridrich V., “Pis’ma V. I. Lenina po voprosam filosofii, pisannye mne v 1898–1899 gg.” [Lenin’s Letters about Philosophy, Written to Me in 1898–1899], in Vospominanija o V. I. Lenine [Memories on Lenin], Moskva: Gospolitizdat, 1960, t. III, pp. 25–26.
Lenin, Vladimir I., Collected Works, 1972–1978, 45 voll.
———Sochinenija, izd. 3-oe, vol. 13, Moskva-Leningrad: Gosizdat, 1928.
Leninskij sbornik, Moskva-Leningrad: Gosizdat, 1934.
Lih, Lars T., Lenin Rediscovered: What Is To Be Done? in Context, Chicago: Haymarket, 2005.
———“Lenin and the Great Awakening”. In Lenin Reloaded: Toward a Politics of Truth, edited by Sebastian Budgen, Stathis Kouvelakis, Slavoj Žižek, Durhan: Duke University Press, 2007, pp. 283–296.
Literaturnoe nasledie G. V. Plekhanova [G. V. Plekhanov’s Literary Legacy], vol. 5, Moskva: Socekgiz, 1938.
Luppol, Ivan K., “‘Materializm i empiriokriticizm’ v ocenke vstretivshej ego kritiki” [“Materialism and Empirio-Criticism” in Its Critics’ Evaluation], in: Pod znamenem marksizma, 1927, 1, pp. 19–38.
Luxemburg, Rosa, Organizational Questions of Russian Social Democracy. 1904. https://www.marxists.org/archive/luxemburg/1904/questions-rsd/ch01.htm. Accessed January 2, 2017.
Mintus, Oksana M., Evoljucija filosofskikh vzgljadov N. I. Bukharina [Evolution of N. I. Bukharin’s Philosophical Views], Dissertacija, Nizhnevartovsk, 2007.
Neizvestnyj Bogdanov [Unknown Bogdanov], Moskva: AIRO-XX, 1995, 3 vol.
Ocherki realisticheskogo mirovozzrenija [Studies in the Realistic World-View], Sankt Peterburg: izd.vo S. Dorovatovskogo i A. Charushnikova, 1904.
Ocherki po filosofii marksizma [Studies in the Philosophy of Marxism], Sankt Peterburg: Zerno, 1908.
Ocherki filosofii kollektivizma [Studies in the Philosophy of Collectivism], Sankt Peterburg: Znanie, 1909.
O’Kane, Rosemary H. T., Rosa Luxemburg in Action: For Revolution and Democracy, New York, London: Routledge, 2015.
Oliger, Nikolaj F., “V chasy otdykha. Rasskaz” [During the Holidays. Novel], in: Obrazovanie, 1907, 12, pp. 1–28.
Pantin, Igor’, “Lenin kak politicheskij filosof” [Lenin as a Political Philosopher], in: Al’ternativy, 2014, 4 (85). http://www.intelros.ru/readroom/alternativi/a4-2014/25959-v-i-lenin-kak-politicheskiy-filosof.html. Accessed January 2, 2017.
Plekhanov, Georgij V., Sochinenija [Works], Moskva-Petrograd: Gosudarstvennoe izdatel’stvo, 1923–1927, 24 vv.
Izbrannye filosofskie proizvedenija [Selected Philosophical Works], Moskva: Socekgiz, 1956–1958, 5 vv.
Pjutto P. A., “Vremja i ljudi (Iz arkhivov A. A. Bogdanova)” [Time and People (From A. A. Bogdanov’s Archive)], in: Sociologicheskie issledovanija, 1992, 11, pp. 133–142.
Problemy idealizma [Problems of Idealism], Moskva: izd. Moskovskogo psikhologicheskogo obshchestva, 1903.
Service, Robert, Lenin: A Political Life, vol. 1: The Strengths of Contradiction, Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1985.
———Lenin: A Political Life, vol. 3: The Iron Ring, Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1995.
———Lenin: A Biography, London: Macmillan, 2000.
Sharapov, Jurij P., Lenin i Bogdanov. Ot sotrudnichestva k protivostojaniju [Lenin and Bogdanov. From Cooperation to Contrast], Moskva: Institut rosskijskoj istorii RAN, 1998.
Steila, Daniela, Genesis and Development of Plekhanov’s Theory of Knowledge: A Marxist Between Anthropological Materialism and Physiology, Dordrecht: Kluwer, 1991.
———Nauka i revoljucija. Recepcija empiriokriticizma v russkoj kul’ture (1877–1910 gg.) [Science and Revolution. The Reception of Empirio-Criticism in Russian Culture (1877–1910)], Moskva: Akademicheskij proekt, 2013.
Topoljanskij, Viktor (1998), “V odnoj znakomoj ulice…” [On a Well-Known Street…], in: Kontinent, 1998, 98 (4), pp. 212–246.
Trotsky Lev, Our Political Tasks. 1904. Url: www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/1904/tasks/ch04.htm. Accessed January 2, 2017.
Valentinov, Nikolaj, Vstrechi s Leninym [Encounters with Lenin], New York: izd.-vo Chekhova, 1953.
———Maloznakomyj Lenin [Unknown Lenin], Paris: Librairie des cinq continents, 1972.
White, James D., Lenin: The Practice and Theory of Revolution, New York: Palgrave, 2001.
Williams, Robert, The Other Bolsheviks: Lenin and His Critics. 1904–1914, Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1986.
Žižek, Slavoj, Afterword: Lenin’s Choice. In V. I. Lenin, Revolution at the Gates: A Selection of Writings from February to October 1917, London, New York: Verso, 2002, pp. 165–336.
Acknowledgments
Special thanks should be expressed to the Aleksanteri Institute (University of Helsinki) for assistance during my visiting fellowship in 2015, and the Slavonic Library in Helsinki, particularly Irina Lukka.
Translated into English by Lucia Pasini.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2018 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Steila, D. (2018). Lenin’s Philosophy in Intellectual Context. In: Rockmore, T., Levine, N. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Leninist Political Philosophy. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-51650-3_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-51650-3_3
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-137-51649-7
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-51650-3
eBook Packages: Religion and PhilosophyPhilosophy and Religion (R0)