The Philosophy of Marxism: An Exposition

EDITOR: Erwin Marquit (physics, Univ.
oI Minnesota)
MANUSCRIPT EDITOR: Leo Auerbach (English education, retired,
Jersey City State College)
EDITORIAL STAFF: Gerald M. Erickson, April Ane Knutson, Doris
Grieser Marquit (BOOK REVIEW EDITOR)
ASSOCIATE EDITORS:
Jan Carew (AIrican American studies, Northwestern Univ.)
Gerald M. Erickson (classical studies, Univ. oI Minnesota)
Morton H. Frank (physiology)
Viktoria Hertling (German exile & Holocaust literature, Univ. oI
Nevada, Reno)
Gerald Horne (AIrican American studies, Univ. oI North Carolina)
Leola A. Johnson (communications, Macalester College)
April Ane Knutson (French literature, Univ. oI Minnesota)
Jack Kurzweil (electrical engineering, San Jose State Univ.)
James Lawler (philosophy, State Univ. oI New York, BuIIalo)
Sara Fletcher Luther (political sociology)
Doris Grieser Marquit (literature, women`s studies)
Michael Parenti (political science)
EpiIanio San Juan Jr. (cultural studies, Philippines Cultural Studies
Center, Storrs, CT)
Jose A. Soler (labor education, Univ. oI Massachusetts, Dartmouth)
Ethel Tobach (comparative psychology, City Univ. oI New York)
VOL. 18, NO. 1 (JANUARY 2005)
Copyright Marxist Educational Press
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Aature, Society, and 1hought
Vol. 18, No. 1 (2005)
Special Issue
The Philosophy of Marxism
An Exposition
1ohn Somerville
Aature, Society, and 1hought and MEP Publications
University oI Minnesota, Physics Building
116 Church Street S.E.
Minneapolis, MN 55455-0112
U.S.A.
Copyright 1967 by John Somerville
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States oI America
Originally published by Random House, 1967
Reprinted by
Marxist Educational Press, 1981, 1983
MEP Publications (imprint oI Marxist Educational Press), 1999
Reprinted as special issue oI Nature, Societv, and Thought,
vol. 18, no. 1 (2005)
Cataloging-in-Publication Data Ior the 1981 printing
(ISBN 0-930656-18-0, LC 8182196) is available
Irom the Library oI Congress.
Publisher`s Forewords vii

Author`s PreIace x
PART I: OVERALL PHILOSOPHIC PRINCIPLES
1. The Nature oI Reality: Dialectical Materialism 3
2. The Nature oI Thought: Logic and Dialectics 41
PART II: PRINCIPLES OF SOCIAL PHILOSOPHY
3. The Nature oI Society: Historical Materialism 81
4. The Nature oI Progress: Revolution, Politics, and the
Future oI Society 121
5. The Nature oI Values: Ethics and Esthetics 161
Notes 193
Index 196
For Susan Somerville
on her frst day
Foreword to Special Issue of Aature, Society, and
1hought
Demand Ior John Somerville`s Philosophv of Marxism has
continued aIter the 1999 Iourth printing was exhausted. The book
seems as relevant as ever Ior the general reader and without equal
as an introductory text Ior Marxist philosophy. The special need
it Iulflls is adequately described in the publisher`s Iorewords and
author`s preIace reprinted here. Publication as a special issue oI
NST makes this work available at a lower price than earlier print-
ings.
Publisher`s Foreword to 1999 Printing
The thirty-three years since its original publication have estab-
lished The Philosophv of Marxism. An Exposition as a clas sic.
Nothing has replaced this book as the most accessible accompa-
niment to the original writings oI Marx and Engels Ior readers in
the United States. Continuing demand Ior a clear exposition oI
Marxist philosophy, Irom general readers as well as students in
university courses, has kept it in print since its frst reissue by MEP
Publications in 1981. We are happy to continue this tradition.
John Somerville (19051994) held degrees in philosophy
Irom Columbia University and spent his academic career at Hunter
College oI the City University oI New York. His many books
include Dialectical Materialism, Methodologv in Social Science,
Soviet Philosophv, The Philosophv of Peace, The Communist
Trials and the American Tradition, The Peace Revo lution, Social
and Political Philosophv (with R. E. Santoni); The Crisis. The
True Storv about How the World Almost Ended (play); Philosophv
and Ethics in the Nuclear Age. For Human Survival (in Japanese);
and The Last Inquest. A Preventable Nightmare in One Act.
vii
In 1962 ProIessor Somerville Iounded the translation quar-
terly Soviet Studies in Philosophv, oI which he was editor-in-chieI
until 1987. In 1983 he led in the Iormation oI the International
Philosophers Ior the Prevention oI Nuclear Omnicide, arguing that
a nuclear war would leave no survivors. His international honors
include the Peace Essay Prize oI the Institute oI World Order, the
Ghandi Peace Award, and the Peace Award oI the Bertrand Russell
Society.
From Publisher`s Foreword to 1981 Printing
The need Ior reprinting The Philosophv of Marxism. An
Exposition by John Somerville was frst signaled by a team oI
University oI Minnesota Iaculty who have been teaching an
introductory course on Marxism since 1975. The principal read-
ing assignments Ior the frst section oI the course are selections
Irom the original writings oI Marx, Engels, and Lenin (Reader in
Marxist Philosophv, edited by Howard Selsam and Harry Martel,
New York: International Publishers, 1963). Most students are
encountering the classics oI Marxism Ior the frst time, and when
the course was frst oIIered, many complained about the diIfculty
oI the readings. It was then decided to begin with Somerville`s
philosophy text, aIter which the readings Irom the classics were
assigned.
Student response was enthusiastic. Somerville had unlocked
the door that gave access to the rich philosophical content in the
writings oI Marx, Engels, and Lenin. The reason Ior this was two-
Iold. First, the classics oI Marxism were not written as intro ductory
texts. Somerville introduces the students to language, method, and
subject matter previously strange to them and oIten initially Ior-
bidding. Second, Somerville`s exposition oI Marxist philosophy
closely Iollows the spirit oI the classics. He sees no necessity oI
'reinterpreting, 'modernizing, selecting 'only what is valid
today, or otherwise introducing distortions oI content so that the
philosophy loses all connection with the revo lutionary spirit oI
its Iounders. Moreover, Somerville raises questions that students
viii NATURE, SOCIETY, AND THOUGHT
usually ask and provides explanations in the context oI the society
in which they are living.
Both the close correspondence between the content oI
Somerville`s exposition and the classics oI Marxism, and the rel-
evance oI its Iorm oI presentation to U.S. readers, make the book
an invaluable tool in the classroom. Its clarity and readability
make it suitable also Ior the general reader. The original 1967 edi-
tion contained an appendix on debates among Marxists current
in the sixties. The omission oI this appendix is the only change
introduced in the present printing.
Publishers Forewords ix
x
Author`s Preface to First Edition
It has been clear Ior some time now that it would be impossi ble
to understand the world oI the twentieth century without an under-
standing oI Marx. His work, like that oI Freud or Darwin, repre-
sents one oI those tremendous Iorces which have madeand are
still in process oI makingour time diIIerent Irom other times.
The controversies surrounding Marxism are worldwide and
unusually sharp. Indeed, they are not only about Marxism, but
within Marxism. However, beIore one can judge these polemics, or
take any intelligent part in them, one must frst oI all have a grasp
oI the basic ideas in question. The point may be put this way: we
need to know the common core oI doctrine that the great majority
oI Marxists accept, whatever diIIerences may exist among them.
It is the purpose oI this book to try to make clear what that com-
mon core oI doctrine is, when stated as a sys tematic philosophy in
terms which include developments up to our day. The 'Questions
and Replies that Iollow each chapter refect the author`s experi-
ence, over many years, in regard to specifc points oI diIfculty,
conIusion, and misunderstanding that repeatedly arise among stu-
dents and readers oI Marxist works.
Whatever degree oI clarity the author has been able to attain
he owes in large part to a small Iamily circle and a numerous stu-
dent body; each in its own way aIIorded constant opportunities to
undertake alternative explanations, the relative success and Iailure
oI which were made maniIest. To these more or less cap tive audi-
ences, already aware oI the author`s abiding aIIection, he wishes
to express his deep gratitude.
John Somerville
June, 1967

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EDITOR: Erwin Marquit (physics, Univ.

Publisher`s Forewords vii

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