N.I. Bukharin - Marxism and Modern Thought

First published in English in 1935, this is a vital and stimulating critical appraisal of contemporary thought in the post-World War One era. Written by a selection of leading Marxist thinkers including Nikolai Bukharin, who would later become one of the most famous victims of Stalin's show trials, this work offers a Marxist critique of contemporary thought relating to philosophy, science and history.

The authors all lean towards the view that the general tendency of modern thought is to abandon the historical method and to deny progress, with the conclusion that Marxism was the only historical and progressive outlook in science, philosophy and history in the period following the First World War and the Communist revolution in Russia. This is a fascinating document of great historical and political interest which offers an invaluable insight into the Soviet Union of the 1930s.

Marxism and Modern Thought

N. I. Bukharin,
A. M. Deborin,
Y. M. Uranovsky,
S. I. Vavilov,
V. L. Komarov,
And
A. I. Tiumeniev

Translated by
Ralph Fox

First published in English in 1935
by George Routledge & Sons Ltd.

This edition first published in 2011 by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN

Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
270 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

Publisher's Note
The publisher has gone to great lengths to ensure the quality of this reprint but points out that some imperfections in the original copies may be apparent.

Disclaimer
The publisher has made every effort to trace copyright holders and welcomes correspondence from those they have been unable to contact.

A Library of Congress record exists under LC Control Number: 35020654

ISBN 13: 978-0-415-67883-4 (hbk)
ISBN 13: 978-0-203-80693-7 (ebk)

MARXISM
AND MODERN THOUGHT

MARXISM
AND
MODERN THOUGHT

BY
N. I. BUKHARIN, A. M. DEBORIN,
Y. M. URANOVSKY, S. I. VAVILOV,
V. L. KOMAROV, AND A. I. TIUMENIEV

TRANSLATED BY
RALPH FOX
AUTHOR OF LENIN: A BIOGRAPHY

Printed in Great Britain by Butler & Tanner Ltd., Frome and London

THIS book is the first attempt to give a complete survey of modern thought in the light of Marxism. It is, indeed, of more than ordinary interest because of the great scope attempted by the authors, one of the advantages of collective work which academic institutions in more individualistic countries may envy.

The long essay by Bukharin is the first complete post-war restatement of Marxism which we have had, and is both learned and deeply thought out. The question of planning, for example, which now excites so many minds, is here placed in a light that cannot fail to be revealing to the reader, whatever his personal opinions. The theory of the state, to the discussion of which Professor Laski has given such stimulus by his recent book, is also profoundly worked out in all its implications and much confusion cleared away in the process.

In these discussions on philosophy, science and history the authors all reach a similar conclusionthat the general tendency of modern thought is to abandon the historical method and to deny progress. Whether or not the tendency is universal, as the authors with a wealth of authorities argue, its existence and popularity can hardly be denied. As to the obvious conclusion, that Marxism is the only historical and progressive outlook in science, philosophy and history to-day, it must be left to the critics to judge the justice of the claim. At least it is here made with a seriousness of argument and sweep of learning which are not easy to resist.

The book is, as its title implies, chiefly a criticism of modern thought, but that it is very far from being a merely negative one, a glance at the brilliant essay of Professor Vavilov will at once reveal. Rarely have so many fruitful and interesting ideas on the history of science been packed into such small compass.

English readers will regret that English philosophy and history are but little dealt with here. In justification of the authors it must, however, be admitted that in recent years we have not produced historians, economists or philosophers whose names have such a world reputation as those of Max Weber, Werner Sombart, Edward Meyer, Oswald Spengler, Gentile, Croce, or William James.

This book, entitled in English Marxism and Modern Thought, was recommended for translation in whole or part by Mr. N. I. Bukharin, during a discussion with Mr. J. G. Crowther.

There is a scarcity of books available in English on the philosophical ideas of the thinkers responsible for the direction of the tremendous developments in the U.S.S.R. Mr. Crowther asked whether there were recent works which, if translated, would help to provide readers of English with a better understanding of the intellectual basis of the reconstruction of society progressing in the U.S.S.R. Mr. Bukharin suggested that the Soviet Academy of Science's Memorial Volume on the fiftieth anniversary of the death of Karl Marx contained information which readers of English might find instructive.

A selection of the material of that volume has, accordingly, been translated and published in English. In order to permit of a really wide selection, certain unimportant cuts have been made in the essays chosen. In the essay by Bukharin a number of footnotes are omitted, but the text is kept intact. In the essays by Deborin, Uranovsky and Tiumeniev certain portions of interest chiefly to the Russian reader, and a number of footnotes, have been omitted. The other essays are printed in full.

N. I. BUKHARIN

IN the harsh and terrible epoch of the catastrophic collapse of capitalism, of wars, of revolutions, of proletarian Sturm und Drang, revolutionary Marxism as it appears in its developed and enriched form as Marxism-Leninism, stands out as a system of ideas which emerges from the chaos at once powerful, energetic, destructive and creative. Even the sworn enemies of the proletariat cannot deny this, even those who see in the heroic struggle and cyclopean creative efforts of the new class as it marches to world dominion nothing but the gloomy approach of the commencement of the reign of Lucifer and who look upon the bloody suppression of the contemporary emancipation movement of the proletariat as the elementary premise for the illusory renewal of a rotten bourgeois civilisation. Marxism is, in fact, the great doctrine of our time. The teaching of the red doctor, as the London philistines called the genius of the proletarian revolution, has mastered millions. It has mastered the mass and the mass has mastered it. But the revolutionary proletariat is very far from the vita contemplativa. It is the banner-bearer of the vit active, of stormy and practical life. It expresses the full tension and the full liberating torment of social matter; it expresses in its victory the decisively tragic character of a vast historical struggle. It is for just this reason that Marxism has grown up as its class system of ideas. Marxism is the world outlook of the proletariat which has grown out of the practice of its struggle and, after smelting all the valuable conquests of the age in the retort of revolutionary criticism till they form a precious alloy, it emerges as the perfect practical weapon for the revolutionary re-shaping of the world. Marxism is not a dogma, but a guide to action.