The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1928-03-10

LENIN'S REPLY TO THE
REVISIONISTS of MARX

CORY of supposedly "New Wine in
Old Bottles"
The most interesting and perhaps
the most fundamental part Of the book
lis contained in the chapter on "The
Revolution in Natural Science and
Idealism." The revolution consisted
in the division of the hitherto sup
posedly indestructible unit of matter,
the atom, into further subdivisions,
electrons. This created a crisis in
physics. The philosophic idealists
seized upon this fact and trumpeted
about, Matter is not immitable, mat
ter has disappeared" Many physi-
cists, under the influence of these
trumpetings deserted materialism,
which had hitherto been the prop of
physics, and flopped into the swamp
of idealism. Among physicists the
question is an open one to this very
day, with the majority still in the
swamp. We have Bertrand Russell, a
modern Machian, for instance saying
in his latest works, philosophy"
1.-THE Analysis of Matter" and in his
introduction to the Bird Edition of
Lange's History of Materialism
(1925) (Which Lenin termed falsi-
fication Of materialism). Matter
probably does not exist" Physics no
longer assumes the permanence of
matter" He talks about the POSSIBLE
ity of motion without a thing that
moves" and (God save us) even Of
thought without a thinker" And
finally that "Materialism as philo-
sophy becomes hardly tenable in view
of this evaporation of matter"
/ The question here, however, is not
the evaporation of matter, but the
possibility of its ultimate .destruc-
tion. The question is what brand of
materialism becomes impossible in
the face Of this evaporation of mat
ter" lin the sense of divisibility into
smaller and smaller units). The
metaphysical and anti-dialectical ma
terialism of the 18th century
become impossible as philosophy;
because it presumed the immutability
of matter. But dialectic materialism
is perfectly compatible with, even
indicated, by this evaporation Of
matter Had the physicists known
more about dialectical materialism,
they would not have backslided into
the lap of idealism. Lenin's answer
tn the whole question must be given
ir full. tho it is rather long QUOTA
ton, because it is such thoro sum-
nation of the stand of dialectic ma
terialism.
t "Dialectic materialism insists on
the approximate relative character of
every scientific proposition concern
ing the structure of matter and the
properties; on the absence of absolute
boundaries in nature; on the trans
formation of moving matter from one
state to another, which from an ordi-
nary viewpoint appears evidently -ir-
reconcilable. All this for dialectic
materialism is only confederation of
it's truth. The essence of things or
their substance is relative; it express
ses only the degree of mans power
penetrating into and knowing objects,
and even if yesterday this penetration
did not go any further than the atom.
and today no further than the cleo
/ tron and g her, then dialectic materi-
alism insists on the temporary, rela-
tive, approximate character of all
these milestones on the road of
knowledge of nature, thru the pro-
gressive science of man. The electron
is as inexhaustible as the atom, ma
ture is infinite but it EXISTS (Len-
ms emphasis) infinitely; only this
categorical, unconditional recognition
of its existence beyond the conscious
ness and sensation of man, distingu-
ishes dialectic materialism from rela-
tive agnosticism and idealism."
| On the last page of the book proper
we have the following significant
statement: Beyond the epistemolog-
zeal seholasticism of empirio-criticism
it is impossible not to discern clearly
the partisan Struggle of philosophy,
struggle which ultimately expresses
the tendencies and ideologies of clas-
SEES hostile to one another in modern
society. Recent philosophy is as
partisan as it was 1000 years ago."
There are some valuable notes on
dialectics, added to the book, which
were found among Lenin's philosophic
notebooks. 1t remains to add that
the book is extremely we'll ordered
and extraordinarily simple and clear
and that nobody interested in the
Philosophy of Marxism and Leninism
con well afford to be without it.