What do you think?
Rate this book
The History of Philosophy: A Marxist Perspective
A Marxist approach to the History of Philosophy
Alan Woods outlines the development of philosophy from the ancient Greeks, all the way through to Marx and Engels who brought together the best of previous thinking to produce the Marxist philosophical outlook, which looks at the real material world, not as a static immovable reality, but one that is constantly changing and moving according to laws that can be discovered.
It is this method which allows Marxists to look at how things were, how they have become and how they are most likely going to be in the future, in a long process which started with the early primitive humans in their struggles for survival, through to the emergence of class societies, all as part of a process towards greater and greater knowledge of the world we live in.
This long historical process eventually created the material conditions which allow for an end to class divisions and the flowering of a new society where humans will achieve true freedom, where no human will exploit another, no human will oppress another. Here we see how philosophy becomes an indispensable tool in the struggle for the revolutionary transformation of society.
Alan Woods outlines the development of philosophy from the ancient Greeks, all the way through to Marx and Engels who brought together the best of previous thinking to produce the Marxist philosophical outlook, which looks at the real material world, not as a static immovable reality, but one that is constantly changing and moving according to laws that can be discovered.
It is this method which allows Marxists to look at how things were, how they have become and how they are most likely going to be in the future, in a long process which started with the early primitive humans in their struggles for survival, through to the emergence of class societies, all as part of a process towards greater and greater knowledge of the world we live in.
This long historical process eventually created the material conditions which allow for an end to class divisions and the flowering of a new society where humans will achieve true freedom, where no human will exploit another, no human will oppress another. Here we see how philosophy becomes an indispensable tool in the struggle for the revolutionary transformation of society.
350 pages, Paperback
First published October 30, 2021
62 people are currently reading
434 people want to read
About the author
Alan Woods
72 books129 followersAlan Woods is a Trotskyist political theorist. He is one of the leading members of the British group Socialist Appeal as well as its parent group, the International Marxist Tendency (IMT). He is political editor of the IMT's In Defence of Marxism website.
Woods supported the Militant tendency within the UK Labour Party until the early 1990s, when he and Ted Grant were expelled from the tendency and founded the Committee for a Marxist International (soon renamed International Marxist Tendency) in 1992. They continued with the policy of entryism into the Labour Party.
Woods has been particularly vocal in his support for the Bolivarian Revolution in Venezuela, and has repeatedly met with the socialist Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez, leading to speculation he was a close political adviser.
Woods supported the Militant tendency within the UK Labour Party until the early 1990s, when he and Ted Grant were expelled from the tendency and founded the Committee for a Marxist International (soon renamed International Marxist Tendency) in 1992. They continued with the policy of entryism into the Labour Party.
Woods has been particularly vocal in his support for the Bolivarian Revolution in Venezuela, and has repeatedly met with the socialist Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez, leading to speculation he was a close political adviser.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
May 8, 2022
A really incredible book - very easy to follow and understand, lays out the history of philosophy in a really accessible way. I always find myself struggling with philosophy and fully grasping it but this book actually made me really excited to read on and also around what was mentioned in the book. Would defo recommend reading it in a reading group with others!!
May 5, 2022
A fantastic and concise look at how philosophy has developed throughout most of human history. Quite a hard task, but I think this book pulls it off quite well.
March 30, 2024
To be honest, I didn't quite get the hype or importance of this book when it was first published. I had been struggling to read and truly understand Marxist philosophical texts around that time and I figured I needed to focus on those before any "auxiliary" subjects like History of Philosophy.
But oh my god was I wrong. This is an incredibly accessible text that clearly and neatly details the most important philosophical trends throughout history and gives a Marxist analysis of each. This book had me thinking so much more profoundly about everything I was doing and seeing in my daily life. As my reading group discussed, dialectical materialism in the hands of the working masses becomes an activity that can change the world. The lessons in this book are a necessary first step towards grasping our enormous potential and using it to take power.
But oh my god was I wrong. This is an incredibly accessible text that clearly and neatly details the most important philosophical trends throughout history and gives a Marxist analysis of each. This book had me thinking so much more profoundly about everything I was doing and seeing in my daily life. As my reading group discussed, dialectical materialism in the hands of the working masses becomes an activity that can change the world. The lessons in this book are a necessary first step towards grasping our enormous potential and using it to take power.
May 17, 2022
The bold title of this book belies its superficial dive (more a submergence than a dive) into the subject of philosophy. The History of Philosophy is very much a survey of various philosophical thought as they relate to the development of Marxism. It is at times repetitive and requires either a bit of research or an already established foundation in the basics of philosophy. Ultimately it is an extremely accessible introduction to philosophy in the general sense and dialectics in the specific.
January 19, 2025
How do you condense several thousands of years of human thought into 300 pages? Only Alan knows. Due to the sheer amount of informations presented in this book, the reader might feel overwhelmed at times, but the author's wits and profound love for humanity and philosophy manage to shine through and keep you engaged .
December 26, 2021
The clearest explanation of the History of Philosophy that you’ll find out there.
From the Ancient Greeks to Islamic Philosophers, through the Dark Ages, to the Enlightenment thinkers and finally to Marxism.
Fantastic
From the Ancient Greeks to Islamic Philosophers, through the Dark Ages, to the Enlightenment thinkers and finally to Marxism.
Fantastic
March 6, 2025
In two minds about this one.
On the one side - a comprehensive history of philosophy, with a clear materialist edge suggesting that Marxism is the right path forwards (to be expected, and wasn't disliked). Good explanation of ideas, and for someone with very little knowledge about philosophy, I didn't mind the Marxist perspective as I feel I still got a fair understanding of who said what at what time and why they (might) have said it.
Of course, have to take it with a pinch of salt that Alan Woods is in the RCI and a militant Marxist, so in the interests of balance I will be reading the counterpoint to literally everything he suggested lol. But now I know where to start! that's nice.
Do not like Mr Woods' general attitude towards academics though - there's disagreement and then there's immature name-calling. Just has a sour taste - hard to take someone seriously when they don't use the strength of their argument to disprove their opposition's ideas (and Mr Woods has a very strong one). He disguises this as 'passion' and rationalises that no academic opinion can be truly unbiased - which is of course true - but fails to understand that bias is a spectrum. On one end lies academia and, on the other, belittling fellow philosophers and theorists as stupid and vulgar.
Also unimpressed by his reverence for Marx/Engels/Lenin - zero critique. Often recounts what a certain philosopher says indirectly, by quoting what Marx/Engels/Lenin has written about said philosopher in one of their texts. Hardly indicates a thorough critical review of those texts.
Says things like 'Hegel obscurely said this, and Engels here explains what Hegel meant' which again just seems a bit like he takes too much of his philosophical forebears' viewpoints as gospel. Engels can't speak for Hegel - he can only interpret.
As a final aside, I've tried to keep it from affecting this review in isolation - particularly considering it was written before the war started - but Mr Woods' opinions on the Ukraine war and its protagonists/antagonists are hard to digest. His open derision of Zelenskyy and comparative silence on Putin (and even Trump!) seem to me close to Russian apologism.
On the one side - a comprehensive history of philosophy, with a clear materialist edge suggesting that Marxism is the right path forwards (to be expected, and wasn't disliked). Good explanation of ideas, and for someone with very little knowledge about philosophy, I didn't mind the Marxist perspective as I feel I still got a fair understanding of who said what at what time and why they (might) have said it.
Of course, have to take it with a pinch of salt that Alan Woods is in the RCI and a militant Marxist, so in the interests of balance I will be reading the counterpoint to literally everything he suggested lol. But now I know where to start! that's nice.
Do not like Mr Woods' general attitude towards academics though - there's disagreement and then there's immature name-calling. Just has a sour taste - hard to take someone seriously when they don't use the strength of their argument to disprove their opposition's ideas (and Mr Woods has a very strong one). He disguises this as 'passion' and rationalises that no academic opinion can be truly unbiased - which is of course true - but fails to understand that bias is a spectrum. On one end lies academia and, on the other, belittling fellow philosophers and theorists as stupid and vulgar.
Also unimpressed by his reverence for Marx/Engels/Lenin - zero critique. Often recounts what a certain philosopher says indirectly, by quoting what Marx/Engels/Lenin has written about said philosopher in one of their texts. Hardly indicates a thorough critical review of those texts.
Says things like 'Hegel obscurely said this, and Engels here explains what Hegel meant' which again just seems a bit like he takes too much of his philosophical forebears' viewpoints as gospel. Engels can't speak for Hegel - he can only interpret.
As a final aside, I've tried to keep it from affecting this review in isolation - particularly considering it was written before the war started - but Mr Woods' opinions on the Ukraine war and its protagonists/antagonists are hard to digest. His open derision of Zelenskyy and comparative silence on Putin (and even Trump!) seem to me close to Russian apologism.
August 23, 2024
23 August, 2024
"The philosophers have only interpreted the world in various ways; the point is to change it." -Marx
This is the culmination of all the history of philosophy , where we first submerged ourselves into the idealism as a consequence to alieanation of labour .
Then we just made the process of thinking look superior to manual labour , and then giving out various idealist notion of soul, spirit, and Gods for the subject which had been seperated from the object because of its hatred for manual labour.
And finally we realised our faults and reject whole idealist notions where the subject is seperated from object or the superiority of a subject exist only in its contemplation of the object.
With a gradual progression of thought process with a materialistic bent of mind, and with the further advance of our natural sciences, we finally start to understand the true nature of reality.
How the dialecticism plays in everything and how all dialectically opposite thing can exist at the same time. Or more like their being opposite constitute their reality, else the wont exist in themselves.
So this dialecticism gives an understanding of all the accidents by giving a bigger view of history and explaining how all those accidents were just necessities in itself, arising out of the material condition of the masses in that period of time.
And this dialecticism exist not in the mere form of contemplation of the object , but with countinuous active involvement of learning from it and then finally transforming it. Thats what true freedom is, that is we are not just confined by the process but we have understood its essence and can transform it .
This is what the dialectic materialism aims for, to understand and transform reality, enabling every individual to reach their full potential by collective action of masses to change their material conditions .
"The philosophers have only interpreted the world in various ways; the point is to change it." -Marx
This is the culmination of all the history of philosophy , where we first submerged ourselves into the idealism as a consequence to alieanation of labour .
Then we just made the process of thinking look superior to manual labour , and then giving out various idealist notion of soul, spirit, and Gods for the subject which had been seperated from the object because of its hatred for manual labour.
And finally we realised our faults and reject whole idealist notions where the subject is seperated from object or the superiority of a subject exist only in its contemplation of the object.
With a gradual progression of thought process with a materialistic bent of mind, and with the further advance of our natural sciences, we finally start to understand the true nature of reality.
How the dialecticism plays in everything and how all dialectically opposite thing can exist at the same time. Or more like their being opposite constitute their reality, else the wont exist in themselves.
So this dialecticism gives an understanding of all the accidents by giving a bigger view of history and explaining how all those accidents were just necessities in itself, arising out of the material condition of the masses in that period of time.
And this dialecticism exist not in the mere form of contemplation of the object , but with countinuous active involvement of learning from it and then finally transforming it. Thats what true freedom is, that is we are not just confined by the process but we have understood its essence and can transform it .
This is what the dialectic materialism aims for, to understand and transform reality, enabling every individual to reach their full potential by collective action of masses to change their material conditions .
December 23, 2021
A crystal-clear explanation of the most important philosophical ideas and questions throughout history, tracing the development of the most modern and insightful philosophical method to date: dialectical materialism. Covering early Greek philosophy, Medieval scholasticism and Islamic philosophy, Woods aptly deals with the significance of these ideas which are often left in the shadow of later French, German and British thinkers. This is an excellent book not just for Marxists, but anyone who wants to learn about the philosophical basis of science and the objective place of thinking human beings in the universe.
October 17, 2025
an absolute must read for any marxist! woods does an amazing job tying together the western development of dialectics and materialism through negation
June 28, 2025
De certa forma, em vez de uma história da filosofia ocidental contada pelo viés marxista, este livro é uma ode à vanguarda, à transgressão, à postura revolucionária. Com efeito, esta foi a única história da filosofia que, ao findar da leitura, me incentivou a levantar a bunda da cadeira e fazer algo...
... Dito isso, é uma bosta. Propaganda pura. Zero rigor. Só não dou zero estrelas porque existe um livro pior desse autor -- um em que, em vez de bostejar sobre filosofia, comete atrocidades na área científica.
... Dito isso, é uma bosta. Propaganda pura. Zero rigor. Só não dou zero estrelas porque existe um livro pior desse autor -- um em que, em vez de bostejar sobre filosofia, comete atrocidades na área científica.
November 16, 2022
Absolutely brilliant! This book is a monumental addition to marxist theory. It traces the history of (european) philosophy through it's most important tendencies and representatives and shows the dialectical process of the development of the ideas through the material conditions, leading up to the development of the method of dialectical materialism itself and thusly the negation of philosophy as such.
April 10, 2022
Very important and accessible, glad this book was written - would definitely recommend to anyone. To quote the book: "Those who imagine that they can get along quite happily without a philosophy (...) merely repeat unconsciously the existing 'official' philosophy of the day and the current prejudices of the society in which they live".
September 24, 2024
Alan Woods gives a materialist account of the development 0f Western philosophy. Woods writes in a witty and accessible way which makes the book an enjoyable read, and a must-read for anyone interested in philosophy.
November 8, 2025
nochmal gelesen, mehr verstanden als beim 1. mal. gutes buch
June 20, 2025
I can’t say enough about this book if you want to understand the evolution of human thought, this is the book to do it & so much more. The two dominant trends in philosophy are idealism & materialism & it is with this understanding that this book shows this evolution of thought as it is, a process that is not linear, subject to ebbs & flows & material conditions which determine when, where & how ideas will flourish or stagnate.
It’s important to understand how the development of these ideas are connected, are connected to the developments of society & how though it may change hands going to & from different societies, they build on what came before & may even anticipate ideas which material conditions are not yet sufficient to concretely prove, which is where unfortunately those who would mislead, even unwittingly shine.
Understanding the history & development is important but also what does it mean moving forward. In taking you through this process if the development of thought, this text also helps you understand the way forward through these developments & that thought is not something abstract but rooted in & influenced by material reality which in turn influences thought through a never-ending process. But more than this it lays to rest the notion that it’s a merely contemplative activity & that the way forward is understanding that it goes hand in hand with practice, allowing humankind to no longer be subject to the whims of nature & history but take control of it for the first time.
This book far exceeded my expectations & learning that it was initially supposed to be part of another text, “Reason in Revolt” but proved warrant its own text had made me even more excited to get to that book immediately. My only regret is that I hadn’t read this book sooner as I would’ve read this then “Reason in Revolt” sooner.
This is a must read, especially for Marxists seeking to understand philosophy & the developments that lead to the Marxist worldview & will only strengthen their understanding.
It’s important to understand how the development of these ideas are connected, are connected to the developments of society & how though it may change hands going to & from different societies, they build on what came before & may even anticipate ideas which material conditions are not yet sufficient to concretely prove, which is where unfortunately those who would mislead, even unwittingly shine.
Understanding the history & development is important but also what does it mean moving forward. In taking you through this process if the development of thought, this text also helps you understand the way forward through these developments & that thought is not something abstract but rooted in & influenced by material reality which in turn influences thought through a never-ending process. But more than this it lays to rest the notion that it’s a merely contemplative activity & that the way forward is understanding that it goes hand in hand with practice, allowing humankind to no longer be subject to the whims of nature & history but take control of it for the first time.
This book far exceeded my expectations & learning that it was initially supposed to be part of another text, “Reason in Revolt” but proved warrant its own text had made me even more excited to get to that book immediately. My only regret is that I hadn’t read this book sooner as I would’ve read this then “Reason in Revolt” sooner.
This is a must read, especially for Marxists seeking to understand philosophy & the developments that lead to the Marxist worldview & will only strengthen their understanding.
December 31, 2024
Absolutely devoured this book. Compellingly describes the development of philosophy from its emergence in Ancient Greece all the way up to its culmination in Hegel and subsequently Marx. Was honestly the book which inspired me to pursue philosophy as a degree and I still use it everyday in papers and readings as a reference. The book contains expositions of all of the era-defining philosophies (Aristotle, St. Augustine, Descartes, Spinoza, Kant, Hegel, Feuerbach etc.) and both critiques them from and shows their place in the development of philosophy through the Marxist method of Historical Materialism. Also contains some really interesting explorations into the role of society and societal development on philosophy, art and morality, the necessity of philosophy, and how philosophy can be used, not just in abstract debate or analysis, but as a tool for changing the world itself.
January 29, 2024
a history of philosophy that is western centred, ignores all fields outside of metaphysics/epistemology and overstates the philosophical achievements of karl marx and co. also stops at that point in history (with the exception of some mentions of lenin). however the writing is lucid and explains many difficult topics with clarity especially hegel who’s notoriously difficult to understand. still this book is only worth it for those interested in the marxist (read trotskyist) POV on philosophy. 3/5
October 13, 2022
Clear and informative explanation of the history of philosophy in the context of material development and its impact on the evolution of philosophy. Truly a fascinating read. I’ll definitely come back to this time and time again.
Finally got round to reading a final few pages I missed when I finished this off in a reading group months ago! But couldn’t update to read until every word was absorbed!!
Finally got round to reading a final few pages I missed when I finished this off in a reading group months ago! But couldn’t update to read until every word was absorbed!!
February 22, 2023
super chulo, me hubiese gustado que interaccionase más con la teología, bajando las ideas al plano material, pero entiendo que no se hiciese para no alargar el libro y que tampoco era el propósito principal
June 11, 2023
An exceptional book. Each page packs a punch. It is deeply stimulating, intriguing and insanely informative.
Well done comrade Woods.
Well done comrade Woods.
September 24, 2024
This book has had a big influence in a relatively small circle. But this small circle is starting to have a big influence because of this book...
May 6, 2025
The ultimate guide to the development of human thought
August 9, 2024
A brilliant piece of work, a must-read for anyone willing to understand society - in order to change it!
May 18, 2022
Was extremely helpful in understanding dialectics through methodically laying out it's creation through the contradictions of idealistic thought. Alan isn't as snarky as he usually is but it was still a very interesting read.
It is also extremely Euro-centric and he acknowledges as such.
It is also extremely Euro-centric and he acknowledges as such.
August 9, 2022
One and a half chapter, and I am already overwhelmed. Philosophy, narrated by Alan Woods as always, has intoxicating effects.
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews