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Dialectical Materialism: An Introduction
Dialectical An Introduction (Complete Edition) Vol. 1 - Materialism And The Dialectical Method Vol. 2 - Historical Materialism Vol. 3 - Theory Of Knowledge by Maurice Cornforth, 9789350023402, Aakar Books
482 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1997
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About the author
Maurice Cornforth
35 books19 followersa.k.a. Maurice Campbell Cornforth
Maurice Campbell Cornforth (28 October 1909 – 31 December 1980) was a British Marxist philosopher. When he began his career in philosophy in the early 1930s, he was a follower of Wittgenstein, writing in the then current style of analytic philosophy. He later became a leading ideologist of the Communist Party of Great Britain.
He is noted for his attack on the aesthetic theories of Christopher Caudwell, and for his later partial engagement with the linguistic philosophy of Oxford origin of the 1940s and 1960s. He also wrote a defence of Marxism against Karl Popper, whose thought he heavily criticized.
His In Defense of Philosophy attacks, in their relationship to science, empiricist philosophies of many kinds, such as those of Rudolf Carnap (linguistic analysis) and William James (pragmatism), on the "materialist" grounds that they divorce science and scientific investigation from the search for truer understanding of the really existing universe. In this book there is a combination of Marxism with deep insights into the interrelations of the various sciences and the philosophical conundrums produced by the empiricist attempt to reduce science to the collection and correlation of data. Both the insights are based on the theory of the primacy of physical work and tools (thus, "materialism") in the development of specifically human traits such as language, abstract thought, and social organization, and the essential role of the external world in the increasingly complex development of forms of life. These latter ideas are remarkably consistent with the most current evolutionary thinking in biology and anthropology.
His multi-volume book entitled "Dialectical Materialism" was originally published in 1953 by the International Publishers, Co., INC. The first U.S. edition of this work was printed in 1971. The text originated from lectures that Cornforth received funding for from the London District Committee of the Communist Party of Great Britain in 1950. The first volume, "Materialism and the Dialectical Method" provides a good introduction to several important sociological principles; idealism, metaphysics, materialism, mechanical materialism, and dialectical materialism, in addition to Marxist philosophy. The other volumes of this text are entitled as follows, Volume Two Historical Materialism, Volume Three Theory of Knowledge."
Maurice Campbell Cornforth (28 October 1909 – 31 December 1980) was a British Marxist philosopher. When he began his career in philosophy in the early 1930s, he was a follower of Wittgenstein, writing in the then current style of analytic philosophy. He later became a leading ideologist of the Communist Party of Great Britain.
He is noted for his attack on the aesthetic theories of Christopher Caudwell, and for his later partial engagement with the linguistic philosophy of Oxford origin of the 1940s and 1960s. He also wrote a defence of Marxism against Karl Popper, whose thought he heavily criticized.
His In Defense of Philosophy attacks, in their relationship to science, empiricist philosophies of many kinds, such as those of Rudolf Carnap (linguistic analysis) and William James (pragmatism), on the "materialist" grounds that they divorce science and scientific investigation from the search for truer understanding of the really existing universe. In this book there is a combination of Marxism with deep insights into the interrelations of the various sciences and the philosophical conundrums produced by the empiricist attempt to reduce science to the collection and correlation of data. Both the insights are based on the theory of the primacy of physical work and tools (thus, "materialism") in the development of specifically human traits such as language, abstract thought, and social organization, and the essential role of the external world in the increasingly complex development of forms of life. These latter ideas are remarkably consistent with the most current evolutionary thinking in biology and anthropology.
His multi-volume book entitled "Dialectical Materialism" was originally published in 1953 by the International Publishers, Co., INC. The first U.S. edition of this work was printed in 1971. The text originated from lectures that Cornforth received funding for from the London District Committee of the Communist Party of Great Britain in 1950. The first volume, "Materialism and the Dialectical Method" provides a good introduction to several important sociological principles; idealism, metaphysics, materialism, mechanical materialism, and dialectical materialism, in addition to Marxist philosophy. The other volumes of this text are entitled as follows, Volume Two Historical Materialism, Volume Three Theory of Knowledge."
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
July 16, 2008
A good introduction to Scientific Socialism and Marxist philosophy. Cornforths ideas are very similar to some current ideas in Cultural Anthropology (particularly those of Marvin Harris). Unfortunately, at this point in history the authors idealization of Russian Communism are no longer valid, and as one reads this it is sometimes painfully obvious. Nevertheless, as I said, a good introduction.
June 5, 2025
Making extensive use of both citations from the classics (as well as other distinguished Marxists like Andrei Zhdanov, Marxim Gorky, and past philosophers like Hegel) and simplistic yet apt metaphors, the author offers an unparalleled introduction to the field of Marxist philosophy even excelling the official Soviet textbook on philosophy, this book nearing Stalin's own Dialectical and Historical Materialism in its breadth and ease of understand, feats difficult to accomplish in a field as complex as philosophy. This book is able to capture even the most seemingly complicated parts of Marxist philosophy such as negation of negation in a manner understandable by virtually anyone making this book especially indispensable in the education of those newly studying Marxist philosophy.
Naturally, being, as the title says, an introductory course, this book (like the aforementioned textbook prepared under M. Shirokov or vastly inferior Fundamentals of Marxism-Leninism written under O.W. Kuusinen's direction) does not offer anything new to the field of Marxist philosophy but rather is a simplified rephrasing for new students of what the classic Marxist theorists have already said, and this is exemplified in the extensive citations and care which the author pays to remaining faithful to what the classics originally meant with their words while simultaneous updating some of the examples cited by say Marx or Engels to be better understood by modern audiences.
Really, one cannot name a single thing wrong with this book. It accomplishes in spades exactly what it set out to do, it remains true to the subject-matter, and is a first-rate primer to a deeper study of dialectical materialism if ever there was one.
Naturally, being, as the title says, an introductory course, this book (like the aforementioned textbook prepared under M. Shirokov or vastly inferior Fundamentals of Marxism-Leninism written under O.W. Kuusinen's direction) does not offer anything new to the field of Marxist philosophy but rather is a simplified rephrasing for new students of what the classic Marxist theorists have already said, and this is exemplified in the extensive citations and care which the author pays to remaining faithful to what the classics originally meant with their words while simultaneous updating some of the examples cited by say Marx or Engels to be better understood by modern audiences.
Really, one cannot name a single thing wrong with this book. It accomplishes in spades exactly what it set out to do, it remains true to the subject-matter, and is a first-rate primer to a deeper study of dialectical materialism if ever there was one.
March 20, 2025
Essentially this is three books in one, and it's apropos that it's the equivalent of one and a half really great books and one and a half decent books. Cornforth starts off really strong, but the longer the book goes the more he runs out of steam. There's some great theory at times, but he can't sustain the momentum. Near the end it becomes very droll in its presentation and that really detracts from the earlier more enthralling chapters.
October 11, 2020
Fantastic book, a little slow but for a beginner like me, it's good
September 27, 2024
Perfect work
May 15, 2015
Apakah imaginasi mendahului material? Buku ini menjelaskan bertapa sia-sianya imaginasi, angan-angan, tanpa material hadir menemaninya. Sekaligus, materialisme juga mendobrak arash etika yang selama ini bermaharajalela di dalam pemikiran kita. Kalau Nietzsche mengumumkan kematian Tuhan, maka Materialisme pula mengumumkan kematian semuanya unsur/cabang falsafah yang menolak material.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews