Skip to content

In Defence Of Materialism: The Development of the Monist View of History

Metadata

Chapter I French Materialism of the Eighteenth Century

  • What is materialism in general and philosophical sense?
  • French materialists of the18th century had a lot of contradictions they they either couldn't address or weren't even aware of
    • Some actually move thought forward, push it forward in addressing the contradiction
      • Hegel: "contradiction leads the way forward"
  • V.V - Vasily Vorontsov
  • Main contradiction of French materialists: "the opinions of men are determined by their environment; the environment is determined by opinions"
  • Sample contradiction to think through: "the constitution of a given people is conditioned by the manners of that people; the manners of a people are conditioned by its constitution"
  • To overcome: need to discover the historical factor which produced both the manners of a people and its constitution, making the interaction between them possible

Chapter II French Historians of the Restoration

  • View that history is the result of struggle of various social strata (Vice) not unique
    • Thierry: represents history of English revs as struggle of bourgeoisie against aristocracy
    • Mignet: regards events of French Rev from view of "needs" of various social classes
  • "If Augustin Thierry, Guizot or Mignet had been asked, do the manners of a people create its constitution, or, on the contrary, does its constitution create its manners, each of them would have replied that, however great and however unquestionable is the interaction of the manners of a people and its constitution, in the last analysis, both owe their existence to a third factor, lying deeper – “the civil condition of men, their property relations”."
  • But what is the origin of property relations?
    • French historians at time of Restoration likely would have tried to resort to "human nature"
  • Ultimately, French historians of Restoration failed to overcome contradiction of environment creating man/man creating environment
    • it only took a new form with them

Chapter III The Utopian Socialists

Chapter IV Idealist German Philosophy

Chapter V Modern Materialism

Conclusion

Highlights

Chapter I. French Materialism of the Eighteenth Century

Highlight (yellow) - Location 101

This view of man as the fruit of his environment was the principal theoretical basis for the progressive demands of the French materialists.

Highlight (yellow) - Location 107

Virtue requires, not to be preached, but to be prepared by the reasonable arrangement of social relations.

Highlight (blue) - Location 108

By the light-hearted verdict of the conservatives and reactionaries of last century, the morality of the French materialists is up to the present day considered to be an egotistical morality. They themselves gave a much truer definition: in their view it passed entirely into politics.

Highlight (blue) - Location 154

There are contradictions of another character. Just as indubitable as the contradictions of Mr. V.V., they are distinguished from the latter by the fact that they do not send human thought to

Highlight (blue) - Location 155

sleep, they do not retard its development, but push it on further, and sometimes push it so strongly that, in their consequences, they prove more fruitful than the most harmonious theories. Of such contradictions one may say in the words of Hegel: Der Widerspruch ist das Fortleitende (contradiction leads the way forward).

Highlight (orange) - Location 158

their main contradiction: the opinions of men are determined by their environment; the environment is determined by opinions.

Highlight (yellow) - Location 193

In order to get rid of this muddle we must discover the historical factor which produced both the manners of the given people and its constitution, and thereby created the very possibility of their interaction. If we discover such a factor we shall reveal the correct point of view we are seeking, and then we shall solve without difficulty the contradiction which confuses us.

Highlight (blue) - Location 197

The French materialists were very mistaken when, contradicting their customary view of history, they said that ideas mean nothing, since environment means everything.

Chapter II. French Historians of the Resoration

Highlight (yellow) - Location 280

political constitutions began to be considered as something derivative, as a consequence and not as a cause.

Highlight (yellow) - Location 286

we must first of all investigate the condition of the people, in order to judge what should be and what could be its government....

Highlight (blue) - Location 298

dynasties. He presents it as the history of the struggle of various social strata at the time. In

Highlight (blue) - Location 299

to explain the political life of a particular country it is necessary to study not only its agrarian relations, but also all its property relations in general.

Highlight (yellow) - Location 444

In order to play the part of the highest criterion, human nature obviously had to be considered as fixed once for all, as invariable.

Highlight (yellow) - Location 445

if human nature is invariable, how then can it serve to explain the course of the intellectual or social development of mankind?

Highlight (blue) - Location 458

It is easy to see likewise that, in giving explanations of this kind, the thinkers of the eighteenth century were moving round the above-mentioned vicious circle: environment creates man, man creates environment. For in effect, on the one hand, it appeared that the intellectual development of mankind, i.e., in other words the development of human nature, was due to social needs, and on the other it turned out that the development of social needs is to be explained by the development of human nature. Thus we see that the French historians of the Restoration also failed to eliminate this contradiction: it only took a new form with them.

Chapter V. Modern Materialism Part Four

Highlight (yellow) - Location 3727

It was Hegel who said that any philosophy may be reduced to empty formalism, if one confines oneself to the simple repetition of its fundamental principles. But Marx is not guilty of that sin either. He did not confine himself to repeating that the development of the productive forces lies at the basis of the entire historical progress of mankind. You will hardly find another thinker who has done so much as he to develop his fundamental propositions.