Helena Sheehan - Marxism and the Philosophy of Science

Because of the extraordinary scope and complexity of this project, the organization of my research has been a highly complicated affair and in it I have had an enormous amount of help. I have also benefited greatly from my discussions with philosophers, historians, and scientists of a wide range of views and from the criticisms of those who have read my manuscript.

My research took me abroad on a number of occasions: to the Soviet Union, the German Democratic Republic, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Romania, the Federal Republic of Germany, France, Austria, Great Britain, the United States of America, and Canada. Aside from access to sources and interviews with philosophers, historians, and scientists, my travels, in taking me to many of the places where the history I was writing had unfolded, made events far more vivid to me than they would have been otherwise.

I went twice to the Soviet Union. The second time, I spent four months of 1978 in Moscow, working in Soviet libraries, giving lectures, and having discussions with Soviet philosophers. During this time, I achieved an insight into the character of Soviet philosophical life and a vivid sense of the sociohistorical atmosphere in which Soviet philosophy developed in its own distinctive way that I could not have achieved otherwise. I was often at the Institute of Philosophy of the USSR Academy of Sciences in Moscow, where I gave a paper outlining my research and, in the lively discussion from the floor which followed, received many useful comments.

Among the Soviet philosophers who assisted me in my work, I would especially like to acknowledge the following: from the Institute of Philosophy in Moscow: Professors Y.V. Sachkov, T.I. Oiserman, A.D. Ursul, M.E. Omelyanovsky, I.A. Akchurin, L.G. Antipenko, K.K. Delakarov, Y.B. Molchanov, E.P. Pomagaeva, I.I. Petrov, B. Bogdanov, S. Brayovi, E. Stepanov; from Moscow University: Professors S.I. Melyukin, J. Vogeler, Y.A. Petrov; from the Institute for the History of Science and Technology: Professor B.G. Kuznetsov; from other Moscow institutes: Professors E.P. Sitkovsky, Y.A. Zamoshkin, A.V. Shestapol, V.P. Terin, A. Grigorian. My interview with Academician M.B. Mitin concerning events in which he was a central figure was particularly useful. Professor N.V. Matkovsky, a historian, also showed a warm interest in my work and did much to assist it.

I went twice to the German Democratic Republic in 1978 and 1979 under the auspices of the Central Institute for Philosophy of the GDR Academy of Sciences. On both occasions, I gave an account of my research, followed by extremely stimulating discussion. I also had long and searching discussions with a number of their philosophers and scientists. I am particularly grateful to Academician Herbert Hrz, who invited me and who has shown an extraordinary willingness both to help me with research arrangements and to discuss the philosophical problems involved. Other members of his department, the Sector for the Philosophical Problems of the Natural Sciences, have done much for me, particularly Dr. Ulrich Rseberg, and also Dr. Siegfried Paul, Dr. Eberhard Thomas, Dr. Rdiger Simon, Dr. John Erpenbeck, Dr. Nina Hager. From Humboldt University, I came to know Professor Herman Ley, Professor Dieter Schultze, Professor Franz Lser, and Professor Klaus Fuchs-Kittowski and I am grateful to them for a series of very fine and useful discussions. Professor Alfred Kosing of the Academy of Social Sciences in Berlin also graciously assisted me, as did Academician Helmut Bhme, Director of the Central Institute for Genetics of the Academy of Sciences, who has shown a sustained interest in my work, discussing with me particularly those aspects of it relating to biology and genetics.

A trip to Prague in March 1978, to participate in an international symposium on Dialectical Materialism and Modern Sciences, sponsored by the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences, and to read a paper, brought me into contact with a number of philosophers and natural scientists in Eastern Europe and was the occasion of a number of discussions relevant to my work. I am grateful to Academician Radovan Richta, Director of the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences.

Those from Eastern Europe with whom I had discussions away from their home base were: from Poland, Professor Wladyslaw Krajewski of University of Warsaw whom I met in Dubrovnik, Professor Piotr Sztompka of Jagiellonian University of Krakow, whom I met in Hannover, and Professor Adam Schaff, whom I met in Dsseldorf and Vienna; from Bulgaria, Professor Azaria Polikarov of the University of Sofia, whom I met in Bucharest; from the German Democratic Republic, Dr. Wolfgang Harich whom I met in Vienna; from Czechoslovakia, Dr. Julius Tomin, whom I met in Dublin.

A trip to Vienna to meet with Professor Adam Schaff of the Polish Academy of Sciences and of the European Center for Coordination of Social Science Research in Vienna was especially important to me. His ruthless honesty in discussing many difficult matters with me was something for which I shall always be grateful, however painful it was at the time. Not in Vienna at this time, but extremely helpful to me in correspondence, has been Professor Walter Hollitscher of Vienna and of Karl Marx University in Leipzig.

A somewhat idyllic sojourn in Dubrovnik brought me the opportunity to discuss in some depth the development of Yugoslav philosophy and philosophy of science with quite a number of Yugoslav philosophers and scientists. I spoke at greatest length with Professor Svetozar Stojanovi, Professor Mihailo Markovi, Professor Ivan Supek and Dr. Srdjan Lelas. Dubrovnik was also the setting of some extremely stimulating discussions of the epistemology of science involving Professor Ernan McMullin, Dr. William Newton-Smith and Mr. Rom Harr which pushed me to probe certain issues further myself. Discussions of the current state of Marxist thought with Professor Joachim Israel and Professor Marx Wartofsky were also helpful.