Sequachee Valley news. (Sequachee [Sequatchie], Tenn.) 1896-1952, 1912-07-04
THE PHILOSOPHY
OF SOCIALISM

that proposed economical and philo.
sophical system of life which on its
economical side would substitute col.
lective ownership of property, the
means of production and the distribu-
tion of products for our present indi-
vidual ownership; and accepts as its
philosophy materialistic evolution OF
monism which it has adopted under
the name Of the "Materialistic concep-
tion of history" or as Socialists now
prefer to all it. Economic DetermiD-
ism.'' We shall now take up the dis
cussion of the definition and shall be-
gin with the second part as this is the
part having direct bearing on the sub
ject under consideration.
The materialistic conception of his
tory is one of the fundamental and es-
sential principles of MARKHAM Social
| ism. As E. Bernstein, a prominent
socialist of Germany, writes: 1T is
incontrovertible that the most import
ant part in the foundation of Marx
ism,, so to say the fundamental law
which permeates the whole system is
his specific theory of history which
goes by the name of materialistic con-
ception of history. With this theory
stands or falls the principle of the
whole system; its every modification
involves corresponding change in the
other parts of the system. So, too,
Frederick Engels, the close friend and
collaboration Of Marx, considers this
principle fundamental. He says:
1.-TWO great discoveries, the MATERI-
lALISTIC CONCEPTION OF HIS
TORY and the revealing of the secret
of capitalist production by means of
surplus value; these discoveries we
owe to Marx. Through them social
ism has become a science"
This materialistic conception of bis
tory is the philosopbic principle under
lying international Socialism, as all
socialist writers of prominence admit.
American socialists of late have pre-
ferred to call this principle 'Econom-
ic Determinism, one reason for the
change of name being that the old
name at once convicts socialism of be-
ing materialistic, which is very bad
thing to be convicted of when a party
is seeking Christian adherents and vo-
ters. But American Socialists, while
changing the name. still accept and
cling to the principle as indeed they
must if they would be true to their So
cislism.
What, then, is this principeS The
basis of it is the theory of Materials
tic evolutlon-the theory namely,
which holds that the whole universe of
things has evolved from primitive
uncreated, self-existing. non-living
material substance-a kind of gaseous
mass. This theory recognizes no dis
tinction whatever between matter and
.rs4 ,raI, 90 ka1 hrr 81 -
philosophy; in it there is nothing but
matter and all forms of being are
evolved from non living matter The
theory therefore involves denial of
the existence of personal God as be-
lieved in and worshipped by Christ
ians; denial of the creation of the
universe as understood in the Chris
tian sense; a denial of an immortal
spiritual soul distinct from matter; a
denial of human free will; a denial of
an eternal life to come after this pres
ent Iife-in word materialistic evo-
luton is direct contradiction of all
that Christian philosophy teaches.
And this is the foundation stone upon
which Karl Marx built his material
istic conception of history. Marks
principle lauded by Engels as one of |
the great discoveries of the world, is
simply the application of Materials
tic evolution to human life and histo-
ry. Stated in terms that can be un-
derstoOd the materialistic conception
of history means that the entire his
tory of mankind with it's political, re-
ligious and moral manifestations, is
but process of evolution depending
upon the methods of production and
exchange, wherein nothing is stable
and unchangeable except the one con-
stant law of perpetual change and
wherein all progress is accomplished
only by the formation of economic con-
trasts and of class wars resulting there
from. According to this principle all
our institutions, religious and moral,
as well as social and political, are de-
pendent upon the methods of produc-
tion and exchange. Such is the phil
Dsophy of socialism-a philosophy
which denies.the existence of a person
al God; of a spiritual and immortal
soul; of the free will in man; of a fu-
ture life and consequently also in
wolves the denial of the Divinity of
Christ; of the redemption of man
through Christ's suffering and death
IF heaven and hell--in fact the philos.
ophy of socialism is anti Christian in
It's every detail, The man who accepts
This philosophy must become an athe-
st or, what is practically the same
hing, an agnostic. Now any man is
rec to accept this philosophy If his
'eason and his conscience will allow
him to do so. But no man can accept
both this philosophy and the christian
'eligion at the same time unless he is
IN intellectual montebank, able to
make two and two equal FIVE.
now add few quotations from
prominent socialist sources in further
of the statement that the G
philosophy of modern socialism is I
il
John Spargo, leading American So
'ialist writer, delegate to the recent !
rational socialist convention at In I
lianapolis, writes: 1.-THE philosophy {
# the Manifesto" he refers to the {
Communist M inifesto'' which, as we l
ave seen was drawn up by Marx and
sngels and contains their philosophy
lis the basis upon which tie whole
uperstruC5ure of the modern scientific
ocialist theory rests. This is the ma
erialistic or economic conception of =
history which distinguishes scientific I