Georg Lukcs 1919

The Role of Morality in Communist Production

First Published in !ungarian in "#ocial$s Termel%s& 1'11& 1919
"ource Georg Lukcs( Political )ritings& 1919*19+9
Published ,(L(-( 19.+
/dited by Rodney Li0ingstone
Transcribed by -rian Reid
The ultimate ob1ecti0e of communism is the construction of a society in 2hich freedom
of morality 2ill take the 3lace of legal com3ulsion in the regulation of all beha0iour( "uch
a society necessarily 3resu33oses& as e0ery Mar4ist kno2s& the end of class di0isions( For&
2hether or not 2e think it 3ossible for human nature in general to 3ermit a society based
on a moral code 5and in my 0ie2& the 6uestion cannot be 3ut in these terms7 8 the 3o2er
of morality cannot become effecti0e& e0en gi0en a decisi0ely affirmati0e ans2er& as long
as there are still classes in society( 9nly one mode of regulation is 3ossible in society the
e4istence of t2o& one of 2hich contradicts the other or e0en merely de0iates from it&
could only lead to a state of com3lete anarchy( :f& ho2e0er& a society is di0ided into
se0eral classes& or if 8 to 3ut it another 2ay 8 the interests of the human grou3s 2ho
make u3 society are not the same& it is ine0itable that the regulation of human beha0iour
2ill conflict 2ith the interests of the indubitably decisi0e grou3& if not& indeed& of the
ma1ority of human beings( -ut human beings cannot be induced to act 0oluntarily
against their o2n interests& they can only be com3elled to do so 8 2hether this
com3ulsion be of a 3hysical or of a s3iritual kind( ;s long as there are different classes&
therefore& it is ine0itable that the function of regulating social beha0iour 2ill be fulfilled
by la2& and not by morality(
-ut such a function of la2 does not end 2ith the im3osition of a mode of beha0iour on
the o33ressed classes in the interests of their o33ressors( The class interests of the ruling
classes must be enforced e0en 0is*<*0is the ruling class itself( This second source of the
necessity of la2& the conflict of indi0idual and class interests& is of course not e4clusi0ely
a conse6uence of the di0ision of society into classes( :t is true& ho2e0er& that this conflict
has ne0er been as acute as under ca3italism( Moreo0er& the 0ery conditions of e4istence
of ca3italist society 8 the anarchy in 3roduction& the constant re0olutioni#ing of
3roduction& 3roduction based on moti0es of 3rofit& and so on 8 make it im3ossible from
the outset to unite indi0idual and class interests harmoniously 2ithin one class( !o2e0er
self*e0idently indi0idual and class interests ha0e coincided 2hene0er the ca3italists
confronted other classes 5either the o33ressed or other o33ressors& e(g( agrarian feudal
classes or ca3italists of a different country7 8 2hene0er& that is& the class is obliged to
ado3t a 3osition to ensure the general 3ossibility and direction of the o33ression 8 it has
nonetheless al2ays 3ro0ed im3ossible to unite indi0idual and class interests once the
reali#ation of that o33ression has become concrete& once the 6uestion has been 3osed
2ho is to become the o33ressor& and 2hom& ho2 many and to 2hat e4tent is he to
e43loit= Class solidarity in the ca3italist classes is only 3ossible 2hen they look out2ards&
not 2hen they are concerned only 2ith themsel0es( This is 2hy& 2ithin these classes&
morality could ne0er ha0e re3laced the 3o2er of la2(
The class situation of the 3roletariat& in both ca3italist society and that 2hich 2ill emerge
from the defeat of ca3italism& is e4actly the o33osite( Pro3erly concei0ed& the interest of
the indi0idual 3roletarian cannot be reali#ed in its abstract 3otentiality& but only in
reality itself through the 0ictory of his class interests( The 0ery solidarity 3ro3agated as
an unattainable social ideal by the greatest bourgeois thinkers is in fact a li0ing 3resence
in the class interests of the 3roletariat( The 2orld*historical mission of the 3roletariat
manifests itself 3recisely in the fact that the fulfilment of its o2n class interests 2ill
entail the social sal0ation of mankind(
1
This sal0ation& ho2e0er& 2ill not sim3ly emerge as the outcome of a merely automatic
3rocess determined by natural la2s( The 0ictory of the idea o0er the egoistic 2ill of
indi0idual human beings is of course clearly im3licit in the class*dominating nature of
the dictatorshi3 of the 3roletariat> it is 3ossible that the immediate aim of the 3roletariat
is like2ise a class hegemony( ,e0ertheless& the consistent im3lementation of this class
hegemony 2ill destroy class differences and bring into being the classless society( For if
the class hegemony of the 3roletariat is to become truly effecti0e& it can only li6uidate
class differences economically and socially by 8 in the final analysis 8 forcing all human
beings into that democracy of the 3roletariat 2hich is only an inner form of the
manifestation of the dictatorshi3 of the 3roletariat 2ithin the frame2ork of the class( The
consistent im3lementation of the dictatorshi3 of the 3roletariat can only end 2ith the
democracy of the 3roletariat absorbing the dictatorshi3 and making it su3erfluous( ;fter
classes ha0e ceased to e4ist& dictatorshi3 can no longer be e4ercised against anybody(
The state& the chief cause of the e4ercise of legal com3ulsion& the cause 2hose remo0al
/ngels had in mind 2hen he said that ?the state 2ithers a2ay@& thereby ceases to e4ist(
The 6uestion is& ho2e0er 2hat is the 3attern of the de0elo3ment 2ithin the 3roletarian
class= This is 2here the 6uestion of the socially effecti0e function of morality becomes
3roblematic( :t certainly 3layed an im3ortant 3art in the ideologies of the old society& but
ne0er made any substantial contribution to the de0elo3ment of social reality itself( ,or
could it& because the social 3re*conditions for the de0elo3ment of class morality and its
0alidity 2ithin a class 8 namely the same orientation of indi0idual and class interests 8
are 3resent only in the 3roletariat( :t is only for the 3roletariat that solidarity& the
subordination of 3ersonal interests to those of the collecti0e& coincides 2ith the interests&
erectly concei0ed& of the indi0idual( That social 3ossibility no2 e4ists& inasmuch as all
indi0iduals belonging to the 3roletariat can subordinate themsel0es to the interests of
their class 2ithout detriment to their 3ersonal interests( "uch freedom of choice 2as not
3ossible in the bourgeoisie& 2are order could only be enforced by la2( For the
bourgeoisie& morality could only mean 8 assuming that it e4ercised any real control o0er
beha0iour at all 8 a 3rinci3le that 2ent beyond class di0isions and the e4istence of a
class in other 2ords& indi0idual morality( This kind of morality unfortunately im3lies a
le0el of human culture 2hich can become a general factor& effecti0e for the total society&
only in a much later e3och(
The gulf bet2een beha0iour based on merely selfish interests and 3ure morality is
bridged by class morality& 2hich 2ill lead humanity into a ne2 s3iritual each& into& as
/ngels says& the ?realm of freedom@( -ut : re3eat this de0elo3ment 2ill not be a
conse6uence of the automatic necessity of blind social forces 8 it must be a conse6uence
of the free decision of the 2orking class( For& after the 0ictory of the 3roletariat&
com3ulsion 2ill be necessary 2ithin the 2orking class only insofar as indi0iduals are
unable or un2illing to act in accordance 2ith their o2n interests( :f com3ulsion& the
organi#ation of 3hysical and s3iritual 0iolence& 3re0ailed in ca3italist society e0en 2ithin
the ruling class& it did so of necessity& because the indi0iduals 2ho com3rised a class had
been led by the e4orbitant demands of their indi0idual interests 5greed for 3rofit7 to the
dissolution of ca3italist society( :n contrast& the indi0idual interests of e0e single
3roletarian& 2ill& 3ro0ided he assesses them correctly& strength society( )hat matters is
the correct understanding of these interests& the attainment of that moral strength 2hich
enables one to subordinate inclinations& emotions and momentary 2hims to one@s real
interests(
The 3oint at 2hich indi0idual and class interests con0erge is in fact characteri#ed by
increased 3roduction& a rise in 3roducti0ity and a corres3onding strengthening of labour
disci3line( )ithout these things the 3roletariat cannot sur0i0e& 2ithout them the class
hegemony of the 3roletariat disa33ears 8 2ithout them 5e0en if 2e disregard the
2
disastrous conse6uences entailed in such a dislocation of the class for all 3roletarians7&
no single 3erson can de0elo3 fully& not e0en as an indi0idual( For it is clear that those
as3ects of the 3o2er of the 3roletariat 2hich are most o33ressi0e and 2hose immediate
conse6uences e0ery 3roletarian feels most keenly 8 namely& shortage of goods and high
3rices 8 are a direct result of slackening labour disci3line and declining 3roducti0ity( To
effect a remedy for this state of affairs and thereby raise the le0el of the indi0iduals
concerned& the causes of such 3henomena must be remo0ed(
There are t2o 3ossible remedies( /ither the indi0iduals 2ho constitute the 3roletariat
reali#e that they can hel3 themsel0es only by 0oluntarily setting about the strengthening
of labour disci3line and thereby raising 3roducti0ity> or& 2here they as indi0iduals are
inca3able of doing so& they create institutions 2hich are in a 3osition to carry out this
necessary function( :n the latter case they create for themsel0es a legal order by means of
2hich the 3roletariat com3els its indi0idual members& the 3roletarians& to act in
accordance 2ith their class interests( The 3roletariat then e4ercises dictatorshi3 e0en
against itself( )here the interests of the class are not correctly 3ercei0ed and 0oluntarily
adhered to& such measures are necessary if the 3roletariat is to sur0i0e( They also&
ho2e0er 8 and 2e must not disguise the 3roblem from oursel0es 8 in0ol0e great dangers
for the future( :f& on the one hand& the 3roletariat creates its o2n labour disci3line> if the
labour system of the 3roletarian state is built on a moral basis> then the e4ternal
com3ulsion of the la2 2ill automatically cease 2ith the abolition of the class structure of
society( :n other 2ords& the state 2ill 2ither a2ay( This li6uidation of the class structure
2ill of itself create the beginning of true human history 8 as Mar4 3ro3hesied and ho3ed(
:f& on the other hand& the 3roletariat ado3ts a different course& it 2ill be obliged to create
for itself a legal order 2hich cannot be abolished automatically through historical
3rogress( :n that case a tendency could e0ol0e 2hich 2ould endanger both the
3hysiognomy and the achie0ability of the ultimate ob1ecti0e( For if the 3roletariat is
com3elled to create a legal order in this 2ay& that legal order must itself be o0erthro2n 8
and 2ho can tell 2hat con0ulsions and sufferings 2ill be caused by the transition from
the realm of necessity to the realm of freedom 0ia such a circuitous 3ath=
The 6uestion of labour disci3line& therefore& does not relate sim3ly to the economic
e4istence of the 3roletariat> it is also a moral 6uestion( )hich in turn makes it clear ho2
correct Mar4 and /ngels 2ere 2hen they asserted that the e3och of freedom begins 2ith
the sei#ure of 3o2er by the 3roletariat( Progress is already no longer go0erned by the
la2s of socially bli3 forces& but by the 0oluntary decision of the 3roletariat( The direction&
2hich social de0elo3ment takes de3ends on the self*consciousness& the s3iritual and
moral character& the 1udgment and altruism of the 3roletariat(
Thus the 6uestion of 3roduction becomes a moral 6uestion( :t de3ends on the 3roletariat
2hether or not ?the 3re*history of man@& the 3o2er of the economy o0er men& of
institutions and com3ulsion o0er morality& 2ill no2 con> to an end( :t de3ends on the
3roletariat 2hether or not the real history of mankind is beginning that is& the 3o2er of
morality o0er institutions and economy( True& social de0elo3ment created the 3ossibility
in the first 3lace& but no2 the 3roletariat has actually in its hands not only its o2n
destiny& but the destiny of mankind( The criterion for the readiness of the 3roletariat to
take the control and leadershi3 of society into its o2n hand is thereby gi0en( Antil no2
the 3roletariat has been led by the la2s of social de0elo3ment> henceforth& the task of
leadershi3 is its o2n( :ts decision 2ill determine the de0elo3ment of society( /0ery
indi0idual in the 3roletariat must no2 be conscious of this res3onsibility( !e must feel
that it is he himself& his e0eryday 2ork 3erformance& 2hich 2ill determine 2hen the truly
ha33y and free e3och begins for mankind( :t is inconcei0able that the 3roletariat& 2hich&
under far more difficult conditions& has so far remained true to its 2orld*historical
3
mission& should no2 abandon this mission at the 0ery moment 2hen it is at last in a
3osition to fulfil it through deeds(

Georg Lukcs 19+B
The Moral Mission of the Communist Party
First Published in Communismus& 1'1D*1.& 19+B>
"ource Georg Lukcs( Political )ritings& 1919*19+9>
Published ,(L(-( 19.+>
/dited by Rodney Li0ingstone>
Transcribed by -rian Reid(
1
Like Lenin@s 2ritings this latest 3am3hlet deser0es to be studied most carefully all
communists( !e re0eals yet again his 6uite e4traordinary ability to gras3 2hat is
decisi0ely ne2 about a ne2 3henomenon in the de0elo3ment of the 3roletariat> his
ability to com3rehend its 0ery essence and to make it com3rehensible in the most
concrete 2ay( )hereas his earlier 2ritings 2ere largely of a 3olemical nature& concerned
mainly to e4amine the fighting organi#ations of the 3roletariat 53rimarily the state7& this
one deals 2ith the 3resent de0elo3ment of the embryonic ne2 society( Eust as the
ca3italist form of 3roduction& 2ith its labour disci3line dictated by economic com3ulsion
5hunger7& 2as su3erior to the naked 0iolence of serfdom& so the free coo3eration of free
human beings in the ne2 society 8 e0en in the field of 3roducti0ity 8 2ill far sur3ass
ca3italism( :t is 3recisely in this res3ect that the social*democratic defeatists of the 2orld
re0olution are most ske3tical( They 3oint to the slackening of labour disci3line& the fall in
3roducti0ity 8 in short& to the ine0itable concomitants of the disintegrating ca3italist
economic system( ;nd 2ith an im3atience and intolerance matched in intensity only by
their 3atience and tolerance to2ards ca3italism they 3oint out that these things did not
change immediately in "o0iet Russia( Lack of ra2 materials& internal struggles and
organi#ational difficulties count as e4cuses in their 0ie2 only for ca3italist states>their
line is that a 3roletarian social order ought to mean the internal e4ternal transformation
of all conditions& an all*round im3ro0ement in the situation& from the 0ery first moment
that that order is born( Genuine re0olutionaries& and abo0e all Lenin& distinguish
themsel0es from such 3etty*bourgeois uto3ianism by their lack of illusions( They kno2
2hat can be e43ected& not only of an economy ruined in the )orld )ar& but also 8 and
abo0e all 8 of human beings 2ho& under ca3italism& h been s3iritually corru3ted and
de3ra0ed and indoctrinated 2ith egoism( !o2e0er& freedom from illusions ne0er leads
the true re0olutionary to lose heart or to des3air> his understanding of the situation as it
really is ser0es rather to strengthen his faith in the 2orld*historical mission of the
3roletariat( This faith can ne0er be shaken& no matter ho2 long it takes to reali#e it& no
matter ho2 often it is beset by ad0erse circumstances( :t acce3ts all these disru3tions and
obstructions& but ne0er allo2s them to distract him from his goal and the indications of
its imminence(
The communist "aturdays& the mobili#ation to 2ork 2hich the Russian Communist Party
has taken u3on itself& ha0e been discussed fre6uently and from many different 3oints of
0ie2( Anderstandably& the main em3hasis has al2ays been 3ut on their actual and
3ossible economic conse6uences( -ut ho2e0er im3ortant these may be& the communist
"aturdays and the 3ossibility and form of their origins are significant in a further sense&
one 2hich takes us far beyond their immediate economic conse6uences( ?The enormous
historical significance of the communist "aturdays is that they re0eal to us the
4
3ur3oseful and 0oluntary initiati0e of the 2orkers in the de0elo3ment of labour
3roducti0ity& in the transition to the ne2 2ork disci3line& in the creation of socialist
conditions in the economy and in life generally(@
The non*Russian communist 3arties are fre6uently critici#ed for imitating the Russian
e4am3le too sla0ishly in their actions and their demands( :t seems to me that in se0eral
5by no means inessential7 res3ects& the e4act o33osite is the case the /uro3ean
communist 3arties either cannot or 2ill not e4amine the true sources of the Russian
mo0ement@s strength 8 and e0en 2hen some of the lessons strike home they cannot raise
the necessary strength to translate them into action(
The communist "aturdays& as the first seeds of the transition from a ca3italist to a
socialist economic order& as the starting*3oint for the ?lea3 from the realm of necessity
into the realm of freedom@& are in no sense institutional measures of the "o0iet
go0ernment& but moral actions of the Communist Party( ;nd it is 3recisely this 0ital and
decisi0e as3ect of the reality of the Russian Communist Party 2hich has been least
a33reciated by its sister 3arties& 2ho& far from co3ying its e4am3le& ha0e hardly e0er
dra2n the correct and necessary conclusions from its achie0ements(
+
:f there is one common3lace 2hich cannot be too strongly em3hasi#ed& it is that the
communist 3arty is the organi#ational e43ression of the re0olutionary 2ill of the
3roletariat( :t is therefore by no means bound to embrace the 2hole of the 3roletariat
from the 0ery outset> as the conscious leader of the re0olution& as the embodiment of the
re0olutionary idea& its task is rather to unite the most conscious sections& the 0anguard&
the really re0olutionary and fully class*conscious 2orkers( The re0olution itself is
brought about necessarily by the natural la2s go0erning the economic forces( The duty
and the mission of communist 3arties e0ery2here is to su33ly the re0olutionary
mo0ement 8 2hich to a large e4tent arises inde3endently of them 8 2ith a direction and
a goal and to lead the elemental outbreaks s3arked off by the colla3se of the ca3italist
economic order on to the only 0iable 3ath of sal0ation& on to the dictatorshi3 of the
3roletariat(
The old 3arties 2ere com3romise combinations& heterogeneous collections of
indi0iduals& and conse6uently 0ery 6uickly became bureaucrati#ed& 0ery 6uickly ga0e rise
to an aristocracy of 3arty officers and subalterns 2ho 2ere cut off from the masses( The
ne2 communist 3arties& on the other hand& should re3resent the 3urest e43ression of the
re0olutionary class struggle& the transcending of bourgeois society( !o2e0er& the
transition from the old society to the ne2 im3lies& not merely an economic and
institutional& but also and at the same time a moral transformation( Let there be no
misunderstanding nothing is further from our thoughts than the 3etty*bourgeois
uto3ianism of those 2ho fondly imagine that social change can only be brought about
through an inner transformation of human beings( 5,ot the least indication that this is a
3etty*bourgeois notion is the fact that its 3ro3onents 8 2hether consciously or not 8
thereby relegate the transformation of society to some dim and distant 3oint in the
timeless future(7 9n the contrary& 2e insist that the transition from the old to the ne2
society is a necessary conse6uence of ob1ecti0e economic forces and la2s( For all its
ob1ecti0e necessity& ho2e0er& this transition is 3recisely the transition from bondage and
reification to freedom and humanity( For that reason freedom cannot be regarded sim3ly
as a& fruit& a result of historical de0elo3ment( There must arise in that de0elo3ment a
moment 2here freedom itself becomes one of the dri0ing forces( :ts significance as a
dri0ing force must constantly increase until the time comes 2hen it takes o0er
com3letely the leadershi3 of a society 2hich has no2 become human& 2hen ?mankind@s
3re*history@ comes to an end and its true history is able to begin(
5
The beginning of this 3hase seems& in our 0ie2& to coincide 2ith the rise of re0olutionary
consciousness& 2ith the founding of the communist 3arties( For e0ery Communist Party
8 as long as it does not merely stand in o33osition to bourgeois society& but acti0ely
embodies its negation 8 re3resents far more than 1ust the antithesis of the old social*
democratic 3arties( :t signifies in fact the beginning of their destruction and
disa33earance( The greatest tragedy of the 2orkers@ mo0ement has al2ays been its
inability to tear itself com3letely free from the ideological matri4 of ca3italism( The old
social*democratic 3arties ha0e ne0er e0en seriously tried to do so they ha0e remained
essentially bourgeois 3arties& 2ith all the accom3anying characteristics com3romise&
0ote*catching& chea3*1ack demagogy& intrigue& social climbing and bureaucracy( !ence
coalitions 2ith bourgeois 3arties are not merely the conse6uence of ob1ecti0e& 3olitical
necessity> they s3ring from the inner structure& the real essence of the social*democratic
3arties( :t is therefore easy to understand 2hy& in the truly re0olutionary& albeit not fully
conscious elements of the 2orkers@ mo0ement& 0oices should ha0e made themsel0es
heard denouncing& not only the corru3t 3etty*bourgeois and counter*re0olutionary
nature of the old 3arties& but the 2hole idea of 3arties as such( 9ne of the chief reasons
for the emergence and the attraction of syndicalism is doubtless to be found in
the ethical re1ection of the old 3arties(
The Russian Communist Party ne0er succumbed to these dangers( :nstead of the usual
dilemma 8 old style 3arty or syndicalism& bureaucratic organi#ation or destruction of the
3arty 8 they de0ised a clear ?tertium datur@& a third a33roach( :t is this third a33roach
2hose conse6uences 2e can no2 discern in e0ery facet of the Russian Re0olution( "o far&
ho2e0er& 2e ha0e been too co2ardly and too idle to recogni#e its basis and incor3orate it
as a dri0ing force into our o2n mo0ements(
F
The basis of this 3o2er of the "o0iet Communist Party is to be found& first& in its internal
organi#ation> secondly& in the 2ay in 2hich it concei0es its task and mission> and thirdly
5as a conse6uence of the first t2o7 in the manner of its effect u3on its members( :n
contrast to the old social*democratic 3arties and most non*Russian communist 3arties& it
is a closed& not an o3en 3arty( ,ot only does it not try to recruit anybody and e0erybody
to its ranks 5one of the chief causes of corru3tion and com3romise7> it does not e0en
acce3t all those 2ho 2ant to 1oin( "uch 3eo3le are sifted through the ranks of the so*
called sym3athi#ers 5GFriends of the Communists@7& of 2hom those 2ho meet
the moral demands made of a Russian communist are admitted to the 3arty itself( The
3arty& ho2e0er& is by no means concerned 2ith merely increasing its membershi3& but
rather 2ith the 6uality of those 2ho remain in its ranks( For this reason the 3arty uses
e0ery o33ortunity arising from the tremendous e4ertions of the Re0olution to 3urge its
ranks( ?The 2ar mobili#ation of the communists&@ says Lenin& ?hel3ed us in this res3ect
the co2ards and blackguards turned their backs on the 3arty( That sort of reduction in
the number of members re3resents a significant gro2th in the strength and re3utation of
the 3arty( )e should continue the 3urge by e43loiting the initiati0e of the Hcommunist
"aturdays(I@ This 3urging of the 3arty is therefore based on ?a constantste33ing*u3 of
demands in relation to real communist achie0ements@(
The internal construction of the Russian Communist Party takes us on to the second
as3ect of our discussion& the mission of the 3arty in the re0olution( The Communist
Party& as the 0anguard of the re0olution& should al2ays be at least one ste3 ahead of the
de0elo3ment of the masses( 1ust as the Communist Party 2as already conscious of the
necessity of re0olution at a time 2hen the broad masses felt at most a 0ague
dissatisfaction 2ith their situation& so consciousness of the realm of freedom ought
already to be a 0ital factor in the 0arious communist 3arties and a decisi0e influence on
their actions& 3articularly if the masses 2ho follo2 them are not yet in a 3osition to tear
6
themsel0es free ideologically from the corru3t matri4 of ca3italism( "uch a role for the
Communist Party does not of course ac6uire com3lete actuality until the setting*u3 of
the go0ernment of "o0iets( For once the 3roletariat has established its
3o2er institutionally& e0erything de3ends on 2hether the s3irit 2hich informs those
so0iets is really the s3irit of communism& of the ne2 humanity 2hich is no2 emerging& or
1ust a ne2 disguise for the old society( 9nly the Communist Party can embody this
cleansing& 3urifying and dynamic 3rinci3le( "ince the transformation in forms of
go0ernment cannot 3ossibly bring about an inner transformation in human beings at the
same time& it is ine0itable that all the e0il as3ects of ca3italist society 5bureaucracy&
corru3tion& and so on7 2ill find their 2ay into "o0iet institutions( There is a gra0e danger
that these institutions 2ill degenerate or ossify e0en before they ha0e had a chance to
de0elo3 3ro3erly( This 2here the Communist Party must inter0ene as critic& model&
bul2ark& organi#er and reformer( :t is the only body 2hich is in a 3osition to do so(J1K
!a0ing educated the 3roletariat for re0olution& then& the Communist Party must no2
educate the 2hole of humanity in freedom and self*disci3line( -ut it can only fulfil this
mission if it 3ractises its educational 2ork among its members from the 0ery beginning(
:t 2ould& ho2e0er& be com3letely un*Mar4ist and non*dialectical thinking to attem3t to
se3arate forcibly the t2o de0elo3mental 3hases mentioned abo0e( 9n the contrary& their
relationshi3 is one of constant mutual inter3enetration& and no one can e0er determine
e4actly 2here the one begins and the other ends( The human ideal of the realm of
freedom must therefore be a conscious 3rinci3le go0erning the actions and moti0ating
the li0es of all communist 3arties from the 0ery moment of their ince3tion(
9rgani#ational forms& raising consciousness by means of education and 3ro3aganda 8
these are crucial and essential means( -ut they are far from the only ones( Most
im3ortant 8 indeed& in the last analysis& the decisi0e factor 8 is 2hat communists
themsel0es achie0e as human beings(
The Communist Party must be the 3rimary incarnation of the realm of freedom> abo0e
all& the s3irit of comradeliness& of true solidarity& and of self*sacrifice must go0ern
e0erything it does( :f it cannot achie0e this& or if it does not at least e4ert itself seriously
to 3ut such ideals into 3ractice& the Communist Party 2ill no longer be distinguishable
from the other 3arties& e4ce3t by 0irtue of its 3rogramme( There is e0en the danger that
this unbridgeable gulf 2hich se3arates it 3rogrammatically from the o33ortunists and
the 2a0erers 2ill gradually become obscured& 2ith the result that it could soon be
nothing more than the ?e4treme left 2ing@ of the ?2orkers@ 3arties@( That in turn 2ould
3resent a further& more immediate danger 5already 3osed in accentuated form by the
rhetorical recognition of the Third :nternational by the 3arties of the centre7 namely&
that the 6ualitati0e distinction bet2een the communists and the other 3arties 2ould
degenerate into a merely 6uantitati0e one and in time e0en disa33ear altogether( The
less a Communist Party 3uts its ideals into 3ractice both organi#ationally and s3iritually&
the less able it 2ill be& not only to counter effecti0ely this 2ides3read inclination to
com3romise& but also to educate the unconscious but really re0olutionary elements
5syndicalists& anarchists7 to become true communists(
Com3romise and disintegration s3ring from the same source the inade6uate inner
transformation of communists themsel0es( The more the communists 5and 2ith and
through them the Communist Party7 ha0e cleansed themsel0es of all the dross of
ca3italist& social*democratic 3arty life& such as bureaucracy& intrigues& social climbing&
etc(& the more their 3arty solidarity turns into true comradeshi3 and s3iritual solidarity 8
the better able they 2ill be to fulfil their mission( Then and only then 2ill they be in a
3osition to gather re0olutionary forces& strengthen the irresolute& rouse the unconscious
to consciousness 8 and 3ush aside and destroy once and for all the scoundrels and the
o33ortunists( The re0olutionary 3eriod 2hich 2e no2 face 2ill be rich in 3rotracted and
7
difficult struggles> it 2ill 3ro0ide us 2ith countless o33ortunities for this self*education(
9ur Russian comrades 3ro0ide the most instructi0e e4am3le& both in organi#ational and
human terms& that 2e could 2ish for( :t is high time 2e began to emulate their e4am3le
in this country& too(
!istory and Class Consciousness Georg Lukcs 19+F
The Mar4ism of Rosa Lu4emburg
/conomists e43lain ho2 3roduction takes 3lace in the abo0e*mentioned relations& but
2hat they do not e43lain is ho2 these relations themsel0es are 3roduced& that is& the
historical mo0ement that ga0e them birth(
Mar4 The Po0erty of Philoso3hy(
1
:T is not the 3rimacy of economic moti0es in historical e43lanation that constitutes the
decisi0e difference bet2een Mar4ism and bourgeois thought& but the 3oint of 0ie2 of
totality( The category of totality& the all*3er0asi0e su3remacy of the 2hole o0er the 3arts
is the essence of the method 2hich Mar4 took o0er from !egel and brilliantly
transformed into the foundations of a 2holly ne2 science( The ca3italist se3aration of
the 3roducer from the total 3rocess of 3roduction& the di0ision of the 3rocess of labour
into 3arts at the cost of the indi0idual humanity of the 2orker& the atomisation of society
into indi0iduals 2ho sim3ly go on 3roducing 2ithout rhyme or reason& must all ha0e a
3rofound influence on the thought& the science and the 3hiloso3hy of ca3italism(
Proletarian science is re0olutionary not 1ust by 0irtue of its re0olutionary ideas 2hich it
o33oses to bourgeois society& but abo0e all because of its method( The 3rimacy of the
category of totality is the bearer of the 3rinci3le of re0olution in science(
The re0olutionary nature of !egelian dialectics had often been recognised as such before
Mar4& not2ithstanding !egel@s o2n conser0ati0e a33lications of the method( -ut no one
had con0erted this kno2ledge into a science of re0olution( :t 2as Mar4 2ho transformed
the !egelian method into 2hat !er#en described as the ?algebra of re0olution@( :t 2as not
enough& ho2e0er& to gi0e it a materialist t2ist( The re0olutionary 3rinci3le inherent in
!egel@s dialectic 2as able to come to the surface less because of that than because of the
0alidity of the method itself& 0i#( the conce3t of totality& the subordination of e0ery 3art to
the 2hole unity of history and& thought( :n Mar4 the dialectical method aims at
understanding society as a 2hole( -ourgeois thought concerns itself 2ith ob1ects that
arise either from the 3rocess of studying 3henomena in isolation& or from the di0ision of
labour and s3ecialisation in the different disci3lines( :t holds abstractions to be ?real@ if it
is nai0ely realistic& and ?autonomous@ if it is critical(
Mar4ism& ho2e0er& simultaneously raises and reduces all s3ecialisations to the le0el of
as3ects in a dialectical 3rocess( This is not to deny that the 3rocess of abstraction and
hence the isolation of the elements and conce3ts in the s3ecial disci3lines and 2hole
areas of study is of the 0ery essence of science( -ut 2hat is decisi0e is 2hether this
3rocess of isolation is a means to2ards understanding the 2hole and 2hether it is
integrated 2ithin the conte4t it 3resu33oses and re6uires& or 2hether the abstract
kno2ledge of an isolated fragment retains its ?autonomy@ and becomes an end in itself( :n
the last analysis Mar4ism does not ackno2ledge the e4istence of inde3endent sciences of
la2& economics or history& etc( there is nothing but a single& unified 8 dialectical and
historical 8 science of the e0olution of society as a totality(
8
The category of totality& ho2e0er& determines not only the ob1ect of kno2ledge but also
the sub1ect( -ourgeois thought 1udges social 3henomena consciously or unconsciously&
nai0ely or subtly& consistently from the stand3oint of the indi0idual( J1K ,o 3ath leads
from the indi0idual to the totality> there is at best a road leading to as3ects of 3articular
areas& mere fragments for the most 3art& ?facts@ bare of any conte4t& or to abstract& s3ecial
la2s( The totality of an ob1ect can only be 3osited if the 3ositing sub1ect is itself a totality>
and if the sub1ect 2ishes to understand itself& it must concei0e of the ob1ect as a totality(
:n modern society only the classes can re3resent this total 3oint of 0ie2( -y tackling
e0ery 3roblem from this angle& abo0e all in Ca3ital& Mar4 su33lied a correcti0e to !egel
2ho still 2a0ered bet2een the Hgreat indi0idual and the abstract s3irit of the 3eo3le(I
;lthough his successors understood him e0en less 2ell here than on the issue of
?idealism@ 0ersus ?materialism@ this correcti0e 3ro0ed e0en more salutary and decisi0e(
Classical economics and abo0e all its 0ulgarisers ha0e al2ays considered the
de0elo3ment of ca3italism from the 3oint of 0ie2 of the indi0idual ca3italist( This
in0ol0ed them in a series of insoluble contradictions and 3seudo*3roblems(
Mar4@s Ca3ital re3resents a radical break 2ith this 3rocedure( ,ot that he acts the 3art of
an agitator 2ho treats e0ery as3ect e4clusi0ely from the 3roletarian stand3oint( "uch a
one*sided a33roach 2ould only result in a ne2 0ulgar economics 2ith 3lus and minus
signs re0ersed( !is method is to consider the 3roblems of the 2hole of ca3italist society
as 3roblems of the classes constituting it& the classes being regarded as totalities( My aim
in this essay is to 3oint to methodological 3roblems and so it is not 3ossible to sho2 here
ho2 Mar4@s method thro2s a com3letely ne2 light on a 2hole series of 3roblems& ho2
ne2 3roblems emerge 2hich classical economics 2as unable e0en to glim3se& let alone
sol0e& and ho2 many of their 3seudo*3roblems dissol0e into thin air( My aim here is to
elucidate as clearly as 3ossible the t2o 3remises of a genuine a33lication of the
dialectical method as o33osed to the fri0olous use made of it by !egel@s traditionalist
successors( These 3remises are the need to 3ostulate a totality firstly as a 3osited ob1ect
and then as a 3ositing sub1ect(
+
Rosa Lu4emburg@s ma1or 2ork The ;ccumulation of Ca3ital takes u3 the 3roblem at this
1uncture after decades of 0ulgarised Mar4ism( The tri0ialisation of Mar4ism and its
deflection into a bourgeois ?science@ 2as e43ressed first& most clearly and frankly in
-ernstein@s Premises of "ocialism( :t is anything but an accident that the cha3ter in this
book 2hich begins 2ith an onslaught on the dialectical method in the name of e4act
?science@ should end by branding Mar4 as a -lan6uist( :t is no accident because the
moment you abandon the 3oint of 0ie2 of totality& you must also 1ettison the starting*
3oint and the goal& the assum3tions and the re6uirements of the dialectical method(
)hen this ha33ens re0olution 2ill be understood not as 3art of a 3rocess but as an
isolated act cut off from the general course of e0ents( :f that is so it must ine0itably seem
as if the re0olutionary as3ects of Mar4 are really 1ust a rela3se into the 3rimiti0e 3eriod
of the 2orkers@ mo0ement& i(e( -lan6uism( The 2hole system of Mar4ism stands and falls
2ith the 3rinci3le that re0olution is the 3roduct of a 3oint of 0ie2 in 2hich the category
of totality is dominant( /0en in its o33ortunism -ernstein@s criticism is much too
o33ortunistic for all the im3lications of this 3osition to emerge clearly(J+K
-ut e0en though the o33ortunists sought abo0e all to eradicate the notion of the
dialectical course of history from Mar4ism& they could not e0ade its ineluctable
conse6uences( The economic de0elo3ment of the im3erialist age had made it
3rogressi0ely more difficult to belie0e in their 3seudo*attacks on the ca3italist system
and in the ?scientific@ analysis of isolated 3henomena in the name of the ?ob1ecti0e and
e4act sciences@( :t 2as not enough to declare a 3olitical commitment for or against
ca3italism( 9ne had to declare one@s theoretical commitment also( 9ne had to choose
9
either to regard the 2hole history of society from a Mar4ist 3oint of 0ie2& i(e( as a totality&
and hence to come to gri3s 2ith the 3henomenon of im3erialism in theory and 3ractice(
9r else to e0ade this confrontation by confining oneself to the analysis of isolated as3ects
in one or other of the s3ecial disci3lines( The attitude that ins3ires monogra3hs is the
best 2ay to 3lace a screen before the 3roblem the 0ery sight of 2hich strikes terror into
the heart of a "ocial*Lemocratic mo0ement turned o33ortunist( -y disco0ering ?e4act@
descri3tions for isolated areas and ?eternally 0alid la2s@ for s3ecific cases they ha0e
blurred the differences se3arating im3erialism from the 3receding age( They found
themsel0es in a ca3italist society ?in general@ 8 and its e4istence seemed to them to
corres3ond to the nature of human reason& and the ?la2s of nature@ e0ery bit as much as
it had seemed to Ricardo and his successors& the bourgeois 0ulgar economists(
:t 2ould be un*Mar4ist and undialectical to ask 2hether this theoretical rela3se into the
methodology of 0ulgar economics 2as the cause or the effect of this 3ragmatic
o33ortunism( :n the eyes of historical materialism the t2o tendencies belong together
they constitute the social ambience of "ocial Lemocracy before the )ar( The theoretical
conflicts in Rosa Lu4emburg@s ;ccumulation of Ca3ital can be understood only 2ithin
that milieu(
The debate as conducted by -auer& /ckstein and Co( did not turn on the truth or falsity of
the solution Rosa Lu4emburg 3ro3osed to the 3roblem of the accumulation of ca3ital( 9n
the contrary& discussion centred on 2hether there 2as a real 3roblem at all and in the
e0ent its e4istence 2as denied flatly and 2ith the utmost 0ehemence( "een from the
stand3oint of 0ulgar economics this is 6uite understandable& and e0en ine0itable( For if it
is treated as an isolated 3roblem in economics and from the 3oint of 0ie2 of the
indi0idual ca3italist it is easy to argue that no real 3roblem e4ists(JFK
Logically enough the critics 2ho dismissed the 2hole 3roblem also ignored the decisi0e
cha3ter of her book 5HThe historical determinants of ;ccumulationI7( This can be seen
from the 2ay they formulated their key 6uestion( The 6uestion they 3osed 2as this
Mar4@s formulae 2ere arri0ed at on the basis of a hy3othetical society 53osited for
reasons of method7 2hich consisted only of ca3italists and 2orkers( )ere these formulae
correct= !o2 2ere they to be inter3reted= The critics com3letely o0erlooked the fact that
Mar4 3osited this society for the sake of argument& i(e( to see the 3roblem more clearly&
before 3ressing for2ard to the larger 6uestion of the 3lace of this 3roblem 2ithin society
as a 2hole( They o0erlooked the fact that Mar4 himself took this ste3 2ith reference to
so*called 3rimiti0e accumulation& in Molume : of Ca3ital( Consciously or unconsciously
they su33ressed the fact that on this issue Ca3ital is an incom3lete fragment 2hich sto3s
short at the 3oint 2here this 3roblem should be o3ened u3( :n this sense 2hat Rosa
Lu4emburg has done is 3recisely to take u3 the thread 2here Mar4 left off and to sol0e
the 3roblem in his s3irit(
-y ignoring these factors the o33ortunists acted 6uite consistently( The 3roblem is
indeed su3erfluous from the stand3oint of the indi0idual ca3italist and 0ulgar
economics( ;s far as the former is concerned& economic reality has the a33earance of a
2orld go0erned by the eternal la2s of nature& la2s to 2hich he has to ad1ust his acti0ities(
For him the 3roduction of sur3lus 0alue 0ery often 5though not al2ays& it is true7 takes
the form of an e4change 2ith other indi0idual ca3italists( ;nd the 2hole 3roblem of
accumulation resol0es itself into a 6uestion of the manifold 3ermutations of the formulae
M*C*M and C*M*C in the course of 3roduction and circulation& etc( :t thus becomes an
isolated 6uestion for the 0ulgar economists& a 6uestion unconnected 2ith the ultimate
fate of ca3italism as a 2hole( The solution to the 3roblem is officially guaranteed by the
Mar4ist ?formulae@ 2hich are correct in themsel0es and need only to be ?brought u3 to
date@ 8 a task 3erformed e(g( by 9tto -auer( !o2e0er& 2e must insist that economic
reality can ne0er be understood solely on the basis of these formulae because they are
10
based on an abstraction 50i#( the 2orking hy3othesis that society consists only of
ca3italists and 2orkers7( !ence they can ser0e only for clarification and as a s3ringboard
for an assault on the real 3roblem( -auer and his confreres misunderstood this 1ust as
surely as the disci3les of Ricardo misunderstood the 3roblematics of Mar4 in their day(
The ;ccumulation of Ca3ital takes u3 again the methods and 6uestions 3osed by the
young Mar4 in The Po0erty of Philoso3hy( :n that 2ork Mar4 had sub1ected to scrutiny
the historical conditions that had made Ricardo@s economics 3ossible and 0iable(
"imilarly& Rosa Lu4emburg a33lied the same method to the incom3lete analyses in
Molumes + and F of Ca3ital( ;s the ideological re3resentati0es of ca3italism in the
ascendant& bourgeois economists 2ere forced to identify the ?La2s of ,ature@ disco0ered
by ;dam "mith and Ricardo 2ith the e4isting social order so as to be able to see
ca3italist society as the only form of society corres3onding to the reason and the nature
of man( Like2ise here "ocial Lemocracy 2as the ideological e43onent of a 2orkers@
aristocracy turned 3etty bourgeois( :t had a definite interest in the im3erialist
e43loitation of the 2hole 2orld in the last 3hase of ca3italism but sought to e0ade its
ine0itable fate the )orld )ar( :t 2as com3elled to construe the e0olution of society as if
it 2ere 3ossible for ca3italist accumulation to o3erate in the rarified atmos3here of
mathematical formulae& i(e( un3roblematically and 2ithout a )orld )ar( :n the u3shot&
their 3olitical insight and foresight com3ared 0ery unfa0ourably 2ith that of the great
bourgeois and ca3italist classes 2ith their interest in im3erialist e43loitation together
2ith its militarist conse6uences( !o2e0er& it did enable them e0en then to take u3 their
3resent theoretical 3osition as guardians of the e0erlasting ca3italist economic order>
guardians against the fated catastro3hic conse6uences to2ards 2hich the true e43onents
of ca3italist im3erialism 2ere drifting 2ith o3en but unseeing eyes(
For a ca3italist class in the ascendant the identification of Ricardo@s ?La2s of ,ature@
2ith the e4isting social order had re3resented a means of ideological self*defence(
Like2ise here& the inter3retation of Mar4 current in the ;ustrian school and es3ecially
its identification of Mar4@s abstractions 2ith the totality of society re3resents a ?rational@
means of self*defence for a ca3italism in decline( ;nd 1ust as the young Mar4@s conce3t of
totality cast a bright light u3on the 3athological sym3toms of a still*flourishing
ca3italism& so too in the studies of Rosa Lu4emburg 2e find the basic 3roblems of
ca3italism analysed 2ithin the conte4t of the historical 3rocess as a 2hole and in her
2ork 2e see ho2 the last flo2ering of ca3italism is transformed into a ghastly dance of
death& into the ine4orable march of 9edi3us to his doom(
F
Rosa Lu4emburg de0oted a 2hole 3am3hlet 52hich 2as 3ublished 3osthumously7
e4clusi0ely to the refutation of ?Mar4ist@ 0ulgar economics( -oth its a33roach and its
method make it a33ear as a kind of natural a33endage to the end of "ection :: of The
;ccumulation of Ca3ital 2here it 2ould take its 3lace as the fourth round in her
treatment of this crucial 3roblem of ca3italist de0elo3ment( Characteristically& the larger
3art of it is concerned 2ith historical analysis( -y this : mean more than the Mar4ian
analysis of sim3le and e43anded re3roduction 2hich forms the starting*3oint of the
2hole study and the 3relude to the conclusi0e solution of this 3roblem( ;t the core of the
2ork is 2hat 2e can describe as the literary*historical e4amination of the great debates
of the 6uestion of accumulation the debate bet2een "ismondi and Ricardo and his
school> bet2een Rodbertus and Circhmann> bet2een the ,arodniki and the Russian
Mar4ists(
The ado3tion of this a33roach does not 3lace her outside the Mar4ist tradition( 9n the
contrary& it im3lies a return to the 3ristine and unsullied traditions of Mar4ism to
Mar4@s o2n method( For his first& mature& com3lete and conclusi0e 2ork& The Po0erty of
Philoso3hy& refutes Proudhon by reaching back to the true sources of his 0ie2s& to
11
Ricardo and !egel( !is analysis of 2here& ho2& and abo0e all& 2hy Proudhon had to
misunderstand !egel is the source of light that relentlessly e43oses Proudhon@s self*
contradictions( :t goes e0en further& and illuminates the dark 3laces& unkno2n to
Proudhon himself& from 2hich these errors s3ring the class relations of 2hich his 0ie2s
are the theoretical e43ression( For as Mar4 says& Heconomic categories are nothing but
the theoretical e43ressions& the abstractions of the social relations of 3roduction(I JNK :t
is true that in his 3rinci3al theoretical 2orks he 2as 3re0ented by the sco3e and 2ealth
of the indi0idual 3roblems treated from em3loying a historical a33roach( -ut this should
not obscure the essential similarity in his a33roach( Ca3ital and The Theories of "ur3lus
Malue are in essence a single 2ork 2hose internal structure 3oints to the solution of the
3roblem so brilliantly sketched in broad outline in The Po0erty of Philoso3hy(
The 6uestion of the internal structuring of the 3roblem leads us back to the central issue
confronting the dialectical method to the right understanding of the dominant 3osition
held by the conce3t of totality and hence to the 3hiloso3hy of !egel( 9n this essential
3oint Mar4 ne0er abandoned !egel@s 3hiloso3hical method( ;nd this 2as at all times 8
and most con0incingly in The Phenomenology of Mind 8 both the history of 3hiloso3hy
and the 3hiloso3hy of history( For the !egelian 8 dialectical 8 identification of thought
and e4istence& the belief in their unity as the unity and totality of a 3rocess is also& in
essence& the 3hiloso3hy of history of historical materialism(
/0en Mar4@s materialist 3olemic against the ?ideological@ 0ie2 of history is aimed more at
!egel@s follo2ers than at the master himself& 2ho on this 3oint stood much closer to
Mar4 than Mar4 may himself ha0e realised from his 3osition in the thick of the struggle
against the fossilised ?idealisation@ of the dialectical method( For the ?absolute@ idealism
of !egel@s follo2ers im3lies the dissolution of the original system>JOK it im3lies the
di0orce of dialectics from the li0ing stuff of history and this means ultimately the
disru3tion of the dialectical unity of thought and e4istence( :n the dogmatic materialism
of Mar4@s e3igones 2e find a re3etition of the 3rocess dissol0ing the concrete totality of
historical reality( ;nd e0en if their method does not degenerate into the em3ty abstract
schemata of !egel@s disci3les& it does harden into a 0ulgar economics and a mechanical
3reoccu3ation 2ith s3ecialised sciences( :f the 3urely ideological constructions of the
!egelians 3ro0ed une6ual to the task of understanding historical e0ents& the Mar4ists
ha0e re0ealed a com3arable inability to understand either the connections of the so*
called ?ideological@ forms of society and their economic base or the economy itself as a
totality and as social reality(
)hate0er the sub1ect of debate& the dialectical method is concerned al2ays 2ith the same
3roblem kno2ledge of the historical 3rocess in its entirety( This means that ?ideological@
and ?economic@ 3roblems lose their mutual e4clusi0eness and merge into one
another( The history of a 3articular 3roblem turns into the history of 3roblems( The
literary or scientific e43osition of a 3roblem a33ears as the e43ression of a social 2hole&
of its 3ossibilities& limits and 3roblems( The a33roach of literary history is the one best
suited to the 3roblems of history( The history of 3hiloso3hy becomes the 3hiloso3hy of
history(
:t is therefore no accident that the t2o fundamental studies 2hich inaugurate the
theoretical rebirth of Mar4ism& Rosa Lu4emburg@s The ;ccumulation of Ca3ital and
Lenin@s"tate and Re0olution& both use the a33roach ado3ted by the young Mar4( To
ensure that the 3roblems under consideration 2ill arise before us dialectically& they
3ro0ide 2hat is substantially a literary*historical account of their genesis( They analyse
the changes and re0ersals in the 0ie2s leading u3 to the 3roblem as it 3resents itself to
them( They focus u3on e0ery stage of intellectual clarification or confusion and 3lace it in
the historical conte4t conditioning it and resulting from it( This enables them to e0oke
2ith un3aralleled 0i0idness the historical 3rocess of 2hich their o2n a33roach and their
12
o2n solutions are the culmination( This method has absolutely nothing in common 2ith
the tradition in bourgeois science 5to 2hich social*democratic theoreticians also belong7
of Htaking the achie0ements of their forerunners into accountI( For there the distinction
dra2n bet2een theory and history& and the lack of reci3rocity bet2een the se3arate
disci3lines leads to the disa33earance of the 3roblem of totality in the interests of greater
s3ecialisation( ;s a result& the history of a 3roblem becomes mere theoretical and literary
ballast( :t is of interest only to the e43erts 2ho inflate it to the 3oint 2here it obscures the
real 3roblems and fosters mindless s3ecialisation(
Re0i0ing the literary and methodological traditions of Mar4 and !egel& Lenin con0erts
the history of his 3roblem to an inner history of the /uro3ean re0olutions of the
nineteenth century> and the literary*historical a33roach of Rosa Lu4emburg gro2s into a
history of the struggles of the ca3italist system to sur0i0e and e43and( The struggle 2as
triggered off by the great crises of 1P1O and 1P1P'19& the first great shocks sustained by a
ca3italism that 2as gro2ing but 2as as yet unde0elo3ed( The debate 2as introduced by
"ismondi@s,ou0eau4 Princi3es dGQconomie Politi6ue( Les3ite his reactionary 3ur3ose
his 2ork gi0es us our first insight into the dilemmas of ca3italism( :deologically& this
unde0elo3ed form of ca3italism has recourse to attitudes as one*sided and 2rong*
headed as those of its o33onents( )hile as a reactionary sce3tic "ismondi deduces from
the e4istence of crises the im3ossibility of accumulation the ad0ocates of the ne2 system
of 3roduction& their o3timism unim3aired& deny that crises are ine0itable and that there
is in fact any dilemma at all(
:f 2e look at the 3roblem no2 2e see that the social distribution of the 6uestioners and
the social significance of their ans2ers has no2 been com3letely in0erted( The 3resent
theme 8 e0en though it has not recei0ed the recognition it deser0es 8 is the fate of the
re0olution and the doom of ca3italism( The Mar4ist diagnosis has had a decisi0e im3act
on this change and this is itself sym3tomatic of the 2ay in 2hich the ideological
leadershi3 is sli33ing from the hands of the bourgeoisie( For 2hile the 3etty bourgeois
nature of the ,arodniki sho2s itself blatantly in their theory& it is interesting to obser0e
ho2 the Russian ?Mar4ists@ are de0elo3ing more and more strongly into the ideological
cham3ions of ca3italism( They 0ie2 the 3ros3ects of the gro2th of ca3italism in terms
that sho2 them to the 2orthy heirs to "ay and MacCulloch( H)ithout doubt the ?legal@
Russian Mar4ists ha0e gained a 0ictoryI& Rosa Lu4emburg states&JDK Ho0er their enemies&
the Po3ulists> but their 0ictory goes too far( ((( The 6uestion is 2hether ca3italism in
general and Russian ca3italism in 3articular is ca3able of gro2th and these Mar4ists
ha0e demonstrated this ca3ability so thoroughly that in theory they ha0e 3ro0ed that it is
3ossible for ca3italism to last for e0er( :t is e0ident that if the limitless accumulation of
ca3ital can be assumed& then the limitless 0iability of ca3italism must follo2 (((( :f the
ca3italist mode of 3roduction can ensure the unlimited increase in the forces of
3roduction and hence of economic 3rogress& it 2ill be in0incible(I
;t this 3oint the fourth and last round in the contro0ersy about accumulation begins> it
is the 3assage of arms bet2een 9tto -auer and Rosa Lu4emburg( The 6uestion of social
o3timism has no2 shifted( :n Rosa Lu4emburg@s hands the doubts about the 3ossibility
of accumulation shed their absolute form( The 3roblem becomes the historical one of
theconditions of accumulation and thus it becomes certain that unlimited accumulation
is not 3ossible( Placed into its total social conte4t accumulation becomes dialectical( :t
then s2ells into the dialectics of the 2hole ca3italist system( ;s Rosa Lu4emburg 3uts it
J.K HThe moment the Mar4ian scheme of e43anded re3roduction corres3onds to reality it
3oints to the end& the historical limits of the mo0ement of accumulation and there2ith to
the end of ca3italist 3roduction( :f accumulation is im3ossible then further gro2th in the
forces of 3roduction is im3ossible too( ;nd this means that the destruction of ca3italism
becomes an ob1ecti0e historical necessity( From this there follo2 the contradictory
13
mo0ements of the last& im3erialist 3hase& 2hich is the terminal 3hase in the historical
career of ca3ital(I ;s doubt de0elo3s into certainty the 3etty*bourgeois and reactionary
elements disa33ear 2ithout a trace doubt turns to o3timism and to the theoretical
certainty of the coming social re0olution(
Through a com3arable shift the o33osed 0ie2& the faith in limitless accumulation is
assailed by doubts& hesitations and 3etty bourgeois 0acillations( 9tto -auer embraces
this faith but 2ith a marked falling off from the sunny& untroubled o3timism of "ay or
Tugan*-arano0sky( -auer and his associates 2ork 2ith a Mar4ist terminology& but their
theory is essentially that of Proudhon( :n the last analysis their attem3ts to sol0e the
3roblem of accumulation& or rather their attem3ts to deny its e4istence& come to no more
than Proudhon@s endea0ours to 3reser0e the ?good sides@ of ca3italism 2hile a0oiding the
?bad sides@(JPK !o2e0er& to recognise the e4istence of the 3roblem of accumulation is to
3ercei0e that these ?bad sides@ are an integral 3art of ca3italism> and this in turn is to
concede that im3erialism& 2orld 2ar and 2orld re0olution are necessary factors in its
e0olution( -ut to admit this is not in the immediate interests of the classes 2hom the
Centre Mar4ists ha0e come to re3resent and 2ho 2ish to belie0e in an ad0anced
ca3italism 2ithout any im3erialist ?e4crescences@& and a ?2ell*regulated@ 3roduction free
of the ?disru3tions@ of 2ar( ;ccording to Rosa Lu4emburg&J9K Hthe essence of this 3osition
is the attem3t to 3ersuade the bourgeoisie that im3erialism and militarism are damaging
to itself e0en from the 3oint of 0ie2 of their o2n ca3italist interests( :t is ho3ed that by
this manoeu0re the alleged handful of 3eo3le 2ho 3rofit from im3erialism 2ill be
isolated and that it 2ill be 3ossible to form a bloc consisting of the 3roletariat together
2ith large sections of the bourgeoisie( This bloc 2ill then be able to ?tame@ im3erialism
and ?remo0e its sting@R Liberalism in decline directs its a33eal a2ay from the badly
informed monarchy and to2ards a monarchy that is to be better informed( :n the same
2ay the ?Mar4ist Centre@ a33eals o0er the heads of a misguided bourgeoisie to one 2hich
is to be better instructed( (((I
-auer and his colleagues ha0e made both an economic and ideological submission to
ca3italism( Their ca3itulation comes to the surface in their economic fatalism& in the
belief that ca3italism is as immortal as the ?la2s of nature@( -ut as genuine 3etty
bourgeois they are the ideological and economic a33endages of ca3italism( Their 2ish to
see a ca3italism 2ithout any ?bad sides@ and 2ithout ?e4crescences@ means that their
o33osition to ca3italism is the ty3ically ethical o33osition of the 3etty bourgeoisie(
N
/conomic fatalism and the reformation of socialism through ethics are intimately
connected( :t is no accident that they rea33ear in similar form in -ernstein& Tugan*
-arano0sky and 9tto -auer( This is not merely the result of the need to seek and find a
sub1ecti0e substitute for the ob1ecti0e 3ath to re0olution that they themsel0es ha0e
blocked( :t is the logical conse6uence of the 0ulgar*economic 3oint of 0ie2 and of
methodological indi0idualism( The ?ethical@ reformation of socialism is the sub1ecti0e
side of the missing category of totality 2hich alone can 3ro0ide an o0erall 0ie2( For the
indi0idual& 2hether ca3italist or 3roletarian& his en0ironment& his social milieu
5including ,ature 2hich is the theoretical reflection and 3ro1ection of that milieu7 must
a33ear the ser0ant of a brutal and senseless fate 2hich is eternally alien to him( This
2orld can only be understood by means of a theory 2hich 3ostulates ?eternal la2s of
nature@( "uch a theory endo2s the 2orld 2ith a rationality alien to man and human
action can neither 3enetrate nor influence the 2orld if man takes u3 a 3urely
contem3lati0e and fatalistic stance(
)ithin such a 2orld only t2o 3ossible modes of action commend themsel0es and they
are both a33arent rather than real 2ays of acti0ely changing the 2orld( Firstly& there is
the e43loitation for 3articular human ends 5as in technology& for e4am3le7 of the
14
fatalistically acce3ted and immutable la2s 2hich are seen in the manner 2e ha0e already
described( "econdly& there is action directed 2holly in2ards( This is the attem3t to
change the 2orld at its only remaining free 3oint& namely man himself 5ethics7( -ut as
the 2orld becomes mechanised its sub1ect& man& necessarily becomes mechanised too
and so this ethics like2ise remains abstract( Confronted by the totality of man in
isolation from the 2orld it remains merely normati0e and fails to be truly acti0e in its
creation of ob1ects( :t is only 3rescri3ti0e and im3erati0e in character( The logical ne4us
bet2een Cant@s Criti6ue of Pure Reasonand his Criti6ue of Practical Reason is cogent
and inesca3able( ;nd e0ery ?Mar4ist@ student of socio*economic realities 2ho abandons
the method of !egel and Mar4& i(e( the study of the historical 3rocess from a total 3oint
of 0ie2 and 2ho substitutes for it a ?critical@ method 2hich seeks unhistorical ?la2s@ in the
s3ecial sciences 2ill be forced to return to the abstract ethical im3erati0es of the Cantian
school as soon as the 6uestion of action becomes imminent(
For the destruction of a totalising 3oint of 0ie2 disru3ts the unity of theory and
3ractice( ;ction& 3ra4is 8 2hich Mar4 demanded before all else in his Theses on
Feuerbach 8 is in essence the 3enetration and transformation of reality( -ut reality can
only be understood and 3enetrated as a totality& and only a sub1ect 2hich is itself a
totality is ca3able of this 3enetration( :t 2as not for nothing that the young !egel erected
his 3hiloso3hy u3on the 3rinci3le that Htruth must be understood and e43ressed not
merely as substance& but also as sub1ect(IJ1BK )ith this he e43osed the dee3est error and
the ultimate limitation of Classical German 3hiloso3hy( !o2e0er& his o2n 3hiloso3hy
failed to li0e u3 to this 3rece3t and for much of the time it remained enmeshed in the
same snares as those of his 3redecessors(
:t 2as left to Mar4 to make the concrete disco0ery of ?truth as the sub1ect@ and hence to
establish the unity of theory and 3ractice( This he achie0ed by focusing the kno2n
totality u3on the reality of the historical 3rocess and by confining it to this( -y this
means he determined both the kno2able totality and the totality to be kno2n( The
scientific su3eriority of the stand3oint of class 5as against that of the indi0idual7 has
become clear from the foregoing( ,o2 2e see the reason for this su3eriority only the
class can acti0ely 3enetrate the reality of society and transform it in its entirety( For this
reason& ?criticism@ ad0anced from the stand3oint of class is criticism from a total 3oint of
0ie2 and hence it 3ro0ides the dialectical unity of theory and 3ractice( :n dialectical unity
it is at once cause and effect& mirror and motor of the historical and dialectical 3rocess(
The 3roletariat as the sub1ect of thought in society destroys at one blo2 the dilemma of
im3otence the dilemma created by the 3ure la2s 2ith their fatalism and by the ethics of
3ure intentions(
Thus for Mar4ism the kno2ledge that ca3italism is historically conditioned 5the 3roblem
of accumulation7 becomes crucial( The reason for this is that only this kno2ledge& only
the unity of theory and 3ractice 3ro0ide a real basis for social re0olution and the total
transformation of society( 9nly 2hen this kno2ledge can be seen as the 3roduct of this
3rocess can 2e close the circle of the dialectical method 8 and this analysis& too& stems
from !egel(
;s early as her first 3olemics 2ith -ernstein& Rosa Lu4emburg lays em3hasis on this
essential distinction bet2een the total and the 3artial& the dialectical and the mechanical
0ie2 of history 52hether it be o33ortunistic or terrorist7( H!ere lies the chief difference&I
she e43lains&I Hbet2een the -lan6uist cou3s dG%tat of a ?resolute minority@ 2hich al2ays
e43lode like 3istol*shots and as a result al2ays come at the 2rong moment& and the
con6uest of the real 3o2er of a state by the broad& class*conscious mass of the 3eo3le
2hich itself can only be the 3roduct of the inci3ient colla3se of bourgeois society and
2hich therefore bears in itself the economic and 3olitical legitimation of its timely
a33earance(I ;nd in her last 2orkJ1+Kshe 2rites in a similar 0ein HThe ob1ecti0e
15
tendency of ca3italism to2ards that goal suffices to aggra0ate the social and 3olitical
conflicts 2ithin society to such an e4tent and so much earlier than 2as e43ected& that
they must bring about the demise of the ruling system( -ut these social and 3olitical
conflicts are themsel0es ultimately only the 3roduct of the economicinstability of the
ca3italist system( Their increasing gra0ity s3rings from this source in e4act 3ro3ortion as
that instability becomes acute(I
The 3roletariat is& then& at one and the same time the 3roduct of the 3ermanent crisis in
ca3italism and the instrument of those tendencies 2hich dri0e ca3italism to2ards crisis(
:n Mar4@s 2ords HThe 3roletariat carries out the sentence 2hich 3ri0ate 3ro3erty 3asses
u3on itself by its creation of a 3roletariat(SJ1FK -y recognising its situation it acts( -y
combating ca3italism it disco0ers its o2n 3lace in society(
-ut the class consciousness of the 3roletariat& the truth of the 3rocess ?as sub1ect@ is itself
far from stable and constant> it does not ad0ance according to mechanical ?la2s@( :t is the
consciousness of the dialectical 3rocess itself it is like2ise a dialectical conce3t( For the
acti0e and 3ractical side of class consciousness& its true essence& can only become 0isible
in its authentic form 2hen the historical 3rocess im3eriously re6uires it to come into
force& i(e( 2hen an acute crisis in the economy dri0es it to action( ;t other times it
remains theoretical and latent& corres3onding to the latent and 3ermanent crisis of
ca3italismJ1NK it confronts the indi0idual 6uestions and conflicts of the day 2ith its
demands& as ?mere@ consciousness& as an ?ideal sum@& in Rosa Lu4emburg@s 3hrase(
Mar4 had understood and described the 3roletariat@s struggle for freedom in terms of the
dialectical unity of theory and 3ractice( This im3lied that consciousness cannot e4ist on
its o2n either as ?3ure@ theory& or as a sim3le 3ostulate& a sim3le im3erati0e or norm of
action( The 3ostulate& too& must ha0e a reality( That is to say& the moment 2hen the class
consciousness of the 3roletariat begins to articulate its demands& 2hen it is ?latent and
theoretical@& must also be the moment 2hen it creates a corres3onding reality 2hich 2ill
inter0ene acti0ely in the total 3rocess(
The form taken by the class consciousness of the 3roletariat is the Party( Rosa
Lu4emburg had gras3ed the s3ontaneous nature of re0olutionary mass actions earlier
and more clearly than many others( 5)hat she did& incidentally& 2as to em3hasise
another as3ect of the thesis ad0anced earlier that these actions are the necessary
3roduct of the economic 3rocess(7 :t is no accident& therefore& that she 2as also 6uicker
to gras3 the role of the 3arty in the re0olution(J1OK For the mechanical 0ulgarisers the
3arty 2as merely a form of organisation 8 and the mass mo0ement& the re0olution& 2as
like2ise no more than a 3roblem of organisation(
Rosa Lu4emburg 3ercei0ed at a 0ery early stage that the organisation is much more likely
to be the effect than the cause of the re0olutionary 3rocess& 1ust as the 3roletariat can
constitute itself as a class only in and through re0olution( :n this 3rocess 2hich it can
neither 3ro0oke nor esca3e& the Party is assigned the sublime role of bearer of the class
consciousness of the 3roletariat and the conscience of its historical 0ocation( The
su3erficially more acti0e and ?more realistic@ 0ie2 allocates to the 3arty tasks concerned
3redominantly or e0en e4clusi0ely 2ith organisation( "uch a 0ie2 is then reduced to an
unrelie0ed fatalism 2hen confronted 2ith the realities of re0olution& 2hereas Rosa
Lu4emburg@s analysis becomes the fount of true re0olutionary acti0ity( The Party must
ensure that Hin e0ery 3hase and e0ery as3ect of the struggle the total sum of the a0ailable
3o2er of the 3roletariat that has already been unleashed should be mobilised and that it
should be e43ressed in the fighting stance of the Party( The tactics of "ocial Lemocracy
should al2ays be more resolute and 0igorous than re6uired by the e4isting 3o2er
relations& and ne0er less(IJ1DK :t Must immerse its o2n truth in the s3ontaneous mass
mo0ement and raise it from the de3ths of economic necessity& 2here it 2as concei0ed& on
to the heights of free& conscious action( :n so doing it 2ill transform itself in the moment
16
of the outbreak of re0olution from a 3arty that makes demands to one that im3oses an
effecti0e reality(
This change from demand to reality becomes the le0er of the truly class*oriented and
truly re0olutionary organisation of the 3roletariat( Cno2ledge becomes action& theory
becomes battle slogan& the masses act in accordance 2ith the slogans and 1oin the ranks
of the organised 0anguard more consciously& more steadfastly and in greater numbers(
The correct slogans gi0e rise organically to the 3remisses and 3ossibilities of e0en the
technical organisation of the fighting 3roletariat(
Class consciousness is the ?ethics@ of the 3roletariat& the unity of its theory and its
3ractice& the 3oint at 2hich the economic necessity of its struggle for liberation changes
dialectically into freedom( -y realising that the 3arty is the historical embodiment and
the acti0e incarnation of class consciousness& 2e see that it is also the incarnation of the
ethics of the fighting 3roletariat( This must determine its 3olitics( :ts 3olitics may not
al2ays accord 2ith the em3irical reality of the moment> at such times its slogans may be
ignored( -ut the ineluctable course of history 2ill gi0e it its due( /0en more& the moral
strength conferred by the correct class consciousness 2ill bear fruit in terms of 3ractical
3olitics(J1.K
The true strength of the 3arty is moral it is fed by the trust of the s3ontaneously
re0olutionary masses 2hom economic conditions ha0e forced into re0olt( :t is nourished
by the feeling that the 3arty is the ob1ectification of their o2n 2ill 5obscure though this
may be to themsel0es7& that it is the 0isible and organised incarnation of their class
consciousness( 9nly 2hen the 3arty has fought for this trust and earned it can it become
the leader of the re0olution( For only then 2ill the masses s3ontaneously and
instincti0ely 3ress for2ard 2ith all their energies to2ards the 3arty and to2ards their
o2n class consciousness(
-y se3arating the inse3arable& the o33ortunists ha0e barred their o2n 3ath to this
kno2ledge& the acti0e self*kno2ledge of the 3roletariat( !ence their leaders s3eak
scornfully& in the authentic tones of the free*thinking 3etty bourgeoisie of the ?religious
faith@ that is said to lie at the roots of -olshe0ism and re0olutionary Mar4ism( The
accusation is a tacit confession of their o2n im3otence( :n 0ain do they disguise their
moth*eaten doubts& by cloaking their negati0ity in the s3lendid mantle of a cool and
ob1ecti0e ?scientific method@( /0ery 2ord and gesture betrays the des3air of the best of
them and the inner em3tiness of the 2orst their com3lete di0orce from the 3roletariat&
from its 3ath and from its 0ocation( )hat they call faith and seek to de3recate by adding
the e3ithet ?religious@ is nothing more nor less than the certainty that ca3italism is
doomed and that 8 ultimately 8 the 3roletariat 2ill be 0ictorious( There can be no
?material@ guarantee of this certitude( :t can be guaranteed methodologically 8 by the
dialectical method( ;nd e0en this must be tested and 3ro0ed by action& by the re0olution
itself& by li0ing and dying for the re0olution( ; Mar4ist 2ho culti0ates the ob1ecti0ity of
the academic study is 1ust as re3rehensible as the man 2ho belie0es that the 0ictory of
the 2orld re0olution can be guaranteed by the ?la2s of nature@(
The unity of theory and 3ractice e4ists not only in theory but also for 3ractice( )e ha0e
seen that the 3roletariat as a class can only con6uer and retain a hold on class
consciousness and raise itself to the le0el of its 8 ob1ecti0ely*gi0en 8 historic task
through conflict and action( :t is like2ise true that the 3arty and the indi0idual fighter
can only really take 3ossession of their theory if they are able to bring this unity into
their 3ra4is( The so*called religious faith is nothing more than the certitude that
regardless of all tem3orary defeats and setbacks& the historical 3rocess 2ill come to
fruition in our deeds and through our deeds(
!ere too the o33ortunists find themsel0es confronted by the dilemma 3osed by
im3otence( They argue that if the Communists foresee ?defeat@ they must either desist
17
from e0ery form of action or else brand themsel0es as unscru3ulous ad0enturers&
catastro3hemongers and terrorists( :n their intellectual and moral degradation they are
sim3ly inca3able of seeing themsel0es and their action as an as3ect of the totality and of
the 3rocess the ?defeat@ as the necessary 3relude to 0ictory(
:t is characteristic of the unity of theory and 3ractice in the life 2ork of Rosa Lu4emburg
that the unity of 0ictory and defeat& indi0idual fate and total 3rocess is the main thread
running through her theory and her life( ;s early as her first 3olemic against -ernstein@s
she argued that the necessarily ?3remature@ sei#ure of 3o2er by the 3roletariat 2as
ine0itable( "he unmasked the resulting o33ortunist fear and lack of faith in re0olution as
H3olitical nonsense 2hich starts from the assum3tion that society 3rogresses
mechanically and 2hich imagines a definite 3oint in time e4ternal to and unconnected
2ith the class struggle in 2hich the class struggle 2ill be 2onI( :t is this clear*sighted
certitude that guides Rosa Lu4emburg in the cam3aign she 2aged for the emanci3ation
of the 3roletariat its economic and 3olitical emanci3ation from 3hysical bondage under
ca3italism& and its ideological emanci3ation from its s3iritual bondage under
o33ortunism( ;s she 2as the great s3iritual leader of the 3roletariat her chief struggles
2ere fought against the latter enemy 8 the more dangerous foe as it 2as harder to defeat(
!er death at the hands of her bitterest enemies& ,oske and "cheidemann& is& logically&
the cro2ning 3innacle of her thought and life( Theoretically she had 3redicted the defeat
of the Eanuary rising years before it took 3lace> tactically she foresa2 it at the moment of
action( Tet she remained consistently on the side of the masses and shared their fate(
That is to say& the unity of theory and 3ractice 2as 3reser0ed in her actions 2ith e4actly
the same consistency and 2ith e4actly the same logic as that 2hich earned her the
enmity of her murderers the o33ortunists of "ocial Lemocracy(
Eanuary 19+1(

Georg Lukacs
!istory U Class Consciousness
::: The "tand3oint of the Proletariat
F
:t could easily a33ear at this 3oint that the 2hole 3rocess is nothing more than the
?ine0itable@ conse6uence of concentrating masses of 2orkers in large factories& of
mechanising and standardising the 3rocesses of 2ork and le0elling do2n the standard of
li0ing( :t is therefore of 0ital im3ortance to see the truth concealed behind this
dece3ti0ely one*sided 3icture( There is no doubt that the factors mentioned abo0e are the
indis3ensable 3recondition for the emergence of the 3roletariat as a class( )ithout them
the 3roletariat 2ould ne0er ha0e become a class and if they had not been continually
intensified 8 by the natural 2orkings of ca3italism 8 it 2ould ne0er ha0e de0elo3ed into
the decisi0e factor in human history(
Les3ite this it can be claimed 2ithout self*contradiction that 2e are not concerned here
2ith an unmediated relation( )hat is unmediated is the fact that& in the 2ords of
theCommunist Manifesto& Hthese labourers& 2ho must sell themsel0es 3iecemeal& are a
commodity& like e0ery other article of commerce(I ;nd the fact that this commodity is
able to become a2are of its e4istence as a commodity does not suffice to eliminate the
3roblem( For the unmediated consciousness of the commodity is& in conformity 2ith the
sim3le form in 2hich it manifests itself& 3recisely an a2areness of abstract isolation and
of the merely abstract relationshi3 8 e4ternal to consciousness 8 to those factors that
create it socially( : do not 2ish to enter here into a discussion of the conflict bet2een the
5immediate7 interests of the indi0idual and the 5mediated7 interests of the class that ha0e
18
been arri0ed at through e43erience and kno2ledge> nor shall : discuss the conflict
bet2een immediate and momentary interests as o33osed to general long*term interests(
:t is self*e0ident that immediacy must be abandoned at this 3oint( :f the attem3t is made
to attribute an immediate form of e4istence to class consciousness& it is not 3ossible to
a0oid la3sing into mythology the result 2ill be a mysterious s3ecies*consciousness 5as
enigmatic as the ?s3irits of the nations@ in !egel7 2hose relation to and im3act u3on the
indi0idual consciousness is 2holly incom3rehensible( :t is then made e0en more
incom3rehensible by a mechanical and naturalistic 3sychology and finally a33ears as a
demiurge go0erning historical mo0ement(JFFK
9n the other hand& the gro2ing class consciousness that has been brought into being
through the a2areness of a common situation and common interests is by no means
confined to the 2orking class( The uni6ue element in its situation is that its sur3assing of
immediacy re3resents an as3iration to2ards society in its totality regardless of 2hether
this as3iration remains conscious or 2hether it remains unconscious for the moment(
This is the reason 2hy its logic does not 3ermit it to remain stationary at a relati0ely
higher stage of immediacy but forces it to 3erse0ere in an uninterru3ted mo0ement
to2ards this totality& i(e( to 3ersist in the dialectical 3rocess by 2hich immediacies are
constantly annulled and transcended( Mar4 recognised this as3ect of 3roletarian class
consciousness 0ery early on( :n his comments on the re0olt of the "ilesian 2ea0ers he
lays em3hasis on its Hconscious and theoretical character(IJFNK !e sees in the ?"ong of
the )ea0ers@ a Hbold battle cry 2hich does not e0en mention the hearth& factory or
district but in 2hich the 3roletariat immediately 3roclaims its o33osition to 3ri0ate
3ro3erty in a forceful& shar3& ruthless and 0iolent manner(I Their action re0ealed their
Hsu3erior natureI for H2hereas e0ery other mo0ement turned initially only against the
industrialist& the 0isible enemy& this one attacked also the hidden enemy& namely the
banker(I
)e 2ould fail to do 1ustice to the theoretical significance of this 0ie2 if 2e 2ere to see in
the attitude that Mar4 8 rightly or 2rongly 8 attributes to the "ilesian 2ea0ers nothing
more than their ability to see further than their noses and to gi0e 2eight to
considerations 2hether s3atial or conce3tual that 2ere rather more remote( For this is
something that can be said in 0arying degrees of almost e0ery class in history( )hat is
crucial is ho2 to inter3ret the connection bet2een these remoter factors and the
structure of the ob1ects immediately rele0ant to action( )e must understand the
im3ortance of this remoteness for the consciousness of those initiating the action and for
its relation to the e4isting state of affairs( ;nd it is here that the differences bet2een the
stand3oints of the bourgeoisie and the 3roletariat are thro2n shar3ly into relief(
:n bourgeois thought these remoter factors are sim3ly incor3orated into the rational
calculation( They are concei0ed of as being similar to the factors that are 2ithin easy
reach and 2hich can be rationalised and 6uantified( The 0ie2 that things as they a33ear
can be accounted for by ?natural la2s@ of society is& according to Mar4& both the high3oint
and the ?insu3erable barrier@ of bourgeois thought( The notion of the la2s of society
undergoes changes in the course of history and this is due to the fact that it originally
re3resented the 3rinci3le of the o0erthro2 of 5feudal7 reality( Later on& 2hile 3reser0ing
the same structure& it became the 3rinci3le for conser0ing 5bourgeois7 reality( !o2e0er&
e0en the initial re0olutionary mo0ement 2as unconscious from a social 3oint of 0ie2(
For the 3roletariat& ho2e0er& this ability to go beyond the immediate in search of the
?remoter@ factors means the transformation of the ob1ecti0e nature of the ob1ects of
action(;t first sight it a33ears as if the more immediate ob1ects are no less sub1ect to this
transformation than the remote ones( :t soon becomes a33arent& ho2e0er& that in their
case the transformation is e0en more 0isible and striking( For the change lies on the one
hand in the 3ractical interaction of the a2akening consciousness and the ob1ects from
19
2hich it is born and of 2hich it is the consciousness( ;nd on the other hand& the change
means that the ob1ects that are 0ie2ed here as as3ects of the de0elo3ment of society& i(e(
of the dialectical totality& become fluid they become 3arts of a 3rocess( ;nd as the
innermost kernel of this mo0ement is 3ra4is& its 3oint of de3arture is of necessity that of
action> it holds the immediate ob1ects of action firmly and decisi0ely in its gri3 so as to
bring about their total& structural transformation and thus the mo0ement of the 2hole
gets under 2ay(
The category of totality begins to ha0e an effect long before the 2hole multi3licity of
ob1ects can be illuminated by it( :t o3erates by ensuring that actions 2hich seem to
confine themsel0es to 3articular ob1ects& in both content and consciousness& yet 3reser0e
an as3iration to2ards the totality& that is to say action is directed ob1ecti0ely to2ards a
transformation of totality( )e 3ointed out earlier in the conte4t of a 3urely
methodological discussion& that the 0arious as3ects and elements of the dialectical
method contain the structure of the 2hole> 2e see the same thing here in a more
concrete form& a form more closely orientated to2ards action( ;s history is essentially
dialectical& this 0ie2 of the 2ay reality changes can be confirmed at e0ery decisi0e
moment of transition( Long before men become conscious of the decline of a 3articular
economic system and the social and 1uridical forms associated 2ith it& its contradictions
are fully re0ealed in the ob1ects of its day*to*day actions(
)hen& for e4am3le& the theory and 3ractice of tragedy from ;ristotle to the age of
Corneille& regard family conflicts as 3ro0iding the most fruitful sub1ect*matter for
tragedy& 2e glim3se lying behind this 0ie2 8 ignoring its technical merits such as
concentration 8 the feeling that the great changes in society are being re0ealed here 2ith
a sensuous& 3ractical 0i0idness( This enables their contours to be dra2n clearly 2hereas
it is sub1ecti0ely and ob1ecti0ely im3ossible to gras3 their essence& to understand their
origins and their 3lace in the 2hole 3rocess( Thus an ;eschylusJFOK or a "hakes3eare
dra2 3ictures of family life that 3ro0ide us 2ith such 3enetrating and authentic 3ortraits
of the social u3hea0als of their age that it is only no2& 2ith the aid of historical
materialism& that it has become at all 3ossible for theory to do 1ustice to these artistic
insights(
The 3lace in society and hence the 0ie23oint of the 3roletariat goes further than the
e4am3le 1ust cited in one 0ital 6ualitati0e 2ay( The uni6ueness of ca3italism is to be seen
3recisely in its abolition of all ?natural barriers@ and its transformation of all relations
bet2een human beings into 3urely social relations(JFDK -ourgeois thought& ho2e0er&
remains enmeshed in fetishistic categories and in conse6uence the 3roducts of human
relations become ossified& 2ith the result that such thought trails behind ob1ecti0e
de0elo3ments( The abstract& rational categories of reflection 2hich constitute the
ob1ecti0ely immediate e43ression of this 8 the first 8 socialisation of the 2hole of human
society& a33ear in the eyes of the bourgeoisie as something ultimate and indestructible(
5For this reason bourgeois thought remains al2ays in an unmediated relation to such
categories(7 The 3roletariat& ho2e0er& stands at the focal 3oint of this socialising 3rocess(
9n the one hand& this transformation of labour into a commodity remo0es e0ery ?human@
element from the immediate e4istence of the 3roletariat& on the other hand the same
de0elo3ment 3rogressi0ely eliminates e0erything ?organic@& e0ery direct link 2ith nature
from the forms of society so that socialised man can stand re0ealed in an ob1ecti0ity
remote from or e0en o33osed to humanity( :t is 1ust in this ob1ectification& in this
rationalisation and reification of all social forms that 2e see clearly for the first time ho2
society is constructed from the relations of men 2ith each other(
-ut 2e can see this only if 2e also remember that these human interrelations are& in
/ngels@ 2ords& Hbound to ob1ectsI and that they Ha33ear as ob1ects&I only if 2e do not
forget for a single moment that these human interrelations are not direct relations
20
bet2een one man and the ne4t( They are instead ty3ical relations mediated by the
ob1ecti0e la2s of the 3rocess of 3roduction in such a 2ay that these ?la2s@ necessarily
become the forms in 2hich human relations are directly manifested(
From this it follo2s& firstly& that man& 2ho is the foundation and the core of all reified
relations& can only be disco0ered by abolishing the immediacy of those relations( :t is
al2ays necessary& therefore& to begin from this immediacy and from these reified la2s(
"econdly& these manifestations are by no means merely modes of thought& they are the
forms in 2hich contem3orary bourgeois society is ob1ectified( Their abolition& if it is to be
a true abolition& cannot sim3ly be the result of thought alone& it must also amount to
their 3ractical abolition as the actual forms of social life( /0ery kind of kno2ledge that
as3ires to remain 3ure kno2ledge is doomed to end u3 granting recognition to these
forms once again( Thirdly& this 3ra4is cannot be di0orced from kno2ledge( ; 3ra4is
2hich en0isages a genuine transformation of these forms can only start to be effecti0e if
it intends to think out the 3rocess immanent in these forms to its logical conclusion& to
become conscious of it and to make it conscious( HLialectics&I !egel says& His
this immanent 3rocess of transcendence& in the course of 2hich the one*sidedness and
the limitation of the determinants of the understanding sho2s itself to be 2hat it really
is& namely their negation(IJF.K
The great ad0ance o0er !egel made by the scientific stand3oint of the 3roletariat as
embodied in Mar4ism lay in its refusal to see in the categories of reflection a ?3ermanent@
stage of human kno2ledge and in its insistence that they 2ere the necessary mould both
of thought and of life in bourgeois society& in the reification of thought and life( )ith this
came the disco0ery of dialectics in history itself( !ence dialectics is not im3orted into
history from outside& nor is it inter3reted in the light of history 5as often occurs in
!egel7& but is deri0edfrom history made conscious as its logical manifestation at this
3articular 3oint in its de0elo3ment(
Fourthly& it is the 3roletariat that embodies this 3rocess of consciousness( "ince its
consciousness a33ears as the immanent 3roduct of the historical dialectic& it like2ise
a33ears to be dialectical( That is to say& this consciousness is nothing but the e43ression
of historical necessity( The 3roletariat Hhas no ideals to realise(I )hen its consciousness
is 3ut into 3ractice it can only breathe life into the things 2hich the dialectics of history
ha0e forced to a crisis> it can ne0er ?in 3ractice@ ignore the course of history& forcing on it
2hat are no more than its o2n desires or kno2ledge( For it is itself nothing but the
contradictions of history that ha0e become conscious( 9n the other hand& ho2e0er& a
dialectical necessity is far from being the same thing as a mechanical& causal necessity(
Mar4 goes on to say& follo2ing the 3assage already 6uoted The 2orking class Hhas only
to liberate 5my italics7 the elements of the ne2 society that ha0e already gro2n 2ithin the
2omb of the disintegrating society of the bourgeoisie(I
:n addition to the mere contradiction 8 the automatic 3roduct of ca3italism 8
a ne2 element is re6uired the consciousness of the 3roletariat must become deed( -ut as
the mere contradiction is raised to a consciously dialectical contradiction& as the act of
becoming conscious turns into a 3oint of transition in 3ractice& 2e see once more in
greater concreteness the character of 3roletarian dialectics as 2e ha0e often described it
namely& since consciousness here is not the kno2ledge of an o33osed ob1ect but is the
self*consciousness of the ob1ect the act of consciousness o0erthro2s the ob1ecti0e form of
its ob1ect(
9nly 2ith this consciousness do 2e see the emergence of that 3rofound irrationality that
lurks behind the 3articular rationalistic disci3lines of bourgeois society( This irrationality
a33ears normally as an eru3tion& a cataclysm& and for that 0ery reason it fails to alter the
form and the arrangement of the ob1ects on the surface( This situation& too& can be seen
most easily in the sim3le e0ents of e0eryday( The 3roblem of labour*time has already
21
been mentioned but only from the stand3oint of the 2orker& 2here it 2as seen as the
moment at 2hich his consciousness emerges as the consciousness of the commodity 5i(e(
of the substanti0e core of bourgeois society7( The instant that this consciousness arises
and goes beyond 2hat is immediately gi0en 2e find in concentrated form the basic issue
of the class struggle the 3roblem of force( For this is the 3oint 2here the ?eternal la2s@ of
ca3italist economics fail and become dialectical and are thus com3elled to yield u3 the
decisions regarding the fate of history to the conscious actions of men( Mar4 elaborates
this thought as follo2s H)e see then& that& a3art from e4tremely elastic bounds& the
nature of the e4change of commodities itself im3oses no limit to the 2orking day& no
limit to sur3lus*labour( The ca3italist maintains his right as a 3urchaser 2hen he tries to
make the 2orking day as long as 3ossible& and to make& 2hene0er 3ossible& t2o 2orking
days out of one( 9n the other hand the 3eculiar nature of the commodity sold im3lies a
limit to its consum3tion by the 3urchaser& and the labourer maintains his right as seller
2hen he 2ishes to reduce the 2orking day to one of definite normal duration( There is
here& therefore& an antinomy& right against right& both e6ually bearing the seal of the la2
of e4changes( -et2een e6ual rights force decides( !ence it is that in the history of
ca3italist 3roduction& the determination of 2hat is a 2orking day& 3resents itself as the
result of a struggle& a struggle bet2een collecti0e ca3ital& i(e( the class of ca3italists& and
collecti0e labour& i(e( the 2orking class(IJFPK
-ut here& too& 2e must em3hasise that force& 2hich a33ears here concretely as the 3oint
at 2hich ca3italist rationalism becomes irrational& at 2hich its la2s fail to function&
means something 6uite different for the bourgeoisie and for the 3roletariat( For the
former& force is sim3ly the continuation of its daily reality it is true that it is no no0elty
but at the same time and for that 0ery reason it is not able to resol0e any single one of the
contradictions the bourgeoisie has created itself( For the latter& on the other hand& its
use& its efficacy& its 3otentiality and its intensity de3end u3on the degree to 2hich the
immediacy of the gi0en has been o0ercome( ,o doubt& the fact that it is 3ossible to go
beyond the gi0en& the fact that this consciousness is so great and so 3rofound is itself a
3roduct of history( -ut 2hat is historically 3ossible cannot be achie0ed sim3ly by a
straightfor2ard 3rogression of the immediately gi0en 52ith its ?la2s@7& but only by a
consciousness of the 2hole of society ac6uired through manifold mediations& and by a
clear as3iration to realise the dialectical tendencies of history( ;nd the series of
mediations may not conclude 2ith unmediated contem3lation it must direct itself to the
6ualitati0ely ne2 factors arising from the dialectical contradictions it must be a
mo0ement of mediations ad0ancing from the 3resent to the future(JF9K
This in turn 3resu33oses that the rigidly reified e4istence of the ob1ects of the social
3rocess 2ill dissol0e into mere illusion& that the dialectic& 2hich is self*contradictory& a
logical absurdity as long as there is talk of the change of one ?thing@ into another ?thing@
5or of one thing*like conce3t into another7& should test itself on e0ery ob1ect( That is to
say& its 3remise is that things should be sho2n to be as3ects of 3rocesses( )ith this 2e
reach the limits of the dialectics of the ;ncients& the 3oint at 2hich they di0erge from
materialist and historical dialectics( 5!egel& too& marks the 3oint of transition& i(e( he&
too& combines elements of both 0ie2s in a not fully clarified manner(7 The dialectics of
the /leatic 3hiloso3hers certainly lay bare the contradictions underlying mo0ement but
the mo0ing ob1ect is left unaffected( )hether the arro2 is flying or at rest its ob1ecti0e
nature as an arro2& as a thing remains untouched amidst the dialectical turmoil( :t may
be the case& as !eraclitus says& that one cannot ste3 into the same ri0er t2ice> but as the
eternal flu4 is and does not become& i(e( does not bring forth anything 6ualitati0ely ne2&
it is only a becoming 2hen com3ared 2ith the rigid e4istence of the indi0idual ob1ects( ;s
a theory of totality eternal becoming turns out to be a theory of eternal being> behind the
22
flo2ing ri0er stands re0ealed an unchanging essence& e0en though it may e43ress itself in
the incessant transformations of the indi0idual ob1ects(JNBK
933osed to this is the Mar4ian dialectical 3rocess 2here the ob1ecti0e forms of the
ob1ects are themsel0es transformed into a 3rocess& a flu4( :ts re0olutionary character
a33ears 6uite clearly in the sim3le 3rocess of the re3roduction of ca3ital( The sim3le
Hre3etition or continuity imbues the 3rocess 2ith 6uite no0el characteristics or rather
causes the disa33earance of some a33arent characteristics 2hich it 3ossessed as an
isolated discontinuous 3rocess(I For H6uite a3art from all accumulation& the mere
continuity of the 3rocess of 3roduction& in other 2ords sim3le re3roduction& sooner or
later& and of necessity& con0erts e0ery ca3ital into accumulated ca3ital& or ca3italised
sur3lus*0alue( /0en if that ca3ital 2as originally ac6uired by the 3ersonal labour of its
em3loyer& it sooner or later becomes 0alue a33ro3riated 2ithout an e6ui0alent& the
un3aid labour of others materialised either in money or in some other ob1ect(IJN1K
Thus the kno2ledge that social facts are not ob1ects but relations bet2een men is
intensified to the 3oint 2here facts are 2holly dissol0ed into 3rocesses( -ut if their -eing
a33ears as a -ecoming this should not be construed as an abstract uni0ersal flu4
s2ee3ing 3ast& it is no 0acuous dur%e r%elle but the unbroken 3roduction and
re3roduction of those relations that& 2hen torn from their conte4t and distorted by
abstract mental categories& can a33ear to bourgeois thinkers as things( 9nly at this 3oint
does the consciousness of the 3roletariat ele0ate itself to the self*consciousness of society
in its historical de0elo3ment( -y becoming a2are of the commodity relationshi3 the
3roletariat can only become conscious of itself as the ob1ect of the economic 3rocess( For
the commodity is 3roduced and e0en the 2orker in his 6uality as commodity& as an
immediate 3roducer is at best a mechanical dri0ing 2heel in the machine( -ut if the
reification of ca3ital is dissol0ed into an unbroken 3rocess of its 3roduction and
re3roduction& it is 3ossible for the 3roletariat to disco0er that it is itself thesub1ect of this
3rocess e0en though it is in chains and is for the time being unconscious of the fact( ;s
soon& therefore& as the readymade& immediate reality is abandoned the 6uestion arises
HLoes a 2orker in a cotton factory 3roduce merely cotton te4tiles= ,o& he 3roduces
ca3ital( !e 3roduces 0alues 2hich ser0e afresh to command his labour and by means of it
to create ne2 0alues(IJN+K
N
This thro2s an entirely ne2 light on the 3roblem of reality( :f& in !egel@s terms&
-ecoming no2 a33ears as the truth of -eing& and 3rocess as the truth about things& then
this means that the de0elo3ing tendencies of history constitute a higher reality than the
em3irical ?facts@( :t is doubtless true that in ca3italist society the 3ast dominates the
3resent 8 as indeed 2e ha0e sho2n else2here(JNFK -ut this only means that there is an
antagonistic 3rocess that is not guided by a consciousness but is instead dri0en for2ard
by its o2n immanent& blind dynamic and that this 3rocess stands re0ealed in all its
immediate manifestations as the rule of the 3ast o0er the 3resent& the rule of ca3ital o0er
labour( :t follo2s that any thinker 2ho bases his thought on such ideas 2ill be tra33ed in
the fro#en forms of the 0arious stages( !e 2ill ne0ertheless stand hel3less 2hen
confronted by the enigmatic forces thro2n u3 by the course of e0ents& and the actions
o3en to him 2ill ne0er be ade6uate to deal 2ith this challenge(
This image of a fro#en reality that ne0ertheless is caught u3 in an unremitting& ghostly
mo0ement at once becomes meaningful 2hen this reality is dissol0ed into the 3rocess of
2hich man is the dri0ing force( This can be seen only from the stand3oint of the
3roletariat because the meaning of these tendencies is the abolition of ca3italism and so
for the bourgeoisie to become conscious of them 2ould be tantamount to suicide(
Moreo0er& the ?la2s@ of the reified reality of ca3italism in 2hich the bourgeoisie is
com3elled to li0e are only able to 3re0ail o0er the heads of those 2ho seem to be its
23
acti0e embodiments and agents( The a0erage 3rofit rate is the 3aradigm of this situation(
:ts relation to indi0idual ca3italists 2hose actions are determined by this unkno2n and
unkno2able force sho2s all the sym3toms of !egel@s ?ruse of reason@( The fact that these
indi0idual ?3assions@& des3ite 2hich these tendencies 3re0ail& assume the form of the
most careful& far*sighted and e4act calculations does not affect this conclusion in the
least> on the contrary& it reinforces it still further( For the fact that there e4ists the
illusion of a rationalism 3erfected in e0ery detail 8 dictated by class interests and hence
sub1ecti0ely based 8 makes it e0en more e0ident that this rationalism is unable to gras3
the meaning of the o0erall 3rocess as it really is( Moreo0er& the situation is not
attenuated by the fact that 2e are not confronted here by a uni6ue e0ent& a catastro3he&
but by the unbroken 3roduction and re3roduction of the same relation 2hose elements
are con0erted into em3irical facts and incor3orated in reified form in the 2eb of rational
calculation( :t only sho2s the strength of the dialectical antagonism controlling the
3henomena of ca3italist society(
The con0ersion of social*democratic ideas into bourgeois ones can al2ays be seen at its
clearest in the 1ettisoning of the dialectical method( ;s early as the -ernstein Lebate it
2as clear that the o33ortunists had to take their stand ?firmly on the facts@ so as to be
able to ignore the general trendsJNNK or else to reduce them to the status of a sub1ecti0e&
ethical im3erati0e( :n like fashion the manifold misunderstandings in the debate on
accumulation should be seen as 3art of the same 3henomenon( Rosa Lu4emburg 2as a
genuine dialectician and so she realised that it 2as not 3ossible for a 3urely ca3italist
society to e4ist as a tendency of history& as a tendency 2hich ine0itably determines the
actions of men 8 unbekno2n to them 8 long before it had itself become ?fact@( Thus the
economic im3ossibility of accumulation in a 3urely ca3italist society does not sho2 itself
by the ?cessation@ of ca3italism once the last non*ca3italist has been e43ro3riated& but by
actions that force u3on the ca3italist class the a2areness that this 5em3irically still
remote7 state of affairs is on its 2ay actions such as fe0erish colonialisation& dis3utes
about territories 3ro0iding ra2 materials or markets& im3erialism and 2orld 2ar( For
dialectical trends do not constitute an infinite 3rogression that gradually nears its goal in
a series of 6uantitati0e stages( They are rather e43ressed in terms of an
unbroken 6ualitati0e re0olution in the structure of society 5the com3osition of the
classes& their relati0e strengths& etc(7 The ruling class of the moment attem3ts to meet the
challenge of these changes in the only 2ay o3en to it& and on matters of detail it does
a33ear to meet 2ith some success( -ut in reality the blind and unconscious measures
that seem to it to be so necessary sim3ly hasten the course of e0ents that destroy it(
The difference bet2een ?fact@ and tendency has been brought out on innumerable
occasions by Mar4 and 3laced in the foreground of his studies( ;fter all& the basic
thought underlying his magnum o3us& the retranslation of economic ob1ects from things
back into 3rocesses& into the changing relations bet2een men& rests on 1ust this idea( -ut
from this it follo2s further that the 6uestion of theoretical 3riority& the location 2ithin
the system 5i(e( 2hether original or deri0ati0e7 of the 3articular forms of the economic
structure of society de3ends on their distance from this retranslation( A3on this is based
the 3rior im3ortance of industrial ca3ital o0er merchant ca3ital& money*dealing ca3ital&
etc( ;nd this 3riority is e43ressed historically by the fact that these deri0ati0e forms of
ca3ital& that do not themsel0es determine the 3roduction 3rocess& are only ca3able of
3erforming the negati0e function of dissol0ing the original forms of 3roduction(
!o2e0er& the 6uestion of H2hither this 3rocess of dissolution 2ill lead& in other 2ords&
2hat ne2 mode of 3roduction 2ill re3lace the old& does not de3end on commerce& but on
the character of the old mode of 3roduction itselfIJNOK
9n the other hand& merely from the 3oint of 0ie2 of theory it 2ould a33ear that the ?la2s
go0erning these forms are in fact only determined by the ?contingent@ em3irical
24
mo0ements of su33ly and demand and that they are not the e43ression of any uni0ersal
social trend( ;s Mar4 3oints out in a discussion of interest HCom3etition does not& in
this case& determine the de0iations from the rule( There is rather no la2 of di0ision
e4ce3t that enforced by com3etition(IJNDK
:n this theory of reality 2hich allots a higher 3lace to the 3re0ailing trends of the total
de0elo3ment than to the facts of the em3irical 2orld& the antithesis 2e stressed 2hen
considering the 3articular 6uestions raised by Mar4ism 5the antithesis bet2een
mo0ement and final goal& e0olution and re0olution& etc(7 ac6uires its authentic& concrete
and scientific sha3e( For only this analysis 3ermits us to in0estigate the conce3t of the
?fact@ in a truly concrete manner& i(e( in the social conte4t in 2hich it has its origin and its
e4istence( The direction to be taken by such an in0estigation has been outlined
else2here&JN.K although only 2ith reference to the relation bet2een the ?facts@ and the
concrete totality to 2hich they belong and in 2hich they become ?real@(
-ut no2 it becomes 6uite clear that the social de0elo3ment and its intellectual refle4 that
2as led to form ?facts@ from a reality that had been undi0ided 5originally& in its
autochthonous state7 did indeed make it 3ossible to sub1ect nature to the 2ill of man( ;t
the same time& ho2e0er& they ser0ed to conceal the socio*historical grounding of these
facts in relations bet2een men Hso as to raise strange& 3hantom 3o2ers against
them(I JNPK For the ossifying 6uality of reified thought 2ith its tendency to oust the
3rocess is e4em3lified e0en more clearly in the ?facts@ than in the ?la2s@ that 2ould order
them( :n the latter it is still 3ossible to detect a trace of human acti0ity e0en though it
often a33ears in a reified and false sub1ecti0ity( -ut in the ?facts@ 2e find the
crystallisation of the essence of ca3italist de0elo3ment into an ossified& im3enetrable
thing alienated from man( ;nd the form assumed by this ossification and this alienation
con0erts it into a foundation of reality and of 3hiloso3hy that is 3erfectly self*e0ident and
immune from e0ery doubt( )hen confronted by the rigidity of these ?facts@ e0ery
mo0ement seems like a mo0ement im3inging on them& 2hile e0ery tendency to change
them a33ears to be a merely sub1ecti0e 3rinci3le 5a 2ish& a 0alue 1udgement& an ought7(
Thus only 2hen the theoretical 3rimacy of the ?facts@ has been broken& only 2hen e0ery
3henomenon is recognised to be a 3rocess& 2ill it be understood that 2hat 2e are 2ont to
call ?facts@ consists of 3rocesses( 9nly then 2ill it be understood that the facts are nothing
but the 3arts& the as3ects of the total 3rocess that ha0e been broken off& artificially
isolated and ossified( This also e43lains 2hy the total 3rocess 2hich is uncontaminated
by any trace of reification and 2hich allo2s the 3rocess*like essence to 3re0ail in all its
3urityshould re3resent the authentic& higher reality( 9f course& it also becomes clear 2hy
in the reified thought of the bourgeoisie the ?facts@ ha0e to 3lay the 3art of its highest
fetish in both theory and 3ractice( This 3etrified factuality in 2hich e0erything is fro#en
into a ?fi4ed magnitudeIJN9K in 2hich the reality that 1ust ha33ens to e4ist 3ersists in a
totally senseless& unchanging 2ay 3recludes any theory that could thro2 light on e0en
this immediate reality(
This takes reification to its ultimate e4treme it no longer 3oints dialectically to anything
beyond itself its dialectic is mediated only by the reification of the immediate forms of
3roduction( -ut 2ith that a clima4 is reached in the conflict bet2een e4istence in its
immediacy together 2ith the abstract categories that constitute its thought& on the one
hand& and a 0ital societal reality on the other( For these forms 5e(g( interest7 a33ear to
ca3italist thinkers as the fundamental ones that determine all the others and ser0e as
3aradigms for them( ;nd like2ise& e0ery decisi0e turn of e0ents in the 3roduction
3rocess must more or less re0eal that the true categorical structure of ca3italism has
been turned com3letely u3side do2n(
Thus bourgeois thought remains fi4ated on these forms 2hich it belie0es to be
immediate and original and from there it attem3ts to seek an understanding of
25
economics& blithely una2are that the only 3henomenon that has been formulated is its
o2n inability to com3rehend its o2n social foundations( )hereas for the 3roletariat the
2ay is o3ened to a com3lete 3enetration of the forms of reification( :t achie0es this by
starting 2ith 2hat is dialectically the clearest form 5the immediate relation of ca3ital and
labour7( :t then relates this to those forms that are more remote from the 3roduction
3rocess and so includes and com3rehends them& too& in the dialectical totality(JOBK
Georg Lukacs
!istory U Class Consciousness
::: The "tand3oint of the Proletariat
O
Thus man has become the measure of all 5societal7 things( The conce3tual and historical
foundation for this has been laid by the methodological 3roblems of economics by
dissol0ing the fetishistic ob1ects into 3rocesses that take 3lace among men and are
ob1ectified in concrete relations bet2een them> by deri0ing the indissoluble fetishistic
forms from the 3rimary forms of human relations( ;t the conce3tual le0el the structure
of the 2orld of men stands re0ealed as a system of dynamically changing relations in
2hich the conflicts bet2een man and nature& man and man 5in the class struggle& etc(7
are fought out( The structure and the hierarchy of the categories are the inde4 of the
degree of clarity to 2hich man has attained concerning the foundations of his e4istence
in these relations& i(e( the degree of consciousness of himself(
;t the same time this structure and this hierarchy are the central theme of history(
!istory is no longer an enigmatic flu4 to 2hich men and things are sub1ected( :t is no
longer a thing to be e43lained by the inter0ention of transcendental 3o2ers or made
meaningful by reference to transcendental 0alues( !istory is& on the one hand& the
3roduct 5albeit the unconscious one7 of man@s o2n acti0ity& on the other hand it is the
succession of those 3rocesses in 2hich the forms taken by this acti0ity and the relations
of man to himself 5to nature& to other men7 are o0erthro2n( "o that if 8 as 2e
em3hasised earlier on 8 the categories describing the structure of a social system are not
immediately historical& i(e( if the em3irical succession of historical e0ents does not suffice
to e43lain the origins of a 3articular form of thought or e4istence& then it can be said that
des3ite this& or better& because of it& any such conce3tual system 2ill describe in its
totality a definite stage in the society as a 2hole(
;nd the nature of history is 3recisely that e0ery definition degenerates into an
illusion history is the history of the unceasing o0erthro2 of the ob1ecti0e forms that
sha3e the life of man( :t is therefore not 3ossible to reach an understanding of 3articular
forms by studying their successi0e a33earances in an em3irical and historical manner(
This is not because they transcend history& though this is and must be the bourgeois 0ie2
2ith its addiction to thinking about isolated ?facts@ in isolated mental categories( The
truth is rather that these 3articular forms are not immediately connected 2ith each other
either by their simultaneity or by their consecuti0eness( )hat connects them is their
3lace and function in the totality and by re1ecting the idea of a ?3urely historical@
e43lanation the notion of history as a uni0ersal disci3line is brought nearer( )hen the
3roblem of connecting isolated 3henomena has become a 3roblem of categories& by the
same dialectical 3rocess e0ery 3roblem of categories becomes transformed into a
historical 3roblem( Though it should be stressed it is transformed into a 3roblem of
uni0ersal history 2hich no2 a33ears 8 more clearly than in our introductory 3olemical
remarks 8 simultaneously as a 3roblem of method and a 3roblem of our kno2ledge of
the 3resent(
26
From this stand3oint alone does history really become a history of mankind( For it
contains nothing that does not lead back ultimately to men and to the relations bet2een
men( :t is because Feuerbach ga0e this ne2 direction to 3hiloso3hy that he 2as able to
e4ercise such a decisi0e influence on the origins of historical materialism( !o2e0er& by
transforming 3hiloso3hy into ?anthro3ology@ he caused man to become fro#en in a fi4ed
ob1ecti0ity and thus 3ushed both dialectics and history to one side( ;nd 3recisely this is
the great danger in e0ery ?humanism@ or anthro3ological 3oint of 0ie2( JO1K For if man is
made the measure of all things& and if 2ith the aid of that assum3tion all transcendence
is to be eliminated 2ithout man himself being measured against this criterion& 2ithout
a33lying the same ?standard@ to himself or 8 more e4actly 8 2ithout making man himself
dialectical& then man himself is made into an absolute and he sim3ly 3uts himself in the
3lace of those transcendental forces he 2as su33osed to e43lain& dissol0e and
systematically re3lace( ;t best& then& a dogmatic meta3hysics is su3erseded by an e6ually
dogmatic relati0ism(
This dogmatism arises because the failure to make man dialectical is com3lemented by
an e6ual failure to make& reality dialectical( !ence relati0ism mo0es 2ithin an essentially
static 2orld( ;s it cannot become conscious of the immobility of the 2orld and the
rigidity of its o2n stand3oint it ine0itably re0erts to the dogmatic 3osition of those
thinkers 2ho like2ise offered to e43lain the 2orld from 3remises they did not
consciously ackno2ledge and 2hich& therefore& they ado3ted uncritically( For it is one
thing to relati0ise the truth about an indi0idual or a s3ecies in an ultimately static 2orld
5masked though this stasis may be by an illusory mo0ement like the Heternal recurrence
of the same thingsI or the biological or mor3hological ?organic@ succession of 3eriods7(
;nd it is 6uite another matter 2hen the concrete& historical function and meaning of the
0arious ?truths@ is re0ealed 2ithin a uni6ue& concretised historical 3rocess( 9nly in the
former case can 2e accurately s3eak of relati0ism( -ut in that case it ine0itably becomes
dogmatic( For it is only meaningful to s3eak of relati0ism 2here an ?absolute@ is in some
sense assumed( The 2eakness and the half*heartedness of such ?daring thinkers@ as
,iet#sche or "3engler is that their relati0ism only abolishes the absolute in a33earance(
For& from the stand3oint of both logic and method& the ?systematic location@ of the
absolute is to be found 1ust 2here the a33arent mo0ement sto3s( The absolute is nothing
but the fi4ation of thought& it is the 3ro1ection into myth of the intellectual failure to
understand reality concretely as a historical 3rocess( Eust as the relati0ists ha0e only
a33eared to dissol0e the 2orld into mo0ement& so too they ha0e only a33eared to e4ile
the absolute from their systems( /0ery ?biological@ relati0ism& etc(& that turns its limits
into ?eternal@ limits thereby in0oluntarily reintroduces the absolute& the ?timeless@
3rinci3le of thought( ;nd as long as the absolute sur0i0es in a system 5e0en
unconsciously7 it 2ill 3ro0e logically stronger than all attem3ts at relati0ism( For it
re3resents the highest 3rinci3le of thought attainable in an undialectical uni0erse& in a
2orld of ossified things and a logical 2orld of ossified conce3ts( "o that here both
logically and methodologically "ocrates must be in the right as against the so3hists& and
logic and 0alue theory must be in the right as against 3ragmatism and relati0ism(
)hat these relati0ists are doing is to take the 3resent 3hiloso3hy of man 2ith its social
and historical limits and to allo2 these to ossify into an ?eternal@ limit of a biological or
3ragmatic sort( ;ctuated either by doubt or des3air they thus stand re0ealed as a
decadent 0ersion of the 0ery rationalism or religiosity they mean to o33ose( !ence they
may sometimes be a not unim3ortant sym3tom of the inner 2eakness of the society
2hich 3roduced the rationalism they are ?combating@( -ut they are significant only as
sym3toms( :t is al2ays the culture they assail& the culture of the class that has not yet
been broken& that embodies the authentic s3iritual 0alues(
27
9nly the dialectics of history can create a radically ne2 situation( This is not only
because it relati0ises all limits& or better& because it 3uts them in a state of flu4( ,or is it
1ust because all those forms of e4istence that constitute the counter3art of the absolute
are dissol0ed into 3rocesses and 0ie2ed as concrete manifestations of history so that the
absolute is not so much denied as endo2ed 2ith its concrete historical sha3e and treated
as an as3ect of the 3rocess itself(
-ut& in addition to these factors& it is also true that the historical 3rocess is something
uni6ue and its dialectical ad0ances and re0erses are an incessant struggle to reach higher
stages of the truth and of the 5societal7 self*kno2ledge of man( The ?relati0isation@ of
truth in !egel means that the higher factor is al2ays the truth of the factor beneath it in
the system( This does not im3ly the destruction of ?ob1ecti0e@ truth at the lo2er stages but
only that it means something different as a result of being integrated in a more concrete
and com3rehensi0e totality( )hen Mar4 makes dialectics the essence of history& the
mo0ement of thought also becomes 1ust a 3art of the o0erall mo0ement of history(
!istory becomes the history of the ob1ecti0e forms from 2hich man@s en0ironment and
inner 2orld are constructed and 2hich he stri0es to master in thought& action and art&
etc( 5)hereas relati0ism al2ays 2orks 2ith rigid and immutable ob1ecti0e forms(7
:n the 3eriod of the H3re*history of human societyI and of the struggles bet2een classes
the only 3ossible function of truth is to establish the 0arious 3ossible attitudes to an
essentially uncom3rehended 2orld in accordance 2ith man@s needs in the struggle to
master his en0ironment( Truth could only achie0e an ?ob1ecti0ity@ relati0e to the
stand3oint of the indi0idual classes and the ob1ecti0e realities corres3onding to it( -ut as
soon as mankind has clearly understood and hence restructured the foundations of its
e4istence truth ac6uires a 2holly no0el as3ect( )hen theory and 3ractice are united it
becomes 3ossible to change reality and 2hen this ha33ens the absolute and its
?relati0istic@ counter3art 2ill ha0e 3layed their historical role for the last time( For as the
result of these changes 2e shall see the disa33earance of that reality 2hich the absolute
and the relati0e e43ressed in like manner(
This 3rocess begins 2hen the 3roletariat becomes conscious of its o2n class 3oint of
0ie2( !ence it is highly misleading to describe dialectical materialism as ?relati0ism@( For
although they share a common 3remise man as the measure of all things& they each gi0e
it a different and e0en contradictory inter3retation( The beginning of a ?materialist
anthro3ology@ in Feuerbach is in fact only a beginning and one that is in itself ca3able of
a number of continuations( Mar4 took u3 Feuerbach@s suggestion and thought it out to
its logical conclusion( :n the 3rocess he takes issue 0ery shar3ly 2ith !egel H!egel
makes of man a man of self*consciousness instead of making self*consciousness the self*
consciousness of man& i(e( of real man as he li0es in the real 2orld of ob1ects by 2hich he
is conditioned(IJO+K
"imultaneously& ho2e0er& and this is moreo0er at the time 2hen he 2as most under the
influence of Feuerbach& he sees man historically and dialectically& and both are to be
understood in a double sense( 517 !e ne0er s3eaks of man in general& of an abstractly
absolutised man he al2ays thinks of him as a link in a concrete totality& in a society( The
latter must be e43lained from the stand3oint of man but only after man has himself been
integrated in the concrete totality and has himself been made truly concrete( 5+7 Man
himself is the ob1ecti0e foundation of the historical dialectic and the sub1ect*ob1ect lying
at its roots& and as such he is decisi0ely in0ol0ed in the dialectical 3rocess( To formulate
it in the initial abstract categories of dialectics he both is and at the same time is
not( Religion& Mar4 says& in the Criti6ue of !egel@s Philoso3hy of Right& His the
realisation in fantasy of the essence of man because the essence of man does not 3ossess
any true reality(IJOFK ;nd as this non*e4istent man is to be made the measure of all
things& the true demiurge of history& his non*being must at once become the concrete
28
and historically dialectical form of critical kno2ledge of the 3resent in 2hich man is
necessarily condemned to non*e4istence( The negation of his being becomes concretised&
then& in the understanding of bourgeois society( ;t the same time 8 as 2e ha0e already
seen 8 the dialectics of bourgeois society and the contradictions of its abstract categories
stand out clearly 2hen measured against the nature of man( Follo2ing the criticism of
!egel@s theory of consciousness 2e ha0e 1ust 6uoted& Mar4 announces his o2n
3rogramme in these terms H:t must be sho2n ho2 the state and 3ri0ate 3ro3erty& etc(&
transform men into abstractions& or that they are the 3roducts of abstract man instead of
being the reality of indi0idual& concrete men(I ;nd the fact that in later years Mar4
adhered to this 0ie2 of the abstract non*e4istence of man can be seen from the 2ell*
kno2n and oft*6uoted 2ords from the Preface to the Criti6ue Political /conomy in 2hich
bourgeois society is described as the last manifestation of the H3re*history of human
society(I
:t is here that Mar4@s ?humanism@ di0erges most shar3ly from all the mo0ements that
seem so similar to it at first glance( 9thers ha0e often recognised and described ho2
ca3italism 0iolates and destroys e0erything human( : need refer only to Carlyle@s Past
and Present 2hose descri3ti0e sections recei0ed the a33ro0al and in 3art the enthusiastic
admiration of the young /ngels( :n such accounts it is sho2n& on the one hand& that it is
not 3ossible to be human in bourgeois society& and& on the other hand& that man as he
e4ists is o33osed 2ithout mediation 8 or 2hat amounts to the same thing& through the
mediations of meta3hysics and myth 8 to this non*e4istence of the human 52hether this
is thought of as something in the 3ast& the future or merely an im3erati0e7(
-ut this does no more than 3resent the 3roblem in a confused form and certainly does
not 3oint the 2ay to a solution( The solution can only be disco0ered by seeing these t2o
as3ects as they a33ear in the concrete and real 3rocess of ca3italist de0elo3ment& namely
ine4tricably bound u3 2ith one another i(e( the categories of dialectics must be a33lied
to man as the measure of all things in a manner that also includes simultaneously a
com3lete descri3tion of the economic structure of bourgeois society and a correct
kno2ledge of the 3resent( For other2ise& any descri3tion 2ill ine0itably succumb to the
dilemmas of em3iricism and uto3ianism& of 0oluntarism and fatalism& e0en though it
may gi0e an accurate account of matters of detail( ;t best it 2ill not ad0ance beyond
crude facticity on the one hand& 2hile on the other it 2ill confront the immanent course
of history 2ith alien and hence sub1ecti0e and arbitrary demands(
This is 2ithout e4ce3tion the fate that has befallen all those systems that start 2ith man
as their 3remise and stri0e in theory to sol0e the 3roblems of his e4istence 2hile in
3ractice they seek to liberate him from them( This duality can be seen in all attem3ts of
the ty3e of the Christianity of the Gos3els( "ociety as it actually e4ists is left unscathed( :t
makes no difference 2hether this takes the form of Hgi0ing to Caesar the things 2hich are
Caesar@s&I of Luther@s sanctification of the 3o2ers that be& or of Tolstoy@s Hresist not e0il(I
For as long as society& as it is& is to be declared sacrosanct it is immaterial 2ith 2hat
emotional force or 2hat meta3hysical and religious em3hasis this is done( )hat is
crucial is that reality as it seems to be should be thought of as something man cannot
change and its unchangeability should ha0e the force of a moral im3erati0e(
There are t2o as3ects of the uto3ian counter3art to this ontology( The first is seen in
God@s annihilation of em3irical reality in the ;3ocaly3se& 2hich can on occasion be
absent 5as 2ith Tolstoy7 2ithout materially affecting the situation( The second lies in the
uto3ian 0ie2 of man as a ?saint@ 2ho can achie0e an inner mastery o0er the e4ternal
reality that cannot be eliminated( ;s long as such a 0ie2 sur0i0es 2ith all its original
starkness its claims to offer a ?humanistic@ solution to man@s 3roblems are self*refuting(
For it is forced to deny humanity to the 0ast ma1ority of mankind and to e4clude them
from the ?redem3tion@ 2hich alone confers meaning u3on a life 2hich is meaningless on
29
the le0el of em3irical e43erience( :n so doing it re3roduces the inhumanity of class
society on a meta3hysical and religious 3lane& in the ne4t 2orld& in eternity 8 of course
2ith the signs re0ersed& 2ith altered criteria and 2ith the class structure stood on its
head( ;nd the most elementary study of any monastic order as it ad0ances from a
community of ?saints@ to the 3oint 2here it becomes an economic and 3olitical 3o2er at
the side of the ruling class 2ill make it abundantly clear that e0ery rela4ation of the
uto3ian@s re6uirements 2ill mean an act of ada3tation to the society of the day(
-ut the ?re0olutionary@ uto3ianism of such 0ie2s cannot break out of the inner limits set
to this undialectical ?humanism@( /0en the ;naba3tists and similar sects 3reser0e this
duality( 9n the one hand& they lea0e the ob1ecti0e structure of man@s em3irical e4istence
unim3aired 5consum3tion communism7& 2hile on the other hand they e43ect that reality
2ill be changed by a2akening man@s in2ardness 2hich& inde3endent of his concrete
historical life& has e4isted since time immemorial and must no2 be brought to life 8
3erha3s through the inter0ention of a transcendental deity(
They& too& start from the assum3tion of man as he e4ists and an em3irical 2orld 2hose
structure is unalterable( That this is the conse6uence of their historical situation is self*
e0ident& but needs no further discussion in this conte4t( :t 2as necessary to em3hasise it
only because it is no accident that it 2as the re0olutionary religiosity of the sects that
su33lied the ideology for ca3italism in its 3urest forms 5in /ngland and ;merica7( For
the union of an in2ardness& 3urified to the 3oint of total abstraction and stri33ed of all
traces of flesh and blood& 2ith a transcendental 3hiloso3hy of history does indeed
corres3ond to the basic ideological structure of ca3italism( :t could e0en be maintained
that the e6ually re0olutionary Cal0inist union of an ethics in 2hich man has to 3ro0e
himself 5interiorised asceticism7 2ith a thorough*going transcendentalism 2ith regard to
the ob1ecti0e forces that mo0e the 2orld and control the fate of man 5deus
absconditus and 3redestination7 contain the bourgeois reified consciousness 2ith its
things*in*themsel0es in a mythologised but yet 6uite 3ure state(JONK :n the acti0ely
re0olutionary sects the elemental 0igour of a Thomas MVn#er seems at first glance to
obscure the irreducible 6uality and unsynthesised amalgam of the em3irical and the
uto3ian( -ut closer ins3ection of the 2ay in 2hich the religious and uto3ian 3remises of
the theory concretely im3inge u3on MVn#er@s actions 2ill re0eal the same ?dark and
em3ty chasm@& the same ?hiatus irrationalis@ bet2een theory and 3ractice that is
e0ery2here a33arent 2here a sub1ecti0e and hence undialectical uto3ia directly assaults
historical reality 2ith the intention of changing it( Real actions then a33ear 8 3recisely in
their ob1ecti0e& re0olutionary sense 8 2holly inde3endent of the religious uto3ia the
latter can neither lead them in any real sense& nor can it offer concrete ob1ecti0es or
concrete 3ro3osals for their realisation(
)hen /rnst -loch claimsJOOK that this union of religion 2ith socio*economic re0olution
3oints the 2ay to a dee3ening of the ?merely economic@ outlook of historical materialism&
he fails to notice that his dee3ening sim3ly by*3asses the real de3th of historical
materialism( )hen he then concei0es of economics as a concern 2ith ob1ecti0e things to
2hich soul and in2ardness are to be o33osed& he o0erlooks the fact that the real social
re0olution can only mean the restructuring of the real and concrete life of man( !e does
not see that 2hat is kno2n as economics is nothing but the system of forms ob1ecti0ely
defining this real life( The re0olutionary sects 2ere forced to e0ade this 3roblem because
in their historical situation such a restructuring of life and e0en of the definition of the
3roblem 2as ob1ecti0ely im3ossible( -ut it 2ill not do to fasten u3on their 2eakness&
their inability to disco0er the ;rchimedean 3oint from 2hich the 2hole of reality can be
o0erthro2n& and their 3redicament 2hich forces them to aim too high or too lo2 and to
see in these things a sign of greater de3th(
30
The indi0idual can ne0er become the measure of all things( For 2hen the indi0idual
confronts ob1ecti0e reality he is faced by a com3le4 of ready*made and unalterable
ob1ects 2hich allo2 him only the sub1ecti0e res3onses of recognition or re1ection( 9nly
the class can relate to the 2hole of reality in a 3ractical re0olutionary 2ay( 5The ?s3ecies@
cannot do this as it is no more than an indi0idual that has been mythologised and
stylised in a s3irit of contem3lation(7 ;nd the class& too& can only manage it 2hen it can
see through the reified ob1ecti0ity of the gi0en 2orld to the 3rocess that is also its o2n
fate( For the indi0idual& reification and hence determinism 5determinism being the idea
that things are necessarily connected7 are irremo0able( /0ery attem3t to achie0e
?freedom@ from such 3remises must fail& for ?inner freedom@ 3resu33oses that the 2orld
cannot be changed( !ence& too& the clea0age of the ego into ?is@ and ?ought@& into the
intelligible and the em3irical ego& is unable to ser0e as the foundation for a dialectical
3rocess of becoming& e0en for the indi0idual sub1ect( The 3roblem of the e4ternal 2orld
and 2ith it the structure of the e4ternal 2orld 5of things7 is referred to the category of the
em3irical ego( Psychologically and 3hysiologically the latter is sub1ect to the same
deterministic la2s as a33ly to the e4ternal 2orld in the narro2 sense( The intelligible ego
becomes a transcendental idea 5regardless of 2hether it is 0ie2ed as a meta3hysical
e4istent or an ideal to be realised7( :t is of the essence of this idea that it should 3reclude
a dialectical interaction 2ith the em3irical com3onents of the ego and a fortiori the
3ossibility that the intelligible ego should recognise itself in the em3irical ego( The
im3act of such an idea u3on the em3irical reality corres3onding to it 3roduces the same
riddle that 2e described earlier in the relationshi3 bet2een ?is@ and @ought@(
This disco0ery makes it 6uite clear 2hy all such 0ie2s must end in mysticism and
conce3tual mythologies( Mythologies are al2ays born 2here t2o terminal 3oints& or at
least t2o stages in a mo0ement& ha0e to be regarded as terminal 3oints 2ithout its being
3ossible to disco0er any concrete mediation bet2een them and the mo0ement( This is
e6ually true of mo0ements in the em3irical 2orld and of indirectly mediated mo0ements
of thought designed to encom3ass the totality( This failure almost al2ays has the
a33earance of in0ol0ing simultaneously the unbridgeable distance bet2een the
mo0ement and the thing mo0ed& bet2een mo0ement and mo0er& and bet2een mo0er and
thing mo0ed( -ut mythology ine0itably ado3ts the structure of the 3roblem 2hose
o3acity had been the cause of its o2n birth( This insight confirms once again the 0alue of
Feuerbach@s ?anthro3ological@ criticism(
;nd thus there arises 2hat at first sight seems to be the 3arado4ical situation that this
3ro1ected& mythological 2orld seems closer to consciousness than does the immediate
reality( -ut the 3arado4 dissol0es as soon as 2e remind oursel0es that 2e must abandon
the stand3oint of immediacy and sol0e the 3roblem if immediate reality is to be
mastered in truth( )hereas mythology is sim3ly the re3roduction in imagination of the
3roblem in its insolubility( Thus immediacy is merely reinstated on a higher le0el( The
desert beyond God 2hich& according to Master /ckhart& the soul must seek in order to
find the deity is nearer to the isolated indi0idual soul than is its concrete e4istence 2ithin
the concrete totality of a human society 2hich from this background must be
indiscernible e0en in its general outlines( Thus for reified man a robust causal
determinism is more accessible than those mediations that could lead him out of his
reified e4istence( -ut to 3osit the indi0idual man as the measure of all things is to lead
thought into the labyrinths of mythology(
9f course& ?indeterminism@ does not lead to a 2ay out of the difficulty for the indi0idual(
The indeterminism of the modern 3ragmatists 2as in origin nothing but the ac6uisition
of that margin of ?freedom@ that the conflicting claims and irrationality of the reified la2s
can offer the indi0idual in ca3italist society( :t ultimately turns into a mysti6ue of
intuition 2hich lea0es the fatalism of the e4ternal reified 2orld e0en more intact than
31
before( Eacobi had rebelled in the name of ?humanism@ against the tyranny of the ?la2@ in
Cant and Fichte& he demanded that Hla2s should be made for the sake of man& not man
for the sake of the la2(I -ut 2e can see that 2here Cant had left the established order
untouched in the name of rationalism& Eacobi did no more than offer to glorify the same
em3irical& merely e4isting reality in the s3irit of irrationalism(JODK
/0en 2orse& ha0ing failed to 3ercei0e that man in his negati0e immediacy 2as a moment
in a dialectical 3rocess& such a 3hiloso3hy& 2hen consciously directed to2ard the
restructuring of society& is forced to distort the social reality in order to disco0er the
3ositi0e side& man as he e4ists& in one of its manifestations( :n su33ort of this 2e may cite
as a ty3ical illustration the 2ell*kno2n 3assage in Lassalle@s -astiat*"chul#e HThere is
no social 2ay that leads out of this social situation( The 0ain efforts of things to
beha0e like human beings can be seen in the /nglish strikes 2hose melancholy outcome
is familiar enough( The only 2ay out for the 2orkers is to be found in that s3here 2ithin
2hich they can still behuman beings& i(e( in the state( !ence the instincti0e but infinite
hatred 2hich the liberal bourgeoisie bears the conce3t of the state in its e0ery
manifestation(IJO.K
:t is not our concern here to 3illory Lassalle for his material and historical
misconce3tions( -ut it is im3ortant to establish that the abstract and absolute se3aration
of the state from the economy and the rigid di0ision bet2een man as thing on the one
hand and man as man on the other& is not 2ithout conse6uences( 517 :t is res3onsible for
the birth of a fatalism that cannot esca3e from immediate em3irical facticity 52e should
think here of Lassalle@s :ron La2 of )ages7( ;nd 5+7 the ?idea@ of the state is di0orced
from the de0elo3ment of ca3italism and is credited 2ith a com3letely uto3ian function&
2holly alien to its concrete character( ;nd this means that e0ery 3ath leading to a change
in this reality is systematically blocked( ;lready the mechanical se3aration bet2een
economics and 3olitics 3recludes any really effecti0e action encom3assing society in its
totality& for this itself is based on the mutual interaction of both these factors( For a
fatalism in economics 2ould 3rohibit any thorough*going economic measure& 2hile a
state uto3ianism 2ould either a2ait a miracle or else 3ursue a 3olicy of ad0enturist
illusions(
This disintegration of a dialectical& 3ractical unity into an inorganic aggregate of the
em3irical and the uto3ian& a clinging to the ?facts@ 5in their untranscended immediacy7
and a faith in illusions as alien to the 3ast as to the 3resent is characteristic in increasing
measure of the de0elo3ment of social democracy( )e ha0e only to consider it in the light
of our systematic analysis of reification in order to establish that such a 3osture conceals
a total ca3itulation before the bourgeoisie 8 and this not2ithstanding the a33arent
?socialism@ of its 3olicies( For it is 2holly 2ithin the class interests of the bourgeoisie to
se3arate the indi0idual s3heres of society from one another and to fragment the
e4istence of men corres3ondingly( ;bo0e all 2e find& 1ustified in different terms but
essential to social democracy ne0ertheless& this 0ery dualism of economic fatalism and
ethical uto3ianism as a33lied to the ?human@ functions ofthe state( :t means ine0itably
that the 3roletariat 2ill be dra2n on to the territory of the bourgeoisie and naturally the
bourgeoisie 2ill maintain its su3eriority(JOPK
The danger to 2hich the 3roletariat has been e43osed since its a33earance on the
historical stage 2as that it might remain im3risoned in its immediacy together 2ith the
bourgeoisie( )ith the gro2th of social democracy this threat ac6uired a real 3olitical
organisation 2hich artificially cancels out the mediations so laboriously 2on and forces
the 3roletariat back into its immediate e4istence 2here it is merely a com3onent of
ca3italist society and not at the same time the motor that dri0es it to its doom and
destruction( Thus the 3roletariat submits to the ?la2s@ of bourgeois society either in a
s3irit of su3ine fatalism 5e(g( to2ards the natural la2s of 3roduction7 or else in a s3irit of
32
?moral@ affirmation 5the state as an ideal& a cultural 3ositi0e7( :t is doubtless true that
these ?la2s@ are 3art of an ob1ecti0e dialectic inaccessible to the reified consciousness and
as such lead to the do2nfall of ca3italism(JO9K -ut as long as ca3italism sur0i0es& such a
0ie2 of society corres3onds to the elementary class interests of the bourgeoisie( :t deri0es
e0ery 3ractical ad0antage from re0ealing as3ects of the structure of immediate e4istence
5regardless of ho2 many insoluble 3roblems may be concealed behind these abstract
reflected forms7 2hile 0eiling the o0erall unified dialectical structure(
9n this territory& social democracy must ine0itably remain in the 2eaker 3osition( This is
not 1ust because it renounces of its o2n free 2ill the historical mission of the 3roletariat
to 3oint to the 2ay out of the 3roblems of ca3italism that the bourgeoisie cannot sol0e>
nor is it because it looks on fatalistically as the ?la2s@ of ca3italism drift to2ards the
abyss( -ut social democracy must concede defeat on e0ery 3articular issue also( For 2hen
confronted by the o0er2helming resources of kno2ledge& culture and routine 2hich the
bourgeoisie undoubtedly 3ossesses and 2ill continue to 3ossess as long as it remains the
ruling class& the only effecti0e su3eriority of the 3roletariat& its only decisi0e 2ea3on is its
ability to see the social totality as a concrete historical totality> to see the reified forms as
3rocesses bet2een men> to see the immanent meaning of history that only a33ears
negati0ely in the contradictions of abstract forms& to raise its 3ositi0e side to
consciousness and to 3ut it into 3ractice( )ith the ideology of social democracy the
3roletariat falls 0ictim to all the antinomics of reification that 2e ha0e hitherto analysed
in such detail( The im3ortant role increasingly 3layed in this ideology by ?man@ as a 0alue&
an ideal& an im3erati0e& accom3anied& of course& by a gro2ing ?insight@ into the necessity
and logic of the actual economic 3rocess& is only one sym3tom of this rela3se into the
reified immediacy of the bourgeoisie( For the unmediated 1u4ta3osition of natural la2s
and im3erati0es is the logical e43ression of immediate societal e4istence in bourgeois
society(
D
Reification is& then& the necessary& immediate reality of e0ery 3erson li0ing in ca3italist
society( :t can be o0ercome only by constant and constantly rene2ed efforts to disru3t
the reified structure of e4istence by concretely relating to the concretely manifested
contradictions of the total de0elo3ment& by becoming conscious of the immanent
meanings of these contradictions for the total de0elo3ment( -ut it must be em3hasised
that 517 the structure can be disru3ted only if the immanent contradictions of the 3rocess
are made conscious( 9nly 2hen the consciousness of the 3roletariat is able to 3oint out
the road along 2hich the dialectics of history is ob1ecti0ely im3elled& but 2hich it cannot
tra0el unaided& 2ill the consciousness of the 3roletariat a2aken to a consciousness of the
3rocess& and only then 2ill the 3roletariat become the identical sub1ect*ob1ect of history
2hose 3ra4is 2ill change reality( :f the 3roletariat fails to take this ste3 the contradiction
2ill remain unresol0ed and 2ill be re3roduced by the dialectical mechanics of history at
a higher le0el& in an altered form and 2ith increased intensity( :t is in this that the
ob1ecti0e necessity of history consists( The deed of the 3roletariat can ne0er be more than
to take the ne4t ste3JDBK in the 3rocess( )hether it is ?decisi0e@ or ?e3isodic@ de3ends on
the concrete circumstances& but in this conte4t& 2here 2e are concerned 2ith our
kno2ledge of the structure& it does not much matter as 2e are talking about an unbroken
3rocess of such disru3tions(
5+7 :nse3arable from this is the fact that the relation to totality does not need to become
e43licit& the 3lenitude of the totality does not need to be consciously integrated into the
moti0es and ob1ects of action( )hat is crucial is that there should be an as3iration
to2ards totality& that action should ser0e the 3ur3ose& described abo0e& in the totality of
the 3rocess( 9f course& 2ith the mounting ca3italist socialisation of society it becomes
increasingly 3ossible and hence necessary to integrate the content of each s3ecific e0ent
33
into the totality of contents(JD1K 5)orld economics and 2orld 3olitics are much more
immediate forms of e4istence today than they 2ere in Mar4@s time(7 !o2e0er& this does
not in the least contradict 2hat 2e ha0e maintained here& namely that the decisi0e
actions can in0ol0e an 8 a33arently 8 tri0ial matter( For here 2e can see in o3eration the
truth that in the dialectical totality the indi0idual elements incor3orate the structure of
the 2hole( This 2as made clear on the le0el of theory by the fact that e(g( it 2as 3ossible
to gain an understanding of the 2hole of bourgeois society from its commodity structure(
)e no2 see the same state of affairs in 3ractice& 2hen the fate of a 2hole 3rocess of
de0elo3ment can de3end on a decision in an 8 a33arently 8 tri0ial matter(
!ence 5F7 2hen 1udging 2hether an action is right or 2rong it is essential to relate it to
its function in the total 3rocess( Proletarian thought is 3ractical thought and as such is
strongly 3ragmatic( HThe 3roof of the 3udding is in the eating&I /ngels says& 3ro0iding an
idiomatic gloss on Mar4@s second Thesis on Feuerbach HThe 6uestion 2hether human
thinking can 3retend to ob1ecti0e truth is not a theoretical but a 3ractical 6uestion( Man
must 3ro0e the truth& i(e( the reality and 3o2er& the ?this*sidedness@ of his thinking in
3ractice( The dis3ute o0er the reality or non*reality of thinking that is isolated from
3ractice is a 3urely scholastic 6uestion(I This 3udding& ho2e0er& is the making of the
3roletariat into a class the 3rocess by 2hich its class consciousness becomes real in
3ractice( This gi0es a more concrete form to the 3ro3osition that the 3roletariat is the
identical sub1ect*ob1ect of the historical 3rocess& i(e( the first sub1ect in history that is
5ob1ecti0ely7 ca3able of an ade6uate social consciousness( :t turns out that the
contradictions in 2hich the antagonisms of the mechanics of history are e43ressed are
only ca3able of an ob1ecti0e social solution in 3ractice if the solution is at the same time a
ne2& 3ractically*2on consciousness on the 3art of the 3roletariat(JD+K)hether an action
is functionally right or 2rong is decided ultimately by the e0olution of 3roletarian class
consciousness(
The eminently 3ractical nature of this consciousness is to be seen 5N7 in that an ade6uate&
correct consciousness means a change in its o2n ob1ects& and in the first instance& in
itself( :n "ection :: of this essay 2e discussed Cant@s 0ie2 of the ontological 3roof of
God@s e4istence& of the 3roblem of e4istence and thought& and 2e 6uoted his 0ery logical
argument to the effect that if e4istence 2ere a true 3redicate& then H: could not say that
3recisely the ob1ect of my conce3t e4ists(I Cant 2as being 0ery consistent 2hen he
denied this( ;t the same time it is clear that from the stand3oint of the 3roletariat the
em3irically gi0en reality of the ob1ects does dissol0e into 3rocesses and tendencies> this
3rocess is no single& unre3eatable tearing of the 0eil that masks the 3rocess but the
unbroken alternation of ossification& contradiction and mo0ement> and thus the
3roletariat re3resents the true reality& namely the tendencies of history a2akening into
consciousness( )e must therefore conclude that Cant@s seemingly 3arado4ical statement
is a 3recise descri3tion of 2hat actually follo2s from e0ery functionally correct action of
the 3roletariat(
This insight alone 3uts us in a 3osition to see through the last 0estiges of the reification
of consciousness and its intellectual form& the 3roblem of the thing*in*itself( /0en
Friedrich /ngels has 3ut the matter in a form that may easily gi0e rise to
misunderstandings( :n his account of 2hat se3arates Mar4 and himself from the school
of !egel& he says H)e com3rehend the conce3ts in our heads once more materialistically
8 as reflections of real things instead of regarding the real things as reflections of this or
that stage of the absolute conce3t(IJDFK
-ut this lea0es a 6uestion to be asked and /ngels not only asks it but also ans2ers it on
the follo2ing 3age 6uite in agreement 2ith us( There he says Hthat the 2orld is not to be
com3rehended as a com3le4 of ready*made things& but as a com3le4 of 3rocesses(I -ut if
there are no things& 2hat is ?reflected@ in thought= )e cannot ho3e to offer e0en an
34
outline of the history of the ?reflection theory@ e0en though 2e could only unra0el the full
im3lications of this 3roblem 2ith its aid( :n the theory of ?reflection@ 2e find the
theoretical embodiment of the duality of thought and e4istence& consciousness and
reality& that is so intractable to the reified consciousness( ;nd from that 3oint of 0ie2 it is
immaterial 2hether things are to be regarded as reflections of conce3ts or 2hether
conce3ts are reflections of things( :n both cases the duality is firmly established(
Cant@s grandiose and 0ery cogent attem3t to o0ercome this duality by logic& his theory of
the synthetic function of consciousness in the creation of the domain of theory could not
arri0e at any 3hiloso3hical solution to the 6uestion( For his duality 2as merely banished
from logic to rea33ear in 3er3etuity in the form of the duality of 3henomenon and the
thing*in*itself( ;nd in these terms it remained an insoluble 3hiloso3hical 3roblem( The
later history of his theory sho2s ho2 0ery unsatisfactory his solution 2as( To see Cant@s
e3istemology as sce3ticism and agnosticism is of course a misunderstanding( -ut it is
one that has at least one root in the theory itself 8 not& be it admitted& in the logic but in
the relation bet2een the logic and the meta3hysics& in the relation bet2een thought and
e4istence(
:t must be clearly understood that e0ery contem3lati0e stance and thus e0ery kind of
?3ure thought@ that must undertake the task of kno2ing an ob1ect outside itself raises the
3roblem of sub1ecti0ity and ob1ecti0ity( The ob1ect of thought 5as something outside7
becomes something alien to the sub1ect( This raises the 3roblem of 2hether thought
corres3onds to the ob1ectR The ?3urer@ the cogniti0e character of thought becomes and the
more ?critical@ thought is& the more 0ast and im3assable does the abyss a33ear that ya2ns
bet2een the ?sub1ecti0e@ mode of thought and the ob1ecti0ity of the 5e4isting7 ob1ect( ,o2
it is 3ossible 8 as 2ith Cant 8 to 0ie2 the ob1ect of thought as something ?created@ by the
forms of thought( -ut this does not suffice to sol0e the 3roblem of e4istence& and Cant& by
remo0ing it from the s3here@ of e3istemology& creates this 3hiloso3hical situation for
himself e0en his e4cogitated ob1ects must corres3ond to some ?reality@ or other( -ut this
reality is treated as a thing*in*itself and 3laced outside the realm of that 2hich can be
kno2n by the ?critical@ mind( :t is 2ith res3ect to this reality 52hich is the authentic& the
meta3hysical reality for Cant& as his ethics sho2s7 that his 3osition remains one of
sce3ticism and agnosticism( This remains true ho2e0er unsce3tical 2as the solution he
found for e3istemological ob1ecti0ity and the immanent theory of truth(
:t is& therefore& no accident that it is from Cant that the 0arious agnostic trends ha0e
taken their cue 5one has only to think of Maimon or "cho3enhauer7( :t is e0en less of an
accident that Cant himself 2as res3onsible for the reintroduction into 3hiloso3hy of the
3rinci3le that is most 0iolently o33osed to his o2n synthetic 3rinci3le of ?creation@
5/r#eugung7& namely the Platonic theory of ideas( For this theory is the most e4treme
attem3t to rescue the ob1ecti0ity of thought and its corres3ondence 2ith its ob1ect&
2ithout ha0ing to resort to em3irical and material reality to find a criterion for the
corres3ondence(
,o2 it is e0ident that e0ery consistent elaboration of the theory of ideas re6uires a
3rinci3le that both links thought 2ith the ob1ects of the 2orld of ideas and also connects
these 2ith the ob1ects of the em3irical 2orld 5recollection& intellectual intuition& etc(7(
-ut this in turn leads the theory of thought to transcend the limits of thought itself and
it becomes 3sychology& meta3hysics or the history of 3hiloso3hy( Thus instead of a
solution to the 3roblem 2e are left 2ith com3le4ities that ha0e been doubled or tri3led(
;nd the 3roblem remains 2ithout a solution( For the insight that a corres3ondence or
relationshi3 of ?reflection@ cannot in 3rinci3le be established bet2een heterogeneous
ob1ects is 3recisely the dri0ing force behind e0ery 0ie2 of the ty3e of the Platonic theory
of ideas( This( undertakes to 3ro0e that the same ultimate essence forms the core of the
ob1ects of thought as 2ell as of thought itself( !egel gi0es an a3t descri3tion of the basic
35
3hiloso3hical theme of the theory of recollection from this stand3oint 2hen he says that
it 3ro0ides a myth of man@s fundamental situation Hin him lies the truth and the only
3roblem is to make it conscious(IJDNK -ut ho2 to 3ro0e this identity in thought and
e4istence of the ultimate substance= 8 abo0e all 2hen it has been sho2n that they are
com3letely heterogeneous in the 2ay in 2hich they 3resent themsel0es to the intuiti0e&
contem3lati0e mind= :t becomes necessary to in0oke meta3hysics and 2ith the aid of its
o0ert or concealed mythical mediations thought and e4istence can once again be
reunited( ;nd this des3ite the fact that their se3aration is not merely the starting*3oint
of ?3ure@ thought but also a factor that constantly informs it 2hether it likes it or not(
The situation is not im3ro0ed in the slightest 2hen the mythology is turned on its head
and thought is deduced from em3irical material reality( Rickert once described
materialism as an in0erted Platonism( ;nd he 2as right in so doing( ;s long as thought
and e4istence 3ersist in their old& rigid o33osition& as long as their o2n structure and the
structure of their interconnections remain unchanged& then the 0ie2 that thought is a
3roduct of the brain and hence must corres3ond to the ob1ects of the em3irical 2orld is
1ust such a mythology as those of recollection and the 2orld of Platonic ideas( :t is a
mythology for it is inca3able of e43laining the s3ecific 3roblems that arise here by
reference to this 3rinci3le( :t is forced to lea0e them unsol0ed& to sol0e them 2ith the
?old@ methods and to reinstate the mythology as a key to the 2hole unanalysed com3le4(
JDOK -ut as 2ill already be clear& it is not 3ossible to eliminate the distinction by means of
an infinite 3rogression( For that 3roduces either a 3seudo*solution or else the theory of
reflection sim3ly rea33ears in a different guise(JDDK
!istorical thought 3ercei0es the corres3ondence of thought and e4istence in their 8
immediate( but no more than immediate 8 rigid& reified structure( This is 3recisely the
3oint at& 2hich non*dialectical thought is confronted by this insoluble 3roblem( From the
fact of this rigid confrontation it follo2s 517 that thought and 5em3irical7 e4istence
cannot reflect each other& but also 5+7 that the criterion of correct thought can only be
found in the realm of reflection( ;s long as man ado3ts a stance of intuition and
contem3lation he can only relate to his o2n thought and to the ob1ects of the em3irical
2orld in an immediate 2ay( !e acce3ts both as ready*made 8 3roduced by historical
reality( ;s he 2ishes only to kno2 the 2orld and not to change it he is forced to acce3t
both the em3irical& material rigidity of e4istence and the logical rigidity of conce3ts as
unchangeable( !is mythological analyses are not concerned 2ith the concrete origins of
this rigidity nor 2ith the real factors inherent in them that could lead to its elimination(
They are concerned solely to disco0er ho2 the unchanged nature of these data could be
con1oined 2hilst lea0ing them unchanged and ho2 to e43lain them as such(
The solution 3ro3osed by Mar4 in his Theses on Feuerbach is to transform 3hiloso3hy
into 3ra4is( -ut& as 2e ha0e seen& this 3ra4is has its ob1ecti0e and structural
3reconditions and com3lement in the 0ie2 that reality is a Hcom3le4 of 3rocesses(I That
is to say& in the 0ie2 that the mo0ements of history re3resent the true reality> not indeed
a transcendental one& but at all e0ents a higher one than that of the rigid& reified facts of
the em3irical 2orld& from 2hich they arise( For the reflection theory this means that
thought and consciousness are orientated to2ards reality but& at the same time& the
criterion of truth is 3ro0ided by rele0ance to reality( This reality is by no means identical
2ith em3irical e4istence( This reality is not& it becomes(
The 3rocess of -ecoming is to be understood in a t2ofold sense( 517 :n this -ecoming& in
this tendency& in this 3rocess the true nature of the ob1ect is re0ealed( This is meant in
the sense that 8 as in the case of the instances 2e ha0e cited and 2hich could easily be
multi3lied 8 the transformation of things into a 3rocess 3ro0ides a concrete solution to
all theconcrete 3roblems created by the 3arado4es of e4istent ob1ects( The recognition
that one cannot ste3 into the same ri0er t2ice is 1ust an e4treme 2ay of highlighting the
36
unbridgeable abyss bet2een conce3t and reality( :t does nothing to increase our concrete
kno2ledge of the ri0er(
:n contrast 2ith this& the recognition that ca3ital as a 3rocess can only be accumulated(
or rather accumulating& ca3ital& 3ro0ides the 3ositi0e& concrete solution to a 2hole host
of 3ositi0e& concrete 3roblems of method and of substance connected 2ith ca3ital( !ence
only by o0ercoming the 8 theoretical 8 duality of 3hiloso3hy and s3ecial disci3line& of
methodology and factual kno2ledge can the 2ay be found by 2hich to annul the duality
of thought and e4istence( /0ery attem3t to o0ercome the duality dialectically in logic& in a
system of thought stri33ed of e0ery concrete relation to e4istence& is doomed to failure(
5;nd 2e may obser0e that des3ite many other o33osing tendencies in his 2ork& !egel@s
3hiloso3hy 2as of this ty3e(7 For e0ery 3ure logic is Platonic it is thought released from
e4istence and hence ossified( 9nly by concei0ing of thought as a form of reality& as a
factor in the total 3rocess can 3hiloso3hy o0ercome its o2n rigidity dialectically and take
on the 6uality of -ecoming(JD.K
5+7 -ecoming is also the mediation bet2een 3ast and future( -ut it is the mediation
bet2een the concrete& i(e( historical 3ast& and the e6ually concrete& i(e( historical future(
)hen the concrete here and no2 dissol0es into a 3rocess it is no longer a continuous&
intangible moment& immediacy sli33ing a2ay>JDPK it is the focus of the dee3est and most
2idely ramified mediation& the focus of decision and of the birth of the ne2( ;s long as
man concentrates his interest contem3lati0ely u3on the 3ast or future& both ossify into
an alien e4istence( ;nd bet2een the sub1ect and the ob1ect lies the unbridgeable
H3ernicious chasmI of the 3resent( Man must be able to com3rehend the 3resent as a
becoming( !e can do this by seeing in it the tendencies out of 2hose dialectical
o33osition he can make the future( 9nly 2hen he does this 2ill the 3resent be a 3rocess
of becoming& that belongs to him( 9nly he 2ho is 2illing and 2hose mission it is to create
the future can see the 3resent in its concrete truth( ;s !egel says HTruth is not to treat
ob1ects as alien(IJD9K
-ut 2hen the truth of becoming is the future that is to be created but has not yet been
born& 2hen it is the ne2 that resides in the tendencies that 52ith our conscious aid7 2ill
be realised& then the 6uestion 2hether thought is a reflection a33ears 6uite senseless( :t
is true that reality is the criterion for the correctness of thought( -ut reality is not& it
becomes 8 and to become the 3artici3ation of thought is needed( )e see here the
fulfilment of the 3rogramme of classical 3hiloso3hy the 3rinci3le of genesis means in
fact that dogmatism is o0ercome 5abo0e all in its most im3ortant historical incarnation
the Platonic theory of reflection7( -ut only concrete 5historical7 becoming can 3erform
the function of such a genesis( ;nd consciousness 5the 3ractical class consciousness of
the 3roletariat7 is a necessary& indis3ensable& integral 3art of that 3rocess of becoming(
Thus thought and e4istence are not identical in the sense that they ?corres3ond@ to each
other& or ?reflect@ each other& that they ?run 3arallel@ to each other or ?coincide@ 2ith each
other 5all e43ressions that conceal a rigid duality7( Their identity is that they are as3ects
of one and the same real historical and dialectical 3rocess( )hat is ?reflected@ in the
consciousness of the 3roletariat is the ne2 3ositi0e reality arising out of the dialectical
contradictions of ca3italism( ;nd this is by no means the in0ention of the 3roletariat& nor
2as it ?created@ out of the 0oid( :t is rather the ine0itable conse6uence of the 3rocess in its
totality> one 2hich changed from being an abstract 3ossibility to a concrete reality only
after it had become 3art of the consciousness of the 3roletariat and had been made
3ractical by it( ;nd this is no mere formal transformation( For a 3ossibility to be realised&
for a tendency to become actual& 2hat is re6uired is that the ob1ecti0e com3onents of a
society should be transformed> their functions must be changed and 2ith them the
structure and content of e0ery indi0idual ob1ect(
37
-ut it must ne0er be forgotten only the 3ractical class consciousness of the
3roletariat 3ossesses this ability to transform things( /0ery contem3lati0e& 3urely
cogniti0e stance leads ultimately to a di0ided relationshi3 to its ob1ect( "im3ly to
trans3lant the structure 2e ha0e discerned here into any stance other than that of
3roletarian action 8 for only the class can be 3ractical in its relation to the total 3rocess 8
2ould mean the creation of a ne2 conce3tual mythology and a regression to the
stand3oint of classical 3hiloso3hy refuted by Mar4( For e0ery 3urely cogniti0e stance
bears the stigma of immediacy( That is to say& it ne0er ceases to be confronted by a 2hole
series of ready*made ob1ects that cannot be dissol0ed into 3rocesses( :ts dialectical
nature can sur0i0e only in the tendency to2ards 3ra4is and in its orientation to2ards the
actions of the 3roletariat( :t can sur0i0e only if it remains critically a2are of its o2n
tendency to immediacy inherent in e0ery non*3ractical stance and if it constantly stri0es
to e43lain critically the mediations& the relations to the totality as a 3rocess& to the
actions of the 3roletariat as a class(
The 3ractical character of the thought of the 3roletariat is born and becomes real as the
result of an e6ually dialectical 3rocess( :n this thought self*criticism is more than the
self*criticism of its ob1ect& i(e( the self*criticism of bourgeois society( :t is also a critical
a2areness of ho2 much of its o2n 3ractical nature has really become manifest& 2hich
stage of the genuinely 3racticable is ob1ecti0ely 3ossible and ho2 much of 2hat is
ob1ecti0ely 3ossible has been made real( For it is e0ident that ho2e0er clearly 2e may
ha0e gras3ed the fact that society consists of 3rocesses& ho2e0er thoroughly 2e may ha0e
unmasked the fiction of its rigid reification& this does not mean that 2e are able to annul
the ?reality@ of this fiction in ca3italist society in 3ractice( The moments in 2hich this
insight can really be con0erted into 3ractice are determined by de0elo3ments in society(
Thus 3roletarian thought is in the first 3lace merely a theory of 3ra4is 2hich only
gradually 5and indeed often s3asmodically7 transforms itself into a 3ractical theory that
o0erturns the real 2orld( The indi0idual stages of this 3rocess cannot be sketched in
here( They alone 2ould be able to sho2 ho2 3roletarian class consciousness e0ol0es
dialectically 5i(e( ho2 the 3roletariat becomes a class7( 9nly then 2ould it be 3ossible to
thro2 light on the intimate dialectical 3rocess of interaction bet2een the socio*historical
situation and the class consciousness of the 3roletariat( 9nly then 2ould the statement
that the 3roletariat is the identical sub1ect*ob1ect of the history of society become truly
concrete(J.BK
/0en the 3roletariat can only o0ercome reification as long as it is oriented to2ards
3ractice( ;nd this means that there can be no single act that 2ill eliminate reification in
all its forms at one blo2> it means that there 2ill be a 2hole host of ob1ects that at least in
a33earance remain more or less unaffected by the 3rocess( This is true in the first
instance of nature( -ut it is also illuminating to obser0e ho2 a 2hole set of social
3henomena become dialecticised by a different 3ath than the one 2e ha0e traced out to
sho2 the nature of the dialectics of history and the 3rocess by 2hich the barriers of
reification can be shattered( )e ha0e obser0ed& for instance& ho2 certain 2orks of art are
e4traordinarily sensiti0e to the 6ualitati0e nature of dialectical changes 2ithout their
becoming conscious of the antagonisms 2hich they lay bare and to 2hich they gi0e
artistic form(
;t the same time 2e obser0ed other societal 3henomena 2hich contain inner
antagonisms but only in an abstract form& i(e( their inner contradictions are merely the
secondary effects of the inner contradictions of other& more 3rimary 3henomena( This
means that these last contradictions can only become 0isible if mediated by the former
and can only become dialectical 2hen they do( 5This is true of interest as o33osed to
3rofit(7 :t 2ould be necessary to set forth the 2hole system of these 6ualitati0e
gradations in the dialectical character of the different kinds of 3henomena before 2e
38
should be in a 3osition to arri0e at the concrete totality of the categories 2ith 2hich alone
true kno2ledge of the 3resent is 3ossible( The hierarchy of these categories 2ould
determine at the same time the 3oint 2here system and history meet& thus fulfilling
Mar4@s 3ostulate 5already cited7 concerning the categories that Htheir se6uence is
determined by the relations they ha0e to each other in modern bourgeois society(I
:n e0ery consciously dialectical system of thought& ho2e0er& any se6uence is itself
dialectical 8 not only for !egel& but also as early as Proclus( Moreo0er& the dialectical
deduction of categories cannot 3ossibly in0ol0e a sim3le 1u4ta3osition or e0en the
succession of identical forms( :ndeed& if the method is not to degenerate into a rigid
schematicism e0en identical formal 3atterns must not be allo2ed to function in a
re3etiti0ely mechanical 2ay 5thus& the famous triad thesis& antithesis and synthesis7(
)hen the dialectical method becomes rigid& as ha33ens fre6uently in !egel& to say
nothing of his follo2ers& the only control de0ice and the only 3rotection is the concrete
historical method of Mar4( -ut it is 0ital that 2e should dra2 all the conclusions 3ossible
from this situation( !egel himself distinguishes bet2een negati0e and 3ositi0e
dialectics(I -y 3ositi0e dialectics he understands the gro2th of a 3articular content& the
elucidation of a concrete totality( :n the 3rocess& ho2e0er& 2e find that he almost al2ays
ad0ances from the determinants of reflection to the 3ositi0e dialectics e0en though his
conce3tion of nature& for e4am3le& as Hotherness&I as the idea in a state of Hbeing e4ternal
to itselfI directly 3recludes a 3ositi0e dialectics( 5:t is here that 2e can find one of the
theoretical sources for the fre6uently artificial constructs of his 3hiloso3hy of nature(7
,e0ertheless& !egel does 3ercei0e clearly at times that the dialectics of nature can ne0er
become anything more e4alted than a dialectics of mo0ement 2itnessed by the detached
obser0er& as the sub1ect cannot be integrated into the dialectical 3rocess& at least not at
the stage reached hitherto( Thus he em3hasises that Weno@s antinomies reached the same
le0el as those of Cant&J.FK 2ith the im3lication that it is not 3ossible to go any higher(
From this 2e deduce the necessity of se3arating the merely ob1ecti0e dialectics of nature
from those of society( For in the dialectics of society the sub1ect is included in the
reci3rocal relation in 2hich theory and 3ractice become dialectical 2ith reference to one
another( 5:t goes 2ithout saying that the gro2th of kno2ledge about nature is a social
3henomenon and therefore to be included in the second dialectical ty3e(7 Moreo0er& if
the dialectical method is to be consolidated concretely it is essential that the different
ty3es of dialectics should be set out in concrete fashion( :t 2ould then become clear that
the !egelian distinction bet2een 3ositi0e and negati0e dialectics as 2ell as the different
le0els of intuition& re3resentation and conce3t J;nschauung& Morstellung& -egriffK 8 5a
terminology that need not be adhered to7 are only some of the 3ossible ty3es of
distinction to be dra2n( For the others the economic 2orks of Mar4 3ro0ide abundant
material for a clearly elaborated analysis of structures( !o2e0er& e0en to outline a
ty3ology of these dialectical forms 2ould be 2ell beyond the sco3e of this study(
"till more im3ortant than these systematic distinctions is the fact that e0en the ob1ects in
the 0ery centre of the dialectical 3rocess can only slough off their reified form after a
laborious 3rocess( ; 3rocess in 2hich the sei#ure of 3o2er by the 3roletariat and e0en
the organisation of the state and the economy on socialist lines are only stages( They are&
of course& e4tremely im3ortant stages& but they do not mean that the ultimate ob1ecti0e
has been achie0ed( ;nd it e0en a33ears as if the decisi0e crisis*3eriod of ca3italism may
be characterised by the tendency to intensify reification& to bring it to a head( Roughly in
the sense in 2hich Lassalle 2rote to Mar4 H!egel used to say in his old age that directly
before the emergence of something 6ualitati0ely ne2& the old state of affairs gathers itself
u3 into its original& 3urely general& essence& into its sim3le totality& transcending and
absorbing back into itself all those marked differences and 3eculiarities 2hich it e0inced
2hen it 2as still 0iable(IJ.NK 9n the other hand& -ukharin& too& is right 2hen he obser0es
39
that in the age of the dissolution of ca3italism& the fetishistic categories colla3se and it
becomes necessary to ha0e recourse to the ?natural form@ underlying them(J.OK The
contradiction bet2een these t2o 0ie2s is& ho2e0er& only a33arent( For the contradiction
has t2o as3ects on the one hand& there is the increasing undermining of the forms of
reification 8 one might describe it as the cracking of the crust because of the inner
em3tiness 8 their gro2ing inability to do 1ustice to the 3henomena& e0en as isolated
3henomena& e0en as the ob1ects of reflection and calculation( 9n the other hand& 2e find
the 6uantitati0e increase of the forms of reification& their em3ty e4tension to co0er the
2hole surface of manifest 3henomena( ;nd the fact that these t2o as3ects together are in
conflict 3ro0ides the key signature to the decline of bourgeois society(
;s the antagonism becomes more acute t2o 3ossibilities o3en u3 for the 3roletariat( :t is
gi0en the o33ortunity to substitute its o2n 3ositi0e contents for the em3tied and
bursting husks( -ut also it is e43osed to the danger that for a time at least it might ada3t
itself ideologically to conform to these& the em3tiest and most decadent forms of
bourgeois culture(
!istory is at its least automatic 2hen it is the consciousness of the 3roletariat that is at
issue( The truth that the old intuiti0e& mechanistic materialism could not gras3 turns out
to be doubly true for the 3roletariat& namely that it can be transformed and liberated
only by its o2n actions& and that Hthe educator must himself be educated(I The ob1ecti0e
economic e0olution could do no more than create the 3osition of the 3roletariat in the
3roduction 3rocess( :t 2as this 3osition that determined its 3oint of 0ie2( -ut the
ob1ecti0e e0olution could only gi0e the 3roletariat the o33ortunity and the necessity to
change society( ;ny transformation can only come about as the 3roduct of the 8 free 8
action of the 3roletariat itself(
!istory and Class Consciousness Georg Lukcs 19+F
Critical 9bser0ations on Rosa Lu4emburg@s HCriti6ue of the Russian Re0olutionI
P;AL L/M: has felt im3elled to 3ublish a 3am3hlet that Comrade Rosa Lu4emburg
com3osed hurriedly 2hile in -reslau gaol and that has sur0i0ed as an incom3lete
fragment( Publication took 3lace in the midst of the most 0iolent struggles against the
German C(P( and the Third :nternational> it thus re3resents a stage in this struggle no
less than the ?Mor2Xrts@ re0elations and Friesland@s 3am3hlet Y though it ser0es other
dee3er 3ur3oses( The aim this time is not to undermine the standing of the German C(P(
or to 2eaken confidence in the 3olicy of the Third :nternational> it is to strike a blo2 at
the theoretical basis of -olshe0ik organisation and tactics( This is the cause in 2hose
su33ort the re0ered authority of Rosa Lu4emburg is to be enlisted( The theory that 2ould
1ustify the li6uidation of the Third :nternational and its sections is to be 6uarried from
her 3osthumous 2orks(
!ence it is not enough to 3oint out that Rosa Lu4emburg later re0ised her 0ie2s( :t is
necessary to see to 2hat e4tent she 2as in the right( For Y seen abstractly Y it might 2ell
be the case that she had continued to de0elo3 her 0ie2s in the 2rong direction in the first
months of the Re0olution> and that the re0ision of her 3osition noted by Comrades
)arski and Wetkin could mean she had taken the 2rong turning( !ence inde3endently of
Rosa Lu4emburg@s later attitude to the o3inions set do2n here Y it is 2ith these o3inions
that the discussion must come to gri3s( ;ll the more as some of the differences of o3inion
bet2een Rosa Lu4emburg and the -olshe0iks had already come to light in the Eunius
Pam3hlet and Lenin@s criticism of that& and indeed as early as the criticism of Lenin@s
40
book 9ne "te3 For2ards& T2o "te3s -ack 2hich Rosa Lu4emburg 3ublished in the ,eue
Weit in 19BN( These differences 2ere still influential in the formulation of the "3artacus
3rogramme(
)hat is at issue& then& is the substanti0e content of the 3am3hlet( -ut e0en here the
3rinci3le& the method& the theoretical foundation& the general 0ie2 of the character of the
re0olution 2hich determines the stand to be taken on indi0idual 6uestions& is more
im3ortant than the attitude ado3ted to 3articular 3roblems of the Russian Re0olution(
For to a great e4tent these ha0e been su3erseded by the 3assage of time(
/0en Le0i admits this in the case of the agrarian 3roblem( ; 3olemic on that 3oint& then&
is su3erfluous( :t is necessary only to indicate the methodological 3oint 2hich takes us
one ste3 nearer to the central 3roblem of this study to the false 0ie2 of the character of
the 3roletarian re0olution( Rosa Lu4emburg em3hasises H; socialist go0ernment 2hich
has come to 3o2er must in any e0ent do one thing it must take measures 2hich lead in
the direction of those fundamental 3rere6uisites for a later socialist reform of
agriculture> it must at least a0oid e0erything 2hich may bar the 2ay to those measures(I
;nd so she re3roaches Lenin and the -olshe0iks 2ith ha0ing omitted to do this& indeed&
2ith ha0ing done the o33osite( :f this o3inion stood in isolation one might confine
oneself to 3ointing out that Comrade Lu4emburg Y like almost e0eryone else in 191P Y
2as inade6uately informed of the true e0ents in Russia( -ut 2hen 2e look at this o3inion
in the conte4t of her other 0ie2s 2e can see at once that she o0erestimates by a long
chalk the actual 3o2er 2hich the -olshe0iks had at their dis3osal for choosing the form
in 2hich to settle the agrarian 6uestion( The agrarian re0olution 2as a gi0en fact and one
2holly inde3endent of the 2ill of the -olshe0iks and e0en of the 3roletariat( The 3easants
2ould ha0e di0ided u3 the land in any circumstances in accordance 2ith the elementary
e43ression of their class interests( ;nd had the -olshe0iks resisted them they 2ould ha0e
been s2e3t a2ay by this elemental mo0ement 1ust as the Menshe0iks and the "ocialist
Re0olutionaries had been s2e3t a2ay by it(
The correct 2ay to 3ut the 6uestion about the agrarian 3roblem is not to ask 2hether the
-olshe0iks@ land reform 2as a socialist measure or at least one that 2ould lead in the
direction of socialism( -ut 2hether& in the situation as it then e4isted& 2hen the rising
re0olutionary mo0ement 2as stri0ing to2ards the 3oint of decision& all the elemental
forces of the dissol0ing bourgeois society could be marshalled against a bourgeoisie that
2as 3re3aring for the counter*re0olution( 5;nd this regardless of 2hether they 2ere
?3urely@ 3roletarian or 3etty bourgeois& regardless of 2hether they 2ere heading in the
direction of socialism(7 :n the face of an elemental 3easant mo0ement stri0ing after the
distribution of land a decision had to be taken( ;nd this decision could only be a clear&
unambiguous Tes or ,o( /ither one had to 3lace oneself at the head of the mo0ement& or
else to smash it by force of arms( ;nd in that e0ent one 2ould ha0e become the 3risoner
of the necessarily united bourgeoisie& as in fact ha33ened to the Menshe0iks and the
"ocialist Re0olutionaries( ;t that moment there could be no thought of a gradual
HdeflectionI of the 3easant mo0ement Hin the direction of socialismI( This could and had
to be attem3ted later( !o2 far these attem3ts really failed 5and in my 0ie2 the dossier on
this is far from com3lete> there are ?failures@ 2hich ne0ertheless bear fruit in later
conte4ts7 and 2hat the causes of this failure 2ere cannot be in0estigated here( The issue
here is the decision of the -olshe0iks at the moment 2hen they sei#ed 3o2er( ;nd it
must be firmly stated that the -olshe0iks sim3ly 2ere not gi0en the choice bet2een an
agrarian reform leading in the direction of socialism and one leading a2ay from it( The
only choice they had 2as either to mobilise the liberated energies of the elemental
3easant mo0ement in the ser0ice of the 3roletarian re0olution> or& by 3itting themsel0es
against the 3easants& to isolate the 3roletariat ho3elessly and thus to hel3 the counter*
re0olution to 0ictory(
41
Rosa Lu4emburg herself admits this candidly H;s a 3olitical measure to fortify the
3roletarian socialist go0ernment& it 2as an e4cellent tactical mo0e( Anfortunately&
ho2e0er& it had t2o sides to it> and the re0erse side consisted in the fact that the direct
sei#ure of the land by the 3easants has in general nothing at all in common 2ith socialist
economy(I -ut 2hen& des3ite this& she links her correct a33reciation of the
-olshe0iks@ 3olitical tactics to her criticism of their socio*economic mode of action& 2e
can already glim3se the nature of her e0aluation of the Russian& of the 3roletarian
Re0olution(
:t consists in the o0erestimation of its 3urely 3roletarian character& and therefore the
o0erestimation both of the e4ternal 3o2er and of the inner clarity and maturity that the
3roletarian class can 3ossess and in fact did 3ossess in the first 3hase of the re0olution(
;nd at the same time 2e see as a corollary the underestimation of the im3ortance of the
non*3roletarian elements in the re0olution( ;nd this includes the non*3roletarian
elements outside as 2ell as the 3o2er 2ielded by such ideologies 2ithin the 3roletariat
itself( ;nd this false assessment of the true dri0ing forces leads to the decisi0e 3oint of
her misinter3retation to the under3laying of the role of the 3arty in the re0olution and
of its conscious 3olitical action& as o33osed to the necessity of being dri0en along by the
elemental forces of economic de0elo3ment(
+
"ome readers may find it e4aggerated to turn this into a 6uestion of 3rinci3le( -ut to
make the 1ustice of our assessment stand out more clearly 2e must return to the
3articular 6uestions raised in the 3am3hlet( Rosa Lu4emburg@s attitude to the
nationalities 3roblem in the Russian Re0olution leads back to the critical discussions of
the 2ar*3eriod& to the Eunius 3am3hlet and to Lenin@s criticism of it(
The thesis 2hich Lenin al2ays stubbornly contested 5not only on the occasion of the
Eunius 3am3hlet& although this is 2here it 2as formulated most clearly and succinctly7
2ent thus H:n the era of ram3ant im3erialism there can no longer be any national
2ars(IJ+K :t might seem as if the di0ergence of 0ie2s here 2ere merely theoretical( For
Eunius and Lenin 2ere in com3lete agreement about the im3erialist character of the
)orld )ar( /0en to the 3oint of seeing that e0en those sectors of the 2ar 2hich taken in
isolation 2ere national 2ars& had to be considered as im3erialist 3henomena because of
their connections 2ith the total im3erialist com3le4( 5;s in the case of "erbia and the
correct beha0iour of the "erbian comrades(7 -ut in 3ractice substanti0e 6uestions of the
first im3ortance immediately 3resent themsel0es(
:n the first 3lace& a situation in 2hich national 2ars once again become 3ossible is not
indeed likely but neither is it 2holly out of the 6uestion( :ts realisation de3ends on the
s3eed of the transition from the 3hase of im3erialist 2ar into the 3hase of ci0il 2ar( "o
that it is 2rong to uni0ersalise the im3erialist character of the 3resent to the 3oint of
denying absolutely that national 2ars are 3ossible( For if that is done the socialist
3olitician might find himself in a situation 2here his adherence to 3rinci3le 2ould lead
him to beha0e in a reactionary manner(
:n the second 3lace& the re0olts of the colonial and semicolonial 3eo3les must necessarily
be national 2ars to 2hich the re0olutionary 3arties must by all means lend their su33ort>
to be indifferent to them 2ould be directly counter*re0olutionary( 5"ee "errati@s attitude
to Cemal(7
:n the third 3lace& it must not be forgotten that nationalist ideologies still sur0i0e and not
only in the stratum of the 3etty bourgeoisie 52hose beha0iour can be 0ery fa0ourable to
the Re0olution in certain circumstances7 but in the 3roletariat itself and es3ecially in the
3roletariat of o33ressed nations( ;nd their interest in true internationalism cannot be
aroused by intellectual uto3ians 2ho beha0e as if the socialist 2orld to come had already
arri0ed and the nationality 3roblem no longer e4isted( :t can be aroused only by
42
the 3ractical 3roof that the 0ictorious Proletariat of an o33ressor nation has broken 2ith
the o33ressi0e tendencies of im3erialism 2ith all its conse6uences to the 3oint 2here it
acce3ts the right of self*determination Hincluding national inde3endenceI( 9f course& this
slogan must be counterbalanced by the slogan of ?belonging together@& of federation( -ut
the mere fact of 0ictory does not free the 3roletariat from contamination by ca3italist and
nationalist ideologies& and if it is to 3ass successfully through the transitional ideological
3hase& then it 2ill need both slogans together( ,ot2ithstanding the setbacks of 191P& the
3olicy of the -olshe0iks on this issue has turned out to ha0e been the right one( For after
-rest*Lito0sk& e0en 2ithout the notion of the right of com3lete self*determination& "o0iet
Russia 2ould ha0e lost the frontier states and the Akraine( -ut in the absence of that
3olicy& it 2ould ne0er ha0e been able to reco0er the latter territories nor the Caucasian
Re3ublics& etc(
Rosa Lu4emburg@s criticism has been refuted on this 3oint by history itself( ;nd 2e
should not ha0e concerned oursel0es 2ith it so e4tensi0ely 5Lenin ha0ing already refuted
the theory of it in his criti6ue of the Eunius 3am3hlet& ;gainst the Current7 if 2e had not
3ercei0ed in it the same 0ie2 of the character of the 3roletarian re0olution that 2e ha0e
already analysed in the case of the agrarian 3roblem( !ere& too& Rosa Lu4emburg
o0erlooks the choice bet2een ?im3ure@ socialist necessities 2hich fate forced u3on the
3roletarian re0olution right from the start( "he o0erlooks the necessity for the
re0olutionary 3arty of the 3roletariat to mobilise all forces 2hich 2ere re0olutionary at
that moment and so to consolidate the re0olutionary front as clearly and 3o2erfully as
3ossible against the moment 2hen the clash 2ith the counter*re0olution 2ould come(
"he constantly o33oses to the e4igencies of the moment the 3rinci3les of future stages of
the re0olution( This 3ractice forms the basis of the ultimately crucial arguments of this
3am3hlet concerning force and democracy& the "o0iet system and the 3arty( :t is
therefore im3ortant to understand the real tenor of the o3inions e43ressed(
F
:n this 3am3hlet Rosa Lu4emburg 1oins the ranks of those 2ho em3hatically disa33ro0e
of the dis3ersal of the Constituent ;ssembly& the setting*u3 of the system of so0iets& the
denial of ci0il rights to the bourgeoisie& the lack of ?freedom@ and the use of terror( )e are
therefore faced 2ith the task of sho2ing 2hat fundamental theoretical beliefs brought
Rosa Lu4emburg Y the unsur3assed 3ro3het& the unforgettable teacher and leader of
re0olutionary Mar4ism Y into such a shar3 conflict 2ith the re0olutionary 3olicy of the
-olshe0iks( : ha0e already indicated the most im3ortant factors in her a33raisal of the
situation( :t is no2 essential to take one further ste3 into Rosa Lu4emburg@s essay so as
to be able to gras3 the 3oint from 2hich these beliefs follo2 logically(
This 3oint is the o0erestimation of the organic character of the course of history( :n the
debate 2ith -ernstein& Rosa Lu4emburg has incisi0ely demonstrated that the idea of an
organic ?gro2th@ into socialism is untenable( "he sho2ed con0incingly that history
ad0ances dialectically and that the internal contradictions of the ca3italist system are
constantly intensified> and this is so not merely in the s3here of 3ure economics but also
in the relations bet2een economics and 3olitics( Thus at one 3oint 2e find clearly stated
HThe relations of 3roduction of ca3italist society become increasingly socialist but its
3olitical and legal arrangements erect an e0er loftier 2all bet2een ca3italist and socialist
society(SJFK This im3lies the necessity of a 0iolent& re0olutionary break 2ith 3re0ailing
social trends( ;dmittedly 2e can already see here the seeds of a belief that the Re0olution
2as needed only to remo0e the ?3olitical@ obstacles from the 3ath of economic
de0elo3ments( -ut such a glaring light is thro2n u3on the dialectical contradictions in
ca3italist 3roduction that it is hardly 3ossible to 1ustify such a conclusion in this conte4t(
Moreo0er& Rosa Lu4emburg does not deny the necessity of 0iolence in connection 2ith
the Russian Re0olution( "he declares H"ocialism 3resu33oses a series of acts of 0iolence
43
Y against 3ro3erty& etc(I ;nd later& in the "3artacus Programme it is recognised that Hthe
0iolence of the bourgeois counter*re0olution must be o33osed by the re0olutionary
0iolence of the 3roletariatI(JNK
!o2e0er& this recognition of the role of 0iolence refers only to the negati0e as3ect& to the
s2ee3ing a2ay of obstacles> it has no rele0ance to social construction( This cannot be
Him3osed or introduced by ukaseI( HThe socialist system of society&I Rosa Lu4emburg
claims& Hshould only be and can only be a historical 3roduct& born of the school of its o2n
e43eriences> and Y 1ust like organic nature of 2hich& in the last analysis& it forms a 3art
Y has the fine habit of al2ays 3roducing& along 2ith any real social need& the means to
its satisfaction& along 2ith the task simultaneously the solution(I
: shall not 3ause to d2ell on the singularly undialectical nature of this line of thought on
the 3art of an other2ise great dialectician( :t is enough to note in 3assing that the rigid
contrast& the mechanical se3aration of the ?3ositi0e@ and the ?negati0e@& of ?tearing do2n@
and ?building u3@ directly contradicts the actuality of the Re0olution( For in the
re0olutionary measures taken by the 3roletarian state& es3ecially those taken directly
after the sei#ing of 3o2er& the ?3ositi0e@ cannot be se3arated from the ?negati0e@ e0en
conce3tually& let alone in 3ractice( The 3rocess of struggling against the bourgeoisie& of
sei#ing from its hands the instruments of 3o2er in economic conflict coincides Y
es3ecially at the beginning of the re0olution Y 2ith the first ste3s to2ards organising the
economy( :t is self*e0ident that these first attem3ts 2ill ha0e to be e4tensi0ely re0ised
later on( ,e0ertheless& as long as the class struggle 3ersists Y that is to say& for a long
time Y e0en the later forms of organisation 2ill 3reser0e the ?negati0e@ 6uality of the
struggle& i(e( the tendency to tear do2n and kee3 do2n( /0en though the economic forms
of the 0ictorious 3roletarian re0olutions to come in /uro3e may be 0ery different from
those in Russia& it yet remains 0ery doubtful that the stage of ?2ar communism@ 5to 2hich
Rosa Lu4emburg@s criticism refers7 2ill be 2holly a0oidable(
/0en more significant than the historical as3ects of the 3assage 1ust 6uoted is the
method it re0eals( )e can 3ercei0e in it a tendency that can be summed u3 3erha3s most
clearly asthe ideological organic gro2th into socialism( : kno2 that Rosa Lu4emburg 2as
one of the first 3eo3le to ad0ance the o33osite 0ie2 and 3oint to the fact that the
transition from ca3italism to socialism 2as characterised by fre6uent crises and
re0ersions to earlier stages(JOK :n this 2ork& too& there is no lack of such 3assages( :f :
ne0ertheless s3eak of such a tendency : ob0iously do not mean to accuse her of a kind of
o33ortunism& or of imagining that economic de0elo3ment 2ould bring the 3roletariat to
an ade6uate ideological maturity so that it merely has to 3luck the fruits of this
de0elo3ment and 0iolence is needed only to remo0e ?3olitical@ obstacles from its 3ath(
Rosa Lu4emburg had no illusions about the ine0itable rela3ses& correcti0e measures and
errors of the re0olutionary 3eriod( !er tendency to o0erestimate the organic element in
history a33ears only in the Y dogmatic Y con0iction that history 3roduces Halong 2ith
any real social need the means to its satisfaction& along 2ith the task simultaneously the
solutionI(
This o0erestimation of the s3ontaneous& elemental forces of the Re0olution& abo0e all in
the class summoned by history to lead it& determines her attitude to the Constituent
;ssembly( "he re3roaches Lenin and Trotsky 2ith ha0ing a Hrigid& schematic 0ie2I
because they concluded from the com3osition of the ;ssembly that it 2as unsuited to be
the organ of the 3roletarian re0olution( "he e4claims HTet ho2 all historical e43erience
contradicts thisR /43erience demonstrates 6uite the contrary namely that the li0ing fluid
of the 3o3ular mood continuously flo2s around the re3resentati0e bodies& 3enetrates
them& guides them(I ;nd in fact& in an earlier 3assage& she a33eals to the e43erience of
the /nglish and French Re0olutions and 3oints to the transformations undergone by
their 3arliamentary bodies( This fact is 3erfectly correct( -ut Rosa Lu4emburg does not
44
sufficiently em3hasise that the ?transformations@ 2ere de0ilishly close to the dis3ersal of
the Constituent ;ssembly( The re0olutionary organisations of those elements of the
re0olution that constituted the most 3o2erful dri0ing force at the time 5the Hsoldiers@
council=@ of the /nglish army& the Paris "ections& etc(7 al2ays used force to e0ict
recalcitrant elements from the 3arliamentary bodies and it 2as in this 2ay that they
brought such bodies into line 2ith the state of the re0olution( "uch transformations in a
bourgeois re0olution could for the most 3art amount only to shifts 2ithin the 3arliament&
the fighting organ of the bourgeois class( Moreo0er& it is 0ery note2orthy ho2 much
greater 2as the im3act of e4tra*3arliamentary 5semi*3roletarian7 elements in the Great
French Re0olution in com3arison to the /nglish Re0olution( Mia 1P.1 and 19BO the
Russian Re0olution of 191. brings thetransformation of these intensifications of 6uantity
into changes of 6uality( The so0iets& the organisations of the most 3rogressi0e elements
of the Re0olution 2ere not content this time 2ith ?3urging@ the ;ssembly of all 3arties
other than the -olshe0iks and the left*2ing "ocialist Re0olutionaries 5and on the basis of
her o2n analysis Rosa Lu4emburg 2ould 3resumably ha0e no ob1ection to this7( -ut they
2ent e0en further and 3ut themsel0es in their 3lace( 9ut of the 3roletarian 5and semi*
3roletarian7 organs for the control and the 3romotion of the bourgeois re0olution
de0elo3ed the go0erning battle organisations of the 0ictorious 3roletariat(
N
,o2& Rosa Lu4emburg absolutely refuses to take this ?lea3@( ,ot merely because she
greatly underestimates the abru3t& 0iolent& ?inorganic@ character of those 3ast
transformations of 3arliamentary bodies( -ut because she re1ects the so0iet as the chief
2ea3on in the 3eriod of transition& as the 2ea3on by 2hich to fight for and gain by force
the 3resu33ositions of socialism( "he sees in the so0iets the ?su3erstructure@ of that
3eriod in 2hich the socialist transformation has been largely accom3lished( H:t makes no
sense to regard the right of suffrage as a uto3ian 3roduct of fantasy& cut loose from social
reality( ;nd it is for this reason that it is not a serious instrument of the 3roletarian
dictatorshi3( :t is an anachronism& an antici3ation of the 1uridical situation 2hich is
3ro3er on the basis of an already com3leted socialist economy& but not in the transition
3eriod of the 3roletarian dictatorshi3(I
)ith the im3erturbable logic characteristic of her thought e0en 2hen it is in error& Rosa
Lu4emburg here touches u3on one of the 6uestions most 0ital to a theoretical
understanding of the 3eriod of transition( This is the 6uestion of the role to be 3layed by
the state 5the so0iets& the form of state of the 0ictorious 3roletariat7 in the socio*
economic transformation of society(
:s it merely the case that a condition of society brought about by economic forces beyond
the control of consciousness or& at best& reflected in a ?false@ consciousness is to be
sanctioned and 3rotected 3ost facto by the 3roletarian state and by its la2s= 9r do these&
the organising forms of the 3roletariat& e4ercise a consciously determining influence on
the economic structure of the 3eriod of transition= ,o doubt& Mar4@s statement in
the Criti6ue of the Gotha Programme to the effect that HLa2 can ne0er be higher than the
economic structure of society (((I remains 2holly 0alid( -ut this does not mean that the
social function of the 3roletarian state and hence its 3lace 2ithin the 2hole frame2ork of
3roletarian society& should be the same as that of the bourgeois state 2ithin bourgeois
society( :n a letter to Conrad "chmidt& /ngels assigns to the state an essentially negati0e
role 2ithin bourgeois society(JDK The state can hel3 an e4isting economic de0elo3ment to
ad0ance& it can 2ork against it or it can Hcut it off from certain 3aths and 3rescribe
certain othersI( ;nd he adds H-ut it is ob0ious that in cases t2o and three the 3olitical
3o2er can do great damage to the economic de0elo3ment and result in the s6uandering
of great masses of energy and material(I )e may ask& therefore& is the economic and
social function of the 3roletarian state the same as that of the bourgeois state= Can it do
45
no more than Y in the most fa0ourable case Y accelerate or retard an economic
de0elo3ment inde3endent of it 5i(e( does the economic situation ha0e total 3rimacy 0is**
0is the state=7( :t is ob0ious that an ans2er to Rosa Lu4emburg@s ob1ections to the
-olshe0iks de3ends on the ans2er to this 6uestion( :f it is in the affirmati0e& then Rosa
Lu4emburg is right the 3roletarian state 5the so0iet system7 can only arise as an
ideological ?su3erstructure@ after and in conse6uence of a socio*economic re0olution that
has already taken 3lace(
!o2e0er& the situation looks 6uite different if 2e see that the function of the 3roletarian
state is to lay the foundations for the socialist& i(e( the conscious organisation of the
economy( This is not to suggest that anyone 5and least of all the Russian C(P(7 belie0es
that socialism can sim3ly be ?created by decree@( The foundations of ca3italist modes of
3roduction and 2ith them their ?necessary natural la2s@ do not sim3ly 0anish 2hen the
3roletariat sei#es 3o2er or e0en as a result of the socialisation& ho2e0er thoroughgoing&
of the means of 3roduction( -ut their elimination and re3lacement by a consciously(
organised socialist economics must not be thought of only as a lengthy 3rocess but as a
consciously conducted& stubborn battle( "te3 by ste3 the ground must be 2rested from
this ?necessity@( /0ery o0erestimation of the ri3eness of circumstances or of the 3o2er of
the 3roletariat& e0ery underestimation of the strength of the o33osing forces has to be
3aid for bitterly in the form of crises& rela3ses and economic de0elo3ments that
ine4orably re0ert to the situation before the 3oint of de3arture( Tet the obser0ation that
the 3o2er of the 3roletariat and the 3ossibility of conscious economic 3lanning are often
e4tremely limited should not lead us to conclude that the ?economics@ of socialism 2ill
3re0ail Y 1ust as under ca3italism Y by 0irtue of their o2n momentum and through the
?blind la2s@ of the forces behind them( ;s Lenin remarks in his inter3retation of the letter
to Cautsky of 1+ "e3tember& 1P91& H/ngels does not mean that ?economics@ 2ould of itself
clear e0ery obstacle out of the 2ay(((( The ada3tation of 3olitics to economics 2ill follo2
ine0itably but not all at once& not straightfor2ardly& not smoothly and not directly(SJ.K
The conscious& the organised 3lanning of the economy can only be introduced
consciously and the organ 2hich 2ill introduce it is in fact the 3roletariat& the so0iet
system( Thus the so0iets signify in effect Hthe antici3ation of the legal 3ositionI of a later
3hase of class stratification> ho2e0er& they are not a uto3ia sus3ended in mid*air but& on
the contrary& the only instrument that is suitable really to call this antici3ated situation
into e4istence( For socialism 2ould ne0er ha33en ?by itself@& and as the result of an
ine0itable natural economic de0elo3ment( The natural la2s of ca3italism do indeed lead
ine0itably to its ultimate crisis but at the end of its road 2ould be the destruction of all
ci0ilisation and a ne2 barbarism(
:t is this that constitutes the most 3rofound difference bet2een bourgeois and
3roletarian re0olutions( The ability of bourgeois re0olutions to storm ahead 2ith such
brilliant elan isgrounded socially& in the fact that thy are dra2ing the conse6uences of an
almost com3leted economic and social 3rocess in a society 2hose feudal and absolutist
structure has been 3rofoundly undermined 3olitically& go0ernmentally& 1uridically& etc(&
by the 0igorous u3surge of ca3italism( The true re0olutionary element is the economic
transformation of the feudal system of 3roduction into a ca3italist one so that it 2ould be
3ossible in theory for this 3rocess to take 3lace 2ithout a bourgeois re0olution& 2ithout
3olitical u3hea0al on the 3art of the re0olutionary bourgeoisie( ;nd in that case those
3arts of the feudal and absolutist su3erstructure that 2ere not eliminated by 5re0olutions
from abo0e@ 2ould colla3se of their o2n accord 2hen ca3italism 2as already fully
de0elo3ed( 5The German situation fits this 3attern in certain res3ects(7
,o doubt& a 3roletarian re0olution& too& 2ould be unthinkable if its economic 3remises
and 3reconditions had not already been nurtured in the bosom of ca3italist society by the
e0olution of the ca3italist system of 3roduction( -ut the enormous difference bet2een
46
the t2o ty3es of 3rocess lies in the fact that ca3italism already de0elo3ed 2ithin
feudalism& thus bringing about its dissolution( :n contrast to this& it 2ould be a uto3ian
fantasy to imagine that anything tending to2ards socialism could arise 2ithin ca3italism
a3art from& on the one hand& the ob1ecti0e economic 3remises that make it a
3ossibility 2hich& ho2e0er& can only be transformed into the true elements of a socialist
system of 3roduction after and in conse6uence of the colla3se of ca3italism> and& on the
other hand& the de0elo3ment of the 3roletariat as a class( Consider the de0elo3ment
undergone by manufacture and the ca3italist system of tenure e0en 2hen the feudal
social system 2as still in e4istence( ;s far as these 2ere concerned it 2as only necessary
to clear a2ay the legal obstacles to their free de0elo3ment( -y contrast& the concentration
of ca3ital in cartels& trusts& etc(& does constitute& it is true(& an una0oidable 3remise for
the con0ersion of a ca3italist mode of 3roduction into a socialist one( -ut e0en the most
highly de0elo3ed ca3italist concentration 2ill still be 6ualitati0ely different& e0en
economically& from a socialist system and can neither change into one ?by itself@ nor 2ill
it be amenable to such change ?through legal de0ices@ 2ithin the frame2ork of ca3italist
society( The tragi*comic colla3se of all ?attem3ts to introduce socialism@ in Germany and
;ustria furnishes am3le 3roof of this(
The fact that after the fall of ca3italism a lengthy and 3ainful 3rocess sets in that makes
this 0ery attem3t is no contradiction( 9n the contrary& it 2ould be a totally undialectical&
unhistorical mode of thought 2hich& from the 3ro3osition that socialism could come into
e4istence only as a conscious transformation of the 2hole of society& 2ould infer that this
must take 3lace at one stroke and not as the end 3roduct of a 3rocess( This 3rocess&
ho2e0er& is 6ualitati0ely different from the transformation of feudalism into bourgeois
society( ;nd it is this 0ery 6ualitati0e difference that is e43ressed in the different function
of the state in the re0olution 52hich as /ngels says His no longer a state in the true
senseI7> it is e43ressed most 3lainly in the 6ualitati0ely different relation of 3olitics to
economics( The 0ery fact that the 3roletariat is a2are of the role of the state in the
3roletarian re0olution& in contrast to the ideological masking of it in bourgeois
re0olutions& an a2areness that foresees and o0erturns in contrast to the 3ost
festum recognitions of the bourgeoisie& 3oints u3 the difference shar3ly enough( :n her
criticism of the re3lacement of the Constituent ;ssembly by the so0iets Rosa Lu4emburg
fails to note this she imagines the 3roletarian re0olution as ha0ing the structural forms
of bourgeois re0olutions(
O
This shar3 antithesis bet2een an ?organic@ and a dialectical& re0olutionary a33raisal of
the situation can lead us e0en more dee3ly into Rosa Lu4emburg@s train of thought&
namely to the 3roblem of the role of the 3arty in the re0olution and from there to the
-olshe0ik conce3tion of the 3arty and its conse6uences for organisation and tactics(
The antithesis bet2een Lenin and Lu4emburg has its roots 6uite a long 2ay in the 3ast(
;s is 2ell kno2n& at the time of the first conflict bet2een the Menshe0iks and the
-olshe0iks on the 6uestion of organisation& Rosa Lu4emburg took sides against the
latter( !er o33osition )as not dictated by 3olitical tactics but 3urely by organisational
considerations( :n almost all tactical issues 5mass strikes& a33raisal of the Re0olution of
19BO& im3erialism& struggle against the coming )orld )ar& etc(7& Rosa Lu4emburg 2as
in harmony 2ith the -olshe0iks( :n "tuttgart Zat the time of the decisi0e resolution on
the 2ar she 2as in fact the -olshe0iks@ re3resentati0e(
,e0ertheless& the antagonism is much less e3isodic than the long history of tactical
3olitical agreement 2ould make it a33ear> e0en though& on the other hand& it is not
enough to 1ustify inferring a strict 3arting of the 2ays( Lenin and Rosa Lu4emburg 2ere
agreed 3olitically and theoretically about the need to combat o33ortunism( The conflict
bet2een them lay in their ans2ers to the 6uestion 2hether or not the cam3aign against
47
o33ortunism should be conducted as an intellectual struggle 2ithin the re0olutionary
3arty of the 3roletariat or 2hether it 2as to be resol0ed on the le0el of organisation(
Rosa Lu4emburg o33oses the latter 0ie2( Firstly& because she finds e4aggerated the
central role assigned by the -olshe0iks to 6uestions of organisation as the guarantees of
the s3irit of re0olution in the 2orkers@ mo0ement( "he maintains the o33osite 0ie2 that
real re0olutionary s3irit is to be sought and found e4clusi0ely in the elemental
s3ontaneity of the masses( Anlike them the central 3arty organisations ha0e al2ays a
conser0ati0e& braking function( "he belie0es that 2ith a really thorough centralisation
Hthe difference bet2een the eager attack of the mass and the 3rudent 3osition of "ocial
LemocracySJPK could only be e4acerbated(
"econdly& she regards the form of organisation itself as something 2hich gro2s and not
as something ?made@( H:n the social*democratic mo0ement organisation too ((( is a
historical 3roduct of class struggle and to it social democracy has only to add 3olitical
consciousness(SJ9K ;nd this belief in turn is based on her o0erall 0ie2 of the 3robable
course of the re0olutionary mo0ement( )e ha0e already seen the 3ractical conse6uences
of this 0ie2 in her criti6ue of the -olshe0ik agrarian reform and her slogan of the right to
self*determination( "he states H"ocial Lemocracy has al2ays contended that it
re3resents not only the class interests of the 3roletariat but also the 3rogressi0e
as3irations of the 2hole of contem3orary society( :t re3resents the interests of all 2ho
are o33ressed by bourgeois domination( This must not be understood merely in the
sense that all these interests are ideally contained in the socialist 3rogramme( !istorical
e0olution translates the gi0en 3ro3osition into reality( :n its ca3acity as a 3olitical
3arty "ocial Lemocracy gradually becomes the ha0en of all discontented elements in our
society and thus of the entire 3eo3le& as contrasted to the tiny minority of the ca3italist
masters(SJ1BK
:t is a33arent from this that in her 0ie2 the de0elo3ment of re0olutionary and counter*
re0olutionary fronts 3roceeds ?organically@ 5e0en before the re0olution itself becomes
imminent7( The 3arty becomes the organisational focus of all the strata 2hom the
3rocesses of history ha0e brought into action against the bourgeoisie( :t is necessary only
to ensure that the idea of class struggle does not become adulterated and infected by
3etty*bourgeois notions( :n this the centralised organ can and should hel3( -ut only in
the sense that it should be Hat most a coerci0e instrument enforcing the 2ill of the
3roletarian ma1ority in the 3artyI(J11K
Thus& on the one hand& Rosa Lu4emburg starts from the 3remise that the 2orking class
2ill enter the re0olution as a unified re0olutionary body 2hich has been neither
contaminated nor led astray by the democratic illusions of bourgeois "ociety(J1+K 9n the
other hand& she a33ears to assume that the 3etty*bourgeois strata that are mortally
threatened in their social e4istence by the re0olutionary aggra0ation of the economic
situation 2ill 1oin the ranks of the fighting 3roletariat e0en to the e4tent of establishing
organisational& 3arty bonds( :f this assum3tion is correct its illuminating corollary 2ill be
the re1ection of the -olshe0ik conce3tion of the 3arty( For the 3olitical basis of that
conce3tion is the recognition that the 3roletariat must indeed carry out the re0olution in
league 2ith the other classes that are in conflict 2ith the bourgeoisie& but not as 3art of
the same organisation( :n the 3rocess it 2ill necessarily come into conflict 2ith certain
3roletarian strata 2ho are fighting on the side of the bourgeoisie against the
re0olutionary 3roletariat( :n this conte4t it must not be forgotten that the cause of the
first breach 2ith the Menshe0iks 2as not 1ust the 6uestion of the regulations go0erning
organisation( :t in0ol0ed also the 3roblem of an alliance 2ith the ?3rogressi0e@
bourgeoisie and the 3roblem of a coalition in order to carry out( and secure the bourgeois
re0olution 52hich among other things meant in 3ractice the betrayal of the re0olutionary
3easant mo0ement7(
48
:n all 6uestions of 3olitical tactics Rosa Lu4emburg 2as at one 2ith the -olshe0iks
against their o33ortunist enemies> she 2as al2ays not merely the most 3enetrating and
3assionate but also the most 3rofound and radical unmasker of e0ery kind of
o33ortunism( -ut 2e see clearly here 2hy 2hen it came to a33raising the danger
re3resented by o33ortunism& and the methods needed to combat it& she had to choose
another 3ath( For if the 2ar 2ith o33ortunism is concei0ed e4clusi0ely as an intellectual
conflict2ithin the 3arty it must ob0iously be 2aged so as to 3ut the 2hole em3hasis on
con0incing the su33orters of o33ortunism and on achie0ing a ma1ority 2ithin the 3arty(
,aturally& it follo2s that the struggle against o33ortunism 2ill disintegrate into a series
of indi0idual skirmishes in 2hich the ally of yesterday can become the o33onent of today
and 0ice 0ersa( ; 2ar against o33ortunism as a tendency cannot crystallise out the
terrain of the ?:ntellectual conflicts@ changes from one issue to the ne4t and 2ith it
changes the com3osition of the ri0al grou3s( 5Thus Cautsky in conflict 2ith -ernstein
and in the debate on the mass strike> Pannekoek in this and also in the dis3ute about
accumulation> Lensch@s attitude on this 6uestion and in the 2ar& and so on(7 This
unorganised course of e0ents 2as naturally not com3letely able to 3re0ent the emergence
of a right 2ing& a centre and a left 2ing& e0en in the non*Russian 3arties( -ut the merely
e3isodic nature of these coalitions meant that in intellectual and organisational 5i(e(
3arty7 terms the disagreements could not be clearly defined and this led necessarily to
6uite false grou3ings( )hen these did become fi4ed organisationally they became ma1or
obstacles to clarification in the 2orking class( 5Thus "trobel in the ?:nternationale@
Grou3> ?Pacifism@ as a factor causing a breach 2ith the right 2ing> -ernstein in the
:nde3endent "ocialist Party> "errati in Wimmer2ald> Clara Wetkin at the :nternational
Conference of )omen(7 These dangers 2ere increased by the fact that Y as in )estern
and Central /uro3e the 3arty a33aratus 2as mainly in the hands of the centre or the
right 2ing Y the unorganised& merely intellectual 2ar against o33ortunism easily and
fre6uently became an assault on the 3arty form as such( 5Pannekoek& RVhle& etc(7
;t the time of the first Lenin*Lu4emburg debate and directly after& these dangers could
not yet be clearly seen& at least not by those 2ho 2ere not in a 3osition to e0aluate
critically the e43erience of the first Russian Re0olution( ;lthough Rosa Lu4emburg 2as
one of the greatest e43erts on Russian affairs she ne0ertheless ado3ted in all essentials
the 3osition of the non*Russian Left 2hich 2as recruited chiefly from that radical
stratum of the 2orkers@ mo0ement that had had no 3ractical re0olutionary e43erience(
That she did so can only be e43lained in terms of her co0erall organic 0ie2@( :n 0ie2 of
2hat has been said& it is illuminating to see that in her other2ise magisterial analysis of
the mass*strike mo0ements of the first Russian Re0olution she makes no mention
2hate0er of the role 3layed by the Menshe0iks in the 3olitical mo0ements in those years(
;t the same time she 2as 3erfectly a2are of the tactical and 3olitical dangers im3licit in
e0ery o33ortunistic attitude and she fought them 0igorously( -ut she held to the o3inion
that s2ings to the Right should be and are dealt 2ith Y more or less s3ontaneously Y by
the ?organic@ de0elo3ment of the 2orkers@ mo0ement( !ence she ends her 3olemic
against Lenin 2ith the 2ords HLet us s3eak 3lainly( !istorically& the errors committed
by a truly re0olutionary mo0ement are infinitely more fruitful and more 0aluable than
the infallibility of the best of all 3ossible ?Central Committees@(SJ1FK
D
)ith the outbreak of the )orld )ar& 2ith the emergence of the ci0il 2ar this 6uondam
?theoretical@ 6uestion became a burning issue in 3ractice( The 3roblem of organisation
2as con0erted into one of 3olitical tactics( The 3roblem of Menshe0ism became the
crucial issue for the 3roletarian re0olution( The 2alko0er 0ictory gained by the
im3erialist bourgeoisie o0er the 2hole of the "econd :nternational in the 3eriod of
mobilisation in 191N& and the fact that this 0ictory could be e4tended and consolidated
49
during the )orld )ar& cannot 3ossibly be understood as a ?misfortune@ or as the
ine0itable conse6uence of ?betrayal@( :f the re0olutionary 2orkers@ mo0ement 2ished to
reco0er from this defeat and e0en turn it into the foundation of the 0ictorious battles still
to come it 2as absolutely essential for it to see this failure& this ?betrayal@ in the conte4t of
the history of the 2orkers@ mo0ement> social chau0inism and 3acifism& etc(& 2ould ha0e
then to be recognised as logical e4tensions of o33ortunism(
To ha0e seen this is one of the 3ermanent gains resulting from Lenin@s acti0ity during the
2ar( ;nd his criticism of( the Eunius Pam3hlet begins at that 0ery 3oint& namely 2ith the
failure to engage 2ith o33ortunism as a general tendency( ;dmittedly& the Eunius
Pam3hlet and the ?:nternationaleGZ 2ere both full of theoretically correct 3olemics
against the treachery of the Right and the 0acillations of the Centre of the German
2orkers@ mo0ement( -ut this 3olemic remained on the le0el of theory and 3ro3aganda
rather than organisation because it 2as still informed by the belief that the debate 2as
concerned only 2ith ?differences of o3inion@ 2ithin the re0olutionary 3arty of the
3roletariat( :t is true that the Guiding Princi3les attached to the Eunius Pam3hlet did
include the organisational 3ro3osal for the founding of a ne2 :nternational 5Theses 1B*
1+7( -ut this 3ro3osal 2as left sus3ended in mid*air as the intellectual and therefore the
organisational backing needed to 3ut it into 3ractice 2ere not forthcoming(
;t this 3oint the 3roblem of organisation is transformed into a 3olitical one 2hich
concerns the 2hole of the re0olutionary 3roletariat( The failure of all the 2orkers@ 3arties
2hen confronted 2ith the )orld )ar must be seen as a 2orld historical fact& i(e( as the
ine0itable conse6uence of the 3re0ious history of the 2orkers@ mo0ement( The fact 2as
that almost 2ithout e4ce3tion an influential section of the leadershi3 in the 2orkers@
3arties o3enly 2ent o0er to the side of the bourgeoisie 2hile another grou3 2as tacitly
and secretly in league 2ith it( That both these grou3s ha0e succeeded in retaining their
hold on the crucial strata of the 3roletariat both intellectually and organisationally must
be made the 3oint of de3arture for the analysis of the situation and of the tasks of the
re0olutionary 2orkers@ 3arty( :t must be clearly understood that as t2o fronts gradually
crystallise out in the ci0il 2ar the 3roletariat 2ill at first enter the struggle dee3ly
di0ided( This di0ision cannot be made to disa33ear by discussions( :t is a 0ain ho3e to
rely on the fact that in time e0en these grou3s of leaders 2ill be ?con0inced@ by the
correctness of re0olutionary beliefs> and that therefore the 2orkers@ mo0ement 2ill be
able to construct its Y re0olutionary Y unity ?organically@ and from ?2ithin@(
The 3roblem arises ho2 can the great mass of the 3roletariat 2hich
is instincti0ely re0olutionary but has not reached the stage of clear consciousness be
rescued from the hands of this leadershi3= ;nd it is ob0ious that it is 3recisely the
?organic@ theoretical character of the conflict that has made it so easy for the Menshe0iks
to conceal from the 3roletariat for so long the fact that in the hour of decision they stand
on the side of the bourgeoisie(
That 3art of the 3roletariat that s3ontaneously rebels against its leaders@ beha0iour in
this res3ect and that longs for re0olutionary leadershi3 must assemble in an
organisation(The genuine re0olutionary 3arties and grou3s 2hich thus arise must
contri0e to 2in the confidence of the great masses and remo0e them from the 3o2er of
the o33ortunists by theiractions 5and furthermore it is absolutely essential that they
ac6uire their o2n re0olutionary 3arty organi sations7( Antil this is accom3lished there is
no 6uestion of a ci0il 2ar taking 3lace des3ite the fact that the o0erall situation is
consistently and increasingly re0olutionary(
;nd the 2orld situation is Y ob1ecti0ely Y consistently and increasingly re0olutionary(
:n her classical 2ork The ;ccumulation of Ca3ital& a book 2hich the re0olutionary
mo0ement& to its o2n great detriment& has neither a33reciated nor 3rofited from
ade6uately& Rosa Lu4emburg herself has 3ro0ided the theoretical basis for
50
understanding the Y ob1ecti0ely Y re0olutionary character of the situation( "he sho2s
there that as ca3italism de0elo3s it destroys those strata 2hich are neither ca3italist nor
3roletarian( This analysiscontains the socio*economic theory that suggests 2hat the
re0olutionary tactics of the -olshe0iks ought to be 0is**0is the non*3roletarian strata of
2orkers( ;sthe 3oint a33roaches 2here ca3italism reaches the a3e4 of its de0elo3ment
this destructi0e 3rocess must take more and more 0iolent forms( -roader and broader
strata se3arate out from the Y seemingly Y solid edifice of bourgeois society> they then
bring confusion into the ranks of the bourgeoisie& they unleash mo0ements 2hich do not
themsel0es 3roceed in the direction of socialism but 2hich through the 0iolence of the
im3act they make do hasten the realisation of the 3reconditions of socialism namely& the
colla3se of the bourgeoisie(
:n this situation 2hich causes e0er 2ider rifts in bourgeois society and 2hich dri0es the
3roletariat on to re0olution 2hether it 2ould or not& the Menshe0iks ha0e o3enly or
co0ertly gone o0er to the cam3 of the bourgeoisie( They stand behind enemy lines
o33osed to the re0olutionary 3roletariat and the other instincti0ely rebellious strata 5and
3erha3s nations7( -ut to recognise this is to see that Rosa Lu4emburg@s 0ie2 of the
course of the re0olution colla3ses and it 2as this 0ie2 u3on 2hich her o33osition to the
-olshe0ik form of organisation 2as based( :n The ;ccumulation of Ca3ital Rosa
Lu4emburg 3ro0ided the most 3rofound economic foundations for this understanding(
;s Lenin 3oints out& she 2as only a ste3 a2ay from the clear formulation of it at many
3oints in the Eunius Pam3hlet( -ut in her criticism of the Russian Re0olution she 2as
not yet able to dra2 the necessary conclusions from it( /0en in 191P& e0en after the
e43eriences of the first stage of the Re0olution in Russia& she seems to ha0e regarded the
3roblem of Menshe0ism 2ith unchanged eyes(
.
This e43lains 2hy she takes it u3on herself to defend the ?rights of freedom@ against the
-olshe0iks( HFreedom&I she says& His al2ays freedom for the one 2ho thinks differently(I
)hich means freedom for the other ?currents@ in the 2orkers@ mo0ement for the
Menshe0iks& and the "ocialist Re0olutionaries( :t is ob0ious that Rosa Lu4emburg is
ne0er at 3ains to offer a banal defence of democracy ?in general@( !er attitude here is no
more than the logical conse6uence of her false estimate of the distribution of 3o2er in
the 3resent stage of the re0olution( For the attitude ado3ted by a re0olutionary to the so*
called 3roblems of freedom in the age of the dictatorshi3 of the 3roletariat de3ends in
the last analysis entirely on 2hether he regards the Menshe0iks as the enemies of the
re0olution or as one ?current@ of the re0olution& one that sim3ly has a di0ergent o3inion
in isolated 6uestions of tactics and organisation& etc(
/0erything 2hich Rosa Lu4emburg has to say about the necessity of criticism and about
3ublic control 2ould be subscribed to by e0ery -olshe0ik and by Lenin abo0e all Y as
Rosa Lu4emburg herself em3hasises( The only 6uestion is ho2 is all this to be realised&
ho2 is Rfreedom@ 5and e0erything it entails7 to be gi0en a re0olutionary and not a
counter*re0olutionary function= 9tto -auer& one of the cle0erest o33onents of the
-olshe0iks& has gras3ed this 3roblem 2ith some clarity( !e combats the ?undemocratic@
nature of the -olshe0ik state not merely 2ith the aid of abstract reasons of natural la2 <
la Cautsky& but because the "o0iet system 3re0ents the ?real@ consolidation of the classes
in Russia& because it 3re0ents the 3easants from asserting themsel0es and hence the
3easants are dragged along in the 2ake of the 3roletariat( :n saying this he bears 2itness
Y against his 2ill Y to the re0olutionary character of the -olshe0ik ?su33ression of
freedom@(
Rosa Lu4emburg@s e4aggeration of the organic nature of the course of the re0olution
forces her into the most startling contradictions( The "3artacus Programme had
3ro0ided the basis in theory for the centrist 6uibbles about the distinction bet2een
51
?terror@ and ?0iolence@ in 2hich the latter 2as affirmed 2hile the former 2as re1ected( ;nd
here too& in this 3am3hlet 2e find the contrast made by the Lutch Communist )orkers@
Party and the ?C;P@ bet2een the dictatorshi3 of the 3arty and the dictatorshi3 of the
class( 9f course& 2hen t2o 3eo3le do the same thing 5and e0en more 2hen t2o 3eo3le
say the same thing7 the result is not the same( !o2e0er& e0en Rosa Lu4emburg Y 1ust
because she 2as becoming more and more remote from an understanding of the real
structure of the o33osing forces comes dangerously close to e4aggerating uto3ian
e43ectations and to antici3ating later 3hases in the 3rocess( "uch distinctions did in fact
lead to uto3ian ism& a fate from 2hich her& unfortunately too brief& 3ractical acti0ity in
the re0olution mercifully 3reser0ed her(
;ccording to Rosa Lu4emburg in her article against Lenin& the dialectical contradiction
in the social*democratic mo0ement consists in the fact that Hfor the first time in the
history of ci0ilisation the 3eo3le are e43ressing their 2ill consciously and in o33osition
to all ruling classes( -ut this 2ill can only be satisfied beyond the limits of the e4isting
system( ,o2 the masses can only ac6uire and strengthen this 2ill in the course of the
day*to*day struggle against the e4isting social order Y that is& 2ithin the limits of
ca3italist society( 9n the one hand& 2e ha0e the masses> on the other& their historic goal&
located outside e4isting society( 9n the one hand& 2e ha0e the day*to*day struggle> on
the other& the social re0olution( "uch are the terms of the dialectical contradiction in the
social democratic mo0ement ((((J1NK
This dialectical contradiction does not become any the less acute 2ith the coming of the
dictatorshi3 of the 3roletariat only its terms& the e4isting frame2ork of action and that
goal e4isting ?beyond@ it& change their content( ;nd the 0ery 3roblem of freedom and
democracy that had seemed so sim3le 2hile the 2ar 2as fought out 2ithin bourgeois
society because e0ery foot of territory gained 2as 2on from the bourgeoisie& no2
ad0ances dialectically to its crisis 3oint( /0en the actual 3rocess of 2resting ?freedoms@
from the bourgeoisie does not 3roceed in a straight line though& to be sure& the tactical
goals 2hich the 3roletariat set themsel0es did so and in an increasingly concentrated
fashion( -ut no2 e0en this attitude must be modified( Lenin says of ca3italist democracy
that Hde0elo3ments do not al2ays lead smoothly and directly to further
democratisationI(J1OK ,or can they& because socially the re0olutionary 3eriod is marked
by the constant& abru3t and 0iolent changes that occur as a result of the economic crisis
both in a dying ca3italism and in a 3roletarian society stri0ing to establish itself(
From this it follo2s that the continuous regrou3ing of re0olutionary energies is a matter
of life and death for the re0olution( :t is e0ident that the o0erall economic situation 2ill
sooner or later dri0e the 3roletariat to create a re0olution on a global scale( This
re0olution must first be in a 3osition to ado3t economic measures that are truly socialist(
:n the interests of the further 3rogress of the re0olution and acting 2ith full confidence
in this kno2ledge it is essential for the 3roletariat to use all the means at its dis3osal to
kee3 the 3o2er of the state in its o2n hands under all circumstances( The 0ictorious
3roletariat must not make the mistake of dogmatically determining its 3olicy in ad0ance
either economically or ideologically( :t must be able to manoeu0re freely in its economic
3olicy 5socialisation& concessions& etc(7 de3ending on the 2ay the classes are restratified
and also u3on ho2 3ossible and necessary it is to 2in o0er certain grou3s of 2orkers for
the dictatorshi3 or at least to induce them to 3reser0e their neutrality(
"imilarly& it must not allo2 itself to be 3inned do2n on the 2hole com3le4 issue of
freedom( Luring the 3eriod of the dictatorshi3 the nature and the e4tent of freedom 2ill
be determined by the state of the class struggle& the 3o2er of the enemy& the im3ortance
of the threat to the dictatorshi3& the demands of the classes to be 2on o0er& and by the
maturity of the classes allied to and influenced by the 3roletariat( Freedom cannot
re3resent a 0alue in itself 5any more than socialisation7( Freedom must ser0e the rule of
52
the 3roletariat& not the other 2ay round( 9nly a re0olutionary 3arty like that of the
-olshe0iks is able to carry out these often 0ery sudden changes of front( 9nly such a
3arty is sufficiently ada3table& fle4ible and inde3endent in 1udgement of the actual forces
at 2ork to be able to ad0ance from -rest*Lito0sk and the 2ar*communism of the fiercest
ci0il 2ars to the ne2 economic 3olicy( 9nly the -olshe0iks 2ill be able to 3rogress from
that 3olicy 5in the e0ent of ne2 shifts in the balance of 3o2er7 to yet other 3o2er*
grou3ings 2hile 3reser0ing unim3aired the essential dominance of the 3roletariat(
!o2e0er& in this flu4 one fi4ed 3ole has remained the counter*re0olutionary attitude of
the other currents 2ithin the 2orking*class mo0ement( There is a straight line here
running from Cornilo0 to CronstadtZ Their ?criti6ue@ of the dictatorshi3 is not a self*
criticism 3erformed by the 3roletariat Y the 3ossibility of 2hich must be ke3t o3en
institutionally e0en under the dictatorshi3( :t is a corrosi0e tendency in the ser0ice of the
bourgeoisie( /ngels@ remark to -ebel may rightly be a33lied to such tendencies( H"o long
as the 3roletariat stilluses the state& it does not use it in the interests of freedom but in
order to hold do2n its ad0ersaries(SJ1DK ;nd the fact that in the course of the re0olution
Rosa Lu4emburg re0ised the 0ie2s here analysed is certainly connected 2ith the fe2
months granted to her to e43erience intensi0ely the actual 3rogress of the re0olution(
This e43erience 2ill undoubtedly ha0e brought home to her the fallacies inherent in her
earlier conce3tion of its nature and in 3articular her mistaken 0ie2 of the role 3layed by
o33ortunism& of the method of combating it and thence of the structure and function of
the re0olutionary 3arty itself(
Eanuary 19++(

Georg Lukacs !istory U Class Consciousness 19+B
Class Consciousness
)ritten 19+B>
"ource !istory U Class Consciousness>
Translator Rodney Li0ingstone>
Publisher Merlin Press& 19D.>
Transcri3tion and !TML Mark*u3 ;ndy -lunden(
The 6uestion is not 2hat goal is en0isaged for the time being by this or that member of
the 3roletariat& or e0en by the 3roletariat as a 2hole( The 6uestion is 2hat is the
3roletariat and 2hat course of action 2ill it be forced historically to take in conformity
2ith its o2n nature(
Mar4 The !oly Family(
M;R[@" chief 2ork breaks off 1ust as he is about to embark on the definition of class(
This omission 2as to ha0e serious conse6uences both for the theory and the 3ractice of
53
the 3roletariat( For on this 0ital 3oint the later mo0ement 2as forced to base itself on
inter3retations& on the collation of occasional utterances by Mar4 and /ngels and on the
inde3endent e4tra3olation and a33lication of their method( :n Mar4ism the di0ision of
society into classes is determined by 3osition 2ithin the 3rocess of 3roduction( -ut 2hat&
then& is the meaning of class consciousness= The 6uestion at once branches out into a
series of closely interrelated 3roblems( First of all& ho2 are 2e to understand class
consciousness 5in theory7= "econd& 2hat is the 53ractical7 function of class
consciousness& so understood& in the conte4t of the class struggle= This leads to the
further 6uestion is the 3roblem of class consciousness a ?general@ sociological 3roblem or
does it mean one thing for the 3roletariat and another for e0ery other class to ha0e
emerged hitherto= ;nd lastly& is class consciousness homogeneous in nature and
function or can 2e discern different gradations and le0els in it= ;nd if so& 2hat are their
3ractical im3lications for the class struggle of the 3roletariat=
1
:n his celebrated account of historical materialism J1K /ngels 3roceeds from the
assum3tion that although the essence of history consists in the fact that Hnothing
ha33ens 2ithout a conscious 3ur3ose or an intended aimI& to understand history it is
necessary to go further than this( For on the one hand& Hthe many indi0idual 2ills acti0e
in history for the most 3art 3roduce results 6uite other than those intended 8 often 6uite
the o33osite> their moti0es& therefore& in relation to the total result are like2ise of only
secondary im3ortance( 9n the other hand& the further 6uestion arises 2hat dri0ing
forces in turn stand behind these moti0es= )hat are the historical causes 2hich
transform themsel0es into these moti0es in the brain of the actors=I !e goes on to argue
that these dri0ing forces ought themsel0es to be determined in 3articular those 2hich
Hset in motion great masses& 2hole 3eo3les and again 2hole classes of the 3eo3le> and
2hich create( a lasting action resulting in a great transformation(I The essence of
scientific Mar4ism consists& then& in the realisation that the real motor forces of history
are inde3endent of man@s 53sychological7 consciousness of them(
;t a more 3rimiti0e stage of kno2ledge this inde3endence takes the form of the belief
that these forces belong& as it 2ere& to nature and that in them and in their causal
interactions it is 3ossible to discern the ?eternal@ la2s of nature( ;s Mar4 says of
bourgeois thought HMan@s reflections on the forms of social life and conse6uently also
his scientific analysis of those forms& take a course directly o33osite to that of their actual
historical de0elo3ment( !e begins 3ost festum 2ith the results of the 3rocess of
de0elo3ment ready to hand before him( The characters ((( ha0e already ac6uired the
stability of natural self*understood forms of social life& before man seeks to deci3her not
their historical character 5for in his eyes they are immutable7 but their meaning(I J+K
This is a dogma 2hose most im3ortant s3okesmen can be found in the 3olitical theory of
classical German 3hiloso3hy and in the economic theory of ;dam "mith and Ricardo(
Mar4 o33oses to them a critical 3hiloso3hy& a theory of theory and a consciousness of
consciousness( This critical 3hiloso3hy im3lies abo0e all historical criticism( :t dissol0es
the rigid& unhistorical& natural a33earance of social institutions> it re0eals their historical
origins and sho2s therefore that they are sub1ect to history in e0ery *res3ect including
historical decline( Conse6uently history does not merely unfold 2ithin the terrain
ma33ed out by these institutions( :t does not resol0e itself into the e0olution of contents&
of men and situations& etc(& 2hile the 3rinci3les of society remain eternally 0alid( ,or are
these institutions the goal to 2hich all history as3ires& such that 2hen they are realised
history 2ill ha0e fulfilled her mission and 2ill then be at an end( 9n the contrary& history
is 3recisely the history of these institutions& of the changes they undergo as institutions
2hich bring men together in societies( "uch institutions start by controlling economic
54
relations bet2een men and go on to 3ermeate all human relations 5and hence also man@s
relations 2ith himself and 2ith nature& etc(7(
;t this 3oint bourgeois thought must come u3 against an insu3erable obstacle& for its
starting*3oint and its goal are al2ays& if not al2ays consciously& an a3ologia for the
e4isting order of things or at least the 3roof of their immutability( JFK HThus there has
been history& but there is no longer any&I JNK Mar4 obser0es 2ith reference to bourgeois
economics& a dictum 2hich a33lies 2ith e6ual force to all attem3ts by bourgeois thinkers
to understand the 3rocess of history( 5:t has often been 3ointed out that this is also one
of the defects of !egel@s 3hiloso3hy of history(7 ;s a result& 2hile bourgeois thought is
indeed able to concei0e of history as a 3roblem& it remains an intractable 3roblem( /ither
it is forced to abolish the 3rocess of history and regard the institutions of the 3resent as
eternal la2s of nature 2hich for ?mysterious@ reasons and in a manner 2holly at odds
2ith the 3rinci3les of a rational science 2ere held to ha0e failed to establish themsel0es
firmly& or indeed at all& in the 3ast( 5This is characteristic of bourgeois sociology(7 9r else&
e0erything meaningful or 3ur3osi0e is banished from history( :t then becomes
im3ossible to ad0ance beyond the mere ?indi0iduality@ of the 0arious e3ochs and their
social and human re3resentati0es( !istory must then insist 2ith Ranke that e0ery age is
He6ually close to GodI& i(e( has attained an e6ual degree of 3erfection and that*for 6uite
different reasons*there is no such thing as historical de0elo3ment(
:n the first case it ceases to be 3ossible to understand the origin of social
institutions( JOK The ob1ects of history a33ear as the ob1ects of immutable& eternal la2s of
nature( !istory becomes fossilised in a formalism inca3able of com3rehending that the
real nature of socio*historical institutions is that they consist of relations bet2een
men( 9n the contrary& men become estranged from this& the true source of historical
understanding and cut off from it by an unbridgeable gulf( ;s Mar4 3oints out& JDK 3eo3le
fail to realise Hthat these definite social relations are 1ust as much the 3roducts of men as
linen( fla4& etc(I(
:n the second case& history is transformed into the irrational rule of blind forces 2hich is
embodied at best in the ?s3irit of the 3eo3le@ or in ?great men@( :t can therefore only be
described 3ragmatically but it cannot be rationally understood( :ts only 3ossible
organisation 2ould be aesthetic& as if it 2ere a 2ork of art( 9r else& as in the 3hiloso3hy
of history of the Cantians& it must be seen as the instrument& senseless in itself& by means
of 2hich timeless& su3ra*historical& ethical 3rinci3les are realised(
Mar4 resol0es this dilemma by e43osing it as an illusion( The dilemma means only that
the contradictions of the ca3italist system of 3roduction are reflected in these mutually
incom3atible accounts of the same ob1ect( For in this historiogra3hy 2ith its search for
?sociological@ la2s or its formalistic rationale& 2e find the reflection of man@s 3light in
bourgeois society and of his hel3less ensla0ement by the forces of 3roduction( HTo
them& their o2n social actionI& Mar4 remarks& J.K Htakes the form of the action of ob1ects
2hich rule the 3roducers instead of being ruled by themI( This la2 2as e43ressed most
clearly and coherently in the 3urely natural and rational la2s of classical economics(
Mar4 retorted 2ith the demand for a historical criti6ue of economics 2hich resol0es the
totality of the reified ob1ecti0ities of social and economic life into relations bet2een
men( Ca3ital and 2ith it e0ery form in 2hich the national economy ob1ecti0es itself is&
according to Mar4& Hnot a thing but a social relation bet2een 3ersons mediated through
thingsI( JPK
!o2e0er& by reducing the ob1ecti0ity of the social institutions so hostile to man to
relations bet2een men& Mar4 also does a2ay 2ith the false im3lications of the
irrationalist and indi0idualist 3rinci3le& i(e( the other side of the dilemma( For to
eliminate the ob1ecti0ity attributed both to social institutions inimical to man and to
their historical e0olution means the restoration of this ob1ecti0ity to their underlying
55
basis& to the relations bet2een men> it does not in0ol0e the elimination of la2s and
ob1ecti0ity inde3endent of the 2ill of man and in 3articular the 2ills and thoughts of
indi0idual men( :t sim3ly means that this ob1ecti0ity is the self*ob1ectification of human
society at a 3articular stage in its de0elo3ment> its la2s hold good only 2ithin the
frame2ork of the historical conte4t 2hich 3roduced them and 2hich is in turn
determined by them(
:t might look as though by dissol0ing the dilemma in this manner 2e 2ere denying
consciousness any decisi0e role in the 3rocess of history( :t is true that the conscious
refle4es of the different stages of economic gro2th remain historical facts of great
im3ortance> it is true that 2hile dialectical materialism is itself the 3roduct of this
3rocess& it does not deny that men 3erform their historical deeds themsel0es and that
they do so consciously( -ut as /ngels em3hasises in a letter to Mehring& J9K this
consciousness is false( !o2e0er& the dialectical method does not 3ermit us sim3ly to
3roclaim the ?falseness@ of this consciousness and to 3ersist in an infle4ible confrontation
of true and false( 9n the contrary& it re6uires us to in0estigate this ?false consciousness@
concretely as an as3ect of the historical totality and as a stage in the historical 3rocess(
9f course bourgeois historians also attem3t such concrete analyses> indeed they
re3roach historical materialists 2ith 0iolating the concrete uni6ueness of historical
e0ents( )here they go 2rong is in their belief that the concrete can be located in the
em3irical indi0idual of history 5@indi0idual@ here can refer to an indi0idual man& class or
3eo3le7 and in his em3irically gi0en 5and hence 3sychological or mass*3sychological7
consciousness( ;nd 1ust 2hen they imagine that they ha0e disco0ered the most concrete
thing of all society as a concrete totality& the system of 3roduction at a gi0en 3oint in
history and the resulting di0ision of society into classes 8 they are in fact at the furthest
remo0e from it( :n missing the mark they mistake something 2holly abstract for the
concrete( HThese relations&I Mar4 states& Hare not those bet2een one indi0idual and
another& but bet2een 2orker and ca3italist& tenant and landlord& etc( /liminate these
relations and you abolish the 2hole of society> your Prometheus 2ill then be nothing
more than a s3ectre 2ithout arms or legs( (((I J1BK
Concrete analysis means then the relation to society as a 2hole( For only 2hen this
relation is established does the consciousness of their e4istence that men ha0e at any
gi0en time emerge in all its essential characteristics( :t a33ears& on the one hand& as
something 2hich is sub1ecti0ely 1ustified in the social and historical situation& as
something 2hich can and should be understood& i(e( as ?right@( ;t the same
time& ob1ecti0ely& it by*3asses the essence of the e0olution of society and fails to 3in3oint
it and e43ress it ade6uately( That is to say& ob1ecti0ely& it a33ears as a ?false
consciousness@( 9n the other hand& 2e may see the same consciousness as something
2hich fails sub1ecti0ely to reach its self*a33ointed goals& 2hile furthering and realising
the ob1ecti0e aims of society of 2hich it is ignorant and 2hich it did not choose(
This t2ofold dialectical determination of ?false consciousness@ constitutes an analysis far
remo0ed from the nai0e descri3tion of 2hat men in fact thought& felt and 2anted at any
moment in history and from any gi0en 3oint in the class structure( : do not 2ish to deny
the great im3ortance of this& but it remains after all merely the material of genuine
historical analysis( The relation 2ith concrete totality and the dialectical determinants
arising from it transcend 3ure descri3tion and yield the category of ob1ecti0e 3ossibility(
-y relating consciousness to the 2hole of society it becomes 3ossible to infer the
thoughts and feelings 2hich men 2ould ha0e in a 3articular situation if they 2ere able to
assess both it and the interests arising from it in their im3act on immediate action and
on the 2hole structure of society( That is to say& it 2ould be 3ossible to infer the thoughts
and feelings a33ro3riate to their ob1ecti0e situation( The number of such situations is not
unlimited in any society( !o2e0er much detailed researches are able to refine social
56
ty3ologies there 2ill al2ays be a number of clearly distinguished basic ty3es 2hose
characteristics are determined by the ty3es of 3osition a0ailable in the 3rocess of
3roduction( ,o2 class consciousness consists in fact of the a33ro3riate and rational
reactions ?im3uted@ J#ugerechnetK to a 3articular ty3ical 3osition in the 3rocess of
3roduction(J11K This consciousness is& therefore& neither the sum nor the a0erage of 2hat
is thought or felt by the single indi0iduals 2ho make u3 the class( ;nd yet the historically
significant actions of the class as a 2hole are determined in the last resort by this
consciousness and not by the thought of the indi0idual 8 and these actions can be
understood only by reference to this consciousness(
This analysis establishes right from the start the distance that se3arates class
consciousness from the em3irically gi0en& and from the 3sychologically describable and
e43licable ideas 2hich men form about their situation in life( -ut it is not enough 1ust to
state that this distance e4ists or e0en to define its im3lications in a formal and general
2ay( )e must disco0er& firstly& 2hether it is a 3henomenon that differs according to the
manner in 2hich the 0arious classes are related to society as a 2hole and 2hether the
differences are so great as to 3roduce 6ualitati0e distinctions( ;nd 2e must disco0er&
secondly& the 3ractical significance of these different 3ossible relations bet2een the
ob1ecti0e economic totality& the im3uted class consciousness and the real& 3sychological
thoughts of men about their li0es( )e must disco0er& in short& the 3ractical& historical
function of class consciousness(
9nly after such 3re3aratory formulations can 2e begin to e43loit the category of
ob1ecti0e 3ossibility systematically( The first 6uestion 2e must ask is ho2 far is
it intact 3ossible to discern the 2hole economy of a society from inside it= :t is essential
to transcend the limitations of 3articular indi0iduals caught u3 in their o2n narro2
3re1udices( -ut it is no less 0ital not to o0erste3 the frontier fi4ed for them by the
economic structure of society and establishing their 3osition in it( J1+K Regarded
abstractly and formally& then& class consciousness im3lies a class*
conditioned unconsciousness of ones o2n socio*historical and economic
condition( J1FK This condition is gi0en as a definite structural relation& a definite formal
ne4us 2hich a33ears to go0ern the 2hole of life( The ?falseness@& the illusion im3licit in
this situation is in no sense arbitrary> it is sim3ly the intellectual refle4 of the ob1ecti0e
economic structure( Thus& for e4am3le& Hthe 0alue or 3rice of labour*3o2er takes on the
a33earance of the 3rice or 0alue of labour itself (((I and Hthe illusion is created that the
totality is 3aid labour(((( :n contrast to that& under sla0ery e0en that 3ortion of labour
2hich is 3aid for a33ears un3aid for(I J1NK ,o2 it re6uires the most 3ainstaking
historical analysis to use the category of ob1ecti0e 3ossibility so as to isolate the
conditions in 2hich this illusion can be e43osed and a real connection 2ith the totality
established( For if from the 0antage 3oint of a 3articular class the totality of e4isting
society is not 0isible> if a class thinks the thoughts im3utable to it and 2hich bear u3on
its interests right through to their logical conclusion and yet fails to strike at the heart of
that totality& then such a class is doomed to 3lay only a subordinate role( :t can ne0er
influence the course of history in either a conser0ati0e or 3rogressi0e direction( "uch
classes are normally condemned to 3assi0ity& to an unstable oscillation bet2een the
ruling and the re0olutionary classes& and if 3erchance they do eru3t then such e43losions
are 3urely elemental and aimless( They may 2in a fe2 battles but they are doomed to
ultimate defeat(
For a class to be ri3e for hegemony means that its interests and consciousness enable it
to organise the 2hole of society in accordance 2ith those interests( The crucial 6uestion
in e0ery class struggle is this 2hich class 3ossesses this ca3acity and this consciousness
at the decisi0e moment = This does not 3reclude the use of force( :t does not mean that
the class*interests destined to 3re0ail and thus to u3hold the interests of society as a
57
2hole can be guaranteed an automatic 0ictory( 9n the contrary& such a transfer of 3o2er
can often only be brought about by the most ruthless use of force 5as e(g( the 3rimiti0e
accumulation of ca3ital7( -ut it often turns out that 6uestions of class consciousness
3ro0e to be decisi0e in 1ust those situations 2here force is una0oidable and 2here classes
are locked in a life*and*death*struggle( Thus the noted !ungarian Mar4ist /r2in "#abo
is mistaken in criticising /ngels for maintaining that the Great Peasant )ar 5of 1O+O7
2as essentially a reactionary mo0ement( "#abo argues that the 3easants@ re0olt 2as
su33ressed only by the ruthless use of force and that its defeat 2as not grounded in
socioeconomic factors and in the class consciousness of the 3easants( !e o0erlooks the
fact that the dee3est reason for the 2eakness of the 3easantry and the su3erior strength
of the 3rinces is to be sought in class consciousness( /0en the most cursory student of
the military as3ects of the Peasants@ )ar can easily con0ince himself of this(
:t must not be thought& ho2e0er& that all classes ri3e for hegemony ha0e a class
consciousness 2ith the same inner structure( /0erything hinges on the e4tent to 2hich
they can become conscious of the actions they need to 3erform in order to obtain and
organise 3o2er( The 6uestion then becomes ho2 far does the class concerned 3erform
the actions history has im3osed on it ?consciously@ or ?unconsciously@= ;nd is that
consciousness ?true@ or ?false@( These distinctions are by no means academic( \uite a3art
from 3roblems of culture 2here such fissures and dissonances are crucial& in all 3ractical
matters too the fate of a class de3ends on its ability to elucidate and sol0e the 3roblems
2ith 2hich history confronts it( ;nd here it becomes trans3arently ob0ious that class
consciousness is concerned neither 2ith the thoughts of indi0iduals& ho2e0er ad0anced&
nor 2ith the state of scientific kno2ledge( For e4am3le& it is 6uite clear that ancient
society 2as broken economically by the limitations of a system built on sla0ery( -ut it is
e6ually clear that neither the ruling classes nor the classes that rebelled against them in
the name of re0olution or reform could 3ercei0e this( :n conse6uence the 3ractical
emergence of these 3roblems meant that the society 2as necessarily and irremediably
doomed(
The situation( is e0en clearer in the case of the modern bourgeoisie& 2hich& armed 2ith
its kno2ledge of the 2orkings of economics& clashed 2ith feudal and absolutist society(
For the bourgeoisie 2as 6uite unable to 3erfect its fundamental science& its o2n science
of classes the reef on 2hich it foundered 2as its failure to disco0er e0en a theoretical
solution to the 3roblem of crises( The fact that a scientifically acce3table solution does
e4ist is of no a0ail( For to acce3t that solution& e0en in theory& 2ould be tantamount to
obser0ing societyfrom a class stand3oint other than that of the bourgeoisie( ;nd no class
can do that 8 unless it is 2illing to abdicate its 3o2er freely( Thus the barrier 2hich
con0erts the class consciousness of the bourgeoisie into ?false@ consciousness is ob1ecti0e>
it is the class situation itself( :t is the ob1ecti0e result of the economic set*u3& and is
neither arbitrary& sub1ecti0e nor 3sychological( The class consciousness of the
bourgeoisie may 2ell be able to reflect all the 3roblems of organisation entailed by its
hegemony and by the ca3italist transformation and 3enetration of total 3roduction( -ut
it becomes obscured as soon as it is called u3on to face 3roblems that remain 2ithin its
1urisdiction but 2hich 3oint beyond the limits of ca3italism( The disco0ery of the
5natural la2s@ of economics is 3ure light in com3arison 2ith medie0al feudalism or e0en
the mercantilism of the transitional 3eriod& but by an internal dialectical t2ist they
became Hnatural la2s based on the unconsciousness of those 2ho are in0ol0ed in
themI( J1OK
:t 2ould be beyond the sco3e of these 3ages to ad0ance further and attem3t to construct
a historical and systematic ty3ology of the 3ossible degrees of class consciousness( That
2ould re6uire 8 in the first instance 8 an e4act study of the 3oint in the total 3rocess of
3roduction at 2hich the interests of the 0arious classes are most immediately and 0itally
58
in0ol0ed( "econdly& 2e 2ould ha0e to sho2 ho2 far it 2ould be in the interest of any
gi0en class to go beyond this immediacy& to annul and transcend its immediate interest
by seeing it as a factor 2ithin a totality( ;nd lastly& 2hat is the nature of the totality that
is then achie0ed= !o2 far does it really embrace the true totality of 3roduction= :t is
6uite e0ident that the 6uality and structure of class consciousness must be 0ery different
if& e(g( it remains stationary at the se3aration of consum3tion from 3roduction 5as 2ith
the Roman Lum3en3roletariat7 or if it re3resents the formation of the interests of
circulation 5as 2ith merchant ca3ital7( ;lthough 2e cannot embark on a systematic
ty3ology of the 0arious 3oints of 0ie2 it can be seen from the foregoing that these
s3ecimens of ?false@ consciousness differ from each other both 6ualitati0ely& structurally
and in a manner that is crucial for the acti0ity of the classes in society(
+
:t follo2s from the abo0e that for 3re*ca3italist e3ochs and for the beha0iour of many
strata 2ithin ca3italism 2hose economic roots lie in 3re*ca3italism& class consciousness
is unable to achie0e com3lete clarity and to influence the course of history consciously(
This is true abo0e all because class interests in 3re*ca3italist society ne0er achie0e full
5economic7 articulation( !ence the structuring of society into castes and estates means
that economic elements are ine4tricably 1oined to 3olitical and religious factors( :n
contrast to this& the rule of the bourgeoisie means the abolition of the estates*system and
this leads to the organisation of society along class lines( 5:n many countries 0estiges of
the feudal system still sur0i0e& but this does not detract from the 0alidity of this
obser0ation(7
This situation has its roots in the 3rofound difference bet2een ca3italist and 3re*
ca3italist economics( The most striking distinction& and the one that directly concerns us&
is that 3re*ca3italist societies are much less cohesi0e than ca3italism( The 0arious 3arts
are much more self*sufficient and less closely interrelated than in ca3italism( Commerce
3lays a smaller role in society& the 0arious sectors 2ere more autonomous 5as in the case
of 0illage communes7 or else 3lays no 3art at all in the economic life of the community
and in the 3rocess of 3roduction 5as 2as true of large numbers of citi#ens in Greece and
Rome7( :n such circumstances the state& i(e( the organised unity& remains insecurely
anchored in the real life of society( 9ne sector of society sim3ly li0es out its ?natural@
e4istence in 2hat amounts to a total inde3endence of the fate of the state( HThe sim3licity
of the organisation for 3roduction in these self*sufficient communities that constantly
re3roduce themsel0es in the same form& and 2hen accidentally destroyed& s3ring u3
again on the s3ot and 2ith the same name 8 this sim3licity su33lies the key to the secret
of the immutability of ;siatic societies& an immutability in such striking contrast 2ith the
constant dissolution and resounding of ;siatic states& and the ne0er*ceasing changes of
dynasty( The structure of the economic elements of society remains untouched by the
storm*clouds of the 3olitical sky(I J1DK
Tet another sector of society is 8 economically 8 com3letely 3arasitic( For this sector the
state 2ith its 3o2er a33aratus is not& as it is for the ruling classes under ca3italism& a
means 2hereby to 3ut into 3ractice the 3rinci3les of its economic 3o2er 8 if need be 2ith
the aid of force( ,or is it the instrument it uses to create the conditions for its economic
dominance 5as 2ith modern colonialism7( That is to say& the state is not a mediation of
the economic control of society it is that unmediated dominance itself( This is true not
merely in cases of the straightfor2ard theft of land or sla0es& but also in so*called
3eaceful economic relations( Thus in connection 2ith labour*rent Mar4 says HAnder
such circumstances the sur3lus labour can be e4torted from them for the benefit of the
nominal lando2ner only by other than economic 3ressure(I :n ;sia Hrent and ta4es
coincide& or rather there is no ta4 other than this form of ground*rentI( J1.K
59
/0en commerce is not able& in the forms it assumes in 3re*ca3italist societies& to make
decisi0e inroads on the basic structure of society( :ts im3act remains su3erficial and the
3rocess of 3roduction abo0e all in relation to labour& remains beyond its control( H;
merchant could buy e0ery commodity& but labour as a commodity he could not buy( !e
e4isted only on sufferance& as a dealer in the 3roducts of the handicrafts(I J1PK
Les3ite all this& e0ery such society constitutes an economic unity( The only 6uestion that
arises is 2hether this unity enables the indi0idual sectors of society to relate to society as
a 2hole in such a 2ay that their im3uted consciousness can assume an economic form(
Mar4 em3hasises J19K that in Greece and Rome the class struggle Hchiefly took the form
of a conflict bet2een debtors and creditorsI( -ut he also makes the further& 0ery 0alid
3oint H,e0ertheless& the money*relationshi3 8 and the relationshi3 of creditor to debtor
is one of money 8 reflects only the dee3er*lying antagonism bet2een the economic
conditions of e4istence(I !istorical materialism sho2ed that this reflection 2as no more
than a reflection& but 2e must go on to ask 2as it at all 3ossible 8 ob1ecti0ely 8 for the
classes in such a society to become conscious of the economic basis of these conflicts and
of the economic 3roblems 2ith 2hich the society 2as afflicted= )as it not ine0itable that
these conflicts and 3roblems should assume either natural ? religious forms@ J+BK or else
3olitical and legal ones& de3ending on circumstances =
The di0ision of society into estates or castes means in effect that conce3tually and
organisationally these ?natural@ forms are established 2ithout their economic basis e0er
becoming conscious( :t means that there is no mediation bet2een the 3ure traditionalism
of natural gro2th and the legal institutions it assumes( J+1K :n accordance 2ith the looser
economic structure of society& the 3olitical and legal institutions 5here the di0ision into
estates& 3ri0ileges& etc(7& ha0e different functions ob1ecti0ely and sub1ecti0ely from those
e4ercised under ca3italism( :n ca3italism these institutions merely im3ly the
stabilisation of 3urely economic forces so that 8 as Carner has ably demonstrated J++K 8
they fre6uently ada3t themsel0es to changed economic structures 2ithout changing
themsel0es in form or content( -y contrast& in 3re*ca3italist societies legal institutions
inter0ene substanti0ely in the inter3lay of economic forces( :n fact there are no 3urely
economic categories to a33ear or to be gi0en legal form 5and according to Mar4&
economic categories are Hforms of e4istence& determinations of lifeI7( J+FK /conomic and
legal categories are ob1ecti0ely and substanti0ely so inter2o0en as to be
inse3arable( 5Consider here the instances cited earlier of labour*rent& and ta4es& of
sla0ery& etc(7 :n !egel@s 3arlance the economy has not e0en ob1ecti0ely reached the stage
of being*for*itself( There is therefore no 3ossible 3osition 2ithin such a society from
2hich the economic basis of all social relations could be made conscious(
This is not of course to deny the ob1ecti0e economic foundations of social institutions( 9n
the contrary& the history of JfeudalK estates sho2s 0ery clearly that 2hat in origin had
been a ?natural@ economic e4istence cast into stable forms begins gradually to
disintegrate as a result of subterranean& ?unconscious@ economic de0elo3ment( That is to
say& it ceases to be a real unity( Their economic content destroys the unity of their
1uridical form( 5;m3le 3roof of this is furnished both by /ngels in his analysis of the class
struggles of the Reformation( 3eriod and by Cuno2 in his discussion of the French
Re0olution(7 !o2e0er& des3ite this conflict bet2een 1uridical form and economic
content& the 1uridical 53ri0ilege*creating7 forms retain a great and often absolutely
crucial im3ortance for the consciousness of estates in the 3rocess of disintegration( For
the form of the estates conceals the connection bet2een the 8 real but ?unconscious@ 8
economic e4istence of the estate and the economic totality of society( :t fi4ates
consciousness directly on its 3ri0ileges 5as in the case of the knights during the
Reformation7 or else 8 no less directly 8 on the 3articular element of society from 2hich
the 3ri0ileges emanated 5as in the case of the guilds7(
60
/0en 2hen an estate has disintegrated& e0en 2hen its members ha0e been absorbed
economically into a number of different classes& it still retains this 5ob1ecti0ely unreal7
ideological coherence( For the relation to the 2hole created by the consciousness of one@s
status is not directed to the real& li0ing economic unity but to a 3ast state of society as
constituted by the 3ri0ileges accorded to the estates( "tatus 8 consciousness 8 a real
historical factor masks class consciousness> in fact it 3re0ents it from emerging at all( ;
like 3henomenon can be obser0ed under ca3italism in the case of all ?3ri0ileged@ grou3s
2hose class situation lacks any immediate economic base( The ability of such a class to
ada3t itself to the real economic de0elo3ment can be measured by the e4tent to 2hich it
succeeds in ?ca3italising@ itself& i(e( transforming its 3ri0ileges into economic and
ca3italist forms of control 5as 2as the case 2ith the great lando2ners7(
Thus class consciousness has 6uite a different relation to history in 3re*ca3italist and
ca3italist 3eriods( :n the former case the classes could only be deduced from the
immediately gi0en historical reality by the methods of historical materialism( :n
ca3italism they themsel0es constitute this immediately gi0en historical reality( :t is
therefore no accident that 5as /ngels too has 3ointed out7 this kno2ledge of history only
became 3ossible 2ith the ad0ent of ca3italism( ,ot only 8 as /ngels belie0ed 8 because
of the greater sim3licity of ca3italism in contrast to the ?com3le4 and concealed relations@
of earlier ages( -ut 3rimarily because only 2ith ca3italism does economic class interest
emerge in all its starkness as the motor of history( :n 3re*ca3italist 3eriods man could
ne0er become conscious 5not e0en by 0irtue of an ?im3uted@ consciousness7 of the Htrue
dri0ing forces 2hich stand behind the moti0es of human actions in historyI( They
remained hidden behind moti0es and 2ere in truth the blind forces of history(
:deological factors do not merely ?mask@ economic interests& they are not merely the
banners and slogans they are the 3arts& the com3onents of 2hich the real struggle is
made( 9f course& if historical materialism is de3loyed to disco0er thesociological
meaning of these struggles& economic interests 2ill doubtless be re0ealed as the decisi0e
factors in any e43lanation(
-ut there is still an unbridgeable gulf bet2een this and ca3italism 2here economic
factors are not concealed ?behind@ consciousness but are 3resent in consciousness itself
5albeit unconsciously or re3ressed7( )ith ca3italism& 2ith the abolition of the feudal
estates and 2ith the creation of a society 2ith a 3urely economic articulation& class
consciousness arri0ed at the 3oint 2here it could become conscious( From then on social
conflict 2as reflected in an ideological struggle for consciousness and for the 0eiling or
the e43osure of the class character of society( -ut the fact that this conflict became
3ossible 3oints for2ard to the dialectical contradictions and the internal dissolution of
3ure class society( :n !egel@s 2ords& H)hen 3hiloso3hy 3aints its gloomy 3icture a form
of life has gro2n old( :t cannot be re1u0enated by the gloomy 3icture& but only
understood( 9nly 2hen dusk starts to fall does the o2l of Miner0a s3read its 2ings and
fly(S
F
-ourgeoisie and 3roletariat are the only 3ure classes in bourgeois society( They are the
only classes 2hose e4istence and de0elo3ment are entirely de3endent on the course
taken by the modern e0olution of 3roduction and only from the 0antage 3oint of these
classes can a 3lan for the total organisation of society e0en be imagined( The outlook of
the other classes 53etty bourgeois or 3easants7 is ambiguous or sterile because their
e4istence is not based e4clusi0ely on their role in the ca3italist system of 3roduction but
is indissolubly linked 2ith the 0estiges of feudal society( Their aim& therefore& is not to
ad0ance ca3italism or to transcend it& but to re0erse its action or at least to 3re0ent it
from de0elo3ing fully( Their class interest concentrates on sym3toms of
61
de0elo3ment and not on de0elo3ment itself& and on elements of society rather than on
the construction of society as a 2hole(
The 6uestion of consciousness may make its a33earance in terms of the ob1ecti0es
chosen or in terms of action& as for instance in the case of the 3etty bourgeoisie( This
class li0es at least in 3art in the ca3italist big city and e0ery as3ect of its e4istence is
directly e43osed to the influence of ca3italism( !ence it cannot 3ossibly remain 2holly
unaffected by the fact of class conflict bet2een bourgeoisie and 3roletariat( -ut as a
Htransitional class in 2hich the interests of t2o other classes become simultaneously
blunted (((I it 2ill imagine itself Hto be abo0e all class antagonismsI( J+NK ;ccordingly it
2ill search for 2ays 2hereby it 2ill Hnot indeed eliminate the t2o e4tremes of ca3ital and
2age labour& but 2ill 2eaken their antagonism and transform it into harmonyI( J+OK :n
all decisions crucial for society its actions 2ill be irrele0ant and it 2ill be forced to fight
for both sides in turn but al2ays 2ithout consciousness( :n so doing its o2n ob1ecti0es 8
2hich e4ist e4clusi0ely in its o2n consciousness 8 must become 3rogressi0ely 2eakened
and increasingly di0orced from social action( Altimately they 2ill assume 3urely
?ideological@ forms The 3etty bourgeoisie 2ill only be able to 3lay an acti0e role in history
as long as these ob1ecti0es ha33en to coincide 2ith the real economic interests of
ca3italism( This 2as the case 2ith the abolition of the feudal estates during the French
Re0olution( )ith the fulfilment of this mission its utterances& 2hich for the most 3art
remain unchanged in form& become more and more remote from real e0ents and turn
finally into mere caricatures 5this 2as true& e(g( of the Eacobinism of the Montagne 1PNP*
O17(
This isolation from society as a 2hole has its re3ercussions on the internal structure of
the class and its organisational 3otential( This can be seen most clearly in the
de0elo3ment of the 3easantry( Mar4 says on this 3oint J+DK HThe small*holding 3easants
form a 0ast mass 2hose members li0e in similar conditions but 2ithout entering into
manifold relations 2ith each other( Their mode of 3roduction isolates them from one
another instead of bringing them into mutual intercourse(((( /0ery single 3easant
family ((( thus ac6uires its means of life more through e4change 2ith nature than in
intercourse 2ith society(((( :n so far as millions of families li0e under economic
conditions of e4istence that se3arate their mode of life& their interests and their culture
from those of other classes and 3lace them in o33osition to them& they constitute a class(
:n so far as there is only a local connection bet2een the smallholding 3easants& and the
identity of their interests begets no community& no national unity and no 3olitical
organisation& they do not constitute a class(I !ence e4ternal u3hea0als& such as 2ar&
re0olution in the to2ns& etc( are needed before these& masses can coalesce in a unified
mo0ement& and e0en then they are inca3able of organising it and su33lying it 2ith
slogans and a 3ositi0e direction corres3onding to their o2n interests(
)hether these mo0ements 2ill be 3rogressi0e 5as in the French Re0olution of 1.P9 or
the Russian Re0olution of 191.7& or reactionary 5as 2ith ,a3oleon@s cou3 d@%tat7 2ill
de3end on the 3osition of the other classes in0ol0ed in the conflict& and on the le0el of
consciousness of the 3arties that lead them( For this reason& too& the ideological form
taken by the class consciousness of the 3easants changes its content more fre6uently
than that of other classes this is because it is al2ays borro2ed from else2here(
!ence 3arties that base themsel0es 2holly or in 3art on this class consciousness al2ays
lack really firm and secure su33ort in critical situations 5as 2as true of the "ocialist
Re0olutionaries in 191. and 191P7( This e43lains 2hy it is 3ossible for 3easant conflicts to
be fought out under o33osing flags( Thus it is highly characteristic of both ;narchism
and the ?class consciousness of the 3easantry that a number of counter*re0olutionary
rebellions and u3risings of the middle and u33er strata of the 3easantry in Russia should
ha0e found the anarchist 0ie2 of society to be a satisfying ideology( )e cannot really
62
s3eak of class consciousness in the case of these classes 5if& indeed& 2e can& e0en s3eak of
them as classes in the strict Mar4ist sense of the term7 for a full consciousness of their
situation 2ould re0eal to them the ho3elessness of their 3articularise stri0ings in the face
of the ine0itable course of e0ents( Consciousness and self*interest then are mutually
incom3atible in this instance( ;nd as class consciousness 2as defined in terms of the
3roblems of im3uting class interests the failure of their class consciousness to de0elo3 in
the immediately gi0en historical reality becomes com3rehensible 3hiloso3hically(
)ith the bourgeoisie& also& class consciousness stands in o33osition to class interest( -ut
here the antagonism is not contradictory but dialectical(
The distinction bet2een the t2o modes of contradiction may be briefly described in this
2ay in the case of the other classes& a class consciousness is 3re0ented from emerging by
their 3osition 2ithin the 3rocess of 3roduction and the interests this generates( :n the
case of the bourgeoisie& ho2e0er& these factors combine to 3roduce a class consciousness
but one 2hich is cursed by its 0ery nature 2ith the tragic fate of de0elo3ing an insoluble
contradiction at the 0ery #enith of its 3o2ers( ;s a result of this contradiction it must
annihilate itself(
The tragedy of the bourgeoisie is reflected historically in the fact that e0en before it had
defeated its 3redecessor& feudalism& its ne2 enemy& the 3roletariat& had a33eared on the
scene( Politically& it became e0ident 2hen& at the moment of 0ictory& the ?freedom@ in
2hose name the bourgeoisie had 1oined battle 2it i feudalism& 2as transformed into a
ne2 re3ressi0eness( "ociologically& the bourgeoisie did e0erything in its 3o2er to
eradicate the fact of class conflict from the consciousness of society& e0en though class
conflict had only emerged in its 3urity and became established as an historical fact 2ith
the ad0ent of ca3italism( :deologically& 2e see the same contradiction in the fact that the
bourgeoisie endo2ed the indi0idual 2ith an un3recedented im3ortance& but at the same
time that same indi0iduality 2as annihilated by the economic conditions to 2hich it 2as
sub1ected& by the reification created by commodity 3roduction(
;ll these contradictions& and the list might be e4tended indefinitely& are only the
reflection of the dee3est contradictions in ca3italism itself as they a33ear in the
consciousness of the bourgeoisie in accordance 2ith their 3osition in the total system of
3roduction( For this reason they a33ear as dialectical contradictions in the class
consciousness of the bourgeoisie( They do not merely reflect the inability of the
bourgeoisie to gras3 the contradictions inherent in its o2n social order( For& on the one
hand& ca3italism is the first system of 3roduction able to achie0e a total economic
3enetration of society& J+.K and this im3lies that in theory the bourgeoisie should be able
to 3rogress from this central 3oint to the 3ossession of an 5im3uted7 class consciousness
of the 2hole system of 3roduction( 9n the other hand& the 3osition held by the ca3italist
class and the interests 2hich determine its actions ensure that it 2ill be unable to control
its o2n system of 3roduction e0en in theory(
There are many reasons for this( :n the first 3lace& it only seems to be true that for
ca3italism 3roduction occu3ies the centre of class consciousness and hence 3ro0ides the
theoretical starting*3oint for analysis( )ith reference to Ricardo H2ho had been
re3roached 2ith an e4clusi0e concern 2ith 3roductionI& Mar4 em3hasised J+PK that he
Hdefined distribution as the sole sub1ect of economicsI( ;nd the detailed analysis of the
3rocess by 2hich ca3ital is concretely realised sho2s in e0ery single instance that the
interest of the ca3italist 52ho 3roduces not goods but commodities7 is necessarily
confined to matters that must be 3eri3heral in terms of 3roduction( Moreo0er& the
ca3italist& enmeshed in 2hat is for him the decisi0e 3rocess of the e43ansion of ca3ital
must ha0e a stand3oint from 2hich the most im3ortant 3roblems become 6uite
in0isible( J+9K
63
The discre3ancies that result are further e4acerbated by the fact that there is an insoluble
contradiction running through the internal structure of ca3italism bet2een the social
and the indi0idual 3rinci3le& i(e( bet2een the function of ca3ital as 3ri0ate 3ro3erty and
its ob1ecti0e economic function( ;s the Communist Manifesto states HCa3ital is a social
force and not a 3ersonal one(I -ut it is a social force 2hose mo0ements are determined
by the indi0idual interests of the o2ners of ca3ital 8 2ho cannot see and 2ho are
necessarily indifferent to all the social im3lications of their acti0ities( !ence the social
3rinci3le and the social function im3licit in ca3ital can only 3re0ail unbekno2n to them
and& as it 2ere& against their 2ill and behind their backs( -ecause of this conflict bet2een
the indi0idual and the social& Mar4 rightly characterised the stock com3anies as the
Hnegation& of the ca3italist mode of 3roduction itselfI( JFBK 9f course& it is true that stock
com3anies differ only in inessentials from indi0idual ca3italists and e0en the so*called
abolition of the anarchy in 3roduction through cartels and trusts only shifts the
contradiction else2here& 2ithout& ho2e0er& eliminating it( This situation forms one of the
decisi0e factors go0erning the class consciousness of the bourgeoisie( :t is true that the
bourgeoisie acts as a class in the ob1ecti0e e0olution of society( -ut it understands the
3rocess 52hich it is itself instigating7 as something e4ternal 2hich is sub1ect to ob1ecti0e
la2s 2hich it can only e43erience 3assi0ely(
-ourgeois thought obser0es economic life consistently and necessarily from the
stand3oint of the indi0idual ca3italist and this naturally 3roduces a shar3 confrontation
bet2een the indi0idual and the o0er3o2ering su3ra*3ersonal ?la2 of nature@ 2hich
3ro3els all social 3henomena( JF1K This leads both to the antagonism bet2een indi0idual
and class interests in the e0ent of conflict 52hich& it is true& rarely becomes as acute
among the( ruling classes as in the bourgeoisie7& and also to the logical im3ossibility of
disco0ering theoretical and 3ractical solutions to the 3roblems created by the ca3italist
system of 3roduction(
SThis sudden re0ersion from a system of credit to a system of hard cash hea3s theoretical
fright on to3 of 3ractical 3anic> and the dealers by 2hose agency circulation is effected
shudder before the im3enetrable mystery in 2hich their o2n economic relations are
shrouded(I JF+K This terror is not unfounded&( that is to say& it is much more than the
bafflement felt by the indi0idual ca3italist 2hen confronted by his o2n indi0idual fate(
The facts and the situations 2hich induce this 3anic force something into the
consciousness of the bourgeoisie 2hich is too much of a brute fact for its e4istence to be
2holly denied or re3ressed( -ut e6ually it is something that the bourgeoisie can ne0er
fully understand( For the recognisable background to this situation is the fact that
Hthe real barrier of ca3italist 3roduction is ca3ital itselfI( JFFK ;nd if this insight 2ere to
become conscious it 2ould indeed entail the self*negation of the ca3italist class(
:n this 2ay the ob1ecti0e limits of ca3italist 3roduction become the limits of the class
consciousness of the bourgeoisie( The older ?natural@ and ?conser0ati0e@ forms of
domination had left unmolested JFNK the forms of 3roduction of 2hole sections of the
3eo3le they ruled and therefore e4erted by and large a traditional and unre0olutionary
influence( Ca3italism& by contrast& is a re0olutionary form 3ar e4cellence( The fact that it
must necessarily remain in ignorance of the ob1ecti0e economic limitations of its o2n
system e43resses itself as an internal& dialectical contradiction in its class consciousness
This means that formally the class consciousness of the bourgeoisie is geared to
economic consciousness( ;nd indeed the highest degree of unconsciousness& the
crassest& form of ?false consciousness@ al2ays manifests itself 2hen the conscious mastery
of economic 3henomena a33ears to be at its greatest( From the 3oint of 0ie2 of the
relation of consciousness to society this contradiction is e43ressed as the irreconcilable
antagonism bet2een ideology and economic base( :ts dialectics are grounded in the
irreconcilable antagonism bet2een the 5ca3italist7 indi0idual& i(e( the stereoty3ed
64
indi0idual of ca3italism& and the ?natural@ and ine0itable 3rocess of de0elo3ment& i(e( the
3rocess not sub1ect to consciousness( :n conse6uence theory and 3ractice are brought
into irreconcilable o33osition to each other( -ut the resulting dualism is anything but
stable> in fact it constantly stri0es to harmonise 3rinci3les that ha0e been 2renched a3art
and thenceforth oscillate bet2een a ne2 ?false@ synthesis and its subse6uent cataclysmic
disru3tion(
This internal dialectical contradiction in the class consciousness of the bourgeoisie is
further aggra0ated by the fact that the ob1ecti0e limits of ca3italism do not remain 3urely
negati0e( That is to say that ca3italism does not merely set ?natural@ la2s in motion that
3ro0oke crises 2hich it cannot com3rehend( 9n the contrary& those limits ac6uire a
historical embodiment 2ith its o2n consciousness and its o2n actions the 3roletariat(
Most ?normal@ shifts of 3ers3ecti0e 3roduced by the ca3italist 3oint of 0ie2 in the image
of the economic structure of society tend to Hobscure and mystify the true origin of
sur3lus 0alueI( JFOK :n the ?normal@& 3urely theoretical 0ie2 this mystification only
attaches to the organic com3osition of ca3ital& 0i#( to the 3lace of the em3loyer in the
3roducti0e system and the economic function of interest etc(& i(e( it does no more than
highlight the failure of obser0ers to 3ercei0e the true dri0ing forces that lie beneath the
surface( -ut 2hen it comes to 3ractice this mystification touches u3on the central fact of
ca3italist society the class struggle(
:n the class struggle 2e 2itness the emergence of all the hidden forces that usually lie
concealed behind the fa]ade of economic life& at 2hich the ca3italists and their a3ologists
ga#e as though transfi4ed( These forces a33ear in such a 2ay that they cannot 3ossibly be
ignored( "o much so that e0en 2hen ca3italism 2as in the ascendant and the 3roletariat
could only gi0e 0ent to its 3rotests in the form of 0ehement s3ontaneous e43losions& e0en
the ideological e43onents of the rising bourgeoisie ackno2ledged the class struggle as a
basic fact of history( 5For e4am3le& Marat and later historians such as Mignet(7 -ut in
3ro3ortion as the theory and 3ractice of the 3roletariat made society conscious of this
unconscious& re0olutionary 3rinci3le inherent in ca3italism& the bourgeoisie 2as thro2n
back increasingly on to a conscious defensi0e( The dialectical contradiction in the ?false@
consciousness of the bourgeoisie became more and more acute the ?false@ consciousness
2as con0erted into a mendacious consciousness( )hat had been at first an ob1ecti0e
contradiction no2 became sub1ecti0e also the theoretical 3roblem turned into a moral
3osture 2hich decisi0ely influenced e0ery 3ractical class attitude in e0ery situation and
on e0ery issue(
Thus the situation in 2hich the bourgeoisie finds itself determines the function of its
class consciousness in its struggle to achie0e control of society( The hegemony of the
bourgeoisie really does embrace the 2hole of society> it really does attem3t to organise
the 2hole of society in its o2n interests 5and in this it has had some success7( To achie0e
this it@ 2as forced both to de0elo3 a coherent theory of economics& 3olitics and society
52hich in itself 3resu33oses and amounts to a ?)eltanschauung@7& and also to make
conscious and sustain its faith in its o2n mission to control and organise society( The
tragic dialectics of the bourgeoisie can be seen in the fact that it is not only desirable but
essential for it to clarify its o2n class interests on e0ery 3articular issue& 2hile at the
same time such a clear a2areness becomes fatal 2hen it is e4tended to the 6uestion of
the totality( The chief reason for this is that the rule of the bourgeoisie can only be the
rule of a minority( :ts hegemony is e4ercised not merely by a minority but in the
interest of that minority& so the need to decei0e the other classes and to ensure that their
class consciousness remains amor3hous is inesca3able for a bourgeois regime( 5Consider
here the theory of the state that stands ?abo0e@ class antagonisms& or the notion of an
?im3artial@ system of 1ustice(7
65
-ut the 0eil dra2n o0er the nature of bourgeois society is indis3ensable to the
bourgeoisie itself( For the insoluble internal contradictions of the system become
re0ealed 2ith& increasing starkness and so confront its su33orters 2ith a choice( /ither
they must consciously ignore insights 2hich become increasingly urgent or else they
must su33ress their o2n moral instincts in order to be able to su33ort 2ith a good
conscience an economic system that ser0es only their o2n interests( ( )ithout
o0erestimating the efficacy of such ideological factors it must be agreed that the fighting
3o2er of a class gro2s 2ith its ability to carry out its o2n mission 2ith a good conscience
and to ada3t all 3henomena to its o2n interests 2ith unbroken confidence in itself( :f 2e
consider "ismondi@s criticism of classical economics& German criticisms of natural la2
and the youthful criti6ues of& Carlyle it becomes e0ident that from a 0ery early stage the
ideological history of the bourgeoisie 2as nothing but a des3erate resistance to e0ery
insight into the true nature of the society it had created and thus to a real understanding
of its class situation( )hen the Communist Manifesto makes the 3oint that the
bourgeoisie 3roduces its o2n gra0e*diggers this is 0alid ideologically as 2ell as
economically( The 2hole of bourgeois thought in the nineteenth century made the most
strenuous efforts to mask the real foundations of bourgeois society> e0erything 2as tried
from the greatest falsifications of fact to the ?sublime@ theories about the ?essence@ of
history and the state( -ut in 0ain 2ith the end of the century the issue 2as resol0ed by
the ad0ances of science and their corres3onding effects on the consciousness of the
ca3italist elite(
This can be seen 0ery clearly in the bourgeoisie@s greater readiness to acce3t the idea of
conscious organisation( ; greater measure of concentration 2as achie0ed first in the
stock com3anies and in the cartels and trusts( This 3rocess re0ealed the social@ character
of ca3ital more and more clearly 2ithout affecting the general anarchy in 3roduction(
)hat it did 2as to confer near*mono3oly status on a number of giant indi0idual
ca3italists( 9b1ecti0ely& then& the social character of ca3ital 2as brought into 3lay 2ith
great energy but in such a manner as to kee3 its nature concealed from the ca3italist
class( :ndeed this illusory elimination of economic anarchy successfully di0erted their
attention from the true situation( )ith the crises of the )ar and the 3ost*2ar 3eriod this
tendency has ad0anced still further the idea of a ?3lanned@ economy has gained ground
at least among the more 3rogressi0e elements of the bourgeoisie( ;dmittedly this a33lies
only 2ithin 6uite harro2 strata of the bourgeoisie and e0en there it is thought of more as
a theoretical e43eriment than as a 3ractical 2ay out of the im3asse brought about by the
crises(
)hen ca3italism 2as still e43anding it re1ected e0ery sort of social organisation on the
grounds that it 2as Han inroad u3on such sacred things as the rights of 3ro3erty& freedom
and unrestricted 3lay for the initiati0e of the indi0idual ca3italist(I JFDK :f 2e com3are
that 2ith current attem3ts to harmonise a ?3lanned@ economy 2ith the class interests of
the bourgeoisie& 2e are forced to admit that 2hat 2e are 2itnessing is the ca3itulation of
the class consciousness of the bourgeoisie before that of the 3roletariat( 9f course the
section of the bourgeoisie that acce3ts the notion of a ?3lanned@ economy does not mean
by it the same as does the 3roletariat it& regards it as a last attem3t to sa0e ca3italism by
dri0ing its internal contradictions to breaking*3oint( ,e0ertheless this means 1ettisoning
the last theoretical line of defence( 5;s a strange counter3art to this 2e may note that at
1ust this 3oint in timecertain sectors of the 3roletariat ca3itulate before the
bourgeoisie and ado3t this& the most 3roblematic form of bourgeois organisation(7
)ith this the 2hole e4istence of the bourgeoisie and its culture is 3lunged into the most
terrible crisis( 9n the one hand& 2e find the utter sterility of an ideology di0orced from
life& of a more or less conscious attem3t at forgery( 9n the other hand& a cynicism no less
terribly 1e1une li0es on in the 2orld*historical irrele0ances and nullities of its o2n
66
e4istence and concerns itself only 2ith the defence of that e4istence and 2ith its o2n
naked self*interest( This ideological crisis is an unfailing sign of decay( The bourgeoisie
has already been thro2n on the defensi0e> ho2e0er aggressi0e its 2ea3ons may be& it is
fighting for self*3reser0ation( :ts 3o2er to dominate has 0anished beyond recall(
N
:n this struggle for consciousness historical materialism 3lays a crucial role( :deologically
no less than economically& the bourgeoisie and the 3roletariat are mutually
interde3endent( The same 3rocess that the bourgeoisie e43eriences as a 3ermanent crisis
and gradual dissolution a33ears to the 3roletariat& like2ise in crisis*form& as the
gathering of strength and the s3ringboard to 0ictory( :deologically this means that the
same gro2th of insight into the nature of society& 2hich reflects the 3rotracted death
struggle of the bourgeoisie& entails a steady gro2th in the strength of the 3roletariat( For
the 3roletariat the truth is a 2ea3on that brings 0ictory> and the more ruthless& the
greater the 0ictory( This makes more com3rehensible the des3erate fury 2ith 2hich
bourgeois science assails historical materialism for as soon as the bourgeoisie is forced
to take u3 its stand on this terrain& it is lost( ;nd& at the same time& this e43lains 2hy the
3roletariat and only the 3roletariat can discern in the correct understanding of the
nature of society a 3o2er*factor of the first& and 3erha3s decisi0e im3ortance(
The uni6ue function of consciousness in the class struggle of the 3roletariat has
consistently been o0erlooked by the 0ulgar Mar4ists 2ho ha0e substituted a 3etty
?Real3olitik@ for the great battle of 3rinci3le 2hich reaches back to the ultimate 3roblems
of the ob1ecti0e economic 3rocess( ,aturally 2e do not 2ish to deny that the 3roletariat
must 3roceed from the facts of a gi0en situation( -ut it is to be distinguished from other
classes by the fact that it goes beyond the contingencies of history> far from being dri0en
for2ard by them& it is itself their dri0ing force and im3inges centrally u3on the 3rocess of
social change( )hen the 0ulgar Mar4ists detach themsel0es from this central 3oint of
0ie2& i(e( from the 3oint 2here a 3roletarian class consciousness arises& they thereby
3lace themsel0es on the le0el of consciousness of the bourgeoisie( ;nd that the
bourgeoisie fighting on its o2n ground 2ill 3ro0e su3erior to the 3roletariat both
economically and ideologically can come as a sur3rise only to a 0ulgar Mar4ist( Moreo0er
only a 0ulgar Mar4ist 2ould infer from this fact& 2hich after all deri0es e4clusi0ely from
his o2n attitude& that the bourgeoisie generally occu3ies the stronger 3osition( For 6uite
a3art from the 0ery real force at its dis3osal& it is self*e0ident that the bourgeoisie
fighting on its o2n ground 2ill be both more e43erienced and more e43ert( ,or 2ill it
come as a sur3rise if the bourgeoisie automatically obtains the u33er hand 2hen its
o33onents abandon their o2n 3osition for that of the bourgeoisie(
;s the bourgeoisie has the intellectual& organisational and e0ery other ad0antage& the
su3eriority of the 3roletariat must lie e4clusi0ely in its ability to see society from the
centre as a coherent 2hole( This means that it is able to act in such a 2ay as to change
reality> in the class consciousness of the 3roletariat theory and 3ractice coincide and so it
can consciously thro2 the 2eight of its actions onto the scales of history 8 and this is the
deciding factor( )hen the 0ulgar Mar4ists destroy this unity they cut the ner0e that binds
3roletarian theory to 3roletarian action( They reduce theory to the ?scientific@ treatment
of the sym3toms of social change and as for 3ractice they are themsel0es reduced to
being buffeted about aimlessly and uncontrollably by the 0arious elements of the 3rocess
they had ho3ed to master(
The class consciousness that s3rings from this 3osition must e4hibit the same internal
structure as that of the bourgeoisie( -ut 2hen the logic of e0ents dri0es the same
dialectical contradictions to the surface of consciousness the conse6uences for the
3roletariat are e0en more disastrous than for the bourgeoisie( For des3ite all the
dialectical contradictions& des3ite all its ob1ecti0e falseness& the self*decei0ing ?false@
67
consciousness that 2e find in the bourgeoisie is at least in accord 2ith its class situation(
:t cannot sa0e the bourgeoisie from the constant e4acerbation of these contradictions
and so from destruction& but it can enable it to continue the struggle and e0en engineer
0ictories& albeit of short duration(
-ut in the case of the 3roletariat such a consciousness not only has to o0ercome these
internal 5bourgeois7 contradictions& but it also conflicts 2ith the course of action to
2hich the economic situation necessarily commits the 3roletariat 5regardless of its o2n
thoughts on the sub1ect7( The 3roletariat must act in a 3roletarian manner& but its o2n
0ulgar Mar4ist theory blocks its 0ision of the right course to ado3t( The dialectical
contradiction bet2een necessary 3roletarian action and 0ulgar Mar4ist 5bourgeois7
theory becomes more and more acute( ;s the decisi0e battle in the class struggle
a33roaches& the 3o2er of a true or false theory to accelerate or retard 3rogress gro2s in
3ro3ortion( The ?realm of freedom@& the end of the ?3re*history of mankind@ means
3recisely that the 3o2er of the ob1ectified& reified relations bet2een men begins to re0ert
to man( The closer this 3rocess comes to it 1 s goal the more urgent it becomes for the
3roletariat to understand its o2n historical mission and the more 0igorously and directly
3roletarian class consciousness 2ill determine each of its actions( For the blind 3o2er of
the forces at 2ork 2ill only ad0ance ?automatically@ to their goal of self*annihilation as
long as that goal is not 2ithin reach( )hen the moment of transition to the ?realm of
freedom@ arri0es this 2ill become a33arent 1ust because the blind forces really 2ill hurtle
blindly to2ards the abyss& and only the conscious 2ill of the 3roletariat 2ill be able to
sa0e mankind from the im3ending catastro3he( :n other 2ords& 2hen the final economic
crisis of ca3italism de0elo3s& the fate of the re0olution 5and 2ith it the fate of mankind7
2ill de3end on the ideological maturity of the 3roletariat& i(e( on its class consciousness(
)e ha0e no2 determined the uni6ue function of the class consciousness of the
3roletariat in contrast to that of other classes( The 3roletariat cannot liberate itself as a
class 2ithout simultaneously abolishing class society as such( For that reason its
consciousness& the last class consciousness in the history of mankind& must both lay bare
the nature of society and achie0e an increasingly in2ard fusion of theory and 3ractice(
?:deology@ for the 3roletariat is no banner to follo2 into battle& nor is it a co0er for its true
ob1ecti0es it is the ob1ecti0e and the 2ea3on itself( /0ery non*3rinci3led or un3rinci3led
use of tactics on the 3art of the 3roletariat debases historical materialism to the le0el of
mere ?ideology@ and forces the 3roletariat to use bourgeois 5or 3etty bourgeois7 tactics( :t
thereby robs it of its greatest strength by forcing class consciousness into the secondary
or inhibiting role of a bourgeois consciousness& instead of the acti0e role of a 3roletarian
consciousness(
The relationshi3 bet2een class consciousness and class situation is really 0ery sim3le in
the case of the 3roletariat& but the obstacles 2hich 3re0ent its consciousness being
realised in 3ractice are corres3ondingly greater( :n the first 3lace this consciousness is
di0ided 2ithin itself( :t is true that society as such is highly unified and that it e0ol0es in a
unified manner( -ut in a 2orld 2here the reified relations of ca3italism ha0e the
a33earance of a natural en0ironment it looks as if there is not a unity but a di0ersity of
mutually inde3endent ob1ects and forces( The most striking di0ision in 3roletarian class
consciousness and the one most fraught 2ith conse6uences is the se3aration of the
economic struggle from the 3olitical one( Mar4 re3eatedly e43osed JF.K the fallacy of this
s3lit and demonstrated that it is in the nature of e0ery economic struggle to de0elo3 into
a 3olitical one 5and 0ice 0ersa7( ,e0ertheless it has not 3ro0ed 3ossible to eradicate this
heresy from the theory of the 3roletariat( The cause of this aberration is to be found in
the dialectical se3aration of immediate ob1ecti0es and ultimate goal and& hence& in the
dialectical di0ision 2ithin the 3roletarian re0olution itself(
68
Classes that successfully carried out re0olutions in earlier societies had their task made
easier sub1ecti0e by this 0ery fact of the discre3ancy bet2een their o2n class
consciousness and the ob1ecti0e economic set*u3& i(e( by their 0ery una2areness of their
o2n function in the 3rocess of change( They had only to use the 3o2er at their dis3osal
to enforce theirimmediate interests 2hile the social im3ort of their actions 2as hidden
from them and left to the ?ruse of reason@ of the course of e0ents(
-ut as the 3roletariat has been entrusted by history 2ith the task of transforming social
consciously& its class consciousness must de0elo3 a dialectical contradiction bet2een its
immediate interests and its long*term ob1ecti0es& and bet2een the discrete factors and
the 2hole( For the discrete factor& the concrete situation 2ith its concrete demands is by
its 0ery nature an integral 3art of the e4isting ca3italist society> it is go0erned by the la2s
of that society and is sub1ect to its economic structure( 9nly 2hen the immediate
interests are integrated into a total 0ie2 and related to the final goal of the 3rocess do
they become re0olutionary& 3ointing concretely and consciously beyond the confines of
ca3italist society(
This means that sub1ecti0ely& i(e( for the class consciousness of the 3roletariat& the
dialectical relationshi3 bet2een immediate interests and ob1ecti0e im3act on the 2hole
of society is loc in the consciousness of the 3roletariat itself( :t does not 2ork itself out as
a 3urely ob1ecti0e 3rocess 6uite a3art from all 5im3uted7 consciousness 8 as 2as the case
2ith all classes hitherto( Thus the re0olutionary 0ictory of the 3roletariat does not im3ly&
as 2ith former classes& the immediate realisation of the socially gi0en e4istence of the
class& but& as the young Mar4 clearly sa2 and defined& its self*annihilation( The
Communist Manifesto formulates this distinction in this 2ay H;ll the 3receding classes
that got the u33er hand& sought to fortify their already ac6uired status by sub1ecting
society at large to their conditions of a33ro3riation( The 3roletarians cannot become
masters of the 3roducti0e forces of society e4ce3t by abolishing their o2n 3re0ious mode
of a33ro3riation& and thereby e0ery other 3re0ious mode of a33ro3riation(I 5my italics(7
This inner dialectic makes it hard for the 3roletariat to de0elo3 its class consciousness in
o33osition to that of the bourgeoisie 2hich by culti0ating the crudest and most abstract
kind of em3iricism 2as able to make do 2ith a su3erficial 0ie2 of the 2orld( )hereas
e0en 2hen the de0elo3ment of the 3roletariat 2as still at a 0ery 3rimiti0e stage it
disco0ered that one of the elementary rules of class 2arfare 2as to ad0ance beyond 2hat
2as immediately gi0en( 5Mar4 em3hasises this as early as his obser0ations on the
)ea0ers@ A3rising in "ilesia(7JFPK For because of its situation this contradiction is
introduced directly into the consciousness of the 3roletariat& 2hereas the bourgeoisie&
from its situation& sa2 the contradictions confronting it as the outer limits of its
consciousness(
Con0ersely& this contradiction means that ?false@ consciousness is something 0ery
different for the 3roletariat than for e0ery 3receding class( /0en correct statements about
3articular situations or as3ects of the de0elo3ment of bourgeois class consciousness
re0eal& 2hen related to the 2hole of society& the limits of that consciousness and unmask
its ?falseness@( )hereas the 3roletariat al2ays as3ires to2ards the truth e0en in its ?false@
consciousness and in its substanti0e errors( :t is sufficient here to recall the social
criticism of the Ato3ians or the 3roletarian and re0olutionary e4tension of Ricardo@s
theory( Concerning the latter& /ngels 3laces great em3hasis on the fact that it is Hformally
incorrect economicallyI& but he adds at once H)hat is false from a formal economic
3oint of 0ie2 can be true in the 3ers3ecti0e of 2orld history(((( -ehind the formal
economic error may lie concealed a 0ery true economic content(I JF9K
9nly 2ith the aid of this distinction can there be any resolution of the contradiction in
the class consciousness of the 3roletariat> only 2ith its aid can that contradiction become
a conscious f actor in history( For the ob1ecti0e as3iration to2ards truth 2hich is
69
immanent e0en in the ?false@ consciousness of the 3roletariat does not at all im3ly that
this as3iration can come to light 2ithout the acti0e inter0ention of the 3roletariat( 9n the
contrary& the mere as3iration to2ards truth can only stri3 off the 0eils of falseness and
mature into historically significant and socially re0olutionary kno2ledge by the
3otentiating of consciousness& by conscious action and conscious self*criticism( "uch
kno2ledge 2ould of course be unattainable 2ere it not for the ob1ecti0e as3iration& and
here 2e find confirmation of Mar4@s dictum that mankind only e0er sets itself tasks
2hich it can accom3lishI( JNBK -ut the as3iration only yields the 3ossibility( The
accom3lishment can only be the fruit of the conscious deeds of the 3roletariat(
The dialectical clea0age in the consciousness of the 3roletariat is a 3roduct of the same
structure that makes the historical mission of the 3roletariat 3ossible by 3ointing
for2ard and beyond the e4isting social order( :n the case of the other classes 2e found an
antagonism bet2een the class@s self*interest and that of society& bet2een indi0idual deed
and social conse6uences( This antagonism set an e4ternal limit to consciousness( !ere&
in the centre of 3roletarian class consciousness 2e disco0er an antagonism bet2een
momentary interest and ultimate goal( The out2ard 0ictory of the 3roletariat can only be
achie0ed if this antagonism is in2ardly o0ercome(
;s 2e stressed in the motto to this essay the e4istence of this conflict enables us to
3ercei0e that class consciousness is identical 2ith neither the 3sychological
consciousness of indi0idual members of the 3roletariat& nor 2ith the 5mass*
3sychological7 consciousness of the 3roletariat as a 2hole> but it is& on the contrary& the
sense& become conscious& of the historical role of the class( This sense 2ill ob1ectify itself
in 3articular interests of the moment and it may only be ignored at the 3rice of allo2ing
the 3roletarian class struggle to sli3 back into the most 3rimiti0e Ato3ianism( /0ery
momentary interest may ha0e either of t2o functions either it 2ill be a ste3 to2ards the
ultimate goal or else it 2ill conceal it( )hich of the t2o it 2ill be de3ends entirely u3on
the class consciousness of the 3roletariat and not on 0ictory or defeat in isolated
skirmishes( Mar4 dre2 attention 0ery early on JN1K to this danger& 2hich is 3articularly
acute on the economic ?trade*union@ front H;t the same time the 2orking class ought not
to e4aggerate to themsel0es the ultimate conse6uence s of these struggles( They ought
not to forget that they are fighting 2ith effects& but not 2ith the causes of those
effects( ( ( & that they are a33lying 3alliati0es& not curing the malady( They ought&
therefore& not to be e4clusi0ely absorbed in these una0oidable guerilla fights ( ( ( instead
of simultaneously trying to cure it& instead of using their organised forces as a le0er for
the final emanci3ation of the 2orking class& that is to say& the ultimate abolition of the
2ages system(S
)e see here the source of e0ery kind of o33ortunism 2hich begins al2ays 2ith effects
and not causes& 3arts and not the 2hole& sym3toms and not the thing itself( :t does not
regard the 3articular interest and the struggle to achie0e it as a means of education for
the final battle 2hose outcome de3ends on closing the ga3 bet2een the 3sychological
consciousness and the im3uted one( :nstead it regards the 3articular as a 0aluable
achie0ement in itself or at least as a ste3 along the 3ath to2ards the ultimate goal( :n a
2ord& o33ortunism mistakes the actual& 3sychological state B consciousness of
3roletarians for the class consciousness of the 3roletariat(
The 3ractical damage resulting from this confusion can be seen in the great loss of unity
and cohesi0eness in 3roletarian 3ra4is 2hen com3ared to the unity of the ob1ecti0e
economic tendencies( The su3erior strength of true& 3ractical class consciousness lies in
the ability to look beyond the di0isi0e sym3toms of the economic 3rocess to the unity of
the total social system underlying it( :n the age of ca3italism it is not 3ossible for the total
system to become directly 0isible in e4ternal 3henomena( For instance& the economic
basis of a 2orld crisis is undoubtedly unified and its coherence can be understood( -ut
70
its actual a33earance in time and s3ace 2ill take the form of a dis3arate succession of
e0ents in different countries at different times and e0en in different branches of industry
in a number of countries(
)hen bourgeois thought Htransforms the different limbs 9f society into so many
se3arate societiesI JN+K it certainly commits a gra0e theoretical error( -ut the immediate
3ractical conse6uences are ne0ertheless in harmony 2ith the interests of ca3italism( The
bourgeoisie is unable in theory to understand more than the details and the sym3toms of
economic 3rocesses 5a failure 2hich 2ill ultimately 3ro0e its undoing7( :n the short term&
ho2e0er& it is concerned abo0e all to im3ose its mode of life u3on the day*to*day actions
of the 3roletariat( :n this res3ect 5and in this res3ect alone7 its su3eriority in
organisation is clearly 0isible& 2hile the 2holly different organisation of the
3roletariat& its ca3acity for being organised as a class& cannot become effecti0e(
The further the economic crisis of ca3italism ad0ances the more clearly this unity in the
economic 3rocess becomes com3rehensible in 3ractice( :t 2as there& of course& in so*
called 3eriods of normality& too& and 2as therefore 0isible from the class stand3oint of
the 3roletariat& but the ga3 bet2een a33earance and ultimate reality 2as too great for
that unity to ha0e any 3ractical conse6uences for 3roletarian action(
:n 3eriods of crisis the 3osition is 6uite different( The unity of the economic 3rocess no2
mo0es 2ithin reach( "o much so that e0en ca3italist theory cannot remain 2holly
untouched by it& though it can ne0er fully ad1ust to it( :n this situation the fate of the
3roletariat& and hence of the 2hole future of humanity& hangs on 2hether or not it 2ill
take the ste3 that has no2 become ob1ecti0ely 3ossible( For e0en if the 3articular
sym3toms of crisis a33ear se3arately 5according to country& branch of industry& in the
form of ?economic@ or ?3olitical@ crisis& etc(7& and e0en if in conse6uence the refle4 of the
crisis is fragmented in the immediate 3sychological consciousness of the 2orkers& it is
still 3ossible and necessary to ad0ance beyond this consciousness( ;nd this
is instincti0ely felt to be a necessity by larger and larger sections of the 3roletariat(
933ortunism had 8 as it seemed 8 merely ser0ed to inhibit the ob1ecti0e tendency until
the crisis became acute( ,o2& ho2e0er& it ado3ts a course directly o33osed to it( :ts aim
no2 is to scotch the de0elo3ment of 3roletarian class consciousness in its 3rogress from
that 2hich is merely gi0en to that 2hich conforms to the ob1ecti0e total 3rocess> e0en
more& it ho3es to reduce the class consciousness of the 3roletariat to the le0el of the
3sychologically gi0en and thus to di0ert into the o33osite direction 2hat had hitherto
been the 3urely instincti0e tendency( ;s long as the unification of 3roletarian class
consciousness 2as not a 3ractical 3ossibility this theory could 8 2ith some charity 8 be
regarded as a mere error( -ut in this situation it takes on the character of a conscious
dece3tion (5regardless of 2hether its ad0ocates are 3sychologically conscious of this or
not7( :n contrast 2ith the right instincts of the 3roletariat it 3lays the same role as that
3layed hitherto by Ca3italist theory it denounces the correct 0ie2 of the o0erall
economic situation and the correct class consciousness of the 3roletariat together 2ith its
organised form& the Communist Party& as something unreal and inimical to the ?true@
interests of the 2orkers 5i(e( their immediate& national or 3rofessional interests7 and as
something alien to their ?genuine@ class consciousness 5i(e( that 2hich is 3sychologically
gi0en7(
To say that class consciousness has no 3sychological reality does not im3ly that it is a
mere fiction( :ts reality is 0ouched for by its ability to e43lain the infinitely 3ainful 3ath
of the 3roletarian re0olution& 2ith its many re0erses& its constant return to its starting*
3oint and the incessant self*criticism of 2hich Mar4 s3eaks in the celebrated 3assage
in The /ighteenth -rumaire(
9nly the consciousness of the 3roletariat can 3oint to the 2ay that leads out of the
im3asse of ca3italism( ;s long as this consciousness is lacking& the crisis remains
71
3ermanent& it goes back to its starting*3oint& re3eats the cycle until after infinite
sufferings and terrible detours the school of history com3letes the education of the
3roletariat and confers u3on it the leadershi3 of mankind( -ut the 3roletariat is not gi0en
any choice( ;s Mar4 says& it must become a class not only Has against ca3italI but also
Hfor itselfI> JNFK that is to say& the class struggle must be raised from the le0el of
economic necessity to the le0el of conscious aim and effecti0e class consciousness( The
3acifists and humanitarians of the class struggle 2hose efforts tend 2hether they 2ill or
no to retard this lengthy& 3ainful and crisis*ridden 3rocess 2ould be horrified if they
could but see 2hat sufferings they inflict on the 3roletariat by e4tending this course of
education( -ut the 3roletariat cannot abdicate its mission( The only 6uestion at issue is
ho2 much it has to suffer before it achie0es ideological maturity& before it ac6uires a true
understanding of its class situation and a true class consciousness(
9f course this uncertainty and lack of clarity are themsel0es the sym3toms of the crisis in
bourgeois society( ;s the 3roduct of ca3italism the 3roletariat must necessarily be
sub1ect to the modes of e4istence of its creator( This mode of e4istence is inhumanity and
reification( ,o doubt the 0ery e4istence of the 3roletariat im3lies criticism and the
negation of this form of life( -ut until the ob1ecti0e crisis of ca3italism has matured and
until the 3roletariat has achie0ed true class consciousness& and the ability to understand
the crisis fully& it cannot go beyond the criticism of reification and so it is only negati0ely
su3erior to its antagonist( :ndeed& if it can do no more than negate some as3ects of
ca3italism& if it cannot at least as3ire to a criti6ue of the 2hole& then it 2ill not e0en
achie0e a negati0e su3eriority( This a33lies to the 3etty*bourgeois attitudes of most trade
unionists( "uch criticism from the stand3oint of ca3italism can be seen most strikingly in
the se3aration of the 0arious theatres of 2ar( The bare fact of se3aration itself indicates
that the consciousness of the 3roletariat is still fettered by reification( ;nd if the
3roletariat finds the economic inhumanity to 2hich it is sub1ected easier to understand
than the 3olitical& and the 3olitical easier than the cultural& then all these se3arations
3oint to the e4tent of the still uncon6uered 3o2er of ca3italist forms of life in the
3roletariat itself(
The reified consciousness must also remain ho3elessly tra33ed in the t2o e4tremes of
crude em3iricism and abstract uto3ianism( :n the one case& consciousness becomes
either a com3letely 3assi0e obser0er mo0ing in obedience to la2s 2hich it can ne0er
control( :n the other it regards itself as a 3o2er 2hich is able of its o2n 8 sub1ecti0e 8
0olition to master the essentially meaningless motion of ob1ects( )e ha0e already
identified the crude em3iricism of the o33ortunists in its relation to 3roletarian class
consciousness( )e must no2 go on to see uto3ianism as characteristic of the internal
di0isions 2ithin class consciousness( 5The se3aration of em3iricism from uto3ianism
undertaken here for 3urely methodological reasons should not be taken as an admission
that the t2o cannot occur together in 3articular trends and e0en indi0iduals( 9n the
contrary& they are fre6uently found together and are 1oined by an internal bond(7
The 3hiloso3hical efforts of the young Mar4 2ere largely directed to2ards the refutation
of the 0arious false theories of consciousness 5including both the ?idealism@ of the
!egelian "chool and the ?materialism@ of Feuerbach7 and to2ards the disco0ery of a
correct 0ie2 of the role of consciousness in history( ;s early as the Corres3ondence of
1PNF J2ith RugeK he concei0es of consciousness as immanent in history( Consciousness
does not lie outside the real 3rocess of history( :t does not ha0e to be introduced into the
2orld by 3hiloso3hers> therefore to ga#e do2n arrogantly u3on the 3etty struggles of the
2orld and to des3ise them is indefensible( H)e only sho2 it Jthe 2orldK 2hat its
struggles are about and consciousness is a thing that it must needs ac6uire 2hether it
2ill or not(I )hat is needed then is only Hto e43lain its o2n actions to itI( JNNK The great
3olemic against !egel in The !oly Family concentrates mainly on this 3oint( JNOK&
72
!egel@s inade6uacy is that he only seems to allo2 the absolute s3irit to make history( The
resulting other2orldliness of consciousness 0is*<*0is the real e0ents of history becomes&
in the hands of !egel@s disci3les& an arrogant 8 and reactionary confrontation of ?s3irit@
and ?mass@( Mar4 mercilessly e43oses the fla2s and absurdities and the re0ersions to a
3re*!egelian stage im3licit in this a33roach(
Com3lementing this is his 8 a3horistic 8 criti6ue of Feuerbach( The materialists had
elaborated a 0ie2 of consciousness as of something a33ertaining to this 2orld( Mar4 sees
it as merely one stage in the 3rocess& the stage of ?bourgeois society@( !e o33oses to it the
notion of consciousness as ?3ractical critical acti0ity@ 2ith the task of ?changing the
2orld@(
This 3ro0ides us 2ith the 3hiloso3hical foundation 2e need to settle accounts 2ith the
uto3ians( For their thought contains this 0ery duality of social 3rocess and the
consciousness of it( Consciousness a33roaches society from another 2orld and leads it
from( the false 3ath it has follo2ed back to the right one( The uto3ians are 3re0ented by
the unde0elo3ed nature of the 3roletarian mo0ement from seeing the true bearer of
historical mo0ement in history itself& in the 2ay the 3roletariat organises itself as a class
and& hence& in the class consciousness of the 3roletariat( They are not yet able to Htake
note of 2hat is ha33ening before their 0ery eyes and to become its mouth3ieceI( JNDK
:t 2ould be foolish to belie0e that this criticism and the recognition that a 3ost*uto3ian
attitude to history has become ob1ecti0ely 3ossible means that uto3ianism can be
dismissed as a factor in the 3roletariat@s struggle for freedom( This is true only for those
stages of class consciousness that ha0e really achie0ed the unity of theory and 3ractice
described by Mar4& the real and 3ractical inter0ention of class consciousness in the
course of history and hence the 3ractical understanding of reification( ;nd this did not
all ha33en at a single stroke and in a coherent manner( For there are not merely national
and ?social@ stages in0ol0ed but there are also gradations 2ithin the class consciousness
of 2orkers in the same strata( The se3aration of economics from 3olitics is the most
re0ealing and also the most im3ortant instance of this( :t a33ears that some sections of
the 3roletariat ha0e 6uite the right instincts as far as the economic struggle goes and can
e0en raise them to the le0el of class consciousness( ;t the same time& ?ho2e0er& 2hen it
comes to 3olitical 6uestions they manage to 3ersist in a com3letely uto3ian 3oint of 0ie2(
:t does not need to be em3hasised that there is no 6uestion here of a mechanical duality(
The uto3ian 0ie2 of the function of 3olitics must im3inge dialectically on their 0ie2s
about economics and& in 3articular& on their notions about the economy as a totality 5as&
for e4am3le& in the "yndicalist theory of re0olution7( :n the absence of a real
understanding of the interaction bet2een 3olitics and economics a 2ar against the 2hole
economic system& to say nothing of its reorganisation& is 6uite out of the 6uestion(
The influence en1oyed e0en today by such com3letely uto3ian theories as those of -allod
or of guild*socialism sho2s the e4tent to 2hich uto3ian thought is still 3re0alent& e0en at
a le0el 2here the direct life*interests of the 3roletariat are most nearly concerned and
2here the 3resent crisis makes it 3ossible to read off from history the correct course of
action to be follo2ed(
This syndrome must make its a33earance e0en more blatantly 2here it is not yet 3ossible
to see society >is a 2hole( This can be seen at its clearest in 3urely ideological 6uestions&
in 6uestions of culture( These 6uestions occu3y an almost 2holly isolated 3osition in the
consciousness of the 3roletariat> the organic bonds connecting these issues 2ith the
immediate life*interests of the 3roletariat as 2ell as 2ith society as a 2hole ha0e not e0en
begun to 3enetrate its consciousness( The achie0ement in this area hardly e0er goes
beyond the self*criticism of ca3italism 8 carried out here by the 3roletariat( )hat is
3ositi0e here in theory and 3ractice is almost entirely uto3ian(
73
These gradations are& then& on the one hand& ob1ecti0e historical necessities& nuances in
the ob1ecti0e 3ossibilities of consciousness 5such as the relati0e cohesi0eness of 3olitics
and economics in com3arison to cultural 6uestions7( 9n the other hand& 2here
consciousness already e4ists as an ob1ecti0e 3ossibility& they indicate degrees of distance
bet2een the 3sychological class consciousness and the ade6uate understanding of the
total situation( These gradations& ho2e0er& can no longer be referred back to
socioeconomic causes( The ob1ecti0e theory of class consciousness is the theory of its
ob1ecti0e 3ossibility( The stratification of the 3roblems and economic interests 2ithin the
3roletariat is& unfortunately& almost 2holly une43lored& but research 2ould undoubtedly
lead to disco0eries of the 0ery first im3ortance( -ut ho2e0er useful it 2ould be to
3roduce a ty3ology of the 0arious strata& 2e 2ould still be confronted at e0ery turn 2ith
the 3roblem of 2hether it is actually 3ossible to make the ob1ecti0e 3ossibility of class
consciousness into a reality( !itherto this 6uestion could only occur to e4traordinary
indi0iduals 5consider Mar4@s com3letely non*uto3ian 3rescience 2ith regard to the
3roblems of dictatorshi37( Today it has become a real and rele0ant 6uestion for a 2hole
class the 6uestion of the inner transformation of the 3roletariat& of its de0elo3ment to
the stage of its o2n ob1ecti0e historical mission( :t is an ideological crisis 2hich must be
sol0ed before a 3ractical solution to the 2orld@s economic crisis can be found(
:n 0ie2 of the great distance that the 3roletariat has to tra0el ideologically it 2ould be
disastrous to foster any illusions( -ut it 2ould be no less disastrous to o0erlook the forces
at 2ork 2ithin the 3roletariat 2hich are tending to2ards the ideological defeat of
ca3italism( /0ery 3roletarian re0olution has created 2orkers@ councils in an increasingly
radical and conscious manner( )hen this 2ea3on increases in 3o2er to the 3oint 2here
it becomes the organ of state& this is a sign that the class consciousness of the 3roletariat
is on the 0erge of o0ercoming the bourgeois outlook of its leaders(
The re0olutionary 2orkers@ council 5not to be confused 2ith its o33ortunist caricatures7
is one of the forms 2hich the consciousness of the 3roletariat has stri0en to create e0er
since its ince3tion( The fact that it e4ists and is constantly de0elo3ing sho2s that the
3roletariat already stands on the threshold of its o2n consciousness and hence on the
threshold of 0ictory( The 2orkers@ council s3ells the 3olitical and economic defeat of
reification( :n the 3eriod follo2ing the dictatorshi3 it 2ill eliminate the bourgeois
se3aration of the legislature& administration and 1udiciary( Luring the struggle for
control its mission is t2ofold( 9n the one hand& it must o0ercome the fragmentation of
the 3roletariat in time and s3ace& and on the other& it has to bring economics and 3olitics
together into the true synthesis of 3roletarian 3ra4is( :n this 2ay it 2ill hel3 to reconcile
the dialectical conflict bet2een immediate interests and ultimate goal(
Thus 2e must ne0er o0erlook the distance that se3arates the consciousness of e0en the
most re0olutionary 2orker from the authentic class consciousness of the 3roletariat( -ut
e0en this situation can be e43lained on the basis of the Mar4ist theory of class struggle
and class consciousness( The 3roletariat only 3erfects itself by annihilating and
transcending itself& by creating the classless society through the successful conclusion of
its o2n class struggle( The struggle for this society& in 2hich the dictatorshi3 of the
3roletariat is merely a 3hase& is not 1ust a battle 2aged against an e4ternal enemy& the
bourgeoisie( :t is e6ually the struggle of the 3roletariat against itself( against the
de0astating and degrading effects of the ca3italist system u3on its class consciousness(
The 3roletariat 2ill only ha0e 2on the real 0ictory 2hen it has o0ercome these effects
2ithin itself( The se3aration of the areas that should be united& the di0erse stages of
consciousness 2hich the 3roletariat has reached in the 0arious s3heres of acti0ity are a
3recise inde4 of 2hat has been achie0ed and 2hat remains to be done( The 3roletariat
must not shy a2ay from self*criticism& for 0ictory can only be gained by the truth and
self*criticism must& therefore& be its natural element(
74
March 19+B(

Georg Lukcs 19+D
Moses !ess and the Problems of :dealist Lialectics
First Published in ;rchi0 fVr die Geschichte des "o#ialismus der ;rbeiterbe2egung& 0ol(
[::& 19+D>
"ource Georg Lukcs( Political )ritings& 1919*19+9>
Published ,(L(-( 19.+>
/dited by Rodney Li0ingstone>
Transcribed by -rian Reid(
There ha0e been many attem3tsJ1K to re0ise the scathing and 3erem3tory 1udgment
3assed on Moses !ess by Mar4 and /ngels in the Communist Manifesto( \uite a3art
from efforts by 3eo3le like Coigen or !ammacher to tar the early Mar4 and /ngels 2ith
the same brush of ?true socialism@& e0en Fran# Mehring considers the 0erdict of
the Communist Manifesto too harsh( ,ot in the theoretical sense& of course( !e belie0es&
rather& that the ?true socialists@& and es3ecially !ess& should not be considered merely in
the light of theCommunist Manifesto ?:t can be said in analogous fashion that the
essence of the German socialism of that 3eriod 2as determined by the criti6ue made of it
in the Communist Manifesto& rather than that the elements of the criti6ue made by the
authors of the Manifesto 2ere de0elo3ed out of the real conditions of life in 2hich both
they and the German socialists of their time found themsel0es@(J+K Mehring 3oints by
2ay of contrast to the honest re0olutionary character of these men 5again 3rimarily
!ess7 and to the fact that 3recisely this tendency boasts far fe2er deserters to the enemy
cam3 than any other( ?9f all the different schools of bourgeois socialists of that time and
e0en today& the true socialists ha0e far and a2ay the clearest conscience in this
res3ect(@JFK !o2e0er& the 3roblem of historically classifying and inter3reting ?true
socialism@& 3articularly that of !ess& is hardly e0en 3osed by such statements& let alone
resol0ed( ;nd it is to this 3roblem that 2e ha0e to address oursel0es here( For Mehring@s
second 3oint 8 that the ?true socialists@ adhered faithfully to the ideals of the then
re0olutionary democracy& to the bourgeois re0olution& in s3ite of their com3letely 2rong
theoretical attitude to the re0olutionary role of the bourgeoise 8 can by no means be
settled by this kind of biogra3hical e0idence( The 3roblem is essentially that of the
relationshi3 of the bourgeois re0olution to the 3roletarian re0olution( :t cro3s u3 in
accentuated form in the res3onse of Mar4 and /ngels to Lassalle@s agitation& in their
re1ection of his ?Tory*Chartism@( :t branches out into 2hat could& in non*dialectical
terms& be concei0ed of as an antithesis on the one hand the tactical attitude of the
Menshe0iks to2ards the bourgeois and 3roletarian re0olution in 19BO and 191.> on the
other& the theoretical attitude of those 2ho 3roclaimed the ?3urely@ 3roletarian re0olution
5e( g( the Communist )orkers@ Party 5C;P7& and the left*2ing economism of the e4treme
Lu4emburg school of thought7( -ut it is only 2ith Lenin@s theory of re0olution&JNK 2hich
e0en today is fre6uently misunderstood& that as real theoretical solution is found to the
3roblem( The fact that !ess sim3ly abandoned his theory in the decisi0e moments of
action is therefore not only a sign of his honest re0olutionary character& but rather an
indication that there 2ere still fe2 clear*cut differences bet2een the 0arious 5elements of
the re0olutionary mo0ement in Germany at that time( This meant in 3ractice that there
2as no real choice those 2ho 2ere not 3re3ared to fight on the left 2ing of bourgeois
democracy 8 2hich of course meant constantly coming into conflict 2ith the bourgeoisie
as it 0eered increasingly right2ards 8 2ere bound of necessity to make common cause
2ith the forces of reaction( The criticism le0elled by the Communist Manifesto at the
theories of !ess and his com3anions 2as therefore absolutely correct( :f follo2ed
75
through logically& their theory could not but lead them into the reactionaries@ cam3( The
criticism 2as un1ust in t2o res3ects only first& it underestimated& if anything& the
rootlessness& thee essentially ideological nature of ?true socialism@> secondly& it failed to
take into account that !ess@s theory in this res3ect 2as so uto3ian and the terms of his
criti6ue of the bourgeoisie so clearly a mere translation of /nglish and French
e43eriences into the 0ocabulary of a 3urely idealist dialectic& that& as soon as it came into
contact 2ith the re0olutionary reality& it sim3ly melted and 8 for 2hat it 2as 2orth as a
theory 8 disa33eared 2ithout trace( This ?biogra3hical refutation@ of the Communist
Manifesto@scriticism of !ess@s theory ser0es& as 2e can see& only to confirm that the
criticism 2as theoretically correct( ;nd 2here the 3roblem cro3s u3 again in a real sense
8 in the case of Lassalle 8 the criticism 3ro0ed its 2orth in 3ractical terms as 2ell(
!a0ing said this& let us return to Mehring@s first 3oint( :f 2e 2ant to understand ?true
socialism@ as a 3roduct of 3re*1PNP conditions in Germany& 2e must 3roceed from the
3remiss that it 2as a mo0ement of intellectuals( :n taking o0er the ready*made
e43eriences of the /nglish and French 2orking*class mo0ements& it 2as no different
from later re0olutionary mo0ements made u3 of intellectuals( There& too& in 3rogressi0e
intellectual circles& the ideological a2areness that the old society 2as in the 3rocess of
disintegrating e4isted before the disintegration had found a33ro3riate e43ression in the
sha3e of real social mo0ements 5e(g( ,arodniks in Russia> eastern intellectual
mo0ements7( :t is 3erfectly understandable that intellectuals should latch on to the
ready*made e43eriences of the more ad0anced forms of social de0elo3ment( "uch
e43eriences& after all& are al2ays 8 not only in times of re0olution 8 3art of that social
en0ironment in 2hich intellectuals li0e& elements of their material and intellectual
de0elo3ment( The situation of the ?true socialists@ is s3ecial only in that they began their
2ork in a society 2hich 2as still at the stage of e4tremely 3rimiti0e social differentiation
and& in class terms& relati0ely under*de0elo3ed& 2hereas the ideological basis of their
2ork 2as 8 3articularly in the field of social kno2ledge 8 0ery highly de0elo3ed( )hat
are the com3onents of this highly ad0anced ideology= 9n the one hand& there is the
social criti6ue of the great /nglish and French uto3ians& the breeding*ground of 2hich
2as the tremendous 3olitical and social transformation of society brought about by the
bourgeois re0olution& and the fe0erishly ra3id de0elo3ment of ca3italism& 2hich in turn
led to the emergence of the 3roletariat and the first 3roletarian u3risings( 9n the other
hand& ?true socialism@ is linked to the highest form of ideology e0er attained by the
bourgeoisie& namely classical German 3hiloso3hy and the !egelian dialectic 8 indeed& it
3layed an acti0e 3art in the disintegration of !egelianism(
The other su3reme intellectual achie0ement of the bourgeoisie& classical /nglish
economics& is 0irtually non*e4istent as a com3onent element of ?true socialism@& ho2e0er(
This cannot be e43lained sim3ly by reference to the economic back2ardness of
Germany( :ndeed 8 e0en if 2e ignore Mar4 and /ngels entirely*the criti6ue of bourgeois
society& the ?socialism@ of Rodbertus& is 0ery much concerned 2ith the 3roblems of
classical economics and es3ecially "ismondi@s criti6ue of it( ;nd !ess himself& to 2hom
2e shall no2 de0ote the 2hole of our attention& became theoretically con0inced after his
3ersonal association 2ith Mar4 and /ngels that their method& their theory and their
mode of agitation 2ere correct> he subse6uently tried to the best of his ability to
incor3orate this ne2ly mastered territory into his system and to make it intellectually his
o2n( Tet it is 3recisely his economic 2orksJOK 2hich sho2 most clearly the full e4tent of
his inability& ho2e0er hard he tried& e0en sim3ly to understand the real significance of
the in0ersion 3erformed by Mar4 and /ngels on !egelianism& let alone a33ly and
de0elo3 it inde3endently(
)hat 2as it in !ess that 3re0ented him from from doing so= :t 2as in fact !egelian
3hiloso3hy itself( This may at first seem a tri0ial& tautological remark( -ut it ac6uires
76
greater significance as soon as 2e ha0e 3rogressed beyond the banal le0el at 2hich the
6uestion is generally dealt 2ith& and managed to gras3 correctly 8 as it is im3erati0e 2e
do 8 the im3ortance of the !egelian dialectic in both historical and methodological
terms for the de0elo3ment of Mar4ism( ,ot that that should be seen as an attem3t to
?rehabilitate@ !ess( Far from it( :t is 3recisely by 3osing the 3roblem in this 2ay that 2e
can demonstrate that the se0ere criticism of him in the Communist Manifesto is 0alid in
all essential res3ects> further& that !ess is of no significance at all as regards the 3resent*
day theory of the re0olutionary 2orking*class mo0ement> and& indeed& that e0en his
3urely historical role in the genesis of historical materialism has been fre6uently
e4aggerated by his admirers 8 among them his latest biogra3her& Wlocisti( :f 2e
nonetheless a0ail oursel0es of the o33ortunity afforded by the re3ublication of his ma1or
2ritings to undertake an analysis of them& 2e do so in order that they should ser0e as a
contrast 2hich 2ill hel3 us to elucidate briefly the true 3rogress of the dialectic from
!egel to Mar4( "een in this light& !ess himself a33ears as a thoroughly unsuccessful
forerunner to Mar4 and a tragic figure inasmuch as he 2as not only an absolutely honest
re0olutionary in 3ersonal terms& but of all the idealist dialecticians the one 2ho 8
occasionally 8 came closest to the( Mar4ist 0ersion of the dialectic( 5:n certain res3ects 8
e(g( in the integration of Feuerbach into the dialectical method 8 he came closer e0en
than Lassalle 2ho 2as incom3arably more gifted as a theoretician and 3olitician(
Lassalle& ho2e0er& also shared many of !ess@s limitations(7 The schi#o3hrenic nature of
!ess@s thought is aggra0ated by the fact that his attem3ts to o0ercome !egel by !egelian
methods al2ays lea0e him trailing behind !egel( !is dissolution of the !egelian method
turns into dissolution in the 0ery literal sense of the 2ord( The elements 2hich 2ere
3resent in !egel himself and 2hich !egel had surmounted dialectically re*emerge naked
and unsurmounted( "uch 2as also the case 2ith -runo -auer and La0id Friedrich
"trauss& as Mar4 3ointed out 2ith the one it 2as the Fichtean& 2ith the other the
"3ino#an as3ect of !egel@s system 2hich recei0ed e4clusi0e em3hasis(JDK
The t2ist 2hich !ess ga0e to the !egelian system is like2ise more Fichtean in nature&
although !ess himself consistently claimed to be a "3ino#an and although his
?Fichteanism@ differs radically from that of -runo -auer( :t does not set out to
resub1ecti0i#e !egelian ob1ecti0ity& as -runo -auer@s Philoso3hy of "elf*
Consciousness aims to do& but rather it is an attem3t to o0ercome the contem3lati0e
character of !egelian 3hiloso3hy and make the dialectic 3ractical( This tendency to2ards
the 3ractical 2as bound of necessity to lead back to Fichte( ;nd& moreo0er& not for
e3istemological reasons& not because& for instance& in Fichte thinking itself becomes an
?acti0e deed@& for that is 8 e0en if not terminologically 8 the essence of e0ery dialectic( :f
the dialectic is to go beyond the lifeless 3roduct& if it is to re0ert to the 3rocess of its
3roduction and ad0ance to that of its dissolution& its 0ery thought*3rocesses must ha0e
an acti0e character about them( :n this res3ect the difference bet2een Fichte and !egel
is little more than terminological( :n fact& if 2e go to the 0ery core of the matter 2e 2ill
find that !egel@s logic& in s3ite of its more contem3lati0e terminology& is ?more 3ractical@
than Fichte@s( The terminological difference conceals a substantial difference& namely the
methodological connection in Fichte@s 2ork bet2een logic and ethics& but 2e cannot
discuss that at this 3oint( ;lthough that as3ect of Fichtean 3hiloso3hy 2as consciously
assigned a more 3rominent 3lace in !ess@s 2ork& the 3roblem of the history of
3hiloso3hy is ob1ecti0ely more significant for our 3resent analysis of the dissolution of
!egelianism and the gra0itation to2ards Fichte(
Wlocisti also alludes to the thinker 2ho first 3osed this 6uestion clearly and 3recisely
;ugust 0on Cies#ko2ski(J.K :n all essential res3ects Cies#ko2ski remains a !egelian( !is
ob1ect is only to com3lete !egelian 3hiloso3hy& not to dissol0e it( !is chief reser0ation
about it& about its 3hiloso3hy of history& is that it does not 3ose the 6uestion of
77
kno2ledge of the future&JPK !o2e0er& it must not be forgotten that the 6uestion 2hich
Cies#ko2ski 3oses himself here has already been ans2ered by Fichte(
Fichte@s Characteristics of the Present ;ge di0ides history into fi0e e3ochs& of 2hich the
3resent& as the e3och of ?absolute sinfulness@ is the third( The last t2o e3ochs& the
structure of 2hich is described in detail& belong to the future( J9K :t 2ould be 2rong to
s3eak of direct influence from this source& the more so since Cies#ko2ski and after him
!ess both regard the matter as a 6uestion& as a 3roblem& 2hereas Fichte& al2ays the
nai0e dogmatist& turned u3 straighta2ay 2ith an ans2er(
The 0ery fact that Cies#ko2ski and !ess 3ose the 6uestion in a more critical& more
dialectical& less formal fashion sho2s that& for all their gra0itation to2ards Fichte& they
are in fact stri0ing to 3rogress beyond Fichte and that methodologically such gra0itation
does not mean sim3ly re0erting to Fichte@s stand3oint( The future as the ob1ect of
dialectical thinking& the attem3t to gras3 the future concretely by means of dialectics and
to make it into a criterion by 2hich to 1udge 3ast and 3resent 8 all this is a marked
ad0ance on Fichtean 3hiloso3hy of history( :n Fichte@s 2ork the future is still little more
than a some2hat more concrete e43ression for Cant@s infinite 3rogress& for the fact that
the demands of absolute 5su3ra*historical7 reason ha0e not as yet been fulfilled(
Cies#ko2ski and !ess& on the other hand& attem3t to gras3 the historical 3rocess
dialectically in its concrete uni6ueness& 2ith the result that for them the future becomes
1ust as concrete an e3och as 2ere the e3ochs of the 3ast( !ence& for them kno2ledge of
the future 2as bound to become a methodological 3roblem of the dialectic& 2hereas for
Fichte the 3eriodi#ing of history follo2ed directly and un3roblematically from his 8
ethical 8 conce3tion of the absolute( !ence& too& e0en 2hen they seem to agree
fundamentally on certain 6uestions& abo0e all the inter3retation of history according to
the notion of natural la2& they are in fact doing t2o com3letely different things Fichte is
taking 2hat in the eighteenth century 2as the re0olutionary conce3t of natural la2 to its
3hiloso3hical conclusion& 2hereas Cies#ko2ski and !ess are attem3ting to establish a
ne2& concrete& historically deri0ed natural la2( 5The methodological kernel of the ?system
of ac6uired rights@ is in many res3ects the fulfilment of this endea0our(7
The future in this latter case is re0ealed methodologically as the concrete& intentional
ob1ect of the 3hiloso3hy of history( This brings both thinkers& !ess more clearly than
Cies#ko2ski& into a certain methodological affinity 2ith the 3hiloso3hy of history of
Fourier& 2hom& incidentally& Cies#ko2ski 6uotes se0eral times( /0en so the 3roblematic
remains essentially on Fichtean ground& as 2e ho3e to demonstrate( For no matter ho2
modified& no matter ho2 historici#ed& an analysis o3erating in terms of the conce3t of
natural la2 cannot but remain burdened 2ith the antagonism 8 irresol0able on this
ground 8 bet2een su3ra*historical 3rinci3les on one side and history itself on the other(
Moreo0er& any attem3t to sublate this antagonism by conce3tual dialectics must of
necessity be una0ailing( Thus the methodological affinity 2ith Fichte 3ro0es after all to
be 0ery 3ronounced( For the kno2ledge of the future& e0en if it is only a matter of the
kno2ledge of its essence and not of the ?infinite multitude of e4istent contingencies@&
J1BK is only 3ossible if the fundamental logicalmeta3hysical categories of the system are
e4tended o0er 3ast& 3resent and future( True kno2ledge of the 2hole system 5the inner
contem3lation of logic7 must& in other 2ords& include kno2ledge of the future( This&
ho2e0er& in0ol0es the logical necessity of heightening the 3urely a3rioristic& 3urely
s3eculati0e and hence 3urely contem3lati0e nature of kno2ledge e0en beyond the le0el
of !egel@s system(
Cies#ko2ski accuses !egel of ?3roceeding in a 3osteriori fashion@& 2hich he attem3ts to
counter by ad0ancing to ?a 3riori deduction@( Parallel to this& his intention is to ?make the
2hole system of categories de0elo3 dialectically 2ithin history@> he demands ?a
systematic 6uest for the logical 2ithin 2orld history@ in contrast to !egel& of 2hom it can
78
only be said that he ?merely finds it s3eculati0ely@>J11K and he mo0es the future so close to
the 3resent that for him ?e0erything future& irres3ecti0e of ho2 reasonable and consistent
it 3ro0es to be& not only has no effect at all against the already e4isting& but must
already be in e4istence before it itself becomes e4istence@(J1+K
;nd yet the effect of all this is in fact to ideali#e and ideologi#e the dialectic e0en more
than !egel does( True& in sto33ing at the 3resent& at 2hat he calls the self*attainment of
the s3irit& !egel@s system is reactionary both in substance and in its intentions and
conse6uences( Looked at from the methodological stand3oint& ho2e0er& refusal to go any
further re0eals !egel@s magnificent realism& his re1ection of all uto3ias& his concern to
concei0e 3hiloso3hy as the conce3tual e43ression of history itself and not as
3hiloso3hy about history( !egel has often 8 and to some e4tent 1ustifiably 8 been
attacked for this tendency& this ?reconciliation@ 2ith reality( -ut it must be remembered
that it deri0es methodologically from this urge to de0elo3 the categories out of the
historical 3rocess itself& and that only in conse6uence of his reactionary hy3ostati#ing
of the 3resent did it change from a dynamic 3rinci3le im3elling reality for2ards into a
static one designed to fi4 the stage 3resently attained as an absolute( :n Cies#ko2ski and
in !ess@s /uro3ean Triarchy& the 3roblem of kno2ledge of the future has the function of
o0ercoming such hy3ostati#ation( !o2e0er& in searching for the ans2er 3urely by means
of a conce3tual dialectics& 2hat they ha0e done is to detach !egelian dialectics from the
real historical 3rocess& far more than !egel does himself& and to make it 3urely
conce3tual& 3urely idealistic 8 2ithout the 3ossibility of eliminating the reactionary
com3onents of the ?reconciliation@ from the method( J1FK
This is no mere chance( For in all cases 2here the ob1ect*forms of historical reality are
disco0ered in conce3tually a3rioristic fashion& either reality has to be concei0ed of as
being ultimately and at heart irrational& accessible to these categories only in a
?methodological@ sense 5see "chelling@s later 2orks7& or reason and reality& category and
history& a3rioristic form and em3irical material& ha0e someho2 to be brought together
and ?reconciled@ 2ith each other( -ut that in0ol0es a33lying to reality a thought*
determinant that has not been de0elo3ed out of historical reality itself( The conse6uences
of such a 3rocess of 1oining together& of ?reconciliation@& are ine0itable( /ither that reality
has to be distorted by constructs& or it becomes necessary to ada3t the thought*
determinants to the su3erficial& merely em3irical 3henomena of historical reality&
thereby raising such 3henomena to the le0el of categories& of absolutes( ;ll forms of
abstract uto3ianism are therefore bound 8 by 0irtue of their 0ery abstractness and
uto3ianism 8 to make greater concessions to su3erficial em3irical reality than does a
truly dialectical realism( They are bound to hy3ostati#e transient forms of the 3resent&
bound to nail de0elo3ment do2n to such moments of the 3resent& bound to turn
reactionary(J1NK
The 6uestion of ?reconciliation@ re0eals in fact the most 3roblematical as3ect of !egelian
3hiloso3hy in defiance of his 3rogramme& idea and reality do not coincide& and hence
the duality of theory and 3ractice& the ?unreconciled@ confrontation of freedom and
necessity& remains unsol0ed( To 3ut it in terms of the history of the 3roblem the
Cantianism in !egel remains not 6uite su3erseded( Cies#ko2ski claims that the 3roblem
of history 8 in his terminology& kno2ledge of the future 8 finds !egel ?taking u3 a critical
3osition analogous to that of Cant in regard to the unattainability of the absolute as such&
but 2ith the difference that 2ith Cant it 2as the necessary result of his stand3oint and
system& 2hereas 2ith !egel it 2as introduced from 2ithout and thus disru3ts the rest of
his system(@J1OK
This 3artially correct obser0ation demonstrates the 3resum3tuousness of talking in
terms of really o0ercoming the limits of the !egelian 3osition( 9n the one hand& that
!egel sto3s at the 3resent is related& as : ha0e already indicated& to the most 3rofound
79
moti0es of his thinking 8 to be 3recise& to his 5in the correct sense7 historico*dialectical
thinking( For instance& in the 3reface to his Philoso3hy of Right he 2rites ?The task of
3hiloso3hy is to com3rehend 2hat is& for 2hat is is reason( ;s for the indi0idual each is
a child of his timeany2ay> 3hiloso3hy& too& is its time translated into thought( :t is 1ust as
stu3id to imagine that any 3hiloso3hy can transcend its contem3orary 2orld as that an
indi0idual can 1um3 o0er his time& 1um3 across the "traits of Rhodes(@ That is
incom3arably nearer to a materialistic*historical conce3tion than a construct < la Fichte*
Cies#ko2ski*!ess*Lassalle& 2here history is di0ided into successi0e e3ochs& the older of
2hich is deri0ed from the logical arrangement of a 3erfect system(
9n the other hand& of course& Cies#ko2ski is correct in dra2ing attention to the Cantian
thing*in*itself 3roblem 8 more correct& e0en& than he himself reali#es( -ut it is 3recisely
in his correctness that it becomes clear 2here the ?"u3ersession@ of !egel actually leads
back to a 3osition less ad0anced than !egel@s( For& e0en 2ith Cant himself the 3roblem of
the thing*in*itself is 0ery closely connected 2ith the 3roblem of history& 2ith the 3roblem
of becoming(J1DK :t is not by chance that the transcendental dialectics of the Criti6ue of
Pure Reasonlead into the forecourt of dialectics to the insoluble antinomies( :n doing so
it demonstrates that to gras3 reality contem3lati0ely 5and to ado3t the intuiting attitude
is to dissol0e all becoming into being7J1.K can lead at best to the disco0ery of the
contradictory foundations of e4istence& but not to their resolution( /0en 2hen
the Criti6ue of Practical Reasontransfers the resolution of these same antinomies& the
solution of the thing*in*itself 3roblem& into the realm of 3ractice& it cannot 8 in the final
analysis 8 ad0ance to a 3ro3er formulation of the 6uestion because the 3ractice of
indi0idual action 5the only one 2hich Cant kno2s7 cannot be anything more than
3seudo3ractice( :t is a form of 3ractice 2hich is unable to shake the foundations of reality
and for 2hich& therefore& the ob1ect*forms of 5contem3lati0ely gras3ed7 reality remain
unaltered( :ts ne2 attitude to reality lea0es reality untouched and cannot be more than
something formal and sub1ecti0e the 9ught( ,o2 !egel senses 0ery acutely the
em3tiness& the transcendent and abstract nature of this 9ught( -ut since he is like2ise
unable to indicate concretely the real sub1ect of re0olutioni#ing 3ractice& he cannot go
beyond a mere re1ection of the 9ught 8 2hich lea0es the 3roblematical nature of the
conce3t in Cant@s system unsol0ed( !egel& too& cannot concei0e of a transformation of
gi0en being& of the 3resent& e4ce3t in the form of an ?9ught@( The continuation of the
3assage 6uoted abo0e reads ?:f his theory actually goes beyond that& if he builds himself
a 2orld as it ought to be& then of course it e4ists& but only in his mind 8 a soft element
3rone to e0ery 3ossible kind of fantasy(@ That in itself re3resents an enormous ad0ance
on Cant in that it gras3s the 3resent concretely as 3resent& that is& as the 3roduct of a
historical 3rocess and no longer as an essentially immutable being(
:n contrast to Fichte 2ith his re0olutionary Ato3ia& !egel de0elo3ed 0ery early on in his
2ork the tendency to ?understand 2hat is@& a tendency 2hich originally 3ointed
energetically in the direction of the future( !is concern to com3rehend the 3resent as at
once become and becoming is e43ressed& for e4am3le& in an e3igram 2ritten during his
first Eena 3eriod
"tri0e& attem3t more than today and yesterday> you 2ill be& not better than time& but
time as good as it can be(
!ere 2as the germ of a true historical dialectics 5the dialectics of history translated into
thought7( For it is 3recisely in the 3resent that all forms of
ob1ecti0ity 5GegenstXndlichkeit7can be re0ealed 6uite concretely as 3rocesses& since it is
the 3resent 2hich sho2s most clearly the unity of result and starting*3oint of the
3rocess( Gi0en that& the re1ection of all ?9ughts@ and futuristic uto3ian thinking& the
concentration of 3hiloso3hy on kno2ledge of the 3resent 5gras3ed dialectically7 emerges
3recisely as the only 3ossible e3istemological method of kno2ing 2hat is really kno2able
80
about the future& the tendencies 2ithin the 3resent 2hich im3el it really and concretely
to2ards the future(
!o2e0er& im3licit 2ithin this self*same tendency of !egel& his realism& his re1ection of all
forms of Ato3ia and all merely formal ?9ughts@& 2as the limitation 2hich not only
3re0ented him from going any further& but e0en forced him into an increasingly
reactionary 3osition( ;s a result& his ?3resent@ lost its immanent tendency to 3oint to the
future and ossified more and more until it became a hard and fast result( :t ceased to be
dialectical( The fundamental 3roblem confronting the 3hiloso3hy of right at that time
2as 3osed by the fact of the re0olution( Constitutional changes 2ere recogni#ed as being
necessary> but since the attem3t to sol0e the 3roblem 2as undertaken in constitutional
terms 8 that is& in formal terms immanently 1uristically& and in terms of social content
2ithin the frame2ork of bourgeois society J1PK 8 it 2as bound to lead increasingly in that
direction& es3ecially if the re0olutionary& ?eternal@ la2 of reason 2as abandoned( )hereas
Fichte@s 3hiloso3hy of right seeks guarantees 2hich 2ould establish this la2 of reason in
the face of em3irical reality and the actual 2ielders of 3o2er& !egel attem3ts to find the
indications of further de0elo3ment 2ithin contem3orary de0elo3ment itself( The more
realistically he concei0e& this 3resent and the closer he mo0es to the Prussian Eunker
state& ho2e0er& the less he is able to recogni#e de0elo3mental tendencies concretely and
the more he is obliged to acce3t this state absolutely& thereby 8 from the 3oint of 0ie2 of
the 3hiloso3hy of history 8 bringing the historical 3rocess to a halt in the 3resent(
Thus the result of !egelian 3hiloso3hy is to 3ut an end to the 3rocess as 3rocess(
!istorically and logically& e0ery form of abstract 3etrification and thing*ness has been
dissol0ed into a concrete becoming& a 3rocess& only for the 3roduct of the 3rocess& the
3resent& to 3etrify once again into a mere 3roduct& a thing( Lialectics turns into yet
another meta3hysics 8 a change 2hich Penetrates dee3ly into the structure of !egelian
logic& 2here 5e0en in terms of 3ure logic7 it dissol0es dialectics into an a33earance and
transforms it into a kind of aesthetics( !egel relegates to the le0el of sham mo0ement the
cro2ning achie0ement of his dialectics& the dialectics of being and becoming& 2hile at the
same time raising it& as he thinks& to the le0el of a 3ure mo0ement in itself( !e 2rites
?The mo0ement of the conce3t is to be regarded& as it 2ere& merely as a game(@ J19K The
?reconciliation@ in 2hich this construct of the !egelian system finds concrete and
historical e43ression is therefore manifestly and essentially dualistic( Looked at in
relation to earlier 3hiloso3hy it is the resolution of Cant@s antinomies> turned for2ard&
ho2e0er& it re3resents their re3roduction on a higher le0el( :t is not 3ossible to 3reser0e
the this*sidedness of 3hiloso3hy unless the real& dialectical tendencies& the direction of
the real dialectical 3rocess can also be sho2n as effecti0e& as real& as 3rocess in the
3resent> unless& that is& the 3resent 3oints in real and dialectical fashion beyond itself
and into the future( This !egel fails to do( !ence& in terms of the moti0es 2hich led him
to 3osit it& !egel@s ?reconciliation@ is an e43ression 8 albeit a resigned one 8 of his self*
criticism and his realism 0is*<*0is history( :n its methodological& systematic and ob1ecti0e
conse6uences& ho2e0er& it re3resents the fi4ing of the 3resent as an absolute and the
elimination of dialectics 8 in other 2ords& it is a reactionary 3rinci3le(
:t is therefore only too understandable that the 3hiloso3hically radical Toung !egelians
should take u3 this 3roblem( !o2e0er& they attem3t to transcend the logical limitations
of !egel@s system& 2hich are only a conse6uence 8 albeit a necessary one 8 of his attitude
to2ards the real historical 3rocess& in and by logic itself( 5That this logic is su33osed to
be a logic of history alters nothing substantial in the situation(7 ;s a result& the future 8
kno2ledge of 2hich is 3ossible only as the ob1ect of a re0olutioni#ing 3ractice and 2hich
only becomes something concrete and real for us at all through 3ractice 8 becomes for
them the ob1ect of mere contem3lation( Past& 3resent and future a33ear& it is true& on the
same le0el of com3rehensibility( The le0el& ho2e0er& is to an e0en greater e4tent that of
81
?3ure@ cognition& the 3urely logico*systematic de0elo3ment of the dialectical triad( "uch
?kno2ledge@ of the future means that the dialectical connection bet2een 3ast and 3resent
established by !egel has disa33eared(
The full significance of this regression to Fichte 8 and beyond him to Cant 8 emerges
clearly in the theory of freedom 2hich !ess formulates in his /uro3ean Triarchy( This
theory is significant for our discussion in that it is& after all& 3recisely in the 3ositi0e
relationshi3 to the future that freedom should manifest itself( ;ccording to !ess& since
!egel ?dra2s only the 3ast as such into the realm of s3eculation& necessity is therefore
3redominant@( ?)hat ha33ened before us&@ says !ess& ?e0en if it ha33ened for itself 2ith
freedom& nonetheless ha33ened for us of necessity because it did not ha33en through us(
9nly 2hat is achie0ed by us& although in itself it ha33ens of necessity& ha33ens for
us 2ith freedom 8 insofar& that is& as our innermost being& consciousness& is the
determining element in it(@J+BK ;nybody familiar 2ith the Cantian theory of freedom 2ill
immediately reali#e that in this 3assage the contradictory antithesis of freedom and
necessity& the merely sub1ecti0e nature of freedom& the transference of freedom and
necessity into t2o com3letely se3arate s3heresJ+1K 8 that all this& although formulated in
!egelian terms& is 2holly Cantian in s3irit& and that !ess has fallen back 2ay behind the
stage of a dialectical union of freedom and necessity already reached by !egel(
-ecause of this basic attitude& e0en the attem3t to historici#e the dialectical categories
beyond the le0el of historici#ation in !egel is bound to fail( :t turns into a 2holly
arbitrary assignment of ty3es of categories to certain historical e3ochs neither the
necessity of their connection 2ith these e3ochs& nor the de0elo3ment of the historical
e3ochs out of each other emerges from the e4ercise( This& of course& is not to deny that
the Toung !egelians are sincere in their attem3ts to transcend !egel( The most radical
of them are fully a2are that changes 2ithin society become illusory if the authority of
a single 8 essentially su3ra*historical 8 system of logic is s3read across history( ;nd yet
they are unable to be radical in dra2ing the necessary conclusions from this
understanding 8 2hich 2ould in0ol0e a33lying !egel@s dictum on 3hiloso3hy in general
5that it ?translates its time into thought@7 concretely to logic itself( Cies#ko2ski@s 3hrasing
is truly !egelianRJ++K ?Eust as e0erything in the 2orld is sub1ect to history& so history in
turn is sub1ect to God@& 2hereas !ess@s treatment of the same 3roblem ac6uires a
"3ino#an accent(J+FK The methodological as3ect of the 6uestion& ho2e0er& remains
unaffected(
To go into a detailed analysis of Cies#ko2ski@s and !ess@s historical constructs 2ould
take us too far( For 2hether Cies#ko2ski a33lies the category of mechanism deri0ed from
!egel@s logic to anti6uity& that of chemism to the Middle ;ges and that of organism to the
modern age as a s3ecial category> or 2hether !ess defines the three 3eriods of 2orld
history as being from the Flood to the migration of nations and from there to the French
Re0olution& after 2hich the modern age begins& as attem3ts to transcend !egel and
really historici#e dialectics& they both amount to the same thing( :n each case 2e are
3resented 8 as in Fichte@s history of 3hiloso3hy 8 2ith a3rioristically construed& logical
characteristics of historical e3ochs& 2ith differentiations 2ithin the conce3t( These are
then a33lied 8 not 2ithout a good deal of 0iolence 8 to historical reality( ;t 2hich 3oint&
of course& all the contradictions underlying the e4ercise come to light in all their
crudeness(J+NK )ith !egel himself& the inconsistency in the relationshi3 bet2een
historical and logical succession of the categories 2as 8 at least in 3art 8 an instincti0e
correcti0e to the decline into formal a3riorism and its 0acuous constructs( The radical
Toung !egelians& ho2e0er& think this idealistic and formalistic as3ect of !egel@s system
through to its conclusion> in so doing& they loosen the relationshi3 bet2een the dialectics
of real history and conce3tual dialectics 2hich& although he had not 2orked it out
consistently& 2as already 3resent in !egel@s 2ork(J+OK The more constructed the
82
3hiloso3hy of history becomes and the looser its connection 2ith historical reality& the
more it is bound to become basically contem3lati0e in character( ;s this occurs& so the
?deed@ 2hich !ess henceforth makes the focus of his thinking is less able to be real
3ractice& re0olutioni#ing and transforming reality> so& too& 3hiloso3hy is bound to
succumb to the methodological dualism of Cant& the se3aration of ?3ure@ and ?3ractical
reason@( )e ha0e already established !ess@s tendency to regress 0ia Fichte to Cant in our
discussion of his treatment of the 6uestion of freedom in The /uro3ean Triarchy( !is
abstract se3aration of theory and 3ractice& ho2e0er& becomes more strikingly ob0ious the
more he e4erts himself trying to use his 3hiloso3hical ?su3ersession@ of !egel as the
3hiloso3hical basis of socialism( !ere the duality of theory and 3ractice assumes the
form of a duality bet2een the historical mo0ement& 2hose ?mission@ it is to bring
socialism about in a real sense& and the 3hiloso3hical theory of this mo0ement& 2hich is
su33osed to gi0e it clarity and direction and e43lain its real goals to it(
:t must be em3hasi#ed that this duality e4isted 2ithin the contem3orary 2orking*class
mo0ement itself at that time( ;nd not only in socially unde0elo3ed Germany e0en in
France and /ngland the theory of social re0olution and the re0olutionary 3ractice of the
3roletariat had still not yet come together( ,o socialist theoretician before Mar4 and
/ngels had been able to 3ercei0e in the social being of the 3roletariat itself the 3rocess
2hose real dialectics has only to be made conscious in order to become the theory of
re0olutionary 3ractice(J+DK;t this 3oint& the central 3roblem in the emergence of
socialist theory in the 1PNBs& the theoretical blind*alley into 2hich !ess@s su3ersession of
!egel led him& becomes blatantly ob0ious( ;lthough he imagined he 2as going beyond
!egel by including the future in the triadic 3rogression of his logic& 2hat he 2as able to
say about it amounted to no more than a fe2 at best abstract and uto3ian generalities(
The 3rice he had to 3ay 2as high his theory raised to the le0el of a category and
3er3etuated the duality of theory and 3ractice in the sha3e of the duality of socialism and
3roletariat 5the ideological conse6uence of the unde0elo3ed state of the 2orking*class
mo0ement of the time7> 3hiloso3hy 2as forced to ?reconcile@ itself to this reality( :n his
first attem3t to 3ro0ide a 3hiloso3hical basis for socialism he talks of the old duality in
religion and 3olitics( For him the break*u3 of that duality means the beginning of
?re0olution and criticism@( J+.K )hat he fails to reali#e is that this is sim3ly to re3roduce
the old duality in a ne2 guise( 9n the contrary& he e0en attem3ts to 3reser0e the 3urity&
scientific status and ob1ecti0ity of this 3hiloso3hy 52hich& it should be remembered& is
su33osed to lead to ?action@7( :n his other2ise commendable criti6ue of Loren# 0on "tein
he attacks "tein for ?re3eating ad nauseam the connection bet2een communism and the
3roletariat@( ?This&@ he goes on&J+PK ?is the only 0ital as3ect 2hich "tein is ca3able of
getting out of communism( -ut 2hen it is a 6uestion of 1ustifying the claims of the
3roletariat& he glosses o0er the 3roblem 2ith a fe2 3hiloso3hical flourishes( The
insubstantiality of his reasoning re0eals his inability to achie0e understanding on this
3oint( The only 2ay he could ha0e come to such an understanding& of course& 2ould ha0e
been through the insight into the connection of communism to socialism and science( ;s
: ha0e said& he lacks this insight altogether(@
!ess could not 3ossibly ha0e been totally una2are of the 3roblematic nature of his
method 8 as is e0idenced by the constant changes he made to his system and his
fre6uent attem3ts to dra2 on Mar4( That he ne0ertheless clung to it is of course
e43licable in terms of his class 3osition( !ess 3hiloso3hi#es from the stand3oint of the
re0olutionaryintelligentsia sym3athetic to the coming social re0olution( The sufferings of
the 3roletariat form the starting*3oint of his 3hiloso3hi#ing& the 3roletariat is
the ob1ect of his concern and his struggle& and later on& he e0en ackno2ledges the
3roletariat@s struggle for emanci3ation as an im3ortant element in the imminent
liberation of humanity from the yoke of ca3italism( -esides 8 or rather& o0er and abo0e
83
this& ho2e0er& ho0ers theory& kno2ledge& 3hiloso3hy& 2hich im3artially and selflessly
takes o0er the intellectual leadershi3 of the good cause (J+9KThe fond belief that he
inhabits a s3here abo0e all class antagonisms and all egoistical interests of his fello2*
men is ty3ical of the intellectual 2ho does not 3artici3ate 8 directly 8 in the 3rocess of
3roduction and 2hose e4istential basis& both material and intellectual& seems to be the
?2hole@ of society& regardless of class differences( 5The less de0elo3ed the class
antagonisms in any society& the easier it is for this illusion to take hold 8 and the more
difficult it is to see through it as an illusion(7 !ence& 2hen he stri0es honestly to
recogni#e and 3roclaim the truth& he claims that he can see no social basis for the
construction of his ?truth@( :n the Germany of the 1P6(os it 2as all the easier for such an
illusion of ?neutral@ classlessness to emerge& in that the still 3rimiti0e class*
differentiations 0irtually ruled out the 3ossibility of an ?intelligentsia@ as an inde3endent
stratum 2ith inde3endent interests such as e4isted& for e4am3le& at the time of the
gro2th and blossoming of social re0olutionism in Russia( /0en there& of course& there
arose the illusion and the ideology of classlessness( -ut there is one im3ortant difference
the ideology of the social re0olutionaries 2as already 3ermeated 2ith the out*and*out
hy3ocritical ideology 8 the state as being ?abo0e and beyond classes@& and so on 8 3ut out
by a bourgeoisie that had come to the end of its de0elo3ment( ;t the time of the ?true
socialists@& ho2e0er& the real ideologues of the bourgeoisie 2ere still o3enly and clearly
3roclaiming bourgeois class interests( 59ne only has to think of the significant French
historians of the time& for instance(7
:f theory is thus assigned a 3lace abo0e the struggle of the different grou3s& estates and
classes& the necessary conse6uence is a moralistic and morali#ing 0erdict on the 3resent&
and s3ecifically on those tendencies o33osed to the social re0olution( For if communism
is not the class*truth of the 3roletariat> if it does not emerge from the 3roletariat@s class*
situation as its conce3tual e43ression> if rather& it is the ?ob1ecti0e truth@ of the historical
3rocess 8 then the moti0es for resisting the ?truth@ can only be ignorance or moral
inferiority( The first mentioned 3layed an im3ortant role in the thinking of the Ato3ians(
!ess and com3any critici#ed bourgeois society& the ca3italist system of 3roduction& by
subsuming its economic 3rinci3les under the 8 ethical 8 category of ?egoism@ and
condemning it morally as such( JFBK
There is no denying that ?egoism@ did in fact 3lay a big 3art in the gro2th of bourgeois
ideology> in this sense& then& it 2as not 2holly ina33ro3riate to relate the criti6ue of the
bourgeois class to this 6uestion( -ut it must be remembered that for the first great
cham3ions of this ideology 5!obbes& Mande0ille& -ayle& et al(7 the struggle to establish
the ne2 morality 2as a 0ery real one( ,ot only 2as there a close connection bet2een the
2ar on feudal morality 5and that of the Puritans 2hen the bourgeois class 2as 1ust
emerging7 and the elaboration of the theoretical cornerstone of the 2hole bourgeois
ideology& classical economics& but this ideology also 3ro0ided 0ery im3ortant 2ea3ons for
the bourgeoisie@s actual class struggle( -y !ess@s time the frankness 2ith 2hich the
morality of egoism 2as first 3roclaimed had already begun to e0a3orate( This 2as 3artly
because the gro2ing contradictions of ca3italist 3roduction forced the bourgeoisie to
resort to hy3ocrisy in the moral sense as 2ell& 3re0enting it increasingly from ?e43ressing
2hat is@ in clear and bold tones> and 3artly because the de0elo3ment of classical
economics had robbed this moral theory of much of its 3ractical significance for the class
consciousness of the bourgeoisie( "mith and Ricardo concreti#ed in economic terms
2hat someone like Mande0ille had not been able to e43ress e4ce3t in much more
ideological form( ;lready in "mith@s economics the ?egoism of conduct@ had found 6uite
unmythological e43ression& and it 2as only the ?e4tra*economic@ as3ects of life 8 that is&
2hat seemed to them to be ?e4tra*economic@ 8 2hich 2ere still connected 2ith the ethics
of the great gro2th*3eriod of bourgeois ideology 5cf( "mith@s relation to "haftesbury7(
84
That !ess 2as unable to ad0ance beyond a moral condemnation of ?egoism@ 8 e0en
though he re3resents it as a necessary 3roduct of bourgeois society and dra2s constant
3arallels 2ith that society@s 5some2hat su3erficially concei0ed7 economic foundations 8
3ro0ed fatal to his theoretical de0elo3ment( True& he regarded it as a necessary 3roduct
of bourgeois society& but only as a 3etrified one he sa2 it meta3hysically and not
dialectically( !ence he could only take u3 a morali#ing attitude to2ards it( ;nd since
!ess@s socialism& his logico*dialectically ?kno2n future@& did not s3rout from the real soil
of the concrete class struggles of the 3resent either& but 2as logically sublimated from the
antagonisms thereby 3roduced 8 2ith the result that those antagonisms& once
transformed into 3ure thoughts& 2ere bound to harden idealistically into autonomous
essences 8 the future sim3ly stood there o33osite the ?3roblems@ of the 3resent as a
ready*made ?solution@( There is therefore no real mediation bet2een 3resent and future
!ess failed to recogni#e in the elements of the 3resent& in the tendencies 2hich ha0e
brought it into being and make it 3roblematic& the real forces 2hich im3el it to transcend
itself(
!is attitude is made 0ery clear in his criticism of Loren# 0on "tein(JF1K !e 2rites ?The
gross mistake 2hich "tein makes& and to 2hich he is dri0en 3rimarily as a result of his
2rong understanding of the French mind& is to see in the stri0ing for e6uality only the
3urely su3erficial& material trend to2ards 3leasure( 9n the one hand he can find e4cuses
e0en for the so*called materialism of today& seeing in it only the first attem3ts of the
abstract 3ersonality to gi0e itself a concrete content( 9n the other& he detects in
communism only the stri0ing of the 3roletariat to secure for itself the same 3leasures as
those en1oyed by the o2ners( 9ne of the chief 0irtues of communism& ho2e0er& is that it
does a2ay 2ith the antagonism bet2een 3leasure and 2ork( 9nly 2here o2nershi3 is
di0ided is 3leasure distinct from 2ork( The state of community is the 3ractical fulfilment
of the 3hiloso3hical ethic 2hich recogni#es free acti0ity as the true and sole 3leasure& the
so*called highest good( ;s against this& the state of di0ided o2nershi3 is the 3ractical
fulfilment of egoism and immorality& 2hich on the one hand negates free acti0ity and
degrades it to sla0e*labour& 2hile on the other it re3laces man@s highest good by bestial
3leasure& the goal 2orthy of that e6ually bestial labour( "tein is caught u3 in these
abstract notions of 2ork and 3leasure& 2hereas communism has long since ad0anced
beyond them( :t has already become 8 in the minds of its foremost re3resentati0es& of
course 8 2hat it is destined one day to become in reality 3ractical ethics(@
This is ho2 the 3resent is abstractly and moralistically condemned( :n his Philoso3hy of
;ction !ess saysJF+K ?)e kno2 full 2ell that there are tame and lame 3hiloso3hers 2ho&
because they lack the 2rathful courage of action& 3oke around by the light of their
Liogenes lantern in the dung*hea3 of lies that 3asses for religion and 3olitics& in the ho3e
of fishing out something or other 2hich they might yet find a use for( -ut it is not 2orth
the trouble of raking out the miserable rags buried in the debris of the 3ast((((@ ;nd in
kee3ing 2ith this attitude to2ards the 3resent& the only 3ossible bridge to the future is
therefore the ne2 morality& translated into effecti0e action( ?Tou ha0e been told&@ !ess
goes on&JFFK ?that man cannot ser0e t2o masters at once& God and Mammon( )e&
ho2e0er& tell you that man does not ha0e to ser0e either as long as he thinks and feels as
man( Lo0e one another& finite in s3irit& and you 2ill 3ossess in your hearts that blissful
consciousness 2hich you ha0e 0ainly sought for so long abo0e yoursel0es& in
God( 9rgani#e yoursel0es& unite in reality& and you 2ill 3ossess in your actions and 2orks
all the 2ealth 2hich you ha0e sought for so long outside yoursel0es& in money(@
That 3assage re0eals the decisi0e influence of Feuerbach on the ?true socialists@&
3articularly on !ess( !e ga0e them a ne2& 3ositi0e morality 2ith 2hich to confront the
?morality of egoism@( )hat Mar4 and /ngels recei0ed from Feuebach 2as at most the
final encouragement they needed to eradicate the remaining traces of !egelian idealism
85
from their thinking and to transform tie dialectic in a definiti0ely and com3letely
materialist 2ay( !ess and com3any& ho2e0er& took u3 5!ess far less 2holeheartedly than
GrVn or Criege7 3recisely that as3ect of Feuerbach 2hich remained essentially
idealisticJFNK and 2hich Mar4 and /ngels e0en at that early stage regarded indifferently
or critically( The difference is brought out 0ery clearly and characteristically in /ngels@s
letter of 19 "e3tember 1PNNJFOK to Mar4 at the time of Mar4@s collaboration 2ith !ess&
2ho had 1ust 2ritten his 3am3hlet& The Last Philoso3hers& as an attack on "tirner and
-auer( Referring to "tirner& /ngels 2rites ?-ut 2e must also take u3 those elements of he
3rinci3le 2hich are true( ;nd it is certainly true that 2e must first make a cause our o2n&
selfish cause before 2e can do anything for it 8 that in this sense& therefore& e0en
disregarding 3ossible material ho3es& 2e are communists for selfish reasons> that it is for
selfish reasons that 2e 2ant to be human beings not mere indi0iduals(@
/0en !ess& of course& is not uncritical of Feuerbach& and his criticism is sometimes 0ery
incisi0e as& for instance& 2hen he a33lies to Feuerbach Mar4@s criti6ue of conditions in
Germany( !e 2ritesJFDK ?The Feuerbachian H3hiloso3hy of the futureI is nothing but
a 3hiloso3hy of the 3resent& but of a 3resent 2hich still a33ears to Germans as future& as
ideal( )hat in /ngland& France& ,orth ;merica and else2here is already 3resent reality
the modern state 2ith its counter3art and com3lement& bourgeois society 8 still finds
only 3hiloso3hical and theoretical e43ression in Princi3les of the Philoso3hy of the
Future(@ ;t the same time !ess reali#es that the fla2 in Feuerbach@s thinking is that it
ignores thesocial nature of man conse6uently ?man@ as he is in Feuerbachian
anthro3ology cannot be real& concrete man( :n his essay& 9n the "ocialist Mo0ement in
Germany& !ess arguesJF.K ?)hy did Feuerbach not attain these im3ortant 3ractical
conse6uences of his system= 8 the essence of God& says Feuerbach& is the transcendent
essence of man& and the true theory of di0ine essence is the theory of human
essence theology is anthro3ology( That is true& but it is not the 2hole truth( Man@s
essence& it needs to be added& is the social nature and the coo3eration of the 0arious
indi0iduals for one and the same 3ur3ose& for 2holly identical interests( ;nd the true
theory of man& true humanism& is the theory of human sociali#ation( That
is anthro3ology is socialism(@ ;nd immediately follo2ing this !ess& 2hile conceding that
Feuerbach ad0ances beyond the indi0idual human being& accuses him of locating ?the
human*s3ecies*act@ essentially& if not e4clusi0ely& in ?thought@( !ess correctly assesses as
inconsistencies Feuerbach@s attem3ts to o0ercome the 3urely contem3lati0e nature of his
3hiloso3hy and his ackno2ledgement that the ?s3ecies*act@ e43resses itself in other areas(
?)e cannot understand 2hy Feuerbach admits it&@ he 2rites& ?since no2here does he
arri0e at 3hiloso3hical conse6uences other than those 2hich follo2 from the correct
0ersion of the act of thinking(@
:n s3ite of this 0alid criticism 8 at some 3oints fairly close to that of Mar4 and /ngels&
into 2hich an e6ually incisi0e criti6ue of the Toung !egelians is 2o0en 8 !ess
nonetheless succumbs to the 0ery 2eakest& most idealistic as3ect of Feuerbach@s 2ork
his ethic of lo0e( )e ha0e already indicated the social factors 2hich defined !ess@s
3osition in this res3ect as that of an intellectual 2ho merely enters into an ?alliance@ 2ith
the re0olutionary 3roletariat but is ne0er ca3able of thinking from the stand3oint of the
3roletariat in its actual class situation( Philoso3hically this finds e43ression in !ess@s
uncritical ado3tion of Feuerbach@s basically 2rong attitude to the !egelian dialectic and
in 3articular his theory of the relationshi3 bet2een immediacy and mediation(
?Feuerbach&@ he says &JFPK ?3roceeds from the correct 3rinci3le that man as he alienates
his essence or de0elo3s himself is the creator of all collisions& contradictions and
antagonisms hence& that there can be no 6uestion at all of a s3eculati0e mediation since
there is in truth nothing to mediate& no identity ofo33osites& but only and e0ery2here
man@s identity 2ith himself to be reestablished( ;ntagonisms and contradictions e4ist
86
only in the imagination of s3eculati0e mystics(@ -y identifying alienated man as the
essence of Christianity Feuerbach ?has identified the root of all theoretical mistakes and
contradictions 8 although he does not carry on systematically to demonstrate ho2 all
antagonisms and contradictions arise from selfalienating man@( :t becomes 0ery clear
here ho2 ill*e6ui33ed !ess is& des3ite his criti6ue of Feuerbach@s failure to include a
social dimension& to 3ercei0e the fundamental mistake in Feuerbach@s 2hole formulation
of the 6uestion( -y that& of course& 2e mean the 2ay in 2hich he abstracts from the
historical 3rocess& and his conse6uently uncritical attitude to the socio*historical
character of the religious 3henomena 2hich he sets out to critici#e and dissol0e
anthro3ologically( :n his se0enth thesis on Feuerbach& Mar4 formulates this ob1ection
2ith the utmost 3recision ?Feuerbach therefore fails to see that Hreligious sentimentI is
itself a social 3roduct and that the abstract indi0idual 2hom he is analysing belongs to a
certain form of society(@ !ence& according to Mar4& the stand3oint of the old materialism
8 to 2hich in this sense e0en Feuerbach belongs 8 is merely bourgeois society 5ninth and
tenth theses7( This is the kind of criticism 2hich !ess stri0es to achie0e in his
identification of Feuerbachian ?3hiloso3hy of the future@ 2ith ad0anced bourgeois society
in /ngland& etc(& but at e0ery decisi0e 1uncture 2here his criti6ue of Feuerbach needs to
be concreti#ed he 0eers off to 2ork the 2eakest as3ects of Feuerbach into his o2n
3hiloso3hy(
The false methodological terrain on to 2hich !ess allo2ed himself to be lured is
Feuerbach@s re1ection of the !egelian conce3t of mediation& the attem3t to restore
immediate kno2ledge to its rightful 3osition( True& Feuerbach 3rotests that 2hat he
means by immediate kno2ledge is not to be confused 2ith earlier 0ersions 8 e(g( that of
Eacobi(JF9K -ut e0en if 2e could grant that he 2as absolutely correct in this res3ect& one
of the most im3ortant achie0ements of !egelian 3hiloso3hy& one of the 3oints in 2hich it
contained the 3ossibility of being de0elo3ed further into materialist dialectics& 2ould
ne0ertheless ha0e been lost in doing so( That 3ossibility is& namely& the methodological
3ossibility of ackno2ledging and recogni#ing the social reality of the 3resent in its reality
and yet still reacting to it critically 8 not moralistically*critically& but in the sense of
3ractical critical acti0ity( :n !egel& admittedly& no more than the 3ossibility e4isted( -ut
it 3ro0ed to be decisi0e for the de0elo3ment of socialist theory that& methodologically&
Mar4 took o0er directly from !egel at this 3oint& 3urging !egel@s method of its idealistic
inconsistencies and inaccuracies& ?setting it on its feet@ and& no matter ho2 much he o2es
to Feuerbach@s encouragement& re1ecting the Feuerbachian ?im3ro0ement@ on !egel( The
?true socialists@ on the other hand& !ess included& follo2ed Feuerbach uncritically(
Precisely because ?true socialism@ from its 0ery beginning idealistically 2atered do2n
!egel and transformed his ob1ecti0e dialectics of the historical 3rocess itself into a mere
conce3tual dialectics& Feuerbach@s o33osition to !egel must ha0e seemed to them like a
2ay out at last from the blind alley in 2hich they had become stuck( 5:f Lassalle in s3ite
of his idealistic dialectics maintained his su3eriority o0er the ?true socialists@ in many
res3ects& it 2as largely o2ing to his more orthodo4 !egelianism(7 The great influence
2hich Feuerbach had on the radical young !egelians rests& then& on the fact that in this
6uestion he stood on the same methodological ground as they did 8 albeit often 2ith
in0erted 0alue*symbols for the elements 2hich go to make u3 the method( :n terms of
the 3roblem to be discussed no2& that can be 3ut as follo2s both treated mediation as
something 3urely conce3tual( )ith the -auer brothers and their 3hiloso3hy of self*
consciousness& it 2as turned into a thought*fetish as the real moti0e force of 2orld
history> JNBK 2hile Feuerbach denied its claim to any real ob1ecti0ity(
Feuerbach argues in the Princi3les of the Philoso3hy of the FutureJN1K ?9nly that
is true and di0ine 2hich needs no 3roof& immediately s3eaks for itself and carries
con0iction& and entails immediately the affirmation that it is 8 the 3ositi0e as such& the
87
indubitable as such& the crystal clear( ( ( ( /0erything is mediated& says !egelian
3hiloso3hy( -ut nothing is true unless it is no longer mediated& but immediate( ( ( (
The self*mediating truth is the truth still afflicted 2ith its o33osite( )e start 2ith that
o33osite& but it is later transcended( -ut if it is something to be transcended& something
to be negated& 2hy should : start there& 2hy not straighta2ay 2ith its negation= ((( )hy
should 2hat is certain and 3ro0en through itself not be higher than 2hat is certain
through the nullity of its o33osite= )ho& then& can ele0ate mediation to necessity& to the
la2 of truth= 9nly he 2ho is still caught u3 in that 2hich is to be negated& 2ho is still
fighting and struggling 2ith himself and has not yet com3letely s6uared matters 2ith
himself( ( ( (@
From this follo2s& as it 2ere& as an e3istemological foundation of the only true
immediate kno2ledge& the unity of being and essence( ;t the same time& Feuerbach as an
honest thinker finds himself obliged to admit that ?in human life@& ?but then only
in abnormal& unfortunate cases@& being is se3arated from essence( Then ?it ha33ens that
one does not also ha0e one@s essence 2here one has one@s being& but 3recisely because of
this se3aration one is also not truly& not 2ith heart and soul there 2here one is bodily(
Tou are only 2here your heart is( -ut all beings 8 2ith the e4ce3tion of unnatural cases
8 are 2illingly 2here and 2hat they are( That is& their essence is not se3arated from their
being& nor their being from their essence(@JN+K Mediation is then no longer the
conce3tual e43ression of the dialectical structure of being itself& 2hich consists of
o33osites dissol0ing one another and 3roducing ne2 antagonisms( ,or is it any longer
the logical form in 2hich 2e re3roduce conce3tually the dialectical 3rocess of being and
thereby concei0e the results of the 3rocess 52hich& 0ie2ed in isolation& are necessarily
gi0en as 3etrified 3roducts and hence can be gras3ed immediately only in meta3hysical
terms7 really as results 8 that is& not in a static meta3hysical fashion but 2ithin the
conte4t of the 3rocess as a 2hole& as in !egel( :nstead& it is a formalistic means
of communicating immediately e0ident thought*contents( Feuerbach e43resses this 0ery
clearly in his Criti6ue of !egelian Philoso3hyJNFK ?Thinking is an immediate acti0ity
insofar as it is self*acti0ity( ( ( ( Lemonstration is nothing other than sho2ing that 2hat :
say is true> it means nothing other than taking back the alienation of the thought to
the 3rimary source of the thought(((( ,o2& it is only in the communicati0e acti0ity of the
thought for others that the demonstration has its raison d@^tre( :f : 2ant to 3ro0e
something& : 3ro0e it for others( ( ( ( /0ery demonstration is therefore& not a mediation of
the thought in and for the thought itself&JNNK but a mediation by means of language&
Jbet2een my mindK& insofar as it is mine& and the mind of the other insofar as it is his(@
?!egelian 3hiloso3hy&@ says Feuerbach&JNOK ?lacks immediate unity& immediate certainty&
immediate truth(@
"uch arguments do not in any sense o0ercome !egel@s idealism definiti0ely& as
Feuerbach ho3ed they 2ould( ;ll they do is rather to raise morali#ing uto3ianism to 2hat
is 3hiloso3hically certainly its highest conce3tual stage and to create an e3istemological
1ustification of ethical uto3ianism( ;n immediately certain unity& an immediately ob0ious
truth& can only be attained in t2o 2ays( :n the first 3lace& the basic societal forms of the
3resent are gi0en to us as immediate realities 8 in fact& the more subtle and com3le4 5in
!egel@s terms& the more mediated7 the forms& the more immediately e0ident they are( :n
the case of the economically social foundations& such immediacy can be seen through as
mere a33earance from the stand3oint of the 3roletariat( 5)e shall return later to the
remarkable contribution made by Mar4 and /ngels on this 6uestion(7 9f course& the fact
that 2e can see through these forms does not in any 2ay alter the immediately ob0ious
certainty that they are the forms of e4istence of our 3resent& but it can on the other hand
gi0e our 3ractical beha0iourto2ards them a ne2 6uality& 2hich in turn reacts u3on our
immediate beha0iour( :n the case of the more com3le4& se0erally mediated formations&
88
by contrast& this dialectical dissolution of immediacy into a 3rocess of mediation has far
2eaker re3ercussions in the immediate& 3ractical sense( The 3rocess therefore seems to
be a mere conce3tual one& a merely theoretical or logical o3eration( For e4am3le 2e may
2ell 3ercei0e clearly that our e4istence as isolated indi0iduals is a conse6uence of
ca3italist de0elo3ment> but as long as our insight is merely theoretical& the
indi0idualistic structure of our feelings& etc( 2ill sur0i0e in unshakeably immediate form(
:n the same 2ay 5although it must be stressed that the follo2ing e4am3le is intended to
ser0e only as a 3sychological illustration7& total understanding of the correctness of
Co3ernican astronomy in no 2ay affects the immediate im3ression that the sun comes
u3 and goes do2n& and so on( 9nly the 3ractical tendency to2ards transforming the real&
social foundations of this immediacy itself is able to bring about a transformation in
beha0iour in this conte4t 8 and that does not in all cases ha0e 0isible effects
straighta2ay(
This structural state of affairs strongly influenced the thinking of both !egel and
Feuerbach( For all his serious attem3ts to get to gri3s 2ith the 3roblem and sol0e it 52e
shall s3eak of this later7& !egel 2as seduced into treating it as a 3urely theoretical and
logical 6uestion( For him& therefore& the categories of mediation turned into autonomous
and real ?essences@& detaching themsel0es from the real historical 3rocess& from the basis
of their real com3rehensibility& and thus 3etrifying into a ne2 immediacy( Feuerbach@s
3olemics& on the other hand& took u3 only this unsuccessful as3ect of !egel@s attem3t&
o0erlooking not only 2hat !egel had already achie0ed in terms of correctly 3osing and
resol0ing the 3roblem& but e0en the actual 3roblem itself( !e therefore treated the 2hole
6uestion of mediation as a 3urely logical one& 2hich can be resol0ed 3artly by 3ure logic&
JNDK 3artly through recourse to immediate intuition and sensuousness( :n so doing&
ho2e0er& he falls into a com3letely uncritical 3osition( ;s Mar4 3oints out in The
German :deology& JN.K he o0erlooks the fact that ?this 2orld of the senses is not a thing
gi0en direct from all eternity& remaining e0er the same& but the 3roduct of generations&
each of 2hich stands on the shoulders of the 3re0ious one@(
This is the one form of immediately gi0en reality> closely connected 2ith it is the second&
the immediate acce3tability of ethical Ato3ia( :ts 3remiss& in a nutshell& is that the
ob1ecti0e forms of man@s concrete en0ironment are immediately gi0en to him and that
the degree of their immediacy& far from 3ro0iding a measure of their su3ra*historical
essence& is the conse6uence of& on the one hand& the ob1ecti0e strength of those economic
forces 2hich 3roduce them and& on the other& the class*s3ecific 3re1udices and 0ested
interests of man in the sur0i0al of his social en0ironment( !ence& ho2e0er& the concrete
sco3e of his s3ontaneous emotional reactions to this social en0ironment is like2ise
gi0en( That is& he reacts to those gi0en attitudes of his 1ust as immediately as to the
en0ironment itself( ;nd it is 3recisely in the se3arateness of ?ob1ecti0ity@ and ?sub1ecti0ity@
that it becomes most clearly manifest that they are deri0ed from one and the same social
root and that the immediate nature of each is a function of the most thoroughgoing
reci3rocal action of the one on the other( :n the case of a sim3le affirmati0e attitude
to2ards reality& this connection hardly calls for detailed analysis( -ut if it is a 6uestion of
Ato3ia& of the im3erati0e ethical mode of beha0iour& then their merely immediate nature
seems at first sight less ob0ious(
-ut t2o 3oints must not be forgotten first& that 2e are dealing here only 2ith the
a33earance of 3ractice 8 2ith a 3ractice& that is& 2hich either lea0es the structure of
ob1ecti0e reality fundamentally untouched& hence confirming the contem3lati0e attitude
to2ards it and not transcending it 5Cant@s 9ught7& or is inca3able of 3osing the transition
from gi0en reality to ?transformed@ reality as a concrete 3roblem 5uto3ianism7(
?Transformed@ reality is thereby treated as a state 8 in other 2ords& contem3lati0ely 8
and contrasted as such to immediately gi0en ob1ecti0e reality& 2ithout the 2ay 2hich
89
leads from the one to the other being in any 2ay elucidated( ;nd secondly in neither
case is the attem3t made to demonstrate concretely the genesis of the ethico*uto3ian
mode of beha0iour( :t is taken for granted in 1ust the same 2ay as contem3lati0ely
gras3ed ob1ecti0e reality 5or its so*called ?ultimate 3rinci3le@7 2as taken for granted( :n
his Criti6ue of Practical Reason Cant 3roceeds from the ?fact@ of conscience in 1ust the
same 2ay as in his Criti6ue of Pure Reason he 3roceeds from the ?fact@ of synthetic a
3riori 1udgments( For "mith the economist the ob1ecti0e la2s of free com3etition& etc( are
an immediately acce3ted fact& in 1ust the same 2ay as ?feelings of sym3athy@ are for "mith
the moralist(
Feuerbach a33ears to re3resent an ad0ance in 1ust this res3ect( !is dissolution of
theology into anthro3ology& his dissolution of the ?alienated@ essence of man& a33ears to
re3resent a true genesis( -ut it is in fact only a33earance( ;nd this is chiefly because he
re3laces one abstract conce3t 5God7 by the e6ually abstract one of ?s3ecies@& thereby
rendering illusory the deri0ation of conce3ts from reality( 5This is not to deny the
ad0ance 2hich his theory nonetheless re3resents( That& ho2e0er& is irrele0ant to the
3resent discussion(7 Mar4 comments in his Feuerbach theses ?Feuerbach dissol0es the
religious essence into the human essence( -ut the human essence is no abstraction
inherent in each single indi0idual( :n its reality it is the ensemble of the social relations((((
The human essence& therefore& can be gras3ed by him only as Hs3ecies&I as an internal&
dumb generality 2hich naturally unites the many indi0iduals(@ !o2e0er& if this genesis&
this demonstration of the real roots of the conce3ts& is only the a33earance of a genesis&
the t2o basic 3rinci3les of his 2orld*0ie2& ?alienated@ man and the dissolution of this
?alienation@& solidify into rigidly o33osed essences( !e does not dissol0e the one into the
other& but re1ects the one and affirms 5morally7 the other( !e o33oses one readymade
reality to another ready*made reality& instead of sho2ing ho2 the one must arise 8 in the
dialectical 3rocess 8 out of the other( !is ?lo0e@ allo2s the ?alienated@ reality of man to
sur0i0e unaltered& 1ust as Cant@s 9ught 2as inca3able of changing anything in the
structure of his 2orld of being(
:n this case ?3ractice@ consists in ?e0aluation@( )ith the 3urely contem3lati0e 3osition of
Feuerbach& this necessary conse6uence of his methodological limitations manifests itself
less blatantly in his o2n 2ork than in that of his successors& the ?true socialists@( :n
a33lying the Feuerbachian formula of ?alienation@ to society and o33osing Feuerbach@s
notion of God 2ith that of money as socially alienated essence 5?Money is the 3roduct of
mutually estranged men& it is alienated man@7&JNPK !ess is led to condemn this 2orld of
?alienation@ in moral terms and to o33ose it 2ith a uto3ian 2orld of transcended
?alienation@( True 3ro3erty re3laces false 3ro3erty( ?/4isting 3ro3erty is not re3rehensible
because it is 3ersonal& indi0idual& integrated into the indi0idual> on the contrary& it is
re3rehensible only and 3recisely because it is not 3ersonal& not integrated into the
indi0idual& but detached and remote from him& confronting the indi0idual from 2ithout
as a remote& 2holly alienated and general means of life and intercourse& as e4ternal
2ealth& as money(@JN9K ;t se0eral 3oints in his studies& !ess com3ares Feuerbach 2ith
Proudhon( This is not the 3lace to discuss the tenability of this 3arallel in terms of
genetic history 5it is a necessary conse6uence of !ess@s method that he o3erates
consistently 2ith such 3arallels 8 e(g( -abeuf'Fichte& "aint*"imon'"chelling&
Fourier'flegel 8 0ery much on the lines of !eine7( -ut it is noticeable that his a33lication
of Feuerbachian 3rinci3les to society is itself Proudhonian in one res3ect in the 2ay it
contrasts the ?good@ and the ?bad@ as3ects of a social 3henomenon and defines 3rogress&
the resolution of the gi0en antimony& as the 3reser0ation of the ?good@ as3ect and the
eradication of the ?bad@ one( That Feuerbach is not done any in1ustice 2hen such 3etty*
bourgeois& ethical uto3ianism is treated as the a33lication of his method& is sho2n by&
among other things& /ngels@s criti6ue of his ethics( /ngels contrasts Feuerbach@s
90
treatment of the conflict bet2een good and e0il 2ith the dialectical treatment of the same
3roblem in !egel(
:t is by no means coincidental that both Mar4& in his refutation of the Proudhonian
notion of ?good@ and ?bad@ times& and /ngels& in his criti6ue of Feuerbach@s ethics& should
refer back to !egel( For Feuerbach& Proudhon and !ess in this 6uestion all fall back far
behind !egel( Their attitude to2ards the basic 3henomenon of bourgeois society is far
less critical& far more immediate that that of !egel himself( True& e0en he treats
?alienation@ as a general 3hiloso3hical 3roblem( -ut in the most significant e43osition of
his theory of consciousness& the Phenomenology of Mind& he 3oses the 3roblem to
himself as a 3roblem of the structure of society& as a 3roblem of the consciousness of
man arising out of this structure about himself as social being( This is not the 3lace to
describe& e0en in outline& !egel@s 3osition in res3ect of these 3roblems( -ut if 2e are to
understand the methodological situation obtaining during the 3eriod 2hen communist
theory 2as emerging in Germany& 2e must at least 3oint out briefly that the 2hole
3roblem of ?alienation@& of man@s ?estrangement@ from himself as a historically and
3hiloso3hically necessary stage to2ards his final coming*to*himself& is the chief concern
of the decisi0e cha3ters of the Phenomenology of Mind( :t is generally kno2n that
?alienation@ is a !egelian term( Feuerbach@s 3olemic against !egel& ho2e0er& on the one
hand made the 6uestion a33ear to be a 3roblem of idealistic logic in general& 2hile on the
other it shifted the debate essentially on to the 3roblem of !egelian 3hiloso3hy of
nature& the 3roblem of nature as the ?other*ness@& the being*@e4ternal@*to*itself of the idea(
JOBK :n s3ite of the thorough kno2ledge 2hich some of them had of !egel& !ess and
com3any shared Feuerbach@s basic 3osition and chose to follo2 him in this res3ect&
a33lying his theory of ?alienation@ back to society( :n so doing they o0erlooked the fact
that !egel 3osed the 2hole 6uestion in a basically socio*historical 2ay( For 2hat is so
0ery remarkable& fascinating and 8 at the same time 8 confusing about
the Phenomenology of Mind is that it is the first 2ork in the history of 3hiloso3hy to
treat the so*called final 3roblems of 3hiloso3hy& the 6uestions of sub1ect and ob1ect& ego
and 2orld& consciousness and being& as historical 3roblems( ;nd moreo0er& not in the
sense of a33lying an a3rioristic 5i(e( ?timeless@7 formulation of the 6uestion& ty3ology&
etc(& to history as em3irical material 5as is the case 2ith Cant and Fichte7> but rather in
such a 2ay that these 3roblems& as3hiloso3hical 3roblems& in their ?a3riority@& in their
3urely 3hiloso3hical distincti0eness& are at the same time treated as forms of the
historical de0elo3ment of human consciousness( 9f course !egel 2as far from consistent
in the matter( :t is usually held that the Phenomenology of Mind is confusing 3recisely
because& in it& historical and su3ra*historical conce3t*formations are 1umbled u3
together& contradicting and cancelling one another out( ;s in other areas& here too 2e can
see at once the strengths and limitations of !egel( )hen he treats the ?3henomenology@
as a 3relude to 3hiloso3hy 3ro3er> 2hen the stages of consciousness occurring 2ithin its
3ages are concei0ed as a3rioristic stages 2hich the ?mind@ has to 3ass through in order to
raise itself from the le0el of ordinary consciousness to that of the identical sub1ect*ob1ect
8 i(e( the le0el of 3hiloso3hical consciousness 8 there are t2o conse6uences( 9n the one
hand& this 2hole de0elo3ment is reduced to a merely sub1ecti0e 3rocess 5e0en if not in
the terms of em3irical 3sychology7& and on the other the material of history is degraded
to the le0el of mere illustrati0e material(
-ut !egel does not kee3 to this idealistic 3rogramme( The assignation of stages of
consciousness to historical e3ochs is 8 as an e4am3le 2e shall shortly adduce 2ill make
clear 8 incom3arably more 3rofound in s3ite of the 3urely conce3tual terminology& the
a3rioristic treatment a33ears as a mere reflection& a merely conce3tual e43ression of the
historical material underlying it& the historical e3och intended to ser0e as an illustration
for that a3rioristic stage( -ut it is not only in details that the Phenomenology outgro2s
91
the 3lace in the system 2hich !egel himself allotted it( !e is unable to allot e0en the
2hole of it to a 3osition in kee3ing 2ith his system( The 3henomenology 2hich !egel in
his /ncyclo3edia 3laces bet2een anthro3ology and 3sychology as the second stage of the
sub1ecti0e mind has& 3recisely in the crucial 3roblems& 0ery little in common 2ith
the Phenomenology of Mind( The latter contains& rather& the 2hole of !egel@s
3hiloso3hy( :t is one of his attem3ts to summari#e his 2orld*0ie2 in a unified fashion(
"een in this 3ers3ecti0e& the ?sub1ecti0ity@ of thePhenomenology 51ust like the
?reconciliation@ referred to earlier7 re0eals a double 3hysiognomy( 9n the one hand& the
real*tress of the ?forms of consciousness@ 2hich fill the 3agesof the Phenomenology is
diminished from the outset> on the other& ho2e0er& it is in this 0ery diminution that
!egel@s remarkable 5albeit unconscious7 historico*social self*criticism re0eals itself( The
3henomena he discusses& the emergence of bourgeois ca3italist society 2ith its 3olitical
clima4 in the ?reign of terror@ of the French Re0olution& 2ere after all mere forms of
consciousness for the Germany of that time 8 and not concrete historical reality( This
situation allo2ed for t2o 3ossible res3onses either the conce3tual substance of these
3henomena 2as turned into an& ethical 3ostulate of natural la2 and o33osed to German
reality 5this is 2hat the young Fichte did7 8 in 2hich case& ho2e0er& the 0ery
fundamental 3hiloso3hical 3roblem of the age& the notion of reality as being ?created@ by
?us@& by man& remained unsol0ed( 9r the ans2er had to be sought in the !egelian
manner(
The salient 3oint in !egel@s treatment of this 6uestion is that he establishes the this*
sidedness of social reality( The cha3ter on the ?Truth of /nlightenment@&JO1K 2hich leads
on to the discussion of the French Re0olution& closes 2ith the 2ords ?-oth 2orlds are
reconciled and hea0en is trans3lanted to the earth belo2(@ For !egel& moreo0er& this
tendency is not by any means restricted to the ideological 3lane( The decisi0e category
that actually brings about this this*sidedness is& rather& an economic one 5albeit in
mythological form7 the useful( ;nd this category of the useful already e4hibits 0ery
clearly the dialectical double nature of the commodity& the unity of use*0alue and
e4change*0alue& the a33earance of thing*tress along 2ith internal relatedness in itself( ?:t
is&@ says !egel& ?something that subsists in itself or a thing> this being in itself is at the
same time only a 3ure moment> it is in conse6uence absolutely for something else& but is
e6ually for an other merely as it is in itself> these o33osite moments ha0e returned into
the indi0isible unity of being*for*self(@ JO+K Through the useful& this stage of
consciousness achie0es 2hat the earlier stages lacked reality( ?)hat is 2anting is
reached in the fact of utility so far as 3ure insight secures 3ositi0e ob1ecti0ity there> 3ure
insight is thereby a concrete actual consciousness satisfied 2ithin itself( This ob1ecti0ity
no2 constitutes its 2orld& and is become the final and true outcome of the entire
3re0ious 2orld& ideal as 2ell as real( ?JOFK This 2orld& the 2orld of bourgeois society
translated into thought& is the !egelian 2orld of ?alienation@ and ?estrangement@(
Consciousness is confronted by an ob1ecti0e& legitimate 2orld& 2hich in s3ite of 8 or
rather& 3recisely in and through 8 its strangeness and autonomy is its o2n 3roduct( :n
his introductory remarks to this section !egel says ?-ut that s3irit& 2hose self is
absolutely discrete& finds its content o0er against itself in the form of a reality that is 1ust
as im3enetrable as itself& and the 2orld here gets the characteristic of being something
e4ternal& negati0e to self*consciousness( Tet this 2orld is a s3iritual reality& it is
essentially the fusion of indi0iduality 2ith being( Thus its e4istence is the 2ork of self*
consciousness& but like2ise an actuality immediately 3resent and alien to it& 2hich has a
3eculiar being of its o2n& and in 2hich it does not kno2 itself( ( ( ( :t ac6uires its e4istence
by self*consciousness of its o2n accord relin6uishing itself and gi0ing u3 its essentiality( (
( (@JONK
92
The terminological affinity bet2een such statements and those of the radical Toung
!egelians is so ob0ious that it does not need to be analysed in detail( ;nd like2ise it
follo2s from 2hat has 3re0iously been said that 2e are not dealing 2ith a merely
terminological affinity& but& rather& that this is 2here the Toung !egelians took o0er from
!egel( )hat 2e must remember& of course& is that they took o0er only the sub1ecti0e&
idealistic as3ects of such statements& only the limitations of his thinking( -ut in doing so
they o0erlooked 3recisely 2hat 2as crucial namely& that !egel com3rehended the
ob1ecti0e forms of bourgeois society in their doubleness& in their contradictoriness as
moments of a 3rocess in 2hich man 5!egel@s mythological term is ?mind@7 in alienation
comes to himself& to the 3oint 2here the contradictions of his e4istence are dri0en to
their e4tremes and 3roduce the ob1ecti0e 3ossibility of the u3hea0al and sublation of the
contradictions themsel0es(JOOK ;lienation& abstraction from oneself& is therefore an
a33earance& it is true& 2hich re0eals itself as a33earance in the self*attainment of ?mind@(
-ut as a33earance it is at the same time an ob1ecti0e reality( :n his later system& 2here he
attem3ts to gras3 the same 3roblem logically& !egel says ?-eing has not 0anished but&
firstly& /ssence& as sim3le self*relation& is -eing& and secondly as regards its one*sided
characteristic of immediacy& -eing is de3osed to a mere negati0e& to
a seemingor reflected light 5"chein7 8 essence accordingly is -eing thus reflecting light
into itself 5scheinen in sich selbst7(JODK
:t is im3ossible at this 1uncture to analyse& e0en in outline& the 0arious forms in 2hich
!egel 2restles 2ith this 3roblem 5a3art from the theory of essence& both in
the /ncyclo3ediaand in the Logic& it is chiefly his account of bourgeois society in
the Philoso3hy of Right 2hich 2ould ha0e to be discussed7( The main methodological
issue at stake here has in any case been clarified by these fe2 allusions( First& it is clear
that for !egel ?alienation@& the ?abstract@ forms of life 8 indeed& abstraction and
estrangement themsel0es 8 are neither 3ure thought*constructs nor a ?re3rehensible@
reality& but the immediately gi0en forms of e4istence of the 3resent as forms of the
transition to2ards their self*o0ercoming in the historical 3rocess( 5The Philoso3hy of
Right ends 2ith the transition to 2orld*history(7 !ence& they cannot be o0ercome either
e3istemologically or in ethical*uto3ian fashion> only by self*sublation in the identical
sub1ect*ob1ect of history can they attain their resolution( "econdly and conse6uently&
?alienation@ a33ears as immediacy and immediacy as ?alienation@ not yet o0ercome( Thus
!egel refutes in ad0ance Feuerbach@s criti6ue of his 3hiloso3hy( )hich means& thirdly&
that immediacy has been relati0i#ed both historically and methodologically at e0ery
stage of de0elo3ment& the result of the 3re0ious 3rocess a33ears as an immediate datum(
:ts immediacy is a33earance the categories of mediation through 2hich it has 3assed in
the 3rocess in order to become this 8 ne2 8 immediacy remain unkno2n( Fourthly&
ho2e0er& this a33earance itself is a 8 necessary and ob1ecti0e 8 form of being& and can be
correctly gras3ed only 2hen this its double character is gras3ed in its dialectical
interactions 8 2hen& that is& those categories of mediation ha0e been 3in3ointed 2hich
ha0e made it into the necessary a33earance of essence& the necessary 3henomenal form
of being( :n other 2ords& it must be com3rehended not only as a 3roduct& but also at the
same time as a moment of the 3rocess( Thus& finally& the historical and the 3hiloso3hical
a33roaches 1oin forces as it becomes clear that each on its o2n is bound to remain stuck
fast in immediacy& and it is sho2n& on the one hand& that true 3hiloso3hical ?deduction@
of conce3ts or categories can consist only in ?creating@ them& in demonstrating their
historical genesis& and& on the other& that history consists 3recisely in the constant
transformation of those forms 2hich earlier modes of thinking& undialectical and al2ays
stuck fast in the immediacy of their 3resent as they 2ere& regarded as su3ra*historical(
9f course& e0en !egelian 3hiloso3hy issues into the immediacy of its 3resent( The
dialectical 3rocess in 2hich e0erything constantly dissol0es for it& finally 3etrifies to yield
93
a meta3hysical& non*dialectical ob1ect( :t thereby abolishes itself as a 3rocess( ;nd yet 8
!egel@s road to failure nonetheless 3ro0ides the methodological basis for a ne2& critical
53ractical*critical& historico*critical7 a33roach to the 3resent as a moment of the
historical 3rocess( :t is an a33roach in 2hich the duality of theory and 3ractice is
transcended on the one hand& the 3resent is gras3ed as concrete and immediate& but
com3rehended as a result of the historical 3rocess 8 i(e( genetically 8 by 3in3ointing all
the mediations 2hich underlie its immedicacy> on the other& ho2e0er& this same 3rocess
of mediation demonstrates that the 3resent is a mere moment of the 3rocess 2hich
transcends it( For it is 3recisely this critical a33roach to the immediacy of the 3resent
2hich relates it to human acti0ity it is in the moments of the 3resent 2hich are 3ushing
on2ards beyond themsel0es that the guidelines and real sco3e of 3ractical*critical
acti0ity& re0olutionary 3ractice& are gi0en(
-ut only for those 2hose a33roach takes the same direction as these on2ard*dri0ing
tendencies& 2hich transform the 3resent not only into a retrogressi0e& but also into a
3rogressi0e 3rocess( "uch an a33roach 2as unattainable for !egel himself( !e 2as able
to achie0e the su3reme conce3tual account of bourgeois society& gras3ing its
construction as a 3rocess& historically& dialectically(JO.K ;nd it 2as 3recisely !egel@s real
understanding of the antagonistic structure of bourgeois society 8 something also
achie0ed by Ricardo 8 2hich dro0e him to transcend it conce3tually( -ut he did so 3urely
logically& 3urely methodologically( "ince he li0ed in a less highly*de0elo3ed ca3italist
society than did Ricardo& 2here remains of 3ast e3ochs mingled much more obtrusi0ely
2ith the forms of e4istence of his social en0ironment& and since& therefore& he sa2
bourgeois society much more as de0elo3ing than as de0elo3ed& he 2as able to a33roach
the forms of e4istence created by it 2ith fe2er 3re1udices( !is method 2as de0ised in
order to achie0e kno2ledge of the 3resent> hence it contains 2ithin itself all the
contradictions of the 3resent in the form of methodological 3roblems( :t is dri0en by
these contradictions beyond the 3resent& beyond bourgeois society( -ut for the same
reason it cannot concreti#e itself into a true criti6ue of bourgeois society( !egel either
sto3s his criti6ue it the 3resent 5reconciliation7& or he directs the im3ulsi0e dialectical
mo0ement to a formal standstill in the 3urely contem3lati0e regions of mediated social
forms 5absolute s3irit7( This de0iation from the dialectical tendencies of the dialectic
does not manifest itself merely at those 3oints 2here it is obliged to become concrete and
ob0ious& but it reacts on the design and structure of the 2hole method& making !egel@s
entire dialectics 3roblematical( Thus& further 3rogress& the attem3t to transcend
bourgeois society& cannot be achie0ed by sim3ly continuing !egelian dialectics 8 this
2as 2here Lassalle failed methodologically( ,or is 3rogress 3ossible by making the
limitations of !egelian thought into the basis of 8 system 5-runo -auer7( 9n the other
hand& to engage in a one*sided 3olemic against these limitations and sim3ly thro2 a2ay
all that has beer achie0ed 2ithin them& as Feuerbach did& is e6ually 3ointless( -ut the
attem3t least likely to succeed is the one made by !ess namely& to amalgamate the t2o
rigid o33osites( That none of the radical Toung !egelians 3ossessed anything remotely
like !egel@s kno2ledge of economics& let alone managed to co3e 2ith the economic
de0elo3ments of the inter0ening years& is sym3tomatic of their lack of understanding of
2hat 2as crucial in his historical dialectics and their inability to reali#e 2hich as3ects of
his 3roblematics 2ere fruitful and susce3tible of de0elo3ment(
)e ha0e 1ust described as sym3tomatic the lack of real economic kno2ledge and the
inade6uate ac6uaintance 2ith continuing de0elo3ments in economic theory manifested
by !ess and the other radical Toung !egelians( :t needs to be added that& although these
deficiencies 2ere of course a sym3tom and a conse6uence of the 2rong 2ay in 2hich
they3osed the 6uestion& the fact that they 3osed the 6uestion 2rongly stems itself from
their 3osition as members of the re0olutionary intelligentsia( :n other 2ords& !egel& the
94
ideological cham3ion of bourgeois de0elo3ment itself& is su3erior to them sim3ly by
0irtue of his initial 3ositions@ For in stri0ing to transcend bourgeois de0elo3ment
ideologically& they re3udiate on 3rinci3le the ty3ical class science of the bourgeoisie&
economics& in 1ust the same unconditional manner as they re3udiate the class science of
the absolutist Eunkers& theology(JO9K:nstead& they seek liberation by means of
Feuerbach@s undialectical and unhistorical genesis by unmasking the ?alienated@&
inhuman nature of these disci3lines& to 2hich the correct reaction can only be
?understanding@ and the conscious disco0ery of ?man@( JDBK For !egel& on the other hand&
kno2ledge of economic 3henomena constituted an integral element of his systematic
orientation( -ut !egel@s 3osition 2as itself fraught 2ith insurmountable limitations( :n
the first 3lace& as the thinker 2ho made kno2ledge of bourgeois society culminate in the
state and dro0e 3hiloso3hy beyond that realm and into the ?3ure@ regions of the absolute
s3irit& he also found that economics ?is a credit to thought@ only ?because it finds la2s for
a mass of accidents@(JD1K ;s a result the economic elements become& in 3art merely
unconsciously& systematic com3onents of this thinking& and he is unable to retain and
3ut to use the historico*social understanding he has already achie0ed( "econdly&
ho2e0er& his bourgeois attitude 3re0ents him from e43osing the limitations of economics
e0en methodologically( ;longside a number of e4tremely acute obser0ations&JD+K some
of them of much 2ider rele0ance than the economics he 2as 2orking on& 2e find !egel
describing "ay as a re3resentati0e of economic science on a 3ar 2ith "mith and Ricardo&
ob0iously not e0en noticing the difference in standard (JDFK
This is the starting*3oint for the criti6ue by Mar4 and /ngels( The e3och*making essays
in the Leutsch*Fran#_sische EahrbVcher introduce an entirely ne2 method of
criticisminto thought criticism as the demonstration of the underlying social causes of a
3roblem and of the social 3rere6uisites of its solution( 9nly 2ith this a33roach to the
3roblem did it become 3ossible to carry dialectics o0er the 3oint of inertia in the
!egelian 0ersion( ;nd in s3ite of all the a33arent affinity 2ith their contem3oraries&
Mar4 and /ngels are 2orking e0en at this early stage on com3letely different lines from
those 3ursued by the radical Toung !egelians and the socialist su33orters of Feuerbach&
2ho& instead of follo2ing the !egelian 3ath to the end and leading thought about society
and history out of the blind*alley into 2hich !egelian 3hiloso3hy had stumbled& settled
do2n and made themsel0es at home in this blind*alley& uttering 3raise or criticism as
they did so( :t is not 3ossible at this 3oint e0en to sketch the outlines of the change
brought about in the dialectical method by Mar4 and /ngels( The contrast 2as intended
merely to demonstrate the methodological necessity 2hich condemned the efforts of
e0en such an honest thinker as !ess to ab1ect failure from the 0ery outset( :t is often
claimed that the Toung !egelians tried to resol0e 3hiloso3hically the 3hiloso3hical
contradictions of !egel@s system and that they failed in their task( That is correct( -ut 2e
must am3lify this by sho2ing ho2 dee3ly the reasons for their failure are rooted in the
nature of 3hiloso3hy itself and to 2hat e4tent the change 2rought by Mar4 and /ngels in
fact created a theory of a com3letely ne2 kind 5albeit 3rofoundly connected 2ith the
!egelian dialectic7 the criti6ue of 3olitical economy(
The criti6ue of 3olitical economy is based methodologically on the !egelian theory of the
dissolution of immediacy by 3ointing out the historical categories of mediation& by
concrete& historical genesis( Mar4 and /ngels are able to e4ecute these changes because
they look at bourgeois society from the stand3oint of the 3roletariat& 2hence 3roceeds
the dialectical unity of the immediate reality of ca3italist categories and& at the same
time& the resolution of the rigidity& their fetishistic character (JDNK The obtuseness of
bourgeois economics lies in the fact that it acce3ts all the 3henomena of its underlying
e4istence in the forms in 2hich they are immediately encountered& and hence in its
theory 8 at least in the 2ork of the great re3resentati0es of classical economics 8 reflects&
95
unconsciously& those contradictions 2hich are really o3erating behind this immediacy(
-y contrast& the shallo2 0ulgar economists and the committed a3ologists for ca3italist
society attem3t 8 theoretically 8 to transcend these contradictions( The idealism of the 8
more or less conscious 8 3roletarian critics of bourgeois economics is based on their
inability to see through this dialectical double nature( The ?true socialists@ in Germany
2ere not the only ones to succumb to such idealism 5although it manifested itself most
blatantly in their 2ork because of their !egelian& su3erficially dialectical reasoning7>
others to do so 2ere Proudhon& -ray and the /nglish socialist critics of Ricardo( )riting
about !odgskin& 2hom he also characteri#es as an idealist&JDOK Mar4 3oints out ?Thus&
in other 2ords& !odgskin asserts The effects of a s3ecific social form of labour are
attributed to the thing& to the 3roducts of that labour> the relation itself is clothed by
fantasy in the form of a thing( )e ha0e seen that this is a s3ecific characteristic of labour
based on the 3roduction of commodities& on e4change 0alue& and that this 6uid 3ro 6uo
can be seen in the commodity& in money 5though !odgskin fails to reali#e this7 and& at a
higher le0el& in ca3ital( :n ca3ital the effects 2hich things ha0e as ob1ecti0e moments in
the 3rocess of labour& are attributed to them& as if they o2ned them& as if they had
become autonomous& 3ersonified beings 0is*<*0is labour( They 2ould cease to ha0e these
effects once they ceased to confront labour in this alienated form( The ca3italist as
ca3italist is no more than the 3ersonification of ca3ital& he stands o33osed to labour as
its creation& but endo2ed 2ith a 2ill and 3ersonality of his o2n( !odgskin regards this as
a 3urely sub1ecti0e delusion behind 2hich the dece3tion and the interests of the
e43loiting classes lie concealed( !e does not see ho2 this manner of seeing the situation
s3rings from the real facts of the matter& ho2 the latter is not the e43ression of the
former& but 0ice 0ersa(@JDDK Mar4 underlines the 8 relati0e& historical 8
1ustificationJD.K of this sub1ecti0ist stand3oint of !odgskin@s 0is*<*0is the fetishism of
the economy& but makes it e43licitly clear that this inability to recogni#e the reality*factor
in their fetishistic formations of ca3italist 3roduction and in their theoretical reflections
is based on the fact that !odgskin takes the 3roblems 3osed by the economy 5and the
reality 2hich underlies them7 as he finds them 5for e4am3le& the distinction bet2een
fi4ed and circulating ca3ital7(JDPK This& ho2e0er& leads in turn to his o0erlooking the
3rocess*like nature of e0en the ?sim3le 3henomena of ca3italist society 5e(g( in the
6uestion of com3ound interest& 2here he fails to notice that ?sim3le 3rofit@ is in fact as
much com3ounded as com3ound interest 3ro3er 8 that& in other 2ords& it is not a
6uestion of a ?thing@ in the midst of the 3rocess& but rather of ?thingness@ as being sim3ly
a manifestation of the 3rocess7(JD9K
?True socialism@ is 1ust as obtuse in this decisi0e 6uestion as bourgeois economics( For
e4am3le& 2hen Mar4& referring to Eames Mill& stresses that ?he makes the unity of
o33osites into the immediate identity of those o33osites@&J.BK he is merely continuing his
earlier 3olemic against the economics of ?true socialism@& in 2hich he 3oured scorn on
Grim for his ine3t& 0ulgarly economistic notion of the ?unity of 3roduction and
consum3tion@(J.1K ?)e can see ho2& for all his e4tra0agant carryings*on& nothing emerges
but an a3ologia for the e4isting conditions(@ ;nd the harsh criticism in the Communist
Manifesto is only the logical elaboration of this criti6ue in the case of the bourgeois
economists& the economic structure of bourgeois society is sim3ly acce3ted theoretically
in its immediacy> as for the attitude of the ?true socialists@ to2ards the re0olutionary
mo0ements of the bourgeoisie& the concretely re0olutionary kernel of the 3rocess of
social de0elo3ment is misunderstood in abstract& uto3ian fashion 8 2ithout in any 2ay
esca3ing from the realm of the immediate( These t2o 3oints of 0ie2*seemingly o33osed
and actually contradictory are nonetheless closely related methodologically( They are
necessary conse6uences of the idealistically basic notion of ?true socialism@ the
se3aration of theory and 3ractice and hence of the theoretical and historical e4amination
96
of social 3henomena( !egel@s enormous intellectual achie0ement consisted in making
theory and history dialectically relati0e to each other& concei0ing them in terms of a
3rocess of dialectical inter3enetration( -ut e0en this attem3t finally failed( !egel 2as
ne0er able to ad0ance to a real unity of theory and 3ractice> instead he merely either
saturated the logical arrangement of the categories 2ith a 2ealth of historical material or
rationali#ed history into a succession of sublimated and abstracted forms& alterations of
structure& e3ochs& etc(& 2hich he raised to categories( Mar4 2as the first to see through
this false dilemma he did not deduce the order of se6uence of the categories from either
their logical arrangement or from their historical succession& but he recogni#ed that
?their order of se6uence is rather determined by the relation 2hich they bear to one
another in modern bourgeois society@(J.+K :n doing so& he not only 3ro0ided dialectics
2ith the real foundation that !egel had sought in 0ain& setting it& as /ngels 3ut it& ?right
side u3@& but at the same time he rescued the criti6ue of 3olitical economy 8 2hich he
had made the basis of dialectics 8 from the fetishistic 3etrifaction and abstract 3ettiness
into 2hich economics 2as bound to decline e0en in the hands of its greatest bourgeois
re3resentati0es( The criti6ue of 3olitical economy no longer stands as ?one@ science
alongside the others& nor is it merely ranked abo0e the others as a ?basic science@> but
rather it com3rises the entire 2orld*history of the ?forms of e4istence@ 5the categories7 of
human society(J.FK
)ith materialistic dialectics thus established& ?true socialism@ lost its 2hole raison
d@^tre& e0en from a sub1ecti0e 3oint of 0ie2(J.NK ;nd after serious inner struggles& !ess&
2ho 2as an honest thinker and re0olutionary& admitted as much 8 unconditionally& in
fact& in a letter 2ritten in 1PND and 6uoted by Mehring( -ut he 2as unable to make the
ne2 stand3oint truly his o2n( !is essay 3ublished in 1PN. in the Leutsche -rVsseler
Weitung comes 0ery close to Mar4 terminologically and indeed& attem3ts to a33ly the
Mar4ist mode of thinking( -ut the title itself 8 The Conse6uences of the Proletarian
Re0olution 8 makes it clear that& e0en at the time 2hen he most closely a33roached
Mar4& he still remained the old idealist and ethical Ato3ian( ;nd in the 2ork 2hich he
3ublished immediately after the 1PNP re0olution 8 Eugement Lernier du Mieu4 Monde
"ocial 8 he turns back once more to his old 3oint of 0ie2( Talking about Mar4 and /ngels
he 2rites ?They understand 3erfectly the art of dissecting our society& analysing its
economy and re0ealing its sickness( -ut they are too materialistic to 3ossess that
electrifying %lan 2hich ins3ires the 3eo3le( ;fter gi0ing u3 idealistic 3hiloso3hy& they
thre2 themsel0es into the arms of materialistic economics( They ha0e e4changed the
nebulous stand3oint of German 3hiloso3hy for the narro2 and 3etty stand3oint of
/nglish economics(@J.OK
-ut a real return to the old stand3oint 2as of course no longer 3ossible( The economic
a33roach remained henceforth decisi0e in the de0elo3ment of !ess@s theory> but since
his thinking continued to be basically idealistic& it functioned methodolcgically as a
foreign body( Thus the 3am3hlet 6uoted abo0e contains a number of mo0es in the
direction of historical materialism& but al2ays !ess sto3s half*2ay 5sometimes e0en
three*6uarters of the 2ay7 and re0erts to his old moralistic idealism& reinforcing it 2ith
all kinds of 2ildly mythological& cosmic or racial theories( For e4am3le& he 2rites
?Labour has al2ays been organi#ed for 3rogress& the 3rogress of labour has al2ays
increased and 3erfected the forces of 3roduction& and the great re0olutions ha0e al2ays
eru3ted for the 3ur3ose of raising the mode of 3roduction to the le0el of the forces of
3roduction and organi#ing labour or 3rogress(@ ;ttacking "aint*"imon& he e0en
formulates the economic mode of the coming socialist society in the follo2ing terms
?From *ach according to his abilities& to each according to his needs(@ ;nd yet the 2hole
3resentation of the 3roblem remains obstinately ideological the old rigid confrontation
of necessity and freedom& immediately acce3ted 2orld and e6ually immediately acce3ted
97
ethical demand 52hich gees hand in hand 2ith moral 1udgment of being7& is unchanged 8
or& at most& assigned in a seemingly less rigid 2ay to 3ast and 3resent( Thus& after
admitting the ob1ecti0e necessity for the 3ast of class antagonisms& he goes on to say
?Today& of course& enlightened 3eo3le are not 2rong to attribute the continued e4istence
of this antagonism to the male0olence of a handful of 3ri0ileged 3ersons(@J.DK The
sudden and com3lete change 2hich is su33osed to occur in a re0olutionary situation
could hardly be formulated more ideologically(
"ince !ess 2as unable either to maintain his old stand3oint or to understand and a33ly
the ne2 one 3ro3erly& his 2ritings after he 2as ?con0erted@ by Mar4 sho2 him
floundering hel3lessly to and fro bet2een totally em3ty and abstract thought*constructs&
fantastic conce3tions of a 3hiloso3hy of nature& 1ustification of Wionism in terms of racial
theories and the history of 3hiloso3hy& etc(& etc(J..K ;s an honest re0olutionary he
3artici3ated in the Lassallean 2orkers@ mo0ement and remained in the ranks of the
struggling 3roletariat until his death( ;s a theoretician& ho2e0er& he 2as destroyed by his
contact 2ith materialist dialectics( !ess@s strange fate& the almost total se3aration of
theory from 3ractice& the anonymous 3ersistence of the 2rong theoretical formulations
e0en after he himself had 8 unconciously& at least 8 abandoned them& the 3ossibility for a
ty3ically 3hiloso3hically orientated re0olutionary to act at decisi0e moments 2ith
com3lete disregard for his theories 8 all this can be e43lained only in terms of the under*
de0elo3ment of the class antagonisms in Germany at that time( )hene0er such thoughts
ha0e cro33ed u3 since then& they ha0e al2ays led 2ith a certain ine0itability from the
cam3 of the 3roletariat into that of the bourgeoisie( !ess@s case 8 both his utter failure in
the ob1ecti0e realm of theory des3ite all his talents and his sometimes correct a33roach
to indi0idual 3roblems& and his 3ersonal loyalty to the cause of re0olution 8 is one of the
most illuminating 3aradigms of the intellectual situation in Germany at the time the
theory of 3roletarian re0olution 2as beginning to emerge( -oth in his faults and in his
0irtues& !ess is the most ty3ical re3resentati0e of this transitional 3eriod> and it is as
such 8 not& as some 2ould ha0e it& as the theoretical link bet2een !egel and Mar4 8 that
he 2ill kee3 his 3lace in the history of the 2orking*class mo0ement(
Georg Lukcs
Lenin 8 Theoretician of Practice
This article is a du3licate of a ssection the 19D. Postscri3t to the book HLenin ; "tudy
on the Anity of his Thought(I 19+N>
)ritten 19+N>
Transcribed by ;ndr% ,1(
:n the chain of democratic re0olutions in modern times t2o ty3es of leaders& 3oles a3art&
made their a33earance& embodied by men such as Lanton and Robes3ierre& in both
reality and( literature 5for e4am3le in the 2orks of Georg -uchner7( /0en the great
orators of 2orkers@ re0olutions& for e4am3le Lassalle and Trotsky& sho2 certain
Lantones6ue features(
Lenin is the first re3resentati0e of an entirely ne2 ty3e& a tertium datur& as o33osed to
the t2o e4tremes( /0en his refle4es 2ere characteri#ed by the sort of high degree of
consistency of 3rinci3le 2hich could only be met 2ith in the great old re0olutionary
ascetics * although there 2as not an ounce of asceticism in Lenin@s 3ersonality( !e 2as
brimming 2ith life& had a good sense of humor& he could en1oy e0erything that life had to
offer& from shooting and fishing to 3laying a game of ?chess> or reading Pushkin and
Tolstoy& he 2as able to de0ote himself to and identify himself 2ith real 3eo3le( The
consistency of 3rinci3le intensified to relentless hardness during the ci0il 2ar& but there
2as no hatred in Lenin( !e fought against institutions and this& naturally& meant that he
also had to fight against the men 2ho re3resented those institutions*if necessary to their
98
annihilation( -ut he al2ays considered it a humanly de3lorable necessity e0en though it
could not be a0oided or disregarded under certain concrete conditions( Gorky recorded
Lenin@s 0ery characteristic 2ords s3oken after he listened to -eetho0en@s ;33assionata
sonata H: kno2 the ;33assionata inside out and yet : am 2illing to listen to it e0ery day(
:t is 2onderful& ethereal music( 9n hearing it : 3roudly& maybe some2hat nai0ely& think
"eeR 3eo3le are able to 3roduce such mar0elsRI !e then 2inked& laughed and added
sadly H:@m often unable to listen to music& it gets on my ner0es& : 2ould like to stroke my
fello2 beings and 2his3er s2eet nothings in their ears for being able to 3roduce such
beautiful things in s3ite of the abominable hell they are li0ing in( !o2e0er& today one
shouldn@t caress anybody * for 3eo3le 2ill only bite off your hand> strike& 2ithout 3ity&
although theoretically 2e are against any kind of 0iolence( Am3h& it is& in fact& an
infernally difficult taskRI
:t is clear that e0en such a s3ontaneous dis3lay of feeling is not a re0olt of the instincts
against the H2ay of lifeI forced onto them and that Lenin in this res3ect& too& only
follo2ed his o2n 2orked*out ideological 3rinci3les( Many years before the scene
described by Gorky& 2hen Lenin 2as a young man& he 2rote 3olemic articles against the
,arodniks and their legal Mar4ist critics> analy#ing their articles he sho2ed that their
methods 2ere ob1ecti0e 2hen they asserted that Ha certain order of succession in the
course of e0ents is a necessity&I and that ob1ecti0ism entails the gra0e conse6uence that
Hit degrades to the 3osition of an a3ologist for facts(I :n Lenin@s 0ie2 there 2as only one
2ay of a0oiding the dangers in0ol0ed* Mar4ism has to be a33lied more consistently to
hel3 to understand that facts and the real social bases ha0e to be detected in the facts
themsel0es( This conclusion sho2s the su3eriority of Mar4ism as against ob1ecti0ism& for
a Mar4ist Hasserts his ob1ecti0ism more 3rofoundly and fully(I This ste33ed*u3
ob1ecti0ism brings about 2hat Lenin called 3artiality& i(e( H2hene0er an o3inion is
formed on e0ents one has to take u3 a 3osition linked 2ith a 3articular social class
directly and o3enly(I Thus& for Lenin a sub1ecti0e stand al2ays deri0es from and re0erts
to ob1ecti0e reality(
Conflicts arise 2hen contradictions 2ithin reality intensify into mutually e4clusi0e
differences and those li0ing amidst such conflicts ha0e to deal 2ith them themsel0es(
!o2e0er& conflicts in 2hich con0ictions rooted in reality and based u3on the ob1ecti0e
conditions of indi0iduals clash& theoretically differ from the ones in 2hich an indi0idual@s
innermost human nature is im3eriled( The latter case ne0er ha33ened 2ith Lenin(
!amlet@s greatest 3raise for !oratio is H((( and bless@d are those ' )hose blood and
1udgment are so 2ell co*mingled ' That they are not a 3i3e for fortune@s finger ' To
sound 2hat sto3 she 3lease(* -lood and 1udgment their contrast as 2ell as their unity
only deri0e from the biological s3here as the direct general basis of human e4istence(
;ssuming concrete sha3e both e43ress the social life of man harmony or dissonance as a
relationshi3 of man and a certain historical moment& both in theory and in 3ractice(
-lood 2ith 1udgment blended 2ell in Lenin for the kno2ledge of society he had ac6uired
concentrated on the action needed 1ust at that moment& since his 3ractice 2as al2ays the
necessary conse6uence of his system and of the aggregate of true kno2ledge he had
accumulated(
There 2as nothing in Lenin to suggest intro0ersion& success didn@t make him
o0erconfident& nor did failure de3ress him( !e denied that there 2ere situations in 2hich
man could not react in 3ractice( Lenin 2as one of the fe2 great men 2ho succeeded in
much& in all the most essential things& and 3recisely in 3ractice( ;nd yet 8 or maybe 1ust
because of that 8 there 2as scarcely another man 2ho looked on 3ossible or 3ast
mistakes so soberly& so free of any kind of 3athetic attitude( H,ot he 2ho ne0er errs is
cle0er( "uch a man does not and cannot e4ist( ; man is cle0er if he doesn@t commit too
0ital mistakes and& in case he has made one& kno2s ho2 to rectify it& 6uickly and 2ith
99
facility(I This highly matter*of*fact o3inion on the lot of acti0e man e43resses more
clearly the essence of Lenin@s attitude of mind than any statement full of 3athos( !is life
consisted of continuous action and uninterru3ted struggle& and 2hat is more& he acted
and fought in a 2orld in 2hich*according to his dee3est con0ictions*there 2as a 2ay out
of e0ery situation for him and his o33onents as 2ell( For this reason his guiding 3rinci3le
2as to be 3re3ared for action& and for the right moment to act(
This 2as the reason for the effect on the masses of Lenin@s sober sim3licity( !e 2as an
unmatched 3eo3le@s tribune but e0en the shado2 of a rhetorical attitude 2as
incom3atible 2ith his 3ersonality> in this ?res3ect& too& he 2as a contrast to the earlier
ty3e of great re0olutionaries 5let us in this connection too bear in mind Lassalle and
Trotsky7( -oth in his 3ri0ate and 3ublic life he had an a0ersion to 3hrase*mongering& to
anything bombastic or e4aggerated( :t is characteristic of him that the 3olitical and
human re3udiation of He4aggerationsI 2as su33orted by an ob1ecti0e 3hiloso3hical basis
H"hould truth be e4aggerated or the bounds of its real 0alidity transgressed ((( it might
change into absurdity& moreo0er& under such conditions it must ine0itably change into
absurdity(I
This means that e0en the most general 3hiloso3hic categories did not& for Lenin& belong
to a generali#ing contem3lati0e and abstract s3here& for be considered them to be means
ready to hand to ser0e the theoretical 3re3aration of 3ractice( )hen fighting against
-ukharin@s e6ui0ocal& eclectic& intermediary 3osition in the discussion on trade unions he
had recourse to the category of totality( The 2ay Lenin a33lied a 3hiloso3hical category
is highly characteristic( H:n order to get thoroughly ac6uainted 2ith a sub1ect one has to
a33rehend and study e0ery one of its as3ects& relations and 2hat it ?con0eys(@ ;lthough
2e shall ne0er reach this com3letely& the re6uirement for many*sidedness 2ill safeguard
us from making mistakes and becoming rigid(I The 2ay in 2hich an abstract
3hiloso3hical category 8 su33lemented by e3istemological reser0ations as to its
a33licability 8 can be a33lied 3urely as a guiding 3rinci3le for correct *3ractice is 0ery
illuminating(
This attitude of Lenin@s 2as e0en more striking in the discussion on the 3eace treaty of
-rest*Lito0sk( :t has become a historical common3lace that as regards Real3olitik Lenin
2as right as against the leftist Communists 8 2ho 2anted to su33ort a future German
re0olution on the basis of internationalist considerations 8 2hen they clamored for a
re0olutionary 2ar thus risking the sur0i0al of the Russian "o0iet Re3ublic( Lenin arri0ed
at the right 3ractical solution by a thorough theoretical analysis of the actual state
5"o "ein7 of the o0erall 3rocess of re0olutionary de0elo3ment( )orld re0olution 8 Lenin
said 8 3recedes all 3artial e0ents but this can& according to Lenin& only become a genuine
5that is& 3ractical7 truth Hif it is not left out& of consideration ho2 long and difficult the
2ay is 2hich leads to the com3lete 0ictory of socialism(I ;nd in 0ie2 of the then concrete
situation *he added HMery abstract truth becomes an em3ty 3hrase if it is a33lied in the
case of some arbitrary concrete situation(I Thus& truth 8 as the basis of 3ractice 8 differs
from re0olutionary 3hrases in that it theoretically hits u3on the 3ermanent& necessary
and 3ossible& actual state of being 5"o "ein7 of the re0olutionary situation( The& highest
lofty feelings and most self*sacrificing de0otion become an em3ty 3hrase if the
theoretical essence 5"o "ein7 of the situation does not render it 3ossible to carry into
effect true re0olutionary 3ractice( This does not mean& of course& that genuine
re0olutionary 3ractice 2ill be necessarily successful( ;t the time of the first re0olution&
follo2ing the su33ression of the Mosco2 armed u3rising& Lenin 0ehemently argued 2ith
Plekhano0 according to 2hom Hit 2as 2rong to take u3 arms&I 2hereas in Lenin@s 0ie2
the su33ressed re0olt furthered the o0erall 3rocess( /0ery kind of analogy both abstract
and concrete as 2ell as substituting 2orld historic e0ents for actual ones leads to
3hrases> for e4am3le& a com3arison bet2een France in 1.9+*9F and Russia in 1(91P&
100
2hich 2as often done 2hen the -rest*Lito0sk 3eace 2as discussed( ; similar erroneous
generali#ation 2as the sensible *and ?self*critical theses the communists formulated after
the Ca33 3utsch in 19+B& in 2hich they 2orked out guiding 3rinci3les should
a 3utsch ha33en again( Lenin had to ask again !o2 do you kno2 that the German forces
of reaction are going to re3eat it=
Lenin@s entire life consisted of continuous study> 2ithout it he couldn@t ha0e acted or
formed 1udgments the 2ay he did( :n 191N& after the outbreak of the First )orld )ar&
follo2ing trouble 2ith the 3olice& he took refuge in "2it#erland( To make full use of his
HholidayI be set himself the task of 2orking through !egel@s Logic( )hile li0ing
underground& after the Euly 191. e0ents& his host& a 2orker& 3raised the 6uality of bread
at lunch HThey don@t dare to sell bad 6uality bread anymoreRI Lenin 2as touched and
delighted by this Hclass*conscious e0aluation of the Euly days(I !e 3ondered o0er his
intricate analyses and the tasks ensuing from them H-read : hadn@t thought of&I he
2rote& Hne0er ha0ing li0ed in misery myself ((( Thanks to 3olitical analyses the 3rocess of
reasoning 3roceeds along com3licated and circuitous 2ays to the class struggle fought
for bread& on 2hich e0erything is based(I That is ho2 Lenin ac6uired kno2ledge& right
through his 2hole life& at all times and e0ery2here& be it !egel@s Logic or a 2orkman@s
o3inion on bread(
"tudying all the time and the readiness to allo2 himself to be taught by reality 2ere due
to the absolute 3riority he 2as 3re3ared to gi0e to 3ractice( This fact in itself& but e0en
more so the nature of his study& 3roduced an unbridgeable ga3 bet2een Lenin and e0ery
other em3iricist or 3ractitioner of Real3olitik( For him the reminder that totality must be
the basis and standard of e0erything 2as not a mere debating 3oint& or 3rinci3le of
teaching( !e made far more rigorous demands on himself than on the most highly
esteemed men 2ith 2hom he 2as engaged in contro0ersy( Ani0ersality& totality and 3lain
concreteness 2ere the decisi0e definitions for the reality in 2hich one has to act> e0ery
kind of 3ractice gets to be truly efficient to the e4tent it is able to a33roach these
categories(
9f course& history al2ays brings about situations o33osed to all hitherto kno2n theories(
Moreo0er& situations may arise in 2hich it is im3ossible to act in accordance 2ith right&
and kno2n to be right& 3rinci3les( Lenin kne2 already before 9ctober 191. that in an
economically back2ard Russia some kind of transitional solution& similar to the ,/P&
2ould be necessary( !o2e0er& the ci0il 2ar and the inter0ention of foreign 3o2ers
im3osed 2hat 2as& called 2ar communism on the "o0iet state( Lenin yielded to necessity
but 2ithout gi0ing u3 his con0iction based on 3rinci3le( !e did 2hat 2as re6uired by 2ar
communism but refused to admit*in contrast to the ma1ority of his contem3oraries*that
2ar communism 2as the right form of a change to socialism( !e firmly decided to re0ert
to the theoretically right course of the ,/P as soon as the 2ar and the inter0ention of
foreign& 3o2ers came to an end( !e 2as neither an em3iricist nor a dogmatist& but a
theoretician of 3ractice 2ho 3ro3osed to translate theory into 3ractice(
)hat is to be done= could not merely be the symbolic title of Lenin@s entire literary 2orks
but the fundamental theoretical idea of the& 2ork& as it 2ere a 3reliminary summing u3
of his )eltanschauung( !e stated that the s3ontaneous class struggle embodied in
strikes& e0en in 3recisely and 2ell organi#ed ones& only im3lanted the germs of class
consciousness into the 3roletariat( Merely by strikes 2orkmen 2on@t arri0e to the
a2areness Hthat their interests are in irreconcilable o33osition to the 3resent 3olitical
and social system as a 2hole(I :n this case too& totality determines the right direction of
class consciousness tending to2ard re0olutionary 3ractice( There is no genuine 3ractice
2hich is not directed to2ard totality( !o2e0er& the recognition of totality can ne0er be
s3ontaneous( :t has to be introduced Hfrom outside&I that is 2ith the hel3 of theory& into
the consciousness of those 2ho act(
101
!ence the general domination of 3ractice can only be reali#ed if it relies on a theory the
aim and direction of 2hich is to attain all*embracing kno2ledge( !o2e0er& the totality of
ob1ecti0ely unfolding e4istence is 8 as Lenin kne2 8 infinite and& therefore& ne0er
com3letely cogni#able( Thus& it seems that a 0icious circle de0elo3s cogniti0e 3rocesses
are infinite but to act correctly and immediately is an al2ays to3ical demand( Tet& in
3ractice 3roblems can be sol0ed that seem& abstractly and theoretically& insoluble( The
attitude ca3able of this can best be described in "hakes3eare@s 2ords Hthe readiness is
all(I 9ne of Lenin@s most 3roducti0e characteristics is that he ne0er ceased to learn from
reality and 2as al2ays ready to act at the same time( ; note2orthy and seemingly
3arado4ical 3eculiarity of his theoretical acti0ity follo2s from this he ne0er thought that
he had no more to learn from reality and 2hate0er he kne2 he arranged in such a 2ay
that he 2as able to use it 2hene0er needed in action(
: 2as lucky enough to be 3resent on an occasion 2hen Lenin suddenly had to mobili#e
kno2ledge that 2as not fully formed yet( This ha33ened in 19+1( The C#echoslo0ak
committee of the Third Congress of the Comintern 2as in session( /4tremely
com3licated 6uestions 2ere in0ol0ed and it seemed that the di0ergent o3inions 2ere
irreconcilable( "uddenly Lenin turned u3 and 2as asked to say 2hat*he thought of the
C#ech 3roblems( !e refused to ans2er at first& he said that he had tried to*study the
material but im3ortant affairs of state had inter0ened> he had 1ust managed to glance
through t2o 3a3ers he carried on him in his coat 3ocket( 9nly after being asked
re3eatedly did he agree to gi0e his im3ressions of the t2o 3a3ers( Taking them out of his
3ocket he ga0e an unmethodical& e4tem3ori#ed analysis starting 2ith the leading article
and finishing 2ith the daily ne2s( Tet& these im3ro0ised thoughts 3ro0ided a thorough
analysis of the then C#echoslo0ak situation and the tasks 2hich the Communist Party
faced&
:t 2as natural for Lenin 8 2ho 2as al2ays ready to gi0e 3riority to 3ractice 2hen the
6uestion of reci3rocal effects bet2een theory and 3ractice 2ere in0ol0ed( This 2as
3articularly ob0ious 2hen he 2as 1ust about to finish his main theoretical 2ork& "tate
and Re0olution& 2ritten during the first 3hase of the re0olution( !e 2rote it
underground& in a hiding 3lace& after the Euly days& and couldn@t finish the last cha3ter
about the e43eriences of 19BO and 191. because of the s3read of the re0olution( H:t is
more 3leasant and useful&I he 2rote in a 3ostscri3t& Hto follo2 through the ?e43eriences
of a re0olution@ than to 2rite about them(I These 2ords are 3rofoundly sincere( )e kno2
that he al2ays 2anted to make u3 for 2hat he omitted to do( :t 2as no fault of his but
due to e0ents that he 2as not able to(
Luring the last fe2 centuries an im3ortant de0elo3ment in the history of human
beha0ior 2as that the notion of the "toic*/3icurean H3hiloso3herI considerably
influenced*e0en beyond academic 3hiloso3hy*the e0olution of ethical& 3olitical and
social 0ie2s( :n the course of e4erting influence the ideal also became transformed> the
acti0e and 3ractical features of the ty3e@ became far more intensi0e as com3ared to the
original one( The last and u3 to no2 highest and most im3ortant 3hase of de0elo3ment is
a 3ermanent readiness to act& an attitude so characteristic of Lenin( :t is only a 3assing
3hase of 2orld history that today 2hen mani3ulation tears 3ractice asunder and de*
ideologi#ing decom3oses theory this ideal is not esteemed too highly by the He43erts(I
90er and abo0e his deeds and 2orks& Lenin re3resents an e0erlasting asset as the
embodiment of a 3ermanent readiness for action Lenin@s attitude is a ne2& e4em3lary
ty3e of the relationshi3 bet2een human action and reality(

The Lestruction of Reason( Georg Lukcs 19O+
102
C!;PT/R :::
,iet#sche as Founder of :rrationalism
in the :m3erialist Period
)ritten by Georg Lukacs& com3leted in 19O+>
First Published in German in 19D+ by !ermann Luchterhand Merlag Gm-!>
"ource Lestruction of Reason& by Georg Lukacs& 3ublished by Merlin Press& :"-,
1
:t may be 3ostulated as a general statement that the decline of bourgeois ideology set in
2ith the end of the 1PNP re0olution( 9f course 2e can find many latecomers Y es3ecially
in literature and art Y for 2hose 2ork this thesis by no means holds good 52e need only
to mention Lickens and Celler& Courbet and Laumier7( These latter names a3art& the
3eriod bet2een 1PNP and 1P.B 2as rife 2ith significant transitional figures 2ho& 2hile
their 2ork does reflect features of the decline& 2ere in no 2ise 3arty to it 2ith regard to
the central substance of their out3ut 5e(g(& Flaubert& -audelaire7( Certainly the decline
started much earlier in the s3here of theoretical learning& 3articularly economics and
3hiloso3hy> bourgeois economics had 3roduced nothing original and for2ard*looking
since the demise of the Ricardo school in the 1P+Bs& 2hile bourgeois 3hiloso3hy had
yielded nothing ne2 since the demise of !egelianism 51PFBs and 1PNBs7( -oth these
fields 2ere com3letely dominated by ca3italist a3ologetics( ; similar situation obtained
in the historical sciences( The fact that the natural sciences continued to make enormous
strides during this 3eriod Y Lar2in@s great 2ork a33eared bet2een 1PNP and 1P.B Y
does not affect the 3icture one bit> there ha0e been ne2 disco0eries in this area right u3
to the 3resent( This in itself did not forestall a certain degeneration of general
methodology& an increasingly reactionary slant in the bourgeois 3hiloso3hy of natural
sciences& and an e0er*gro2ing #eal in the use of their findings for the 3ro3agation of
reactionary 0ie2s( 5)e are not no2 s3eaking of ideological e0olution in Russia( !ere the
year 19BO corres3onded to 1PNP in the )est Y and only t2el0e years after2ards came
the socialist re0olution(7
9nly in the light of all these facts are 2e entitled to claim Y 2ithout losing a 1ust sense of
3ro3ortion Y that the years 1P.B*1 marked another turning*3oint in the de0elo3ment of
ideology( :n the first 3lace& it 2as then that the rise of the great nation*states in Central
/uro3e reached com3letion& and many of the most im3ortant demands of the bourgeois
re0olutions their fulfilment> at all e0ents such re0olutions had had their day in )estern
and Central /uro3e( "ome 0ery essential features of a real bourgeois*re0olutionary
transformation 2ere lacking in Germany and :taly 5to say nothing of ;ustria and
!ungary7& and there still e4isted 0ery many relics of feudal absolutism& but from no2 on
it 2as only thinkable that these could be li6uidated through a re0olution led by the
3roletariat( ;nd in those years& the 3roletarian re0olution 2as already clearly delineated
in the Paris Commune( ,ot only in a French but also in a /uro3ean conte4t& the battle of
Eune in the 1PNP re0olution had already signified the turning*3oint( :ts occurrence
strengthened the bond bet2een the bourgeoisie and the reactionary classes& and its
outcome sealed the fate of e0ery democratic re0olution of the 3eriod( The illusion that
these bourgeois 0ictories had secured ?la2 and order@ once and for all 2as to crumble
forth2ith( ;fter 2hat 2as only a short 3ause& historically considered& the mo0ements of
the 2orking*class masses ac6uired fresh life> in 1PDN the First :nternational 2as
founded& and in 1P.1 the 3roletariat succeeded in gaining 3o2er& albeit only for a
relati0ely short time and on a metro3olitan scale there came into being the Paris
Commune& the first dictatorshi3 of the 3roletariat(
The ideological conse6uences of these e0ents 2ere 0ery 2ides3read( The 3olemics of
bourgeois science and 3hiloso3hy 2ere increasingly directed against the ne2 enemy&
socialism( )hile on the u3surge& bourgeois 3hiloso3hy had challenged the feudal
103
absolutist system& and the inter3retation of this challenge had occasioned its
contro0ersies o0er ob1ecti0es& 2hereas the chief enemy no2 2as the 3roletarian 2orld*
0ie2( This& ho2e0er& changed at once the sub1ect and mode of e43ression of each and
e0ery reactionary 3hiloso3hy( )hen bourgeois society 2as a rising force& reactionary
3hiloso3hy had defended feudal absolutism and subse6uently the feudal remnants& the
restoration( ;s 2e ha0e noted& "cho3enhauer@s s3ecial 3osition stemmed from the fact
that he 2as the first to 3roclaim a markedly bourgeois*reactionary 2orld*0ie2( -ut at the
same time he remained on a 3ar 2ith the feudal reactionary& "chelling& inasmuch as 2hat
they both considered the chief enemy 2ere the 3rogressi0e tendencies of bourgeois
3hiloso3hy materialism and the dialectical method(
)ith the battle of Eune and 2ith the Paris Commune in 3articular& reactionary 3olemics
under2ent a radical change of direction( 9n the one hand& there 2as no longer a
3rogressi0e bourgeois 3hiloso3hy to combat( :nsofar as ideological dis3utes arose Y and
they figured 3rominently on the surface Y they related 3rimarily to differences of
o3inion as to ho2 socialism could be disarmed most effecti0ely& and to class differences
2ithin the reactionary bourgeoisie( 9n the other hand& the 3rinci3al foe had already
a33eared in theoretical as 2ell as 3al3able form( :n s3ite of all the efforts of bourgeois
learning it 2as becoming increasingly im3ossible to hush u3 Mar4ism> the bourgeoisie@s
leading ideologues sensed 2ith e0er*gro2ing clarity that this constituted their decisi0e
line of defence& u3on 2hich they had to concentrate their strongest forces( True& the
accordingly defensi0e character of bourgeois 3hiloso3hy only had a slo2 and 3arado4ical
influence( The hushing*u3 tactics continued to 3re0ail for a long 2hile> from time to time
it 2as attem3ted to incor3orate ?2hat 2as usable@ from historical materialism Y
corres3ondingly distorted Y in bourgeois ideology( -ut this tendency assumed a 2holly
distincti0e form only after the first im3erialist 2orld 2ar& and after the 0ictory of the
great socialist 9ctober Re0olution in Russia( Right from the start& ho2e0er& the defensi0e
character 2as manifested in the fact that bourgeois 3hiloso3hy 2as dri0en to the
formulating of 6uestions and into methodological contro0ersies 2hich did not arise out
of any intrinsic need& but 2ere forced u3on it by 0irtue of the o33onent@s e4istence( :t
goes 2ithout saying that the solutions corres3onded in e0ery instance to the
bourgeoisie@s class interests(
:n ,iet#sche& of course& 2e 3ercei0e solely the initial stage of this de0elo3ment( -ut 2e
can already confirm some im3ortant changes at this stage( The most telling fact is that in
the battle against !egel@s idealist dialectics& the older irrationalists such as "chelling and
Cierkegaard 2ere occasionally in a 3osition to indicate its real fla2s( ;lthough back2ard*
looking inferences ine0itably resulted from their criti6ue& 2hich 2as only 3artially
accurate& their correct critical obser0ations are of significance in the history of
3hiloso3hy nonetheless( The situation 2as com3letely altered as soon as the enemy had
become dialectical and historical materialism( !ere bourgeois 3hiloso3hy 2as no longer
in a 3osition to e4ercise a real criti6ue& or e0en to understand correctly the target of its
3olemics( ;ll that it could do 2as either to 3olemici#e Y at first o3enly& later increasingly
surre3titiously Y against dialectics and materialism altogether& or else to 3lay the
demagogue in trying to establish a system of 3seudo*dialectics by 2hich to counteract
genuine dialectics(
;nother 3oint to consider is that the bourgeois 3hiloso3hers ceased to 3ossess any first*
hand kno2ledge 2hen the great arguments o0er ob1ecti0es 2ithin the bourgeoisie
abated( "chelling& Cierkegaard or Trendelenburg had still had an e4act kno2ledge of
!egelian 3hiloso3hy( :n critici#ing !egel 2ithout kno2ing him e0en su3erficially&
"cho3enhauer 2as once again a forerunner of bourgeois decadence( :t seemed that 2hen
it came to o33osing the class enemy& no holds 2ere barred and all intellectual morality
0anished( "cholars 2ho 2ere conscientious in other areas& only 0enturing to e43ress
104
themsel0es after accurately digesting their material& no2 3ermitted themsel0es the most
facile assertions& 2hich they had gleaned from other& similarly unfounded e43ressions of
o3inion( /0en 2hen 3resenting facts they ne0er thought of resorting to the actual
sources( This further hel3s to e43lain 2hy the ideological struggle against Mar4ism took
3lace on an incom3arably lo2er le0el than did& in its o2n day& the reactionary
irrationalist criti6ue of !egelian dialectics(
:n 0ie2 of this& ho2 can 2e maintain of ,iet#sche that his 2hole life@s 2ork 2as a
continuous 3olemic against Mar4ism and socialism& 2hen it is 3erfectly clear that he
ne0er read a single line of Mar4 and /ngels= )e belie0e that the claim is still feasible& for
the reason that e0ery 3hiloso3hy@s content and method are determined by the class
struggles of its age( ;lthough 3hiloso3hers Y like scholars& artists and other ideologists
Y may more or less fail to recogni#e it and some times remain totally una2are of it& this
conditioning of their attitude to so*called ?ultimate 6uestions@ takes effect
not2ithstanding( )hat /ngels said of the la2yers is 0alid in an e0en acuter sense for
3hiloso3hy ?The reflecting of economic conditions in legal 3rinci3les o3erates 2ithout
im3inging on the a2areness of the agents& and the la2yer imagines that he is o3erating
2ith a 3riori theses& 2hereas they are sim3ly economic refle4es (((@ !ence each ideology is
consciously attached to ?a s3ecific intellectual fabric 2hich has been transmitted by its
3redecessors@(J1K -ut this does not alter the fact that the selection of these traditional
strands& one@s attitude to2ards them and method of treating them& the results obtained
from a criti6ue of them& etc(& are& in the final reckoning& determined by economic
conditions and the class struggles to 2hich they gi0e rise( Philoso3hers kno2
instincti0ely 2hat is theirs to defend& and 2here the enemy lurks( :nstincti0ely sensing
the ?dangerous@ tendencies of their age& they try to combat them 3hiloso3hically(
)e e43osed in our 3receding cha3ter this kind of modern reactionary defence against
3hiloso3hical 3rogress and the dialectical method& and 2e traced the essence
andmethodology of modern irrationalism back to 3recisely this ty3e of reaction( :n the
obser0ations 2e ha0e 1ust made& 2e ha0e like2ise attem3ted to outline the social reasons
for the radical change in the re3resentation of the enemy& and ho2 this change 2as
registered 3hiloso3hically( ,o2 2hen 2e consider the 3eriod of ,iet#sche@s acti0ity& it
can be clearly discerned that the Paris Commune& the e0olution of the socialist 3arties of
the masses& es3ecially in Germany& as also the manner and success of the bourgeois
struggle against them& im3ressed him most 3rofoundly( )e shall 3ost3one until later a
thorough e4amination of the rele0ant details and their manifestations in ,iet#sche@s life
and 2ork( First 2e intend to moot the general 3ossibility that for ,iet#sche& as for the
other 3hiloso3hers of the age& socialism as a mo0ement and 2orld*0ie2 had become the
chief o33onent& and that only this change on the social front and its 3hiloso3hical
conse6uences enable us to 3ortray his outlook in its true conte4t(
)hat determined ,iet#sche@s 3articular 3osition in the de0elo3ment of modern
irrationalism 2as 3artly the historical situation at the time of his a33earance& and 3artly
his unusual 3ersonal gifts( )ith regard to the former& 2e ha0e already touched on the
most im3ortant social ha33enings of this 3eriod( ;nother circumstantial factor Y one
fa0ourable to his de0elo3ment Y 2as that ,iet#sche concluded his acti0ity on the e0e of
the im3erialist age( This is to say that& on the one hand& he en0isaged the im3ending
conflicts of -ismarck@s age from e0ery 3ers3ecti0e( !e 2itnessed the founding of the
German Reich& the ho3es that 2ere 3inned to it and their disa33ointment& the fall of
-ismarck& and the inauguration by )ilhelm :: of an o0ertly aggressi0e im3erialism( ;nd
at the same time he 2itnessed the Paris Commune& the origins of the great 3arty of the
3roletarian masses& the outla2ing of socialists& and the 2orkers@ heroic struggle against
it( 9n the other hand& ho2e0er& ,iet#sche did not 3ersonally li0e to see the im3erialist
3eriod( !e 2as thus offered a fa0ourable o33ortunity to con1ecture and to sol0e in
105
mythical form Y on the reactionary bourgeoisie@s terms Y the main 3roblems of the
subse6uent 3eriod( This mythical form furthered his influence not only because it 2as to
become the increasingly dominant mode of 3hiloso3hical e43ression in the im3erialist
age( :t also enabled him to 3ose im3erialism@s cultural& ethical and other 3roblems in
such a general 2ay that he could al2ays remain the reactionary bourgeoisie@s leading
3hiloso3her& 2hate0er the 0ariations in the situation and the reactionary tactics ado3ted
to match them( ,iet#sche had already ac6uired this status before the first im3erialist
2orld 2ar& and he retained it e0en after the second(
-ut the lasting influence 2hose ob1ecti0e 3ossibility 2e ha0e 1ust outlined could ne0er
ha0e become a reality& 2ere it not for the 3eculiar features of ,iet#sche@s not
inconsiderable talent( !e had a s3ecial si4th sense& an antici3atory sensiti0ity to 2hat the
3arasitical intelligentsia 2ould need in the im3erialist age& 2hat 2ould in2ardly mo0e
and disturb it& and 2hat kind of ans2er 2ould most a33ease it( Thus he 2as able to
encom3ass 0ery 2ide areas of culture& to illuminate the 3ressing 6uestions 2ith cle0er
a3horisms& and to satisfy the frustrated& indeed sometimes rebellious instincts of this
3arasitical class of intellectuals 2ith gestures that a33eared fascinating and hy3er*
re0olutionary( ;nd at the same time he could ans2er all these 6uestions& or at least
indicate the ans2ers& in such a 2ay that out of all his subtleties and fine nuances& it 2as
3ossible for the robust and reactionary class insignia of the im3erialist bourgeoisie to
emerge(
This Eekyll*and*!yde character corres3onds to the social e4istence& and hence to the
emotional and intellectual 2orld& of this class in a tri3le sense( Firstly& an oscillation
bet2een the most acute feeling for nuance& the keenest o0er sensiti0ity& and a suddenly
eru3ting& often hysterical brutality is al2ays an intrinsic sign of decadence( "econdly& it is
0ery closely linked 2ith a dee3 dissatisfaction concerning contem3orary culture an
?unease about culture@ in Freud@s 3hrase& a re0olt against it( Ander no circumstances&
ho2e0er& 2ould the ?rebel@ stomach any interference 2ith his o2n 3arasitical 3ri0ileges
and their basis in society( !e therefore 2a4es enthusiastic if the re0olutionary character
of his discontent recei0es a 3hiloso3hical sanction& but is at the same time deflected Y
2ith regard to its social substance Y into a rebuttal of democracy and socialism( ;nd
thirdly& it 2as 1ust at the time of ,iet#sche@s acti0ity that the class decline& the decadent
tendencies reached such a 3itch that their sub1ecti0e e0aluation 2ithin the bourgeois
class also under2ent a significant change( For a long 2hile& only the 3rogressi0e
o33osition critics had been e43osing and condemning the sym3toms of decadence&
2hereas the 0ast ma1ority of the bourgeois intelligentsia clung to the illusion of li0ing in
the ?best of all 2orlds@& defending 2hat they su33osed to be the ?healthy condition@ and
the 3rogressi0e nature of their ideology( ,o2& ho2e0er& an insight into their o2n
decadence 2as becoming more and more the hub of these intellectuals@ self*kno2ledge(
This change manifested itself abo0e all in a com3lacent& narcissistic& 3layful relati0ism&
3essimism& nihilism& etc( -ut in the case of honest intellectuals& these often turned into
sincere des3air and a conse6uent mood of re0olt 5Messianism& etc(7(
,o2 as a di0iner of the cultural 3syche& as aesthetician and moralist& ,iet#sche 2as
3erha3s the cle0erest and most 0ersatile e43onent of this decadent self*kno2ledge( -ut
his significance 2ent further in ackno2ledging decadence as the basic 3henomenon of
bourgeois de0elo3ment in his time& he undertook to chart the course of its self*con6uest(
For in the most s3irited and 0igilant intellectuals 2ho succumbed to the influence of the
decadent outlook& there ineluctably arose a desire to con6uer it( "uch a desire rendered
the struggles of the burgeoning ne2 class& the 3roletariat& e4tremely attracti0e for most
of these intellectuals( !ere& and 3articularly 2ith regard to 3ersonal conduct and
morality& they 3ercei0ed auguries of a 3ossible social reco0ery and& in connection 2ith it
Y naturally this thought 2as u33ermost Y of their o2n reco0ery( ;t the same time& the
106
ma1ority of the intellectuals had no inkling of the economic and social im3lications of a
real socialist transformation( "ince they contem3lated it in 3urely ideological terms& they
had no clear notion ho2 far and ho2 3rofoundly such a realignment 2ould mean a
radical break 2ith their o2n class> or ho2 such a break& once accom3lished& 2ould affect
the li0es of the 3ersons concerned( Confused though this mo0ement may ha0e been& it
did embrace 2ide sections of the more ad0anced bourgeois intelligentsia( ,aturally
enough& it re0ealed itself 2ith 3articular 0ehemence in times of crisis 5for instance& the
ban on socialists& the fate of ,aturalism& the First )orld )ar and the /43ressionist
mo0ement in Germany& boulangisme and the Lreyfus ;ffair in France& etc(7(
,iet#sche@s 3hiloso3hy 3erformed the ?social task@ of ?rescuing@ and ?redeeming@ this ty3e
of bourgeois mind( :t offered a road 2hich a0oided the need for any break& or indeed any
serious conflict& 2ith the bourgeoisie( :t 2as a road 2hereby the 3leasant moral feeling of
being a rebel could be sustained and e0en intensified& 2hilst a ?more thorough@& ?cosmic
biological@ re0olution 2as enticingly 3ro1ected in contrast to the ?su3erficial@& ?e4ternal@
social re0olution( ; ?re0olution@& that is& 2hich 2ould fully 3reser0e the bourgeoisie@s
3ri0ileges& and 2ould 3assionately defend the 3ri0ileged e4istence of the 3arasitical and
im3erialist intelligentsia first and foremost( ; ?re0olution@ directed against the masses
and lending an e43ression com3ounded of 3athos and aggressi0eness to the 0eiled
egotistic fears of the economically and culturally 3ri0ileged( The road indicated by
,iet#sche ne0er de3arted from the decadence 3roliferating in the intellectual and
emotional life of this class( -ut the ne2*found self*kno2ledge 3laced it in a ne2 light it
2as 3recisely in decadence that the true 3rogressi0e seeds of a genuine& thorough*going
rene2al of mankind 2ere deemed to lie( This ?social task@ found itself in 3re*established
harmony& as it 2ere& 2ith ,iet#sche@s talents& his dee3est intellectual inclinations and his
learning( Like those sections of society at 2hom his 2ork 2as aimed& ,iet#sche himself
2as 3rinci3ally concerned 2ith cultural 3roblems& notably art and indi0idual morality(
Politics al2ays a33eared as though on an abstract& mythici#ed hori#on& and ,iet#sche@s
ignorance of economics 2as as great as that of the a0erage contem3orary intellectual(
Mehring 2as 6uite right to 3oint out that his arguments against socialism ne0er
sur3assed the le0el of Leo& Treitschke& etc(J+K -ut the 0ery association of a coarsely
humdrum anti*socialism 2ith a refined& ingenious& sometimes e0en accurate criti6ue of
culture and art 5for e4am3le the criti6ues of )agner and ,aturalism7 2as 2hat made
,iet#sche@s sub1ect*matter and modes of e43osition so seducti0e for the im3erialist
intelligentsia( )e can see ho2 great the tem3tation 2as right through the im3erialist
3eriod( -eginning 2ith Georg -randes& "trindberg and Gerhart !au3tmann@s
generation& its influence e4tended to Gide and Malrau4( ;nd it 2as by no means limited
to the reactionary 3art of the intelligentsia( :n the essence of their o0erall 2ork& decidedly
3rogressi0e 2riters like !einrich and Thomas Mann or -ernard "ha2 2ere e6ually 3rey
to this influence( :ndeed it 2as e0en ca3able of making a strong im3ression on some
Mar4ist intellectuals( /0en Mehring Y for the time being Y assessed it as follo2s ?The
,iet#sche cult is still more useful to socialism in another res3ect( ,o doubt ,iet#sche@s
2ritings ha0e their 3itfalls for the fe2 young 3eo3le of literary talent 2ho may still be
gro2ing u3 2ithin the bourgeois classes& and are initially labouring under bourgeois
class*3re1udices( -ut for such 3eo3le& ,iet#sche is only a transitional stage on the 2ay to
socialism(@JFK
)e ha0e& ho2e0er& e43lained only the class basis and the intensity of ,iet#sche@s
influence& and not its long duration( This rests on his undoubted 3hiloso3hical abilities(
From Eulius Langbehn 5author of Rembrandt als /r#ieher7 to Coestler and -urnham in
our o2n day& the standard 3am3hleteers of the reactionary 2ing ha0e ne0er done more
than satisfy& 2ith more or less skilful demagogics& 2hate0er ha33ened to be the
bourgeoisie@s tactical needs( -ut ,iet#sche& as 2e shall see in more detail later& 2as able
107
to enshrine and formulate in his 2orks some of the most im3ortant lasting features of
reactionary attitudes to the im3erialist 3eriod& and to the age of 2orld 2ars and
re0olutions( To 3ercei0e his standing in this field& one has only to com3are him 2ith his
contem3orary& /duard 0on !artmann( The latter e3itomi#ed as a 3hiloso3her the
ordinary& reactionary*bourgeois 3re1udices of the age after 1P.B& the 3re1udices of the
?healthy@ 5i(e(& sated7 bourgeois( This is 2hy he at first en1oyed a much greater success
than ,iet#sche& and also 2hy he fell into com3lete obli0ion in the im3erialist 3eriod(
Certainly ,iet#sche& as 2e ha0e already noted& achie0ed e0erything in a mythici#ing
form( This alone enabled him to com3rehend and define 3re0ailing tendencies because&
lacking any understanding of ca3italist economics& he 2as solely ca3able of obser0ing&
describing and e43ressing the sym3toms of the su3erstructure( -ut the myth*form also
results from the fact that ,iet#sche& the leading 3hiloso3her of the im3erialist reaction&
did not li0e to see im3erialism( /4actly like "cho3enhauer as the 3hiloso3her of the
bourgeois reactionaries after 1PNP& he 2rote in an age that 2as nurturing only the first
shoots and buds of 2hat 2as to come( For a thinker inca3able of recogni#ing the real
generati0e forces& these could only be 3ortrayed in a uto3ian& mythical manner( True& his
task 2as facilitated both by the e43ressi0e mode of myth and by its a3horistic form&
2hose characteristics 2e are about to discuss( This is because such myths and
a3horisms& de3ending on the bourgeoisie@s immediate interests and their ideologues@
endea0ours& could be arranged and inter3reted in the most di0erse& often diametrically
o33osed 2ays( -ut the constant harking back to ,iet#sche Y in each instance a ?ne2@
,iet#sche Y sho2s that there 2as a definite continuity beneath it all( :t 2as the
continuity of the basic 3roblems of im3erialism in its entirety from the stand3oint of the
reactionary bourgeoisie@s lasting interests& 0ie2ed and inter3reted in the light of
the 3ermanent needs of the 3arasitical bourgeois intelligentsia(
There can be no doubt that such an intellectual antici3ation betokens a not
inconsiderable gift of obser0ation& sense of the 3roblematic& and ca3acity for abstraction(
:n this res3ect ,iet#sche@s historical 3osition is analogous to that of "cho3enhauer( The
t2o are also closely associated in the fundamental tenor of their 3hiloso3hy( )e shall
refrain here from raising the historio*3hilological 6uestions of influence& etc( The current
attem3ts to dissociate ,iet#sche from "cho3enhauer@s irrationalism& and to connect him
2ith the /nlightenment and !egel& : regard as childish& or rather& as an e43ression of
history*fudging in the ser0ice of ;merican im3erialism on the lo2est le0el yet see( 9f
course there e4ist differences bet2een "cho3enhauer and ,iet#sche& gro2ing e0er dee3er
as ,iet#sche clarified his efforts in the course of his de0elo3ment( -ut they are more in
the nature of differences of 3eriod differences in the methods of combating social
3rogress(
From "cho3enhauer& ho2e0er& ,iet#sche took o0er the 3rinci3le of the methodological
coherence in his intellectual structure& merely modifying and e4tending it to suit the age
and the o33onent( :t amounted to 2hat 2e identified in our second cha3ter as the
indirect a3ologetics of ca3italism( ,aturally this basic 3rinci3le 3artly assumed ne2
concrete forms in conse6uence of the conditions of a more acutely de0elo3ed class
struggle( "cho3enhauer@s struggle against the 3rogressi0e thinking of his times could be
summed u3 by saying that he condemned all action as intellectually and morally inferior(
,iet#sche& on the contrary& called for acti0e 3artici3ation on behalf of reaction& of
im3erialism( This in itself obliged him to cast aside the 2hole "cho3enhauerian duality
of Morstellung and )ille& and to re3lace the -uddhist myth of 2ill*3o2er 2ith the myth
of the 2ill*to*3o2er( "imilarly& a further conse6uence of the heightened class struggle
2as his inability to make anything of "cho3enhauer@s abstract re1ection of history in
general( ; real history& of course& did not e4ist for ,iet#sche any more than for
"cho3enhauer& yet his a3ologetics of aggressi0e im3erialism take the form of a
108
mythici#ing of history( Lastly Y here 2e can only enumerate the most essential 3oints Y
2hile "cho3enhauer@s a3ologetics 2ere indirect 2ith regard to form& he 0oiced his socio*
3olitically reactionary sym3athies in an o3en& e0en 3ro0ocati0ely cynical manner( )ith
,iet#sche& on the contrary& the 3rinci3le of indirect a3ologetics also 3ermeates the mode
of e43osition& his aggressi0ely reactionary siding 2ith im3erialism being e43ressed in the
form of a hy3er*re0olutionary gesture( The fight against democracy and socialism& the
im3erialist myth and the summons to barbarous action are intended to a33ear as an
un3recedented re0ersal& a ?trans0aluation of all 0alues@& a ?t2ilight of the false gods@> and
the indirect a3ologetics of im3erialism as a demagogically effecti0e 3seudo*re0olution(
This content and method of ,iet#schean 3hiloso3hy 2ere most intimately connected
2ith his literary manner of e43ression& namely the a3horism( "uch a literary form made
the element of change 3ossible 2ithin the conte4t of his lasting influence( )hen a shift in
inter3retation has become a social necessity Y as& for e4am3le& in the age immediately
3re3aratory to !itlerism& and as again today& after !itler@s do2nfall Y there are no
obstacles to the re0ision of the enduring content such as 2e find 2ith thinkers 2ho ha0e
e43ressed the coherence of their intellectual 2orld in a systematic form( 5Granted& the
fate of Lescartes& Cant and !egel in the im3erialist 3eriod sho2s that the reactionary is
ca3able of surmounting e0en these obstacles(7 )ith ,iet#sche& ho2e0er& the task 2as far
sim3ler at each stage different a3horisms 2ould be singled out and brought together& in
accordance 2ith the needs of the moment( There is one further 3oint to consider as 2ell(
Much as the basic ob1ecti0es accorded 2ith the ideological outlook of the 3arasitical
intelligentsia& to 0oice them in a systematic& brutal and o3en fashion 2ould ha0e re3elled
a 2ide and not insignificant circle( Thus it is far from an accident that& 2ith but fe2
e4ce3tions 5notably the immediate 3ioneers of !itlerian fascism7& ,iet#sche*e4egesis has
stuck to his cultural criti6ue& moral 3sychology and so forth& and has seen in ,iet#sche
an ?innocent@ thinker concerned only 2ith the s3iritual 3roblems of an intellectual and
moral ?%lite@( -randes and "immel sa2 him thus& as did -ertram and Eas3ers later& and as
does Caufmann today( ;nd correctly so from the class stand3oint& since the
o0er2helming ma1ority thereby 2on for ,iet#sche has later been ready to take 3ractical
ste3s matching this outlook( )riters like !einrich and Thomas Mann ha0e been
e4ce3tions(
This& ho2e0er& is merely the result of the a3horistic mode of e43ression( Let us no2
consider the mode itself( ;cademic schools of thought ha0e often re3roached ,iet#sche
2ith ha0ing no system& something they held to be necessary to a real 3hiloso3her(
,iet#sche himself roundly condemned all systems ?: mistrust all systematic thinkers and
gi0e them a 2ide berth( ; deliberate systemati#ation means a lack of honesty(@ JNK This
tendency 2e ha0e already obser0ed in Cierkegaard& and it is not fortuitous( The
bourgeoisie@s 3hiloso3hical crisis& as e0idenced in the demise of !egelianism& amounted
to far more than the recognition of a gi0en system@s inade6uacy> it signified the
breakdo2n of a conce3t that had s2ayed men for thousands of years( )hen the !egelian
system colla3sed& so did the 2hole endea0our to co*ordinate& and so to com3rehend& the
2orld@s totality and its 3rinci3le of gro2th from idealist sources& i(e(& from elements of
the human consciousness( This is not the 3lace to gi0e e0en a rough outline of the
fundamental changes resulting from this final breakdo2n of the idealist system*conce3t(
Granted& 2e kno2 that e0en after !egel academic systems 2ere created 5)undt& Cohen&
Rickert& etc(7& but 2e kno2 also that they 2ere totally insignificant for the e0olution of
3hiloso3hy( )e kno2 too that the demise of the system in bourgeois thought 3rom3ted
the outbreak of a bottomless relati0ism and agnosticism& as though the no2 obligatory
renunciation of idealist systemati#ing 2ere at the same time to mean renouncing the
ob1ecti0ity of kno2ledge& a real coherence of the actual 2orld& and the 3ossibility of
kno2ing this( -ut e6ually 2e kno2 that the burial once and for all of the idealist system
109
coincided 2ith the disco0ery of the real frame2ork of ob1ecti0e reality& namely dialectical
materialism( /ngels& 3olemici#ing against ,iet#sche@s contem3orary /ugen LVuhring&
formulated the ne2 3hiloso3hical 3osition thus ?The real unity of the 2orld lies in its
materiality (((JOK This unity the indi0idual branches of learning seek 52ith e0er greater
accuracy7 both to reflect and to embrace conce3tually> the 3rinci3les and la2s of this
cogniti0e 3rocess are summed u3 by 3hiloso3hy( "o the systematic frame2ork has not
disa33eared( :t no longer a33ears& ho2e0er& in the form& of idealist ?essences@& but al2ays
as an a33ro4imating reflection of that unity& that coherence& that set of la2s 2hich is
ob1ecti0ely Y or inde3endently of our consciousness Y 3resent and o3erati0e in reality
itself(
,iet#sche@s re1ection of systems arose out of the relati0istic& agnostici#ing tendencies of
his age( The 3oint that he 2as the first and most influential thinker 2ith 2hom this
agnosticism turned into the s3here of myth 2e shall in0estigate later( To this outlook his
a3horistic mode of e43ression is no doubt intimately related( -ut he also had another
moti0e beyond this( :t is a general 3henomenon in ideological history that thinkers 2ho
can obser0e a social de0elo3ment only in embryo& but 2ho can already 3ercei0e the ne2
element in it and 2ho Y es3ecially in the moral area Y are stri0ing for an intellectual
gras3 of it 3refer the essayistic& a3horistic forms( The reason is that these forms
guarantee the e43ression most fitted to a mi4ture of a mere scenting of future
de0elo3ments on the one hand& and an acute obser0ation and e0aluation of their
sym3toms on the other( )e see this in Montaigne and Mande0ille& and in the French
moralists from La Rochefoucauld to Mau0enargues and Chamfort( "tylistically& ,iet#sche
had a great liking for most of these authors( -ut a contrast in the basic tenor of the
content accom3anied this formal 3reference( The im3ortant moralists had already
critici#ed Y the ma1ority in a 3rogressi0e 2ay Y the morality of ca3italism from 2ithin
an absolutist& feudal society( ,iet#sche@s antici3ation of the future 2as& on the contrary&
a33ro0ingly oriented to an im3ending reactionary mo0ement& 6ualitati0ely heightened&
that is to say im3erialist reaction( :t 2as solely the abstract fact of the antici3ation 2hich
determined the formal affinity(
)e must no2 ask 2hether& in ,iet#sche@s case& 2e are 1ustified in s3eaking of a system(
;re 2e entitled to inter3ret his indi0idual a3horisms in a systematic conte4t= )e belie0e
that the systematic coherence of a 3hiloso3her@s thoughts is an older 3henomenon than
the idealist systems and can still sur0i0e 2hen they ha0e colla3sed( ,o matter 2hether
this systematic frame2ork is an a33ro4imately correct reflection of the real 2orld or one
distorted by class considerations& idealist notions and so forth& such a systematic
frame2ork is to be found in e0ery 3hiloso3her 2orth his salt( ;dmittedly& it does not tally
2ith the structure 2hich the indi0idual 3hiloso3her himself intends to gi0e his 2ork(
)hile indicating the need thus to reconstruct the real& consistency in the fragments of
!eraclitus and /3icurus& Mar4 added ?/0en 2ith 3hiloso3hers 2ho gi0e their 2orks a
systematic form& "3ino#a for instance& the actual inner structure of the system is 6uite
different from the form in 2hich they consciously 3resent it(@JDK )e shall no2 0enture to
sho2 that such a systematic coherence may be detected behind ,iet#sche@s a3horisms
+
:n our 0ie2& it 2as only little by little that the nodal 3oint in the frame2ork of ,iet#sche@s
ideas took definite sha3e the resistance to socialism& the effort to create an im3erial
Germany( There is am3le e0idence that in his youth& ,iet#sche 2as an ardent Prussian
3atriot( This enthusiasm is one of the most significant factors in his early 3hiloso3hy( :t
cannot 3ossibly be regarded as a matter of chance or youthful 2him that he 2anted to be
in0ol0ed in the 2ar of 1P.B*1> nor that& since a -asle 3rofessor could not enlist as a
soldier& he at least took 3art as a 0olunteer nurse( :t is at any rate characteristic that his
sister 5although 2e must 0ie2 her statements in a highly critical light7 recorded the
110
follo2ing memory of the 2ar( ;t that time& she 2rote& he first sensed ?that the strongest
and highest 2ill*to*li0e is e43ressed not in a 2retched struggle for sur0i0al& but as the
2ill to fight& the 2ill to 3o2er and su3er*3o2er@(J.K;t all e0ents this bellicose
3hiloso3hical state of mind& 2hich 2as an e4tremely Prussian one& in no 2ay contradicts
the young ,iet#sche@s other 0ie2s( :n his 3a3ers of autumn 1P.F& for e4am3le& 2e find
the follo2ing ?My starting*3oint is the Prussian soldier here 2e ha0e a true con0ention&
2e ha0e coercion& earnestness and disci3line& and that also goes for the form(@JPK
Eust as distinct as the source of the young ,iet#sche@s enthusiasm are the features of his
3rinci3al enemy( Lirectly after the fall of the Paris Commune he 2rote to his friend&
-aron 0on Gersdorff
!o3e is 3ossible againR 9ur German mission isn@t o0er yetR :@m in better s3irit than e0er&
for not yet e0erything has ca3itulated to Franco*Ee2ish le0elling and ?elegance@& and to
the greedy instincts of Eet#t#eit 5?no2*time@7( There is still bra0ery& and it@s a German
bra0ery that has something else to it than the %lan of our lamentable neighbours( 90er
and abo0e the 2ar bet2een nations& that international hydra 2hich suddenly raised its
fearsome heads has alarmed us by heralding 6uite different battles to come(J9K
;nd the content of this battle& 2hich initially 2as 2aged directly against the mo0ement
obstructing the full fruition of his ideology& ,ietsche moreo0er defined in the draft&
se0eral months earlier& of his letter dedicating The -irth of Tragedy to Richard )agner(
9nce more the Prussian 0ictory 2as his 3oint of de3arture( From it he dre2 such
conclusions as these ?((( because that 3o2er 2ill destroy something 2hich 2e loathe as
the real enemy of all 3rofounder 3hiloso3hy and aesthetics( This something is a disease
from 2hich German life has had to suffer since the great French Re0olution in 3articular>
e0er*recurring in s3asmodic fits& it has afflicted e0en the best ty3e of German& to say
nothing of the great mass of 3eo3le among 2hom that affliction& in 0ile desecration of an
honourable 2ord& goes under the name of liberalism(@J1BK
The connection bet2een the battle against liberalism and that against socialism 0ery
soon became a33arent( The "trauss 3am3hlet attacked the liberal ?cultural 3hilistine@&
and did so 2ith such energy and brilliance that it succeeded in decei0ing e0en such a
Mar4ist as Mehring about its true nature& for Mehring thought that ?indis3utably@
,iet#sche had here defended ?the most glorious traditions of German ci0ili#ation@(
J11K -ut ,iet#sche himself 2rote in his notes for the lectures ?9n the Future of our
Cultural :nstitutions@ 51P.1*F7 ?The most 2ides3read culture& i(e(& barbarity is 1ust 2hat
Communism 3resumes ((( uni0ersal culture turns into a hate of genuine culture ((( To
ha0e no 2ants& Lassalle once said& is a 3eo3le@s greatest misfortune( !ence the 2orkers@
cultural associations& 2hose aim has been often described to me as that of creating 2ants
((( The dri0e& therefore& to disseminate culture as 2idely as 3ossible has its origins in a
total seculari#ation& by 2hich culture is reduced to a means of gain and of earthly
ha33iness in the 0ulgar sense(@J1+K ;s 2e see& ,iet#sche@s 3hiloso3hical thinking 2as
o33osed to democracy and socialism from the beginning(
This attitude and these 3ers3ecti0es form the basis of ,iet#sche@s understanding of
;ncient Greece( !ere his o33osition to the re0olutionary traditions of bourgeois
de0elo3ment is 6uite 3lainly 3erce3tible( )e are not thinking mainly of the Lionysian
3rinci3le 2hich made ,iet#sche@s first 2ritings famous& for there the idea 2as still& in his
o2n 2ords& 3art of his ?artist meta3hysics@( :t took on actual significance only after the
con6uest of decadence had become a central 3roblem for the mature ,iet#sche( )e 2ant
to 3ut the chief em3hasis on the 3rinci3les u3on 2hich his ne2 image of ;ncient Greece
2as founded in the first 3lace( ;nd 3rominent among these is the idea that sla0ery is
necessary to any real ci0ili#ation(
:f ,iet#sche had stressed the role of sla0ery in Greek culture merely from the historical
stand3oint& this 3erfectly correct obser0ation 2ould be of no great im3ortance> he
111
himself referred to Friedrich )olf& 2ho had made it before him(J1FK :t 2as bound to gain
an e0en 2ider currency& and not only because of 3rogress in historical studies( :t
follo2ed also from a re0ie2 of the ?heroic illusions@ of the French Re0olution& 2hose
ideologists had ignored the sla0ery issue in order to create out of the democratic city*
state the model of a modern re0olutionary democracy( 5These same 0ie2s influenced the
German image of ;ncient Greece in the 3eriod from )inckelmann to !egel(7 )hat is
ne2 in ,iet#sche is that he used sla0ery as a 0ehicle for his criti6ue
of contem3orary ci0ili#ation ?;nd 2hile it may be true that the Greeks 3erished because
of their sla0e*holding& it is far more certain that 2e shall 3erish because of the absence of
sla0ery(@J1NK
"o if ,iet#sche Y sho2ing certain methodological affinities 2ith Romantic anti*
ca3italism Y contrasts a great bygone 3eriod 2ith the ca3italist 3resent 2hich he 2as
critici#ing& it is not the same thing as "ismondi@s contrast bet2een the 3eaceful& sim3le
trade in goods and an age of crisis and mass unem3loyment( ,or is it the same as
ordered and 3ur3oseful artisan labour in the Middle ;ges& as contrasted by the young
Carlyle 2ith the di0ision of labour and an age of anarchy( )hat ,iet#sche contrasts 2ith
3resent times is the Greek dictatorshi3 of an %lite 2hich clearly recogni#es ?that 2ork is
an ignominy@& and 2hich creates immortal art*2orks at its leisure( ?:n more recent times@&
he 2rote& ?it is not the 3erson 2ho needs art but the sla0e 2ho has determined the
general outlook( "uch 3hantoms as the dignity of man& the dignity of labour are the
shabby 3roducts of a sla0e mentality hiding from its o2n nature( Anha33y the age in
2hich the sla0e needs such ideas and is s3urred to reflect u3on himself and the 2orld
around him( )retched the seducers 2ho ha0e de3ri0ed the sla0e of his innocence by
means of the fruit from the Tree of Cno2ledgeR@J1OK
,o2 2hat are the 6ualities of this ?%lite@ 2hose re0i0al& assisted by a return of sla0ery&
aroused in the young ,iet#sche the ho3e of a cultural renaissance on a uto3ian and
mythical 3lane= That it s3rings u3 from a barbarian condition is some thing 2e might
acce3t as confirming historical facts( :ndeed ,iet#sche de3icted it in the most lurid
colours in ?!omer@s Contest@ 51P.1*+7( -ut if 2e are to understand Greek ci0ili#ation&
stated ,iet#sche in a 3olemic against the 9r3hic thinkers Y 2ho held that ?a life rooted
in such an urge is not 2orth li0ing@ Y then ?2e must start out from the idea that the
Greek genius acce3ted this so fearfully acti0e urge and regarded it as 1ustified@(J1DK Thus
it is a matter not of con6uering& ci0ili#ing and humani#ing the barbarian instincts& but of
constructing the great ci0ili#ation on their bedrock and di0erting them into suitable
channels( 9nly in this conte4t& not from the stand3oint of some 0ague ?artist
meta3hysics@& can the Lionysian 3rinci3le be 3ro3erly gras3ed and a33reciated(
Moreo0er& ,iet#sche rightly said in a later draft of the 3reface to his debut 2ork on the
Lionysian 3rinci3le ?)hat a disad0antage my timidity is 2hen : s3eak as a scholar of a
sub1ect of 2hich : might ha0e s3oken from He43erienceI(@J1.K
For the young ,iet#sche& the organ for the social utili#ation of the barbarian instincts is
the contest 5agon7( This& as 2e are about to note from ,iet#sche@s o2n statements& 2as a
mythici#ing of ca3italist com3etition( !e 6uotes from Pausanias the !esiod 3assage
about the t2o goddesses /ris ?"he 5the good /ris& G(L(7 s3urs e0en the ine3t to 2ork>
and if a man 2ithout 3ro3erty sees a 2ealthy man& he 2ill make haste to so2 and 3lant
like2ise and to 3ut his house in good order> neighbour com3etes 2ith neighbour in
stri0ing for 3ros3erity( This /ris is beneficial for mankind( 9ne 3otter 2ill resent
another& one car3enter the other& beggar en0ies beggar and singer en0ies singer(@J1PK ;nd
this state of affairs he contrasted 2ith modern de3ra0ity ?,o2adays self*seeking is
feared as Hthe de0il incarnateI @& 2hereas for the ancients the goal of the agonal training
2as ?the 2elfare of the 2hole& the common2ealth@(J19K
112
:f 2e no2 return to sla0ery as the alleged bedrock of any genuine ci0ili#ation& 2e can see
ho2 much of the later ,iet#sche this early 2ork Y albeit in an immature manner Y
antici3ated( :n this conte4t the "cho3enhauer and )agner 3ortraits 2hich he 3roduced
2ith such fer0ent elo6uence resemble mythici#ed 3rete4ts for e43ressing something not
yet fully de0elo3ed& half in 3oetic and half in 3hiloso3hical form( !is o2n later criticism
of his first 2ritings Y es3ecially in /cce homo Y all tended in this direction ?((( that 2hat
: learnt from )agner about music in those years has nothing at all to do 2ith )agner>
that 2hen : described Lionysian music : 2as describing the music that : had heard& Y
that : had instincti0ely to trans3ose and transfigure into the ne2 s3irit all that 2as latent
2ithin me( The 3roof of this& the strongest 3ossible 3roof& is my 3iece )agner in
-ayreuth : am the sole sub1ect in all the 3sychologically crucial 3as sages Y one may
automatically read my o2n name or the 2ord HWarathustraI 2here0er the te4t reads
H)agnerI ((( the latter himself sensed this> he 2as unable to recogni#e himself in the
3iece(@J+BK Modified some2hat& this also a33lies to the "cho3enhauer 3ortrait in the
2ork of ,iet#sche@s youth( The third& similarly mythologi#ed& "ocrates 3ortrait is a totally
different matter( :n the debut 2ork the great antithesis 2as already ?The Lionysian and
the "ocratic@(J+1K ;nd ,iet#sche Y at first in 3redominantly aesthetic terms Y enlarged
this antithesis to encom3ass that of instinct and reason( :n /cce homo he reached his
conclusion the disco0ery that "ocrates 2as a ?d%cadent@ and that one must rate ?morality
itself as a sym3tom of decadence@ the mature ,iet#sche regarded as ?an inno0ation& a
disco0ery of the first order in the history of kno2ledge@(J++K
)hen in0estigating in general the determining causes of ,iet#sche@s further
de0elo3ment& one usually lays the chief stress on the )agner disa33ointment( -ut the
3oints 1ust raised concerning ,iet#sche@s attitude to )agner already sho2 us that it 2as
a sym3tom of his shift rather than its actual cause( :n )agner& and 2ith increasing
acuteness& ,iet#sche challenged the art of his o2n German 3eriod in the name of the
im3erialist future( )hen& es3ecially after the First )orld )ar& it became the fashion to
challenge the nineteenth century@s ideology 5the age of ?security@7 in the name of the
t2entieth& ,iet#sche@s s3lit 2ith )agner and late 3olemics against him furnished the
methodological ?model@ for this conflict( The fact that the ideological s3okesmen of the
!itler 3eriod continued this tradition& though linking it 2ith )agner idolatry& does not
3ro0e anything( Their re1ection of ?security@ 2as combined also 2ith the glorification of
-ismarck& 2hom ,iet#sche in his final 3eriod nearly al2ays attacked in con1unction 2ith
)agner( For the older ,iet#sche& )agner 2as the greatest artistic e43ression of that
decadence 2hose most im3ortant 3olitical re3resentati0e he sa2 in -ismarck( ;nd in
going beyond the 3hiloso3hy of "cho3enhauer he follo2ed the same direction( )e must
not forget that e0en the young ,iet#sche 2as ne0er a really orthodo4 disci3le of
"cho3enhauer 2ith regard to radical a*historicism( From the start he had toyed 2ith a
mythici#ing of history& 2hereas his master had totally a0oided history( This tendency&
already 3resent in The -irth of Tragedy& gre2 more 3ronounced in the second Antimely
Consideration( ;cti0ism Y of the counter*re0olutionary 0ariety Y 2as more o0er gaining
in significance for ,iet#sche( ;nd thus& along 2ith )agner and -ismarck& "cho3enhauer
too came more and more 2ithin the area of that decadence he 2anted to con6uer( This&
naturally enough& did not 3re0ent ,iet#sche from adhering all his life to -erkeley*
"cho3enhauer e3istemology& as 2e are like2ise soon to see( !e ada3ted it& ho2e0er& to
suit his o2n 3articular 3ur3ose(
,o2 2here do 2e look for the real causes behind ,iet#sche@s de0elo3ment& and for the
basic features of his so*called second 3eriod= :t is our belief that they can be found in the
aggra0ation of those socio*3olitical conflicts 2hich go0erned the second half of the
se0enties 5cultural conflict& but abo0e all the anti*socialist la2s7( )e ha0e obser0ed ho2
strongly ,iet#sche@s first 2orks 2ere affected by the 2ar of 1P.B*1 and ho3es of a general
113
cultural regeneration in the aftermath of 0ictory( )e ha0e further obser0ed ho2 tenuous
the young ,iet#sche@s ho3es 2ere and ho2 a3olitical his 3ers3ecti0es& des3ite his general
social and historico*3hiloso3hical stand in fa0our of sla0ery( ,o2 this changed 6uite
decisi0ely in the second half of the se0enties( ,ot that ,iet#sche by no2 had ac6uired
clear ideas on 3olitics and more 3articularly on their underlying economics> 2e shall
soon see his nai0e ignorance 2hen it came to the latter( -ut in s3ite of all the facts
s3eaking against him and the confusion in his 0ie2s& ,iet#sche@s cultural and historico*
3hiloso3hical studies 2ere mo0ing in a direction oriented to2ards the concrete 3resent
and future(
Let us antici3ate for a moment 2hat 2e are going to am3lify on this sub1ect( ,iet#sche@s
ne2 3olitical 3osition 2as centred u3on the idea of rebutting and disarming the socialist
threat& his chief ad0ersary no2 as before& 2ith the aid of democracy( !ere 2e must note
that ,iet#sche regarded -ismarck@s Germany as a democracy( ;nd so Y no matter ho2
far ,iet#sche 2as a2are of it Y his ho3e that here lay the cure for socialism 2as 0ery
closely connected 2ith -ismarckian 3olitics( )e cannot take it as 3ure coincidence that
his first 2ork of this 3eriod& !uman& ;ll*Too*!uman& a33eared roughly half a year
before the 3romulgation of the socialist ban( To be sure& this 2as also the date of the
centenary of Moltaire@s death( ;nd 0ery far*reaching conclusions ha0e been dra2n from
the dedication 2ith 2hich ,iet#sche 3refaced his first edition on this occasion( Their
0alidity& ho2e0er& is e4tremely limited( For if 2e read ,iet#sche@s Moltaire treatise 2e
3ercei0e that it 2as still dealing 2ith the same conflict 2e ha0e defined as the most
im3ortant in his life( -ut 2ith the difference& characteristic of this 3eriod& that ,iet#sche
no2 thought the e0olution 2hich he 3raised Moltaire for re3resenting 2as the surest
antidote to re0olution 5i(e(& socialism7( :n this light he dre2 his 3arallel bet2een Moltaire
and Rousseau 5the a3horism@s title& ?; Falsity in the Loctrine of Re0olution@& is ty3ical of
,iet#sche at the time7( ?,ot Moltaire@s moderate nature 2ith its bias to2ards ordering&
3urifying and reconstructing& but Rousseau@s 3assionate follies and half*truths ha0e
a2akened the o3timistic re0olutionary s3irit& and against it : cry& H%crase# l@inf`meRI :t
has long been res3onsible for banishing the s3irit of enlightenment and 3rogressi0e
de0elo3ment(@J+FK ,iet#sche 2as to 3ersist in this 0ie2 of Moltaire long after he had
o0ercome the illusions of !uman& ;ll*Too*!uman( :ndeed& in line 2ith his later
radicalism& he no2 sa2 Moltaire@s uni0ersal historical significance solely in this
o33osition to Rousseau and re0olution( Thus he 2rote in The )ill to Po2er ?9nly at this
3oint does Moltaire 5hitherto a mere bel es3rit7 become the man of his century& the
3hiloso3her and re3resentati0e of tolerance and unbelief(@J+NK
Thus in the second half of the se0enties& ,iet#sche became a ?democrat@& ?liberal@ and
e0olutionist 3recisely because he found in this the most effecti0e counter3oise to
socialism( !is enthusiasm for this Y as he then belie0ed Y ine0itable transitional ste3
2as 0ery tem3erate> one must& he 2rote& ?ada3t oneself to the ne2 circumstances as one
ada3ts 2hen an earth6uake dislocates the earth@s old borders and contours@(J+OK -ut in
the second 3art of the same 2ork he thought it 3ossible ?that the democrati#ation of
/uro3e is one link in the chain of those enormous 3ro3hylactic measures constituting the
idea of the ne2 times and di0iding us from the Middle ;ges( 9nly no2 has the era of
Cyclo3ean structures arri0edR ;t last 2e ha0e stable foundations on 2hich the 2hole
future can safely buildR :m3ossible& henceforth& for 2ild and sense less mountain 2aters
once more to ruin the fertile fields of ci0ili#ation o0ernightR "tone dams and bul2arks
against barbarians& 3estilence& 3hysical and mental thraldomR@J+DK :n this 0ein ,iet#sche
2ent so far as e0en to condemn e43loitation as stu3id and futile ?The e43loitation of the
2orker 2as& as 2e no2 recogni#e& a 3iece of stu3idity& a ma0erick enter3rise at the
future@s e43ense 2hich im3erilled society( ,o2 2e are already on the 0erge of 2ar from
no2 on& at all e0ents& there 2ill be a 0ery high 3rice to 3ay for maintaining 3eace& sealing
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contracts and 2inning confidence& because the e43loiters@ foolishness 2as 0ery great and
long*lasting(@J+.K The ne2 form of go0ernment Y and here he e43ressly sided 2ith
-ismarck Y 2as to be an admittedly unhistorical but shre2d and useful com3romise
2ith the 3eo3le& 2hereby all human relations 2ould undergo a gradual transformation(
:n ,iet#sche@s o3inion Y one 2hich fully harmoni#ed 2ith the 0ie2s 1ust 6uoted Y the
3ositi0e 0alue of such ?democratic e0olution@ rested in its ability to rear a ne2 ?elite@( Thus
in com3leting the turn to ?democracy@ < la -ismarck& ,iet#sche ga0e u3 none of his
youthful aristocratic con0ictions( For no2 he still sa2 the sal0ation of culture solely in a
more resolute besto2al of 3ri0ileges on a minority& one 2hose leisure 2as based on the
hard 3hysical labour of the ma1ority& the masses( !e 2rote ?; higher ci0ili#ation can only
come about 2hen there are t2o distinct social castes that of the 2orking 3eo3le and that
of the leisured& those ca3able of true leisure> or& to 3ut it more strongly& the caste of
forced labour and the caste of free labour(@J+PK "o close to liberalism 2as he coming that
tem3orarily he e0en a33ro3riated its conce3t of the "tate( !e 2rote the oft*6uoted
sentence ?Modern democracy is the historical form of the decay of the "tate(@ -ut 1ust
ho2 ,iet#sche am3lified this idea is seldom 6uoted ?The 3ros3ect o3ened u3 by this
assured decay is not& ho2e0er& a gloomy one in e0ery res3ect of all human attributes&
shre2dness and self*seeking are the most highly de0elo3ed> 2hen the "tate is no longer a
match for these forces@ demands& chaos 2ill be the least likely result( :t is more likely that
the "tate 2ill be defeated by an e0en more 3ractical in0ention than itself(@J+9K
!ere it becomes 3al3ably clear 2hy ,iet#sche arri0ed at the 0ie2s he did( ,o longer did
he consider socialism to be an ally of liberalism and democracy& their consummation
carried to radical e4tremes Y in 2hich guise he had 3re0iously o33osed it along 2ith the
other t2o( "ocialism 2as no2 ?the imaginati0e younger brother of the near*defunct
des3otism@(JFBK ;nd ,iet#sche ended the a3horism in such a 2ay that his current
attitude to the "tate is 6uite 3lain to behold ?"ocialism can ser0e to teach men most
brutally and forcefully the danger of all accumulations of "tate authority& and so ins3ire a
distrust of the "tate itself( )hen its hoarse 0oice mingles 2ith the battle*cries of Has
much "tate 3o2er as 3ossibleI& these 2ill at first become louder than e0er but soon the
o33osite cry 2ill ring out all the more strongly Y Has little "tate 3o2er as 3ossibleI(@JF1K
:t is not 2orth e4amining more closely ho2 ,iet#sche en0isaged this democracy in
concrete terms( To do so 2ould merely re0eal his 3olitical nai0ety and economic
ignorance( :f& in conclusion& 2e 6uote one more statement by him& this 2ill clearly
illustrate not only both the aforesaid 3oints but also the constant leitmotif of all stages in
,iet#sche@s de0elo3ment the cam3aign against socialism& the chief ad0ersary( :n the
second 3art of !uman& ;ll*Too*!uman& ,iet#sche maintained that democracy 2ould of
all 3arties 3rofit most from the general dread of socialism& and he concluded ?The 3eo3le
are the farthest a2ay from socialism as a doctrine of reform in the ac6uisition of
3ro3erty and should they e0er ha0e access to the ta4ation scre2 through their
3arliaments large ma1orities& they 2ill assault the 3rinci3ality of ca3italists& businessmen
and stock e4changes 2ith 3rogressi0e ta4ation& thus in fact slo2ly creating a middle class
2hich may forget about socialism as it 2ould a disease it has reco0ered from(@JF+K That
2as the focal 3oint of ,iet#sche@s uto3ian dream of this 3eriod to achie0e a society
2here socialism could be forgotten as easily as ?a 3ast illness@( For this dream@s sake he
regarded -ismarck@s ?democracy@ 2ith Y 6ualified Y bene0olence the ?democracy@ of the
anti*socialist la2s and the 3rofessed social 3olicies& the ?democracy@ of the carrot and the
stick(
!o2 far these 0ie2s 2ere associated 2ith reactionary illusions about the socialist ban is
indicated by the ne2 and final turn they took( ;gain this occurred side by side 2ith the
bourgeoisie@s disillusionment as a result of the gro2ing& and increasingly successful&
courageous resistance of the German 2orking class( ;ssuming more and more
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3assionate forms& ,iet#sche@s ne2 line of thought reached its 3eak in his final 2orks( )e
shall not retrace it ste3 by ste3> our concern here is the essential social content& abo0e all
the fact that& des3ite the cho33ing and changing& the actual 3i0ot and real centre ne0er
shifted& but 2as still hostility to socialism(
The estrangement from the ?democratic@ illusions of the transitional 3eriod already takes
a 0ery distinct form in the Eoyful "cience 51PP+7( :n a 3assage that the fascists ha0e often
6uoted& and 2ith understandable enthusiasm& ,iet#sche sided 2ith military command
and subordination& officers and soldiers& 3laying off this hierarchy against the ca3italist
e43loiters@ 2ant of refinement and aristocratic character( :ndeed he sa2 in the lack of
aristocratic form the 0ery reason for the rise of the socialists ?)ere they 5namely the
ca3italists Y G(L(7 to share the hereditary nobility@s distinction in glance and gesture&
then 3erha3s there 2ould be no socialism of the masses(@JFFK )hat determined the
shar3er tone and mounting 3assion 2as that ,iet#sche& becoming more and more
sce3tical about the chances of 3utting do2n the 2orkers by time*honoured methods&
strongly feared Y at least for the time being Y a 2orkers@ 0ictory( Thus he 2rote in The
Genealogy of Morals 51PP.7 ?Let us face facts the 3eo3le ha0e trium3hed Y or the
sla0es& the mob& the herd or 2hat e0er you like to call them ((( Masters ha0e been
abolished> the morals of the common man ha0e trium3hed ((( Mankind@s ?redem3tion@
5namely from its masters7 is 2ell under 2ay> e0erything is becoming 0isibly Eudified or
Christified or mobified 52hat do 2ords matterR7( To arrest this 3oison@s 3rogress
throughout the body of mankind seems im3ossible (((@JFNK
;t this 3oint it might be 6uite interesting to glance at the differences and similarities in
the careers of ,iet#sche and Fran# Mehring( )e may then see 2hat the socialist ban and
the German 3roletariat@s resistance meant to the crisis in bourgeois ideology( -oth
authors Y although al2ays 3roceeding from totally different starting*3oints and on
e6ually different lines Y had a 3eriod of illusionary 3ers3ecti0es Mehring 2rote a
3am3hlet attacking social democracy& 2hile ,iet#sche entered u3on his ?democratic@
3hase( -oth under 2ent a crisis during the 2orkers@ e0er*mounting and increasingly
successful resistance( -ut 2hereas this crisis led Mehring into the socialist cam3& it
e4acerbated ,iet#sche@s hostility to socialism to the 3oint of fury and brought about the
final formulation of his mythical foreshado2ing of im3erialist barbarity( ?)hom do :
hate most@& said ,iet#sche in his ;nti*Christ& ?among the rabble of today= The socialist
rabble& the "handala disci3les undermining the 2orker@s sound instinct& good s3irits and
sense of contentment Y making him en0ious and instructing him in 0engeance (((
:n1ustice ne0er lies in une6ual rights> it lies in the claim to e6ual rights (((@JFOK ;nd it is
ty3ical of ,iet#sche@s shift that in his last 3eriod& in the T2ilight of the :dols& he e43ressly
returned to the statement 2e 6uoted earlier& concerning democracy as the decaying form
of the "tate> but this time he made it in a decidedly condemnatory sense(JFDK
:n summing u3& it only remains for us to sho2 ho2 ,iet#sche described his attitude to
the 2orker 6uestion in The T2ilight of the :dols
The stu3idity& at bottom the degenerate instinct& 2hich today is the cause of all
stu3idities& rests in the fact that there is a 2orker 3roblem at all( There are certain
6uestions thatone does not ask number one im3erati0e of the instinct( : 6uite fail to see
2hat 2e 2ish to do 2ith the /uro3ean 2orker once he has become a 3roblem( The
2orker is faring far too 2ell not gradually to start asking more 6uestions and to ask them
less modestly( :n the last resort he has the strength of numbers in his fa0our( )e ha0e
said good*bye to the ho3e that here a humble and contented kind of man& a Chinese ty3e
might form an emergent class and that 2ould ha0e made sense& and 2ould ha0e been a
do2nright necessity( -ut 2hat ha0e 2e done= /0erything to ni3 in the bud e0en the first
re6uirement Y through the most irres3onsible thoughtlessness& 2e ha0e killed outright
the instincts enabling the 2orker to e4ist as a class& enabling the 2orker himself to e4ist(
116
)e ha0e taught him military efficiency and gi0en him the coalition right and the 3olitical
0ote so 2hy be sur3rised if no2 the 2orker is already regarding his condition as a
de3ri0ed one 5in moral terms& an in1ustice7= -ut : ask once more 2hat is it 2e 2ant= :f
2e ha0e some end in 0ie2 2e must also 2ish for the means( :f it is sla0es 2e 2ant& 2e are
fools to raise them as masters(JF.K
T2o 3oints in ,iet#sche@s thought 2arrant 3articular em3hasis( Firstly& the fact that he
considered the 2hole ?2orker 3roblem@ to be a 3urely ideological issue the ruling*class
ideologues 2ere to decide the course of conduct that the 2orkers should follo2(
,iet#sche 6uite o0erlooked the fact that the 6uestion had ob1ecti0e economic
foundations( The sole deciding factor& for him& 2as ho2 the ?masters@ stood on the
6uestion> they could achie0e anything if they 2ere determined enough( 5!ere ,iet#sche
2as a direct forerunner of the !itlerian 0ie2(7 "econdly& this 3assage un2ittingly
3ro0ides a historical summary of the constant and inconstant elements in ,iet#sche@s
thoughts on this central 3roblem( :t is e0ident both that the ?breeding@ of a sla0e ty3e
ada3ted to modern circumstances 2as his 3ermanent social ideal& and that his hostility
2as directed against those Y the socialists Y 2ho 2ere frustrating this de0elo3ment( -ut
the inconstant element is e6ually clear if ,iet#sche 2as le0elling shar3 criticisms against
others of his class& he 2as at the same time 3ractising self*criticism and o0ercoming the
illusions of his !uman& ;ll*Too*!uman 3eriod(
;t all e0ents& since the crumbling of his ?democratic@ illusions ,iet#sche had been
3redicting an era of great 2ars& re0olutions and counter*re0olutions( 9nly out of the
resulting chaos could his ideal arise absolute rule by the ?lords of the earth@ o0er a
henceforth com3liant herd& the suitably co2ed sla0es( :n ,iet#sche@s 1ottings from the
time of The Genealogy of Morals 2e already find ?The 3roblem Y 2hither no2=
The need is for a ne2 reign of terror(@JFPK ;nd in the 3rolegomenon to The )ill to
Po2er he said of the ne2 barbarians and future o0erlords ?9b0iously they 2ill come into
0ie2 and consolidate themsel0es only after immense socialistic crises(@JF9K The older
,iet#sche@s o3timistic 3ers3ecti0es deri0ed from this 0ision of the future 5of
im3erialism7 ?The sight of the 3resent /uro3ean affords me much ho3e a daring master
race is being formed u3on the broad basis of an e4tremely intelligent herd of the
masses(@JNBK ;nd 2hilst dreaming u3 these goals and the 3ath that 2ould lead to them&
he occasionally concei0ed of the future in images 2hose content directly antici3ates the
!itlerian saga ?The 3utrid ruling classes ha0e corru3ted the image of the ruler( For the
"tate to e4ercise 1urisdiction is co2ardice& because it lacks the great man 2ho can ser0e
as a criterion( There is so much uncertainty in the end that men 2ill ko2*to2 to any
old 2ill 3o2er that issues the orders(@JN1K
:n order to be com3letely clear about ,iet#sche@s socio*3olitical line& it only remains for
us to cast some light on his attitude to -ismarck( This is not an irrele0ant 6uestion>
indeed it is central both to his influence on basically Left*oriented circles and to his role
in fascist ideology(
The Left sa2 the 3roblem thus ,iet#sche critici#ed -ismarck 0ery shar3ly Y hence he
could not 3ossibly be a reactionary( "ince this 2as a case of mistaking criticism from the
Right for criticism from the Left& our concrete treatment of the ,iet#sche*-ismarck
relationshi3 2ill tacitly ans2er this 6uestion to the effect that he al2ays critici#ed
-ismarck from a Right*2ing stand3oint& and considered -ismarck to be not decidedly
enough the im3erialist reactionary(
The fascist ideologists too started out from the contrasts bet2een ,iet#sche and
-ismarck( -ut since the Third Reich needed a synthesis of all the reactionary currents in
German history& it had to regard itself as a fusion of ,iet#sche and -ismarck on a higher
5i(e(& reactionary7 le0el( Fran# "chau2ecker& for e4am3le& said of the need to reconcile
,iet#sche and -ismarck in the Third Reich ?:t 2ill be an em3ire guaranteeing the
117
ultimate 2orld*order( :t 2ill be the em3ire in 2hich Frederick the Prussian and Goethe
the German are at one( Then the meeting 2hich 2as 3re0ented from taking 3lace
bet2een -ismarck and ,iet#sche 2ill be a fait accom3li strong enough to 2ithstand all
attacks by hostile 3o2ers(@JN+K !itler@s official 3hiloso3hical ideologue& ;lfred -aeumler&
for his 3art used ,iet#sche@s -ismarck criti6ue Y entirely in the s3irit of Mein Cam3f Y
to 3ro0e the Third Reich@s su3eriority to the -ismarck*!ohen#ollern em3ire( ;ccordingly
he 3assed o0er all ,iet#sche@s cho33ing and changing& and summed u3 his 0ie2s thus
?The history of the /m3ire became the story of -ismarck@s intellectual defeat( This
3rocess took 3lace before the horrified eyes of the other great realist 5namely ,iet#sche&
G(L(7 ((( The em3ire 3ros3ered& but it 2as a sham 3ros3erity& and the concomitant
3hiloso3hy 5Hethical idealismI7 2as a sham 3hiloso3hy( :n the 2orld 2ar the ostentatious
romantic*liberal structure colla3sed& and in the same instant the t2o great contestants
from the 3ast became 0isible(@JNFK
,o2 let us look at ,iet#sche@s -ismarck criti6ue itself( -oth men 2ere so*called ?u3*to*
date@ reactionaries 2ho& along 2ith the usual 2ea3ons of 3o3ular sub1ugation and brutal
terror Y although this remained the fa0ourite 2ea3on of both Y attem3ted abo0e all to
em3loy indi0idual ?democratic@ measures or institutions against the chief ad0ersary& the
3roletariat( 5Ani0ersal suffrage& etc(& in -ismarck@s case(7 -ismarck& ho2e0er& being
essentially a di3lomat of the -ona3artist 3eriod& 2as only briefly carried beyond the
narro2 aims of a Prussian reactionary 3olicy by the mo0ement for German unity( !e
failed to gras3 the German bourgeoisie@s im3erialistic as3irations& based on the
reactionary foundation of the /m3ire and no2 gradually gaining in momentum(
,iet#sche& on the contrary& 2as the ideologist and 3ro3het of this 0ery tendency( !ence
his often bitterly ironical& scornful criticism of -ismarck& and hence Y 3recisely in the
last years of his acti0e life Y his o33osition to him( )hat ,iet#sche found 2anting in
-ismarck 2as a gras3 of the 3rinci3le of the 2ill to 3o2er& 2hich 2as 2hy he said that he
kne2 as little about 3hiloso3hy as ?a farmer or an army recruit@(JNNK
-ut that 2as sim3ly a 3olemical in0ecti0e( The essence of ,iet#sche@s 6uarrel 2ith
-ismarck com3rised t2o com3le4es of ideas( Firstly& in the domain of home affairs
,iet#sche called for a determined break 2ith the semblance of a democracy and 2ith that
form of demagogic flirting 2ith democracy& that is to say 3arliamentarianism& 2hich
-ismarck re3resented( For ,iet#sche the crucial 6uestion 2as this ?The increasing
emergence of democratic man& and the conse6uent stultification of /uro3e and belittling
of /uro3ean man( !ence his 3rece3t ?; break 2ith the /nglish 3rinci3le of 3o3ular
re3resentation it is the big interests 2hich need to be re3resented(@ JNOK !ere ,iet#sche
antici3ated the fascist ?class "tate@( The second com3le4 of ideas co0ered 2orld affairs(
:n -eyond Good and /0il Y significantly& and in contrast to -ismarck@s 3olicy at the
time& in the form of a demand that /uro3e unite against Russia Y ,iet#sche declared
?The time for small 3olitics is o0er the 0ery ne4t century 2ill bring a struggle for
dominion o0er the earth& the obligation for great 3olitics(@JNDK This era 2hich ,iet#sche
accused -ismarck of failing to understand 2as to be the era of great 2ars( :n /cce
homo ,iet#sche e43ressed himself thus on the sub1ect ?There 2ill be 2ars the like of
2hich ha0e ne0er been seen on earth before( Great 3olitics on earth are only beginning
2ith me(@JN.K That is 2hy -ismarck 2as not militaristic enough for ,iet#sche( /4actly
like !itler& he belie0ed that Germany@s sal0ation de3ended on rene2ing in u3*to*date
form the traditions of the Prussian military "tate ?The u3holding of the military "tate is
the ultimate means of ado3ting or sustaining the great tradition 2ith regard to
the highest ty3e of 3erson& the ty3e that is strong(@JNPK ;s these fe2 3assages sho2 us
3erfectly 3lainly& ,iet#sche@s -ismarck criti6ue rested solely on the contention that
-ismarck did not gras3 the 3roblems of the im3ending im3erialist 3eriod& and 2as
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inca3able of sol0ing them by 2ay of reactionary aggression( !e 2as& there fore&
critici#ing -ismarck from the Right(
F
9nly on the basis of the aforesaid can 2e a33rehend both the unity behind ,iet#sche@s
3hiloso3hy and its 0arious changes( :t im3lied an acti0e re1ection of the chief enemy&
namely the 2orking class and socialism( ;nd as the class struggle intensified and one
illusion crumbled after another& it e43anded into an intellectual antici3ation of the
im3erialist 3hase in ca3italist e0olution( 9nly in an im3erialist bourgeois state of a
decidedly aggressi0e reactionary hue could ,iet#sche find a sufficiently strong defence
against the socialist danger> only the emergence of such a 3o2er ins3ired in him the
ho3e of succeeding in neutrali#ing the 2orking class once and for all( !is bitterness
about the Germany of his time stemmed from its failure to ado3t this measure and its
continued hesitancy in doing so(
These tendencies are best seen in ,iet#sche@s ethics( That is because ,iet#sche& in 0ie2 of
his class situation& his ignorance of economics and the fact that his acti0ity 3re*dated
im3erialism& 2as naturally in no 3osition to foreshado2 im3erialism in economic and
social terms( :n his 2orks he 3ortrayed the bourgeoisie@s consistent im3erialist morality
all the more clearly for that( :ndeed he here antici3ated in theory the true course of
de0elo3ments( Most of his statements on ethics became a dreadful reality under the
!itler r%gime& and they also retain a 0alidity as an account of ethics in the 3resent
?;merican age@(
,iet#sche 2as fre6uently associated 2ith the Romantic mo0ement( The assum3tion is
correct inasmuch as many moti0es of Romantic anti*ca3italism Y e(g(& the struggle
against the ca3italist di0ision of labour and its conse6uences for bourgeois culture and
morals Y 3layed a considerable 3art in his thinking( The setting u3 of a 3ast age as an
ideal for the 3resent age to reali#e also belonged to the intellectual armoury of Romantic
anti*ca3italism( ,iet#sche@s acti0ity& ho2e0er& fell 2ithin the 3eriod after the 3roletariat@s
first sei#ure of 3o2er& after the Paris Commune( Crisis and dissolution& Romantic anti*
ca3italism@s de0elo3ment into ca3italist a3ologetics& the fate of Carlyle during and after
the 1PNP re0olution Y these already lay far behind ,iet#sche in the dusty 3ast( Thus the
young Carlyle had contrasted ca3italism@s cruelty and inhumanity 2ith the Middle ;ges
as an e3och of 3o3ular 3ros3erity& a ha33y age for those 2ho laboured> 2hereas
,iet#sche began& as 2e ha0e noted& by e4tolling as a model the ancient sla0e economy(
;nd so the reactionary uto3ia 2hich Carlyle en0isioned after 1PNP he also found nai0e
and long outdated( ;dmittedly the aristocratic bias of both had similar social
foundations in the attem3t to ensure the leading social 3osition of the bourgeoisie and
to account for that 3osition 3hiloso3hically( -ut the different conditions surrounding
,iet#sche@s 2ork lent to his aristocratic leanings a fundamentally different content and
totally different colouring from that of Romantic anti*ca3italism( True& remnants of
Romanticism 5from "cho3enhauer& Richard )agner7 are still 3al3able in the young
,iet#sche( -ut these he 3roceeded to o0ercome as he de0elo3ed& e0en if Y 2ith regard to
the crucially im3ortant method of indirect a3ologetics Y he still remained a 3u3il of
"cho3enhauer and 3reser0ed as his basic conce3t the irrational one of the Lionysian
3rinci3le 5against reason& for instinct7> but not 2ithout significant modifications& as 2e
shall see( !ence an increasingly energetic dissociation from Romanticism is 3erce3tible
in the course of ,iet#sche@s de0elo3ment( )hile the Romantic he identified more and
more 3assionately 2ith decadence 5of the bad kind7& the Lionysian became a conce3t
increasingly antithetical to Romanticism& a 3arallel for the surmounting of decadence
and a symbol of the ?good@ kind of decadence& the kind he a33ro0ed(
)ith regard therefore to the 3hiloso3hy of human beha0iour 5ethics& 3sychology and
social 3hiloso3hy al2ays coalesce in ,iet#sche7& he harked back to the e3och 3a0ing the
119
2ay for bourgeois ascendancy& to the Renaissance& French classicism and the
/nlightenment( These interests are im3ortant because they offered connecting links both
for ,iet#sche@s admirers from the bourgeois Left& and for his u3dating in the ser0ice of
ideological 3re3arations for a third im3erialist 2orld 2ar( Caufmann& for instance&
treated ,iet#sche as the consummator of great 3hiloso3hy after Lescartes 5indeed after
;ristotle7& intending to de3ict him as carrying on the /nlightenment traditions(
JN9K !a0ing been a33arently com3romised by the !itlerists@ enthusiasm& he 2as Y in
com3any 2ith !1almar "chacht and General Guderian Y to be ?dena#ified@ to suit the
3ur3oses of ;merican im3erialism(
The reader 2ill ha0e already obser0ed the scientific 2orth of such essays from our
3re0ious 6uotation concerning Moltaire and Rousseau( Moltaire& 2hose 2ork formed a
great focal 3oint for the mobili#ation of all the 3rogressi0e forces of his age& 2as Y
according to ,iet#sche Y to become the s3iritual head of the anti*re0olutionary brigade(
;nd it is e4tremely characteristic of this so*called link 2ith the /nlightenment that
,iet#sche& seeking an analogy 2ith Moltaire@s conduct& found one in the life of
"cho3enhauer Y 2ho 2as& he stated& ?unsullied as no German 3hiloso3her before him&
li0ing and dying a Moltairean@(JOBK )e are asked to belie0e that Moltaire& 2ho used his
2orld*2ide fame effecti0ely to combat the antedilu0ian feudal absolutism of his times&
and 2ho risked his neck to sa0e the innocent 0ictims of the clerical*absolutist reactionary
3arty 5or at least to 3reser0e their memory7& led a life com3arable to that of
"cho3enhauer& 2hose only 3ersonal conflict in0ol0ed a family s6uabble o0er his
inheritance> 2ho in 1PNP offered the counter*re0olutionary officers his o3era*glasses to
hel3 them shoot at those fighting on the barricades> 2ho be6ueathed 3art of his 2ealth to
the counter*re0olution@s disabled& etc( :t is not& : think& 2orth adducing similar 3roof
2ith res3ect to all ,iet#sche@s su33osed ties 2ith earlier 3rogressi0e traditions> to do so
2ould be only too easy( :t 2ill suffice if 2e 6uote& in conclusion& ,iet#sche@s o2n
comment about the relationshi3 of his ?ne2 /nlightenment@ to the ?old@ for ,iet#sche& in
contrast to his hy3ocritical im3erialist inter3reters& e43ressed his 0ie2s 2ith a candour
lea0ing nothing to be desired( !e said ?((( the old mo0ement 2as in the s3irit of the
democratic herd a uni0ersal le0elling( The ne2 /nlightenment aims at sho2ing
dominant natures the 2ay> inasmuch as to these 5as to the "tate7& e0erything is
3ermitted that is barred to the herd mentality(@JO1K
\uite contrary to those commentators 2ho sought to bring ,iet#sche into close
alignment 2ith the /nlightenment& he actually stood Y after the brief e3isode of relati0e
3ro3in6uity in the ?Lemocratic Phase@ 2e ha0e e4amined Y at e4treme loggerheads 2ith
such /nlightenment e3igones as Mill& Guyau and others( The inconsistent de0elo3ment
in the 3eriod of bourgeois ideology@s decline found e43ression in this conflict( The
/nlightenment itself& under the illusion that it 2as establishing the em3ire of reason& had
o33osed the theology and the irrationalism of feudal traditions( The bourgeoisie@s 0ictory
in the great French Re0olution meant a reali#ation of these ideals& but the necessary
conse6uence 2as& as /ngels says&JO+Kthat the em3ire of reason 3ro0ed to be the
bourgeois em3ire ideali#ed& 2ith all its insoluble contradictions( Mar4 says tellingly of
the difference bet2een !el0%tius and -entham ?-entham only re3roduces dully 2hat
!el0%tius and other eighteenth*century Frenchmen had e43ressed 2ith 2it(@JOFK The
contrast of 2it and dullness 2as not 1ust a matter of their res3ecti0e talents& ho2e0er( :t
illustrates t2o different stages in the de0elo3ment of ca3italism and& accordingly& in that
of bourgeois ideology( !el0%tius 2as ca3able of 2it because a clair0oyant loathing of the
decayed feudal*absolutist society& the obscurantism of church and religion& and the
ruling classes@ hy3ocrisy lent 2ings to his thinking( -entham 2as bound to gro2 dull
because he 2as doggedly defending a ca3italism that had already trium3hed& and to do
this he had to o0erlook the most significant social 3henomena or distort reality 2ith the
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aid of rose*tinted s3ectacles( )ith the e3igonal -entham@s o2n e3igones& the 3ositi0ists
Mill and "3encer& Comte and Guyau& the bourgeoisie@s further decline could only
hastenthis tendency to su3erficiality and dullness( ,iet#sche& in turn& could become 2itty
once more because& as a result of his method of indirect a3ologetics& he commanded a
2ide field for ruthless criticism& es3ecially in the cultural s3here( From the artistic
character of such criticism deri0ed his aesthetic 3reference for indi0idual /nlightenment
authors& and the French moralists in 3articular( -ut this 3rofessional& formal allegiance
must not be allo2ed to conceal the ideological antithesis in their basic lines of thought(
9ccasionally ,iet#sche 0oiced these contrasts 6uite o3enly& as for instance 2hen Y as
early as the time of !uman& ;ll*Too*!uman Y he disco0ered an ally of Christianity in La
Rochefoucauld@s moral criti6ue(JONK
The connecting link bet2een ,iet#sche@s ethics and those of the /nlightenment& the
French moralists and so on is the fact that they all 3ercei0ed in the egotism of the
?ca3italist@ indi0idual the central 3henomenon of social life( "ince& ho2e0er& they 2ere
2riting in different 3eriods& the historical de0elo3ment of the class struggle 3roduced
6ualitati0e differences in content and indeed incom3atible elements in orientation and
e0aluation( ;s 3rogressi0e ideologists of the era leading u3 to the bourgeois*democratic
re0olution& the rationalists 2ere bound to ideali#e bourgeois society and& first and
foremost& the social functions of egotism( )ithout any kno2ledge& for the most 3art& of
classical -ritish economics and often before they a33eared& these ideologists e43ressed
in their ethics ;dam "mith@s basic economic tenet that the indi0idual@s economically self*
seeking actions are the mains3ring of the 3roducti0e forces@ de0elo3ment& leading
necessarily& in the last resort& to a harmoni#ing of the collecti0e interests of society( 5!ere
2e lack s3ace e0en to outline the com3licated 3arado4es occasioned by ?theory of utility@&
the ethics of ?rational egotism@ 2hich flourished in this soil among the /nlightenment@s
great re3resentati0es(7 :t is clear& ho2e0er& that after the ;dam "mith doctrine had itself
foundered on the real facts of ca3italism& it could only be 3reser0ed in economics in the
sha3e of 3o3ular economics 5starting 2ith "ay7& and in ethics and sociology in the form
of direct a3ologetics for ca3italism 5starting 2ith -entham7( The Positi0ists@ dull*
2ittedness and eclecticism are indicated by& among other factors& their inability to ado3t
an une6ui0ocal line on the 6uestion of egotism( Their 3osition amounted to a generally
obfuscating ?on the one hand ((( on the other hand@( ,o2 if ,iet#sche& standing for
indirect a3ologetics& took u3 once more the 6uestion of 2hether to commend egotism Y
and 2e see that in his youth& this 3olicy 3layed an im3ortant role in the mythici#ing
moderni#ation of the agon and the ?good /ris@ Y it 2as no longer& in his case& an
ideali#ation of a rising& still 3rogressi0e& and indeed re0olutionary& bourgeois society( !e
2as& on the contrary& ideali#ing those egotistic tendencies in the declining bourgeoisie
that 2ere burgeoning in his o2n lifetime and became truly& uni0ersally 3re0alent in the
im3erialist 3eriod( That is to say& it 2as the egotism of a class 2hich& ha0ing been
condemned by history to its doom& 2as mobili#ing all mankind@s barbaric instincts in its
des3erate struggles 2ith its gra0e*diggers& the 3roletariat& and 2as founding its ?ethics@
on these instincts(
)e kno2 that in his so*called Moltaire 3hase& ,iet#sche 2as for a short 2hile closely
associated 2ith Paul R%e& a Positi0ist e3igone of /nlightenment ethics& and e0en fell
tem3orarily under his influence( !ence the moti0es behind his rift and critical
contro0ersy 2ith R%e are most instructi0e 2ith regard to our 3roblem( !e 0oiced them
2ith unambiguous clarity ?: challenge the idea that egotism is harmful and
re3rehensible : 2ant to gi0e egotism a clear conscience(@JOOK
The chief task of ,iet#sche@s mature 3eriod& then& 2as to e4tend the ethics 5the
3sychology and& so ,iet#sche thought& the 3hysiology as 2ell7 of this ne2 egotism( :n
drafts for a se6uel to Warathustra he set out 3erha3s the most re0ealing 3rogramme for
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the task( ;nd significantly& he began 2ith his aforementioned definition of the ?ne2
/nlightenment@ ? H,othing is true& e0erything is 3ermitted(I Warathustra H: de3ri0ed you
of e0erything& a god& a duty Y no2 you must 3ro0ide the greatest 3roof of a noble action(
For here is the o3en road for the im3ious Y beholdRI Y ; contest for dominance& 2ith
the herd still more of a herd in the end& and the tyrant still more of a tyrant( Y ,o secret
societyR Theconse6uences of your doctrine must 2reak fearful ha0oc but countless are
destined to 3erish from them( Y )e are submitting truth to an e43erimentR Maybe
mankind 2ill 3erish in the 3rocessR "o be itR@JODK
To accom3lish this u3hea0al& this ?trans0aluation of all 0alues@ ne2 men 2ere needed(
,iet#sche intended his ethics to effect their selection& education& breeding( -ut this called
for a liberation of the instincts before all else( :n ,iet#sche@s o3inion& each 3re0ious
religion& 3hiloso3hy& morality& and so forth& had the function of o33osing a liberation of
the instincts& of su33ressing& neglecting and 3er0erting them( 9nly 2ith his o2n ethics
did the liberating 3rocess commence ?/0ery sound morality is go0erned by a life
instinct ((( Annatural morality& i(e(& nearly e0ery morality that has been hitherto
inculcated& 0enerated and 3reached& is aimed& con0ersely& directly against the 0ital
instincts Y it is a condemnation& sometimes clandestine and sometimes loud and bold&
of these instincts(@JO.K !ere ,iet#sche emerges as a 0igorous critic of ethics 3ast and
3resent& 3hiloso3hical and abo0e all Cantian as 2ell as Christian*theological( Taking a
3urely formal 0ie2& one might at first glance assume that he had in mind a link 2ith the
great ethical ideas of earlier men& such as "3ino#a@s doctrine of the emotions( -ut as soon
as 2e consider content and 3rogrammatic bias in concrete terms& 2e see ho2
a33earances can decei0ed )ith "3ino#a& the dialectics of the con6uest of one@s o2n
emotions 2ere an endea0our to 3ro1ect the ideal of a harmonious& humanistic& self*
controlled social being through mastery o0er 5not 1ust the su33ression of& as in Cant7
mere instinct and the anti*social 3assions( )ith ,iet#sche& on the contrary& as 2e ha0e
seen already and 2ill see again in more detail& 2e ha0e a 0eritable conce3tion of an
unleashing of the instincts the declining bourgeoisie& he maintained& had to let loose all
that 2as bad and bestial in man so as to obtain militant acti0ists 2ho could sa0e its
dominion(
That is 2hy the ackno2ledgement of the criminal ty3e 2as so im3ortant to ,iet#sche(
!ere too there is a surface affinity 2ith certain tendencies in the earlier literature of the
3eriod of the bourgeois rise 5the young "chiller@s Robbers& Cleist@s Michael Cohlhaas&
Pushkin@s Lubro0sky& -al#ac@s Mautrin& etc(7& but once again 2ith a radically different
content( ;t that time& the in1ustices of feudal*absolutist society 2ere dri0ing high*
3rinci3led men into crime& and the study of such criminals constituted an attack on that
society( Granted& ,iet#sche too 2as bent on attacking( -ut 2here he 3ut the em3hasis
2as on deforming a s3ecific human ty3e& on transforming it into the criminal ty3e( ;nd
his chief concern 2as to gi0e e0en the criminal a clear conscience and thus to cancel out
his degeneration and make him a member of the ne2 %lite( :n The T2ilight of the
:dols he stated ?The criminal ty3e is the strong ty3e under unfa0ourable conditions& a
strong man rendered sickly( )hat he lacks is the 1ungle& a certain freer and more
dangerous form of nature and e4istence 2here all that ser0es as arms and armour Y in
the strong man@s instincti0e 0ie2 Y is his by right( !is 0irtues society has 3rohibited> the
li0eliest im3ulses he has borne 2ithin him are 6uickly entangled 2ith the crushing
emotions of sus3icion& fear and ignominy(@JOPK ;nd then in The )ill to Po2er& the
necessary& organic connection bet2een greatness& in ,iet#sche@s sense& and criminality
52hich means belonging to the criminal ty3e7 2as distinctly stated ?:n our ci0ili#ed
2orld 2e are almost solely ac6uainted 2ith the stunted criminal& 2eighed do2n by
society@s curse and contem3t& mistrusting himself& often belittling and calumniating his
o2n deed& a failed criminal ty3e> and 2e find it re3ugnant to think that all great men
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2ere criminals 5but in the grand manner& not miserably7 and that crime belongs to
greatness (((@JO9K
!ere already ,iet#sche has 0ery 3lainly raised and ans2ered the 6uestion of ?sickness@
and ?health@& so central to his mature 3hiloso3hy( :f 2e com3lement these statements
2ith a further one from his drafts for his final 2orks& it 2ill not be for the sake of
com3rehensi0eness& for 2e could de0ote many more 3ages to such 6uotations( )e shall
do so because many of ,iet#sche@s inter3reters& es3ecially in recent times& ha0e been
eager to 2ater do2n all his tendencies to2ards the re0i0al of barbarity& glorification of
the 2hite terror and moral sanction of cruelty and bestiality Y eager indeed to eliminate
them from his 2orks( 9ften they gi0e one the im3ression that the ?blond beast@ is only a
harmless meta3hor 2ithin a delicate cultural criti6ue( To counter such distortions 2e
must al2ays refer back to ,iet#sche himself 2ho3 in all such matters& Y and in this he
2as a sincere thinker& no hy3ocrite or sneak Y 2rote 2ith a do2nright cynical candour(
Thus he stated in the aforesaid 3assage ?-easts of 3rey and the 3rime0al forest sho2
that de3ra0ity can be 0ery healthy and 2orks 2onders for the body( )ere the 3redatory
s3ecies beset by inner torments& they 2ould ha0e become stunted and degenerate long
ago( The dog 52hich moans and 2hines so much7 is a degenerate 3redator& and so is the
cat( :nnumerable good*natured& de3ressed 3eo3le are the li0ing 3roof
that kindliness is connected 2ith a lessening of 0ital 3o2ers their feelings of
an4iety 3redominate and go0ern their organisms(@JDBK ;s 2e shall see& the biological
language too is in com3lete accord 2ith the mature ,iet#sche@s basic 3hiloso3hical bias(
-ut this terminology only ser0es a mythici#ing 3ur3ose& for the beast of 3rey@s ?de3ra0ity@
is of course a myth attendant on the im3erialist glorification of the bad instincts(
;ll this contains an e43licit a0o2al of belief in a re0i0al of barbarity as the means of
sa0ing mankind( 5:t is irrele0ant that in his early 2ritings& and occasionally later&
,iet#sche also used the 2ord ?barbarity@ in a 3e1orati0e sense> in such instances he meant
cultural 3hilistinism& narro2*mindedness in general(7 ,iet#sche stated in the same drafts
that ?today 2e are tired of ci0ili#ation@(JD1K :n e0en ,iet#sche@s eyes& to be sure& this
2ould sim3ly be chaos& a state of decadence( -ut it is interesting to obser0e the constant
gro2th of his o3timismconcerning the future as he foresa2 it( )here 2as the 2ay out of
the chaos= !ere again ,iet#sche ga0e an une6ui0ocally clear re3ly the era of ?great
3olitics@& 2ars and re0olutions 2ould com3el men 5i(e(& the ruling class7 to re0erse their
course( The crucial signs of this sa0ing transformation 2ould a33ear in no other guise
than that of the re0i0al of barbarity( )e ha0e already 6uoted se0eral im3ortant
comments by ,iet#sche on this sub1ect in the 3re0ious 3aragra3h(
;dmirers of the ?3urified@ ,iet#sche ha0e been hard 3ut to unite his sanctioning of
barbarity 2ith an often subtle and rarefied cultural criti6ue( -ut 2e can easily dis3ose of
this dichotomy( :n the first 3lace& the union of ultra*refinement and brutality 2as by no
means a 3ersonal 6uirk re6uiring 3sychological elucidation& but a uni0ersal& 3sychical*
moral distinguishing mark of im3erialist decadence( : ha0e demonstrated the kinshi3 of
these contrasting 6ualities in other conte4ts in the oeu0re of Rilke& 2ho 3ractised a far
greater refinement still(JD+K "econdly& in the Genealogy of Morals ,iet#sche ga0e an
e4cellent descri3tion of the ty3e he fa0oured( Anlike the 3assages 3re0iously 6uoted& it
not only re0eals its 3sychology and ethics& but also sheds much light on the subterranean
class basis of this contrasting duality and unity( !ere ,iet#sche e4amined 3airs of moral
o33osites the aristocratic conce3t of good and bad& and the conce3t of good and e0il
dictated by 3lebeian disa33ro0al( ;nd to the 6uestion of ho2 the conce3t of e0il arose he
re3lied as follo2s
To ans2er 2ith all se0erity it is 3recisely the other code@s ?good man@& noble& 3o2erful
and dominant& only gi0en a different hue& meaning and 3ers3ecti0e by malicious&
resentful eyes( !ere 2e are glad to admit that anyone getting to kno2 those ?good men@
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only as enemies 2ould find them e0il enemies indeed( The 0ery men 2hom eti6uette&
res3ectful feelings& custom and gratitude kee3 strictly 2ithin the 3ale& as do mutual
sur0eillance and 1ealousy to an e0en greater e4tent& 2ho& on the other hand& 3ro0e so
resourceful in consideration& self*control& tact& loyalty& 3ride and friendshi3 Y once
estranged from these confines& they 2ill beha0e little better than 3redatory beasts at
large( For then they 2ill en1oy a freedom from all social constraints> out in the 1ungle
they are immune from the tensions caused by long incarceration and domesticating in
the calm of the community( They ste3 back into the 2ild animal@s state of innocence& the
kind of e4uberant monsters that might 6uit a horrible scene of murder& arson& ra3e and
torture 2ith the high humour and e6uanimity a33ro3riate to a student 3rank( They
2ould do so in the con0iction that the 3oets 2ould ha0e 3lenty to celebrate again( -ehind
all these noble breeds there is no mistaking the beast of 3rey& the magnificent blond
beast in greedy search of s3oils and con6uest ((( :t is the noble races that ha0e left the
2ord ?barbarian@ in their tracks 2here0er they 3ro2led> e0en their highest culture betrays
this a2areness and their 3ride in the fact(JDFK
To sum u3 2e find aesthetic& moral and cultural refinement 2ithin the ruling class&
brutality& cruelty& barbarity to2ards ?the alien element@& i(e(& the o33ressed and those it
means to o33ress( ;s 2e see& the young ,iet#sche@s enthusiasm about sla0ery in ancient
times remained a constant Y indeed constantly heightened Y moti0e of his 3hiloso3hical
2ork( To be sure& a romantic element thus entered into his ?3ro3hetic@ antici3ation of the
im3erialist future( For ,iet#sche@s 3rototy3e& for instance the sla0e*holding and
culturally refined Pericles& ada3ts itself most a2k2ardly to such 3ersons as !itler and
G_ring& McCarthy and Ridg2ay( ;3ologetic aims aside& his ignorance of the socio*
economic differences bet2een t2o ages necessarily led to this romantic idealism(
Certainly it is no coincidence that ,iet#sche la3sed into romantic fatuity in this
3articular area> after all& it is the main 3roblem in his 3hiloso3hi#ing( ,iet#sche@s cultural
concern 2as definitely not 1ust the bait for the decadent intelligentsia& but al2ays
occu3ied a central 3lace in his life& emotions and thoughts( :n challenging cultural
decline and in trying to 3ioneer a future re0i0al he 2as no doubt sincere in his o2n mind&
albeit 3ersonally sincere from an e4tremely reactionary class stand3oint( :n this light the
romantic dream of a culturally highly*de0elo3ed ruling stratum& re3resenting at the
same time an indis3ensable barbarity& takes on a s3ecial colouring( ;nd the sub1ecti0e
sincerity of this false 3ro3hetshi3 2as itself an im3ortant source of ,iet#sche@s
fascination for the 3arasitic intelligentsia of the im3erialist 3eriod( )ith his assistance it
2as able to conceal its co2ardice& com3liance 2ith im3erialism@s most re3ugnant forms
and mortal fear of the 3roletarian re0olution behind the mask of a ?concern about
culture@(
-ut 2e can lea0e this sub1ect and still find oursel0es at the heart of ,iet#sche@s
3hiloso3hy( "u3erficial commentaries ha0e inter3reted his ?"u3erman@ as a biologically
more highly de0elo3ed form of man& a 0ie2 2hich certain remarks in Warathustra tend to
su33ort( -ut in the ;nti*Christ ,iet#sche 0ery firmly disa0o2ed such a reading ?,ot
2hat is to su3ersede man in the biological series is the 3roblem 2hich : am no2 3osing
5man is an end7& but 2hat ty3e of man 2e should be breeding& 2illing into e4istence& a
su3erior being more 2orthy of life and more assured of a future( This su3erior ty3e has
already d2elt among us fre6uently enough& but as a stroke of good fortune& an e4ce3tion&
and ne0er something 2illed(@JDNK -ut in this case the ?"u3erman@ is identical 2ith the
?lords of the earth@ and the ?blond beast@ 2hose barbaric morality 2e ha0e 1ust e4amined(
,iet#sche 3lainly indicates that this ty3e has re3eatedly e4isted in isolation& seeking
deliberately to make the rearing of it the focal 3oint of the social 2ill of the ruling class(
)ith this construction& ,iet#sche foreshado2ed in the most concrete fashion 3ossible
both !itler@s fascism and the moral ideology of the ?;merican age@( ;nd like2ise& the fact
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that barbarity and bestiality are the 0ery essence of such ?"u3ermen@ 2as 3lainly stated
in The )ill to Po2er ?Man is a brute and su3er*brute> the higher man is the monster
and"u3erman thus the t2o go together( )hene0er man adds to his greatness and
stature he also increases in lo2ness and fearsomeness( The one is not to be desired
2ithout the other Y or rather& the more thoroughly you 2ant the one& the more
thoroughly you 2ill achie0e the other(@JDOK
)hat ,iet#sche 3ro0ided here 2as a morality for the socially militant bourgeoisie and
middle*class intelligentsia of im3erialism( :n this he again occu3ied a uni6ue historical
3osition( From the ob1ecti0e& social angle& there had of course been a morality of the class
struggle in bourgeois ideology from the beginning( -ut during the cam3aign against
feudal absolutism it had a uni0ersal human& uni0ersally humanitarian character( -ecause
of this bias it 2as 3rogressi0e in its main orientation( The abstract generali#ing Y 2hich&
as regards facts& often distorted the 3roblems Y had its o2n social 1ustification too& since
it 2as a reflection of actual class conditions& albeit one that ne0er attained to 3ro3er
consciousness( For& on the one hand& the bourgeoisie at this time 2as truly the s3earhead
of all those classes challenging the feudal remnants of absolutism& and thus had a certain
right to identify its o2n interests 2ith those of social e0olution considered as a 2hole(
;dmittedly this 2as only so u3 to a 3oint( Conflicts of 3olicy& for e4am3le 2ithin the
/nlightenment& clearly sho2 that a differentiation 2ithin the ?third estate@ had already
set in& at least on the ideological 3lane& before the French Re0olution> ty3ically for this
social situation& each faction claimed to re3resent the common interests of society
5!olbach& !el0%tius& Liderot& Rousseau7( ;nd& on the other hand& those 2ho 2ere acting
as the s3okes men for collecti0e ca3italist interests 2ere e6ually able to declare
themsel0es for this commonalty 2ith a certain sub1ecti0ely sincere& and relati0ely
1ustified& 3athos( For they also identified it 2ith society& as o33osed to the isolated
endea0ours of indi0idual ca3italists or ca3italist sectors 5among such s3okesmen 2ere
Ricardo and moralists like Mande0ille or Ferguson7(
:n the nineteenth century this relati0e 1ustification& and the sub1ecti0ely sincere 3athos in
2hich it found e43ression& both ceased to e4ist( True& ca3italist ideologists s3oke e0er
more 0olubly of society@s collecti0e interests and the uni0ersal 3rinci3les of 3rogress and
humanism( -ut such talk 2as gro2ing increasingly a3ologetic and dissembling&
becoming more and more obliged to hush u3& gloss o0er and misre3resent the actual
facts of social life and their immanent contradictions( The clash of class interests
bet2een bourgeoisie and 3roletariat in 3articular 2as disa33earing from these treatises&
and doing so to 3recisely the degree that it 2as mo0ing to2ards the centre of social
e0ents in ob1ecti0e reality(
The ethics of ,iet#sche 2hich 2e ha0e briefly outlined ha0e the historical significance
that they are e4clusi0ely a morality of the ruling& o33ressing and e43loiting class& a
morality 2hose content and method 2ere determined by this e43licitly militant 3osition(
!ere ,iet#sche@s e4tension of indirect a3ologetics in the ethical domain took concrete
sha3e& and t2o elements need stressing in 3articular( The first 3oint is that e0en here
,iet#sche defended ca3italism through a3ologetics on behalf of its ?bad sides@( )hereas
the 3o3ular fello2*a3ologists& concentrating on an ideali#ation of ca3italist man& stro0e
to dismiss all ca3italism@s darker as3ects and contradictions& ,iet#sche@s 2ritings centred
e4actly on 2hat 2as 3roblematic about ca3italist society& on e0erything that 2as bad in
it( 9f course he too 2ent in for ideali#ing> but 2hat he em3hasi#ed 2ith his ironic
criticism and 3oetici#ing 3athos 2ere the ca3italist@s egotistic& barbaric and bestial
features& seen as attributes of a ty3e desirable for the good of mankind 5i(e(& ca3italism7(
Thus ,iet#sche like2ise s3oke of mankind@s interests and identified them 2ith
ca3italism(
125
!o2e0er& and this is the second 3oint to be stressed& unlike the neo*Cantians or
Positi0ists& etc(& ,iet#sche had absolutely no 2ish to establish a morality 0alid for all( 9n
the contrary& his ethics 2ere e43ressly and consciously an e4clusi0e code of the ruling
class beside it and belo2 it there 2as a 6ualitati0ely differing morality Y that of the
o33ressed Y 2hich ,iet#sche 3assionately re1ected and o33osed( The conflict bet2een
t2o moral codes 2hich& although changing according to historical conditions& in essence
stood for t2o 3ermanent ty3es of morality& determined all the crucial historical 6uestions
to ,iet#sche@s 2ay of thinking( !is ethics thereby ackno2ledged the fact of the class
struggle to a certain e4tent& again in 0iolent contrast to direct a3ologetics& 2hich sought
to banish the 2hole idea or at least to lo2er its moral tone 2ith the 0ery 2ea3on of a code
eternally 0alid for all( ,or 2ould ,iet#sche tolerate such a toning do2n> once again he
le0elled against his age the criticism that democracy 2as blunting the struggle bet2een
masters and mob& and that the master*race morality 2as making too many concessions
to sla0e morality( :n his cam3aign against socialism& therefore& ,iet#sche did come to
recogni#e u3 to a 3oint the fact of the class struggle as underlying the nature and
transformation of all morality(
Far be it from us to suggest that he had e0en 3artially enlightened 0ie2s about classes
and the class struggle( )ithout a doubt& the class struggle a33eared to ,iet#sche to be a
conflict bet2een higher and lo2er races( This formulation& of course& already 3oints
to2ards the fascist takeo0er of bourgeois ideology( ;ll those seeking to absol0e ,iet#sche
from any connection 2ith !itler no2 cling to the assertion that his racial conce3t 2as
utterly different from the Gobineau Chamberlain*Rosenberg 0ie2( ;nd un6uestionably
there is indeed a considerable difference( This holds good in s3ite of the fact that
,iet#sche too ga0e his social categories a ?biological@ basis& that his ethics take as their
3remise and seek to 3ro0e a su33osedly radical and 3ermanent ine6uality bet2een men&
and that the racial theories of ,iet#sche and Gobineau fundamentally agree& therefore& in
their moral and social conclusions( They differ in that the su3remacy of the ?;ryan@ race
carried no 2eight 2ith ,iet#sche( Anderstanding master races and sla0e races only in a
0ery general and mythici#ed sense& he took into account only ethico*social
considerations( !ence in this res3ect he 2as a direct forerunner of "3engler rather than
Rosenberg(JDDK Today& ho2e0er& the stressing of this difference is only a means of
?dena#ifying@ ,iet#sche( "ince& as 2e ha0e noted& ,iet#sche dre2 the same barbaric
im3erialist conclusions from a racial theory as did Rosenberg from Chamberlain@s& the
difference is Y to borro2 Lenin@s 3hrase Y merely that bet2een a yello2 de0il and a blue
one( )e must also remember that the obfuscating and disordering of the social sciences
in the im3erialist age 3roceeded largely along the lines of racial theory 5race re3lacing
class7( ;nd in this area& too& ,iet#sche ga0e rise to the same obscurantist irrationalism as
Gobineau or !("( Chamberlain(
,iet#sche@s ethics further differ from those of the idealist and Positi0ist e3igones in that
he treated 3roblems of the indi0idual as inse3arable from social 3roblems( \uestions
2hich 3lay a decisi0e 3art in& for instance& neo*Cantian thought& such as those of legality
and morality& ne0er e0en occur in his 2ork( To be sure& he 2as undertaking not a
3ractical deduction of indi0idual morals from concrete social conditions& but an intuiti0e&
irrational association of highly 3ersonal 3sychological and moral 3roblems 2ith a society
and a history transferred to mythical realms( -ut 1ust this 3hiloso3hical a33roach Y
deliberately 2itty in form& in content ser0ing the 3ermanent interests of the most
reactionary mono3oly ca3italism Y is one of the most im3ortant reasons for ,iet#sche@s
lasting influence in the im3erialist 3eriod( ,eo*Cantians 5and also neo*!egelians7 too
often deri0ed their 3ro3ositions from the age of ?security@ and too o3enly aimed at
consolidating ca3italism for them to be of any real use to the bourgeoisie in the great ne2
ages of global crisis and re0olution( 9n the other hand& those decadent*intellectual
126
mo0ements 2hich had many affinities 2ith ,iet#sche& and 2hich often 2ere in some
measure influenced by him 5Gide@s acte gratuit& e4istentialism& etc(7& 3roceeded all too
e4clusi0ely and narro2ly from the ideological needs of the indi0idualistic& 3arasitic
intelligentsia( )hile e43ressing a nihilism similar to ,iet#sche@s& though at a still higher
3itch of inner disintegration& they 2ere ho2e0er much more limited and s3ecific in their
3ro3ositions and conclusions( They lent themsel0es more readily to a 3hiloso3hy of the
?third 2ay@ than to a 3hiloso3hy of the reactionary a0ant*garde( Eust this union of an
ingeniously decadent indi0idualism 2ith an im3erialist commonalty of reactionary hue
Y a union full of tensions and 3arado4es Y decided the duration of ,iet#sche@s influence
in the im3erialist age and caused it to sur0i0e 3articularities(
For similar reasons ,iet#sche@s influence outstri33ed those e6ually resolute reactionaries
2ho resorted to more direct methods 5e(g(& the Pan*Germans& reactionaries in the mould
of Treitschke7( )hereas the latter found their starting*3oint in the ty3e of the ?normal@
3etty bourgeois& ,iet#sche took his from the ty3e of the decadent intellectual( The moral
disintegration of bourgeois and 3etty bourgeois& 2hich became increasingly marked as
im3erialist economics and 3olitics gained ground& confirmed the ?3ro3hetic@ foresight of
,iet#sche@s ethics( ;nd his lasting influence had not a little to do 2ith the fact that he
2ent a long 2ay to2ards catering for the needs of the decadent 2ing( !e brought u3
6uestions from 2ithin its s3here of interests& ans2ered them in its o2n s3irit( ;bo0e all
he commended and encouraged its decadent instincts& 3rofessing that this 2as 1ust the
2ay to con6uer decadence( !ence ,iet#sche@s ?dialectics@ in this res3ect lay in a
simultaneous acce3tance and re1ection of the decadent mo0ement& 2hereby he could
enable the militant reactionaries to rea3 the benefits( For his o2n 3art& ,iet#sche ga0e
his blessing to these dialectics> in his /cce homo he said ?For granted that : am
a d%cadent& : am also the antithesis(@JD.K
This antithesis is re3resented in the ethics of barbarism 2hich 2e ha0e 3ortrayed abo0e(
;nd ,iet#sche turned the 2hole 3roblem of decadence firmly on its head 2hen he
defined as its most im3ortant sign the 0ie2 that ?2e are fed u3 2ith egotism@(JDPK For
3atently the 3redominance of indi0idualist*egotistic 3ro3ensities o0er social ones 2as
among the mo0ement@s most significant features( -ut it 2as 3ossible for ,iet#sche to
?sal0e@ the decadents& i(e(& to induce in them absolute self*confidence and gi0e them a
clear conscience 2ithout fundamentally altering their 3sychological*moral structure(
;nd he did so 3recisely by suggesting that they 2ere not o0er*egotistic but rather lacking
in egotism& and that they must Y 2ith a good conscience Y become more egotistic still(
,o2 2e can also clearly discern the ?social task@ 2hich 2e mentioned initially& namely
that of di0erting discontented intellectuals from socialism and dri0ing them to2ards
reactionary e4tremes( )hereas socialism called for both an out2ard and an in2ard
change of 3osition 5a break 2ith one s o2n class 3lus a reform of 3ersonal attitudes7& no
radical reform 2as needed to con6uer decadence in the manner ,iet#sche 3roclaimed(
9ne could go on as before 52ith fe2er inhibitions and a clearer conscience7 and feel
oneself to be much more re0olutionary than the socialists( ;nd an additional 3oint is the
socio*historical nature of ,iet#sche@s ans2ers in his ethics( The chief manifestations of
decadence he 3ercei0ed 6uite correctly ?)hat does nihilism signify= Y That the highest
0alues are de3reciated( ; goal is absent> an ans2er is absent to the 6uestion H)hy=I
@JD9K :t is on this 0ery 3oint that the ?"u3erman@& the ?lords of the earth@ and com3any
3ro0ided the decadent intellectual of the im3erialist age 2ith the 3ers3ecti0e he needed
and hitherto lacked( This handful of e4am3les may suffice to illuminate the methodology
behind ,iet#sche@s relationshi3 to the intelligentsia& one of the most im3ortant sources
of his lasting influence( )e could gi0e um3teen e4am3les& but they 2ould add nothing
basically ne2( -y acti0ely ser0ing the most e4treme im3erialist forces of reaction
5!itler@s7& decadence ?o0ercame@ itself and became ?healthy@ 2ithout ha0ing undergone
127
any inner change beyond releasing its 2orst instincts& instincts that 2ere 3re0iously half
or 2holly su33ressed(
N
9nly if 2e 3roceed from ,iet#sche@s ethics can 2e com3rehend his attitude to 2hat are
called the ?ultimate 6uestions@ of 3hiloso3hy& to religious belief or unbelief( ;s is 2idely
kno2n& ,iet#sche declared a fer0ent allegiance to atheism> and 2ith the same fer0our he
denounced all religions& but es3ecially Christianity( That 2as of great im3ortance for his
influence on the intelligentsia& large sections of 2hich 2ere increasingly breaking a2ay
from the old religions( ,onetheless& as 2e ha0e sho2n in the case of "cho3enhauer& the
resultant mo0ement s3lit u3 into 6uite different directions( 9n the one hand& 2e ha0e an
atheism truly materialist in character and based 3rimarily on the de0elo3ment of natural
sciences( This& although Lar2inian theory ga0e it a strong tem3orary im3etus 5/(
!aeckel7& al2ays e4hibited ma1or 2eaknesses on account of its inability to 3ro0ide a
materialist e43lanation for social 5and hence moral& 3olitical& etc(7 3henomena( -ounded
by a narro2ly bourgeois hori#on& it usually remained in 3er3etual oscillation bet2een
3essimism and a3ologetics 2ith regard to such 6uestions( There can be no 6uestion of a
2ides3read influence of dialectical and historical materialism u3on the bourgeois
classes> e0en 2ithin the 2orkers@ 3arties its significance Y e4ce3t in Russia Y 2as
continually 3layed do2n through 3hiloso3hical re0isionism in the im3erialist age(
?Religious atheism@& on the other hand& 2as constantly gaining in strength( :t had the
function of satisfying the religious need of those classes that had broken 2ith 3ositi0e
religions& and it did so in the form of 3olemics against them 2hich became 0ery forceful
at times( This accounts for the semblance of an ?inde3endent@& ?non*conformist@& indeed
?re0olutionary@ attitude in its adherents( -ut at the same time& it had to 3reser0e the
0ague religiosity that mattered to the sur0i0al of ca3italist society( Thus ?religious
atheism@ is another manifestation of indirect a3ologetics(
9ccu3ying a s3ecial 3osition in this de0elo3ment& ,iet#sche carried religious atheism far
beyond the "cho3enhauerian stage( )e see this from a negati0e angle abo0e all in the
fact that ,iet#sche transformed the argument of his atheism into myth to an e0en greater
e4tent than 2as the case 2ith "cho3enhauer@s -uddhism( !e dissociated himself more
strongly still from the connection 2ith the natural sciences& and his 0ie2s ran
increasingly and more deliberately counter to ?0ulgar@ 5scientifically based e6uals
materialistically based7 atheism( ; famous 3assage in the Eoyful "cience states that God
is dead& indeed that men ha0e murdered him(J.BK That is to say that there used to be a
God& only he no longer e4ists today( Thus ,iet#sche 2as e43ressly arguing that atheism
is not a result of the incom3atibility of our scientifically ac6uired 2orld*0ie2 2ith the
idea of God 5in 2hich e0ent the ne2 kno2ledge 2ould ha0e retros3ecti0e 0alidity for the
3ast7( 9n the contrary& he asserted& it is the moral conduct of men in our time that rules
out the e4istence of God& 2hich hitherto accorded 2ith it and found a 0eritable su33ort
in it Y to be sure& ,iet#sche 2as here referring to the long dominance of sla0e morals
5Christianity7( ,iet#sche@s atheism had therefore a 3ronounced tendency to base itself
e4clusi0ely u3on ethics( ;nd these& as 2e ha0e noted& meant to him both the 3hiloso3hy
of history and social 3hiloso3hy( 9n occasion he 0oiced this thought 6uite clearly
?The refutation of God to tell the truth& 2e are only refuting the moral God(@J.1K
,o doubt traces of Feuerbach are 0isible in this conce3tion( The contrasts& ho2e0er&
a33ear of far greater moment than the similarities( For 2ith the materialist Feuerbach&
the idea of God 5and God for him is ne0er more than a human conce3t7 2as causally
deri0ed from man@s real being( ,iet#sche& on the other hand& laid do2n only an
ineluctable reci3rocal relationshi3 bet2een s3ecific moral forms of human beha0iour
and mankind@s gods( )hether such gods e4isted inde3endently of man@s imagining or
2ere only 3ro1ected figments of this imagining remained Y true to the essence of
128
,iet#sche@s method& the creating of myths Y deliberately obscure( Granted& the
connecting threads are not limited to a mere concrete co*e4istence Y une43lained as far
as ,iet#sche is concerned( ,iet#sche took o0er from Feuerbach the 2eakest& most
ideological side of his 3hiloso3hi#ing that 2hich assumed that the change in men@s
religious ideas constituted the most im3ortant and decisi0e 3art of history( /0en here&
though& there is the significant difference that for Feuerbach the man*God relationshi3&
2hile stemming from life& 2as in character a 3roduct of thought and contem3lation&
2hereas for ,iet#sche the essential determining factor of the relation shi3 2as to be
found in men@s social actions& in their morality(
;s our detailed study of ,iet#sche@s ethics has demonstrated& he linked atheism Y saying
that Warathustra had de3ri0ed men of God Y 2ith the ne2 ethics of ?;ll is 3ermitted@(
The killing of God 2as only one means of liberating men from the restraints ac6uired in
the course of millennia and turning them into those immoralists 2hich the tyrannic ally
ruling class of the future 2as to become in o33osition to the herd( )hen ,iet#sche
ha33ened to touch on the theme of ?-ack to nature@ he at once stressed the contrast 2ith
Rousseau( For ,iet#sche& there is only one 2ay that some thing 3ur3oseful can come of
this ?nature& i(e(& daring to be as immoral as nature@(J.+K ;nd it 2ould be e6ually false to
dra2 a 3arallel bet2een such 3assages and !obbes@s natural state& for the latter 2as
concerned 2ith the starting*3oint of man@s de0elo3ment& 2ith a ?)hence=@& 2hereas
,iet#sche@s concern 2as the goal to be reali#ed& the ?)hither=@( "o here again 2e may
clearly obser0e the contrast 2ith the /nlightenment& 2ith 2hich indi0idual
commentators ha0e tried to associate ,iet#sche because of his atheism( :n the
/nlightenment& the idea 2as to 3ro0e that belief in God might not signify any kind of
moral im3erati0e for mankind& that the moral la2s 2ould o3erate in a society of atheists
1ust as much as in one 2here religious 3atronage held s2ay 5-ayle7( ,iet#sche& on the
contrary& 2anted to sho2 that the demise of the idea of God 5or the death of God7 2ould
entail a moral renaissance in the sense 2e ha0e noted abo0e( ;3art& therefore& from the
other ethical contradictions in the ?old@ and ?ne2@ /nlightenment& about 2hich 2e again
already kno2 ,iet#sche@s o3inion& 2e find another contrast here in res3ect of the socio*
ethical role of religion( The ?old@ /nlightenment regarded the religious conce3t as
irrele0ant to men@s morality& actions& 0ie2s etc(& 2hich in reality 2ere ade6uately
determined by a combination of society and men@s reason( 9n the other hand& ,iet#sche
Y and here he far e4ceeded all Feuerbach@s 2eaknesses in the realm of historico*
3hiloso3hical idealism Y regarded the s2itch to atheism as a turning*3oint for morality(
5;t this 3oint let us 1ust briefly remark that here ,iet#sche@s 2orld*0ie2 is 0ery close to
certain tendencies in Lostoie0sky( "ince he had only read the ,otes from the
Anderground& the Memoirs from a !ouse of the Lead and The :nsulted and :n1ured& and
none of Lostoie0sky@s ma1or no0els&J.FK the 3arallels in the relationshi3 of religious
atheism and morality a33ear all the more striking(7
The e4tremely sub1ecti0e and idealistic character of ,iet#sche@s atheism needs stressing
immediately because on the most im3ortant 3hiloso3hical 6uestions& he continually and
effecti0ely stood against idealism( Later& 2hen 2e discuss the close affinity of his
e3istemology 2ith that of Mach and ;0enarius& 2e shall see ho2 ,iet#sche& like these&
attacked idealism 3assionately but mendaciously in order to mask his 3rinci3al
cam3aign against materialism( !e 2as al2ays stri0ing to gi0e the im3ression that his
3hiloso3hy re3resented something ne2& a ?third solution@ contrasting 2ith idealism as
2ell as materialism( :n the circumstances 2e deem it necessary to 3oint out the striking
3arallels 2hich also e4ist bet2een ,iet#sche and Mach on the 6uestion of God( Eust as&
for e4am3le& the Russian Machists 5Lunacharsky& etc(7 ga0e currency to an inter3retation
of religious atheism as the search for a ?ne2 god@& as the creation of a god& thus dra2ing
from the ,iet#schean death of God the inference of his 3ossible resurrection in a ne2
129
form& so too did ,iet#sche himself( !ere too his 3osition is contradictory& o3alescent( 9n
the one hand& 2e read in his Warathustra notes ?Tou call it God@s self*dissolution but it
is only his fleecing Y he is 3eeling off his moral skinR ;nd you shall soon see him again&
beyond good and e0il(@J.NK ;nd later& in The )ill to Po2er ?;gain 2e say ho2 many ne2
gods are still 3ossibleR@ !ere& to be sure& ,iet#sche is e43ressing his o2n doubts under
Warathustra@s hat& and Warathustra is ?merely an ancient atheist belie0ing in neither old
nor ne2 gods@( -ut he ended the train of thought 2ith the 2ords ?; God*ty3e
corres3onding to the ty3e of the Hgreat men@sI creati0e minds(@J.OK These comments
suffice to gi0e a clear indication of the 2hole nature and historical 3osition of ,iet#sche@s
atheism( -ut in his last 2ritings& on the other hand& the antagonist he Concei0ed to
Christianity and the Crucified is not a 2orld liberated from all gods& not atheism or at
least not only that& but also Y as 2e shall later obser0e in detail Y the ne2
god& a(
"o& then& this kind of ?radical@ atheism blurs all religion@s di0iding lines and Y 2ithin
s3ecific limits 2hich 2e are coming to Y offers an o3en house to the most di0erse
religious tendencies( !ere again the uni6ueness of ,iet#sche@s influence stands out 2hat
he created 2as a blanket ideology for all the im3erialist age@s firmly reactionary
tendencies( "ocially and hence ethically& his mythos 2as 6uite une6ui0ocal( :n e0ery
other res3ect& ho2e0er& it 2as 2ra33ed in a mental ha#e 2hich admitted of any
inter3retation one chose> and this lack of intellectual definition did not take a2ay the
immediate suggesti0e 3o2er of ,iet#sche@s symbols( That is 2hy it 2as e6ually 3ossible
to find in ,iet#sche a 3ro3 for the 5fascist7 myth of ?one@s o2n kind@ as o33osed to the
?foreign@ 5Christian7 myth& as -aeumlerJ.DK does& and to bring his ?radical@ atheism into
an amicable ra33ort 2ith Christianity itself( This ,iet#sche@s sister tried from the start to
achie0e by hea0y*handed Pan*Germanic methods> later minds found for the same bent a
stylistically more refined e43ression( Thus Eas3ers& for instance& 2rites of ,iet#sche@s
relationshi3 to Christianity ?;lthough 2e may re3roach ,iet#sche 2ith atheism and
3oint to his H;nti*ChristI& ,iet#sche@s atheism is not a flat straightfor2ard denial of God&
nor is it the indifference of a man so far from God& and so far from seeking him out& that
God does not e4ist( The 0ery manner in 2hich ,iet#sche decrees for his age that HGod is
deadI con0eys his emotion ((( ;nd e0en 2hen he ((( is straightfor2ard to the 3oint of a
radical ,o to all faith in God 2hatsoe0er& ,iet#sche is still remarkably close to
Christianity H:t is after all the best 3iece of idealism 2ith 2hich : ha0e really become
familiar since childhood : ha0e 3ursued it into many nooks and crannies& and : belie0e :
ha0e ne0er dealt it an unfair blo2 at heartI @ 5to Peter Gast& +1 Euly 1PP17( J..K ;nd for a
contem3orary ;merican such as Caufmann& ,iet#sche@s conformity 2ith Christianity
out2eighs his de3artures from it(
;ll these seemingly 0ery marked contradictions are resol0ed if 2e consider more closely
the socio*ethical content of ,iet#sche@s anti*Christian 3olemics( !ere too 2e must
refrain from taking tone and style as our criterion& or else 2e could easily say 2ith
-aeumler ?!e felt 2ith acute clarity that his o2n 3osition 2as infinitely bolder& infinitely
more 3erilous than that of the eighteenth*century Church@s most daring rationalist
o33onents(@J.PK This 3arado4 is not hard to account for( /0en in the case of Moltaire& no
atheist& the /nlightenment@s attack on the Church 2as chiefly directed against the real
central 3illar of feudal absolutism( ;nd hence its content embraced e0ery area of human
life and thought> it e4tended from the most general 6uestions of 3hiloso3hy and
e3istemology to the fields of ethics and aesthetics( ,iet#sche@s 3olemics& on the other
hand& railed e4clusi0ely against the 3utati0e ideological forerunners of democracy and
socialism& against the s3okesmen for sla0e morality( The 2hole struggle against
Christianity thereby took on a 0ery narro2 and firmly reactionary character& but a3art
from that& it also lost its social reality( The /nlightenment 2as challenging the real
130
ideological 3illar of absolute monarchy> but 2as ,iet#sche not berating ideologies and
institutions that 2ere actually his best allies in his central cam3aign against socialism
and democracy= 9f course there are elements in Christian teaching& and occasional
3rocli0ities in the de0elo3ment of Christian religion& 2here the idea of the e6uality of all
human beings Y 2hich ,iet#sche hated Y finds 3o2erful e43ression( -ut the churches@
de0elo3ment& and also that of the dominant religious mood& tends to2ards com3letely
disarming that idea in the social s3here by so inter3reting it that it lends itself 3erfectly
to the system of e43loitation and o33ression currently obtaining& and to su33orting the
resultant ine6uality( That is the social basis of the reason 2hy /lisabeth F_rster*
,iet#sche 2as 1ust as assiduous as Eas3ers or Caufmann in detecting links bet2een
,iet#sche and Christianity or the Christian Church( ;nd in this they are absolutely right
from the social angle& for the 3olitical 3ra4is of the Po3e& Cardinal "3ellman& etc(& has
been in total agreement 2ith the ,iet#schean ethics 2e ha0e outlined( The fact that the
theoretical*ethical declarations accom3anying this 3ra4is hardly bear ,iet#sche@s frankly
cynical tone is a secondary 3oint com3ared 2ith the essential unanimity( !itlerian
3ro3aganda& on the other hand& could directly e43loit 1ust this side of ,iet#sche@s criti6ue
of Christianity(
)e may no2 confine oursel0es to the brief citing of se0eral crucial 3assages from
,iet#sche@s 2orks( They distinctly sho2 that the theme 2e ha0e em3hasi#ed 2as not one
3icked at random from others of e6ual 0alue& but the 0ery core of ,iet#sche@s anti*
Christianity( )e shall begin by 6uoting some concluding sentences of /cce homo(
"ignificantly& all that comes after2ards is the antithesis 2hich 2as decisi0e for ,iet#sche
at the close of his career ?Lionysos 0ersus the Crucified@( :t is e6ually characteristic that
the 3assage about to be 6uoted ends 2ith Moltaire@s 3hrase ?%crase# l@inf`meR@ Precisely
this 3assage illustrates in the grossest 2ay the e4treme contrast bet2een that 2hich
Moltaire 2anted to abolish in Christianity& and that 2hich ,iet#sche thought should be
abolished( ,iet#sche 2rote as follo2s
The disco0ery of Christian morals is an e0ent 2ithout 3arallel& a 0eritable catastro3he (((
The conce3t of God& de0ised as a ri0al conce3t to life Y it makes a horrible union of
e0erything harmful& 3oisonous and deceitful& the 2hole deathly cons3iracy against lifeR
The conce3t of the -eyond and the true 2orld& in0ented to de0alue the only 2orld that
there is Y lea0ing no 3ur3ose& reason or task for for earth*realityR The conce3t of soul&
s3irit and& to ca3 it all& immortal soul& in0ented to 3our scorn on the body and to make it
sick Y ?holy@ ((( The conce3t of sin& in0ented along 2ith the instrument of torture
attaching to it& the conce3t of free 2ill& so as to bemuse the instincts and make one@s
distrust of them second natureR :n the conce3t of selflessness& self*denial the real mark
of d%cadence& the 3rocess of being enticed by 2hat is harmful& the inability to see one@s
3ur3ose any more& self*destruction being made the 0ery sign of one@s 2orth& a duty& a
thing that is ?sacred@ and ?di0ine@ in manR Finally Y the most dreadful thing of all Y in the
conce3t of the good 3erson& su33orting all that is feeble& sick& botched& the o2n cause of
its suffering& all that is intended to 3erish Y the la2 of selection con founded& an ideal
born of gainsaying the 3roud and 2ell*fashioned man& yea*saying& confident& guardian of
the future Y this man is no2 called the e0il one ((( ;nd all this 3assed for moralityR Y
?%crase# l@inf`meR@J.9K
This hate*ins3ired lyrical effusion finds the re6uisite factual& ethico*social and historical
rounding*out in ,iet#sche@s ;nti*Christ& 2hich also a33eared in his last 3eriod( )e do
not need direct 6uotation to sho2 that here ,iet#sche& from first to last& 2as trying
to make the idea of human e6uality intellectually contem3tible and to 2i3e it out that
2as his basic aim throughout his career( Let us 1ust 3oint out once more that ,iet#sche
ne0er& of course& re1ected e6uality out of general ethical considerations> his attitude 2as
the direct result of his stance 2ith regard to democracy& re0olution and socialism& 2hich
131
to his mind 2ere necessary fruits of the dominion of Christianity( ,iet#sche 2rote ?;nd
let us not underestimate the destiny that has cre3t all the 2ay from Christianity into
3oliticsR Today& nobody has any longer the courage of s3ecial rights& or rights of
command& or a sense of res3ect to2ards oneself and one@s 3eers Y a 3athos of distance (((
9ur 3olitics are sick through this absence of courageR The fib of the e6uality of souls
undermined the aristocratic outlook in the most insidious 2ay> and 2hile faith in the
H3rerogati0e of the mostI is making and 2ill make re0olutions Y it is Christianity& let
there be no mistake about it& and it is Christian1udgements that turn e0ery re0olution
into mere crime and bloodshedR Christianity is the re0olt of all gro0elling creatures
against that 2hich has stature the gos3el of the Hlo2lyI makes for lo2liness (((@JPBK ;nd
as a kind of historico*ty3ological rider to this statement he added some2hat later ?The
3athological limitation of his 3erce3tion turns a man of con0iction into a fanatic Y
"a0onarola& Luther& Rousseau& Robes3ierre& "aint*"imon Y the o33osite ty3e to the
strong mind& the mind become free( -ut the grand attitude struck by these sickminds&
these intellectual e3ile3tics& acts u3on the broad masses Y fanatics are 3ictures6ue& and
mankind 2ould rather see gestures than hear arguments (((@JP1K The basic thinking is
3atent out of Christianity came the French Re0olution& out of this came democracy& and
out of this came socialism( )hen& therefore& ,iet#sche takes his stand as an atheist& the
truth is that he is out to destroy socialism(
O
:n ,iet#sche@s 3olemics against Christianity& as indeed in all his social and ethical
2ritings& the nai0e reader 2ill gain the im3ression that all these 3henomena are being
e4amined as they are manifested in real& material e4istence& from the angle of biological
needs and la2s( -ut this is an illusion& and it is highly likely that ,iet#sche 2as labouring
under it himself( "3ecific branches of classical 3hilology a3art& ,iet#sche@s kno2ledge
2as certainly 0ery e4tensi0e& and his gras3 of it li0ely and 0i0id& but this kno2ledge 2as
al2ays su3erficial and ac6uired at second or third hand( Eas3ers concedes as much e0en
for the 3hiloso3hical classics 2ith 2hich ,iet#sche 2as in 0igorous dis3ute throughout
his life(JP+K -ut much more than 1ust su3erficiality is in0ol0ed( For ,iet#sche& biology
2as one of the means of arguing and making concrete on 6uasi*scientific lines an
essential element in his methodology( The method itself& of course& came into being long
before him( :n all reactionary biologist social theories 5it may be no accident that the t2o
make a regular habit of a33earing together7& the ?biological la2@ Y the ?organic@
in Restauration 3hiloso3hy& the ?struggle for sur0i0al@ in "ocial Lar2inism Y constantly
a33ears as the basis from 2hich the most di0erse regressi0e conclusions are dra2n in the
fields of society& morals& etc( :n reality the situation is the re0erse of this( 9ut of the
?restoration@ need to create a conce3t of society 2hich Y logically and ontologically Y
3recluded any re0olution a 3riori& there arose that notion of the ?organic@ 2hich this
3hiloso3hy thereu3on took as its basis 2ithout 2orrying about 2hether the analogy 2as
3ossible and arguable in scientific terms( ;ny analogy 2ill fit the bill if& as has ha33ened
from ;dam MVuller to 9thmar "3ann& the corres3onding reactionary conclusions can be
dra2n 2ith some semblance of 3lausibility( "cientifically s3eaking& this methodology has
not ad0anced since the famous fable of Menenius ;gri33a(
:n ,iet#sche@s time& "ocial Lar2inism emerged as one such ideology su33orting the
reactionary 3resentation of social 3rocesses( The term ?reactionary@ still holds good
2here the thinkers concerned& e(g(& F(;( Lange in Germany& sub1ecti0ely 3laced
themsel0es on the side of 3rogress( These thinkers chose a method 2hich did not lead to
a concrete e4amination of social 3henomena> on the contrary it di0erted them from
concrete 3erce3tion because& in e0ery 3eriod& the ?uni0ersal la2@ of the ?struggle for
sur0i0al@ e43lains e0ery e0ent in thesame 2ay& i(e(& it e43lains nothing at all( ;nd 2ith
132
this methodology they su33orted the bias of declining liberalism they substituted for
class 2arfare 0arious freely in0ented forms of the ?la2s of motion@ of society(JPFK
:n books on ,iet#sche there 2as at one time a 0iolent 5 contro0ersy as to 2hether and
ho2 far ,iet#sche should be considered a Lar2inist( )e regard this discussion as idle for
t2o reasons( :n the first 3lace& ,iet#sche 2as ne0er more than a social Lar2inist in the
aforesaid sense of the term(7 ;nd secondly& his relationshi3 to Lar2inism is the clearest
illustration of the fact that it 2as not scientific disco0eries and kno2ledge that guided his
thinking into s3ecific channels and forced s3ecific roles u3on him( 9n the contrary& it
illustrates that the de0elo3ment of his struggle against socialism determined e0ery single
one of his 3seudo*scientific attitudes( !e only differed from his like*minded
contem3oraries in that the 3rogrammatic arbitrariness of the ?scientific@ argumentation
emerged& in his case& 2ith cynical frankness and did not 3ut on a mask of ob1ecti0ity 2ith
the aid of a 3seudo*scientific a33aratus(
:f 2e recall our study of ,iet#sche@s inter3retation of ancient society& 2e 2ill reali#e that
"ocial Lar2inism strongly influenced his 0ie2 of the agon& /ris& and so on( Lar2inism
accordingly recei0es a 3ositi0e em3hasis in this 3hase( For e4am3le& ,iet#sche
re3roached L(F( "trauss 2ith 3raising Lar2inism in general terms 2ithout ha0ing the
courage to a33ly it rigorously to moral 3roblems& and so taking refuge in a form of
idealism(JPNK 9ccasionally& moreo0er& and 6uite as a matter of course& he used images
borro2ed from Lar2inism in order to elucidate indi0idual 3henomena ?Lar2inism is
also right 2ith regard to thinking in images the stronger image de0ours the 2eaker
ones(@JPOK Lar2inism 3layed a far slighter role for ,iet#sche in the 3eriod of !uman& ;ll*
Too*!uman( ;lthough he did not 3olemici#e against it& he dre2 on it in his e43lanations
far less often( This consigning of it to the background is understandable if 2e consider at
the same time the e0olutionist tendencies of this transitional 3hase that 2e stressed
earlier( 9nly 2hen ,iet#sche had o0er come this illusion did he ado3t a dismissi0e
attitude of increasing shar3ness to2ards Lar2in and Lar2inism( ;s early as the Eoyful
"cience he treated Lar2inism 2ith irony on account of its 3lebeianness ?The 2hole of
/nglish Lar2inism smacks of /ngland@s stuffy air of o0er*3o3ulation& of a 3ro0incial
2hiff of misery and close confinement(@ This ironic argument ad hominem is& ho2e0er&
only a 3relude to the theoretical re1ection ?The struggle for sur0i0al is only an e4ce3tion&
a tem3orary restriction of the life*2ill> big or small& the struggle re0ol0es e0ery2here
around ascendancy& around gro2th and e43ansion& around might in accordance 2ith the
2ill to 3o2er& 2hich is nothing other than the life*2ill(@JPDK
-ut 2e can study the actual content of this shift only in the more detailed statements of
the last 2orks and sketches& 2here its real moti0es are 0oiced 2ith ,iet#schean candour(
:nThe T2ilight of the :dols and The )ill to Po2er the decisi0e moti0e of his Y ne2 Y
anti*Lar2inism is no2 clearly e43ressed( !ere again it becomes 3atent ho2 ,iet#sche
resembled and ho2 he differed from the general run of ?"ocial Lar2inists@( :nstead of
considering the facts of natural e0olution itself& both sides used ?the 3hrase of the
struggle for sur0i0al@ 5Mar47 from the stand3oint of their assessment of the 3ers3ecti0e
on the 3resent and future resulting& they thought& from the class struggle bet2een
bourgeoisie and 3roletariat( Ca3italism@s ordinary ?Lar2inist@ a3ologists started 2ith the
e43eriences of the age after 1PDB& 2hich they su3erficially generali#ed( :f& they thought&
the ?struggle for sur0i0al@ o3erated in society unchecked& it 2ould end ineluctably in the
0ictory of the ?strong@ 5the ca3italists7( This is 2here ,iet#sche@s sce3tical& 3essimistic
criti6ue begins( ?,ormal@ conditions for the social struggle for sur0i0al 2ill ine0itably lead
the ?2eak@ 5the 2orkers& the masses& socialism7 to a 3osition of command( Mery s3ecial
measures must be taken to 3re0ent this( !ere ,iet#sche 2as not only& as in his ethics& a
?3ro3het@ of im3erialist barbarity& but 2as moreo0er looking for those ne2 ty3es of forms
of dominion 2hich could th2art the rise of the 3roletariat( The accent is on the 2ord
133
?ne2@ because ,iet#sche& as 2e ha0e seen& 2as highly sce3tical about those methods of
o33ression 3ractised in his o2n times 5he had 2itnessed the failure of the anti*socialist
la2s7( !e did not belie0e that the contem3orary ca3italists& 3olitically conser0ati0e as
they 2ere& 2ere ca3able of Carrying out such a 3olicy( That calling a2aited none else
than the ?lords of the earth@ 2hose deliberate training 2as the 3rinci3al idea behind
,iet#sche@s ethics( 5!ere 2e see that he antici3ated in his thinking not only im3erialism&
but also fascism to boot( 9f course it 2as im3ossible for this to ha33en in an e0en
relati0ely concrete form> it 2as only 3ossible on a mythical& uni0ersal le0el(7 ,o2 that 2e
ha0e 3resented the shar3 contrast bet2een ,iet#sche and the ordinary direct a3ologists
of ca3italism& 2e must briefly remark on the methods they shared in connection 2ith
Lar2inism( /ach side started out not by e4amining the ob1ecti0e correctness and
a33licability of Lar2inism in res3ect of social 3henomena& but from its o2n 3olitical
aims and the 3ers3ecti0es 2hich these 3ro0ided( Thus in the last resort& it boils do2n to
the same method 2hether the ordinary a3ologists& out of a narro2 o3timism about
ca3italist e0olution& are commending Lar2in& or 2hether ,iet#sche& as a result of the
sce3ticism 2e ha0e 1ust indicated& is re1ecting and attacking him( :n both cases&
Lar2inism 2as only a mythologi#ed 3rete4t for the ideological 2ar against the
3roletariat(
:t 2as in the light of such considerations that ,iet#sche ta4ed Lar2in as follo2s in The
T2ilight of the :dols ?Lar2in has forgotten men@s 2its 5ho2 /nglish of himR7& the 2eak
ha0e their 2its more about them ((( 9ne must need 2it in order to ac6uire it Y one loses
one@s 2its 2hen they are no longer needed( !e 2ho has strength on his side forgoes his
2its 5H,e0er mind all thatRI is current thinking in Germany& H2e shall still ha0e
the /m3ireI (((7( ;s you see& by 2it : mean caution& 3atience& cunning& dissimulation&
great self*controland e0erything under the heading of mimicryJP.K 52hich co0ers a large
3art of so*called 0irtue7(@ :n the abo0e statements ,iet#sche 2as& as 2e ha0e already
noted& contesting the struggle for sur0i0al as a uni0ersal 3henomenon> the latter& for
him& 2as the 2ill to 3o2er& and the former only an e4ce3tional instance( From this there
no2 follo2s his 3ro grammatic re1ection of the "ocial Lar2inism of his contem3oraries&
2hich of course a33ears in his book as Lar2inism itself ?-ut assuming that there is this
struggle Y and it does in fact occur Y it unfortunately amounts to the re0erse of that
2hich the Lar2in school desires& that 2hich one might 3erha3s be entitled to 2ish for
namely to the detriment of the strong& the 3ri0ileged& the ha33y e4ce3tions( The s3ecies
do not gro2 3erfectly the 2eak 2ill al2ays become master of the strong Y that is
because they are the great number and they are alsoshre2der (((@JPPK
This 3roblem recei0es more detailed treatment in The )ill to Po2er( "o as to a0oid
re3etition& 2e shall 3ick out only the moti0es 2hich com3lement these statements& and
2hich& indeed& became 0ery significant for the de0elo3ment of the militantly reactionary
2orld*0ie2 in the im3erialist age( ,iet#sche summed u3 his o33osition to Lar2in in
three 3oints ?First thesis man is not 3rogressing as a s3ecies( !igher ty3es may 2ell be
reached& but they are not enduring( The le0el of the s3ecies is not being raised(@JP9K :t is
clear ho2 this thesis deri0es from the social reflections 2e ha0e 1ust cited since the class
struggle 5the struggle for sur0i0al7 does not automatically bring about the higher ty3e of
human being ,iet#sche desired& it cannot 3ossibly be the la2 of e0olution in nature and
society( -ut o0er and beyond this& ,iet#sche@s thesis 3oints to the reactionary future
mankind@s 3eak achie0ements are of e6ui0alent merit& and the s3ontaneous dynamics of
society can only corru3t them and condemn them to 3erish( /0erything de3ends on
creating de0ices 2hereby these 3eak achie0ements of nature can be not only 3reser0ed
but also systematically 3roduced( !ere 2e ha0e the methodological ?model@ for fascist
racial theory and in 3articular for its 3ractical a33lication( The significance of
,iet#schean ideology for !itlerian 3hiloso3hy is in no 2ay diminished by the fact that
134
the latter deri0es from Chamberlain@s racial theory& and not ,iet#sche@s> 2e ha0e already
remarked on the difference bet2een them(
The subse6uent thesis contains& on the basis of the same reflections u3on the fragility
and 0ulnerability of the higher ty3e& a bland denial of any de0elo3ment in nature and
history( ,iet#sche states that ?man as a s3ecies re3resents no ad0ance in com3arison to
any other animal( The entire animal and 3lant 2orld does not de0elo3 from the lo2er to
the higher ((( but e0erything at once& one thing o0er and through and against
another(@J9BK This thesis too& although ob1ecti0ely it does not go beyond the commonest
anti Lar2inist argumentation& like2ise assumed no little im3ortance in the de0elo3ment
of the im3erialist age@s reactionary 0ie2s( ;s 2e ha0e noted& 2hen ,iet#sche ad0anced
beyond "cho3enhauer in indirect a3ologetics he made their historici#ing the main 3oint
of his ad0ance( ;nd 2e ha0e also indicated the cause of this change of method& 2hich lay
in the fact that it 2as no2 no longer the bourgeois idea of 3rogress 2hich constituted the
chief ad0ersary 5"cho3enhauer@s denial of all historicity could ser0e as a 2ea3on against
this7( The ne2 ad0ersary 2as the socialist idea of 3rogress 3ointing beyond a ca3italist
society( To this dialectical 0ie2 of history& irrationalism had to re3ly 2ith another&
though again historical*seeming e43lanation of reality if it 2anted to remain u3*to*date
and effecti0e 2ithin the reactionary s3here( -ut at the same time& the reactionary
content& the a3ologetic defence of ca3italist society as the unsur3assable 3eak and final
end of human e0olution had to bring about the re3eal of history& e0olution and 3rogress(
This simulated kee3ing in ste3 2ith needs of the times 52hich di0erted attention from
ob1ecti0e reality7& along 2ith a mythici#ing of history in nature and society leading not
only to the emergence of other reactionary e0olutionist contents and aims& but also to the
self annulment of e0olution in the mythical 3resentation Y this 2as the most
fundamental intellectual attainment of ,iet#sche the irrationalist(
The third thesis includes nothing that is es3ecially ne2 for us( :n it ,iet#sche is chiefly
o33osed to the liberal inter3reters of "ocial Lar2inism& such as "3encer& 2ho 3ercei0ed
in the Y as ,iet#sche 3ut it Y ?domestication@ of man& in the taming of barbaric instincts&
an im3ortant area o0er 2hich Lar2inian doctrine could be a33lied to social e0olution(
,iet#sche 2rote ?Man@s domestication 5his HcultureI7 has no de3th to it ((( )here it does
go dee3& it immediately means degeneracy 5the ty3e Christ7( The Hsa0ageI man 5or& in
moral terms thee0il man7 means a return to nature Y and& in a certain sense& his
recu3eration or con0alescence from HcultureI (((@J91K ,iet#sche 2as scoring a 0alid 3oint
against the liberal a3ologists inasmuch as the humani#ing of the instincts cannot
3ossibly go truly dee3 in ca3italism( -ut it is 3erfectly e0ident from this 0ery 3oint ho2
e4clusi0ely both "3encer and ,iet#sche 3ro1ected their o2n ideals on to Lar2inism& from
2hich they gained no fresh insights( This a3art& it merely sho2s us once more the great
e4tent to 2hich Y not2ithstanding the a3horistic form Y ,iet#sche@s 2ork has a
systematic intellectual coherence& although it is only from the real social core that 2e
may discern its ramifications(
The method 2e ha0e described can be 3recisely traced in all ,iet#sche@s statements in
scientific 0ein( These ha0e considerable significance for im3erialist 3hiloso3hy in that
here again his boldness& cou3led 2ith a rigour touching on cynicism& made him the
forerunner of methods and theories 2hich did not come into the o3en until much later(
;s 2e ha0e mentioned 52e shall go into details shortly7& ,iet#sche@s e3istemology 2as
closely related to that of Machism( :nitially& ho2e0er& Machism emerged in the guise of
an agnostic ?neutrality@ regarding concrete solutions to concrete 6uestions> behind it& of
course& lay an allegiance to sub1ecti0e idealism( To be sure& this ?neutrality@ 2as already
manifesting itself in the 3eriod before the im3erialist 2orld 2ar for Luhem& the
Ptolemaic and Co3ernican theories 2ere e6ually true& 2hile "immel& from his
?3ers3ecti0e of the future@& 3laced the great nineteenth*century disco0eries in the natural
135
sciences on the same le0el as the belief in 2itchcraft( -ut an o3en mythici#ing of the
natural sciences on this basis Y as in the theory of the free 2ill of atomic 3articles Y is&
after all& a 3roduct of a far more ad0anced irrationalist sub0ersion of scientific thinking(
Thus& here again& ,iet#sche@s s3ecial 3osition is characteri#ed by the fact that as early as
the eighties he 2as resolutely starting to mythici#e all scientific categories( !a0ing
resolutely 3ro1ected the main 3rinci3les of his social 3hiloso3hy on to natural
3henomena& he then read these 3rinci3les in them in order to besto2 a mighty ?cosmic@
background on his constructions and to 3resent them as manifestations of a general
2orld*3rinci3le( ;s 3aradigms of this method let me 6uote the 2ell*kno2n 3assage
from -eyond Good and /0il 2here ,iet#sche claims to 3ro0e the indestructability&
harmlessness and 3ositi0e merits of e43loitation by demonstrating Y through the
method outlined abo0e Y that e43loitation contains an irrefutably basic and uni0ersal
3rinci3le of e0ery form of life& 2hich naturally includes e0ery form of social life( ?!ere@&
he stated& ?one must think things through thoroughly and be2are of all 2eak sensiti0ity
life itself is in essence a33ro3riation& doing in1ury& o0er 3o2ering the alien and the
2eaker& o33ression& hardness& the im3osing of one@s o2n forms u3on others& 3hysical
ado3tion and at the least& at the mildest& e43loitation ((( H/43loitationI does not belong to
a corru3t or unde0elo3ed and 3rimiti0e society it lies in the essence of li0ing things as a
basic organic function& it is a conse6uence of the actual 2ill*to*3o2er& 2hich is 3recisely
the life*2ill(@J9+K
9nce this method has been de0ised& it is child@s 3lay to arri0e at that 2orld*0ie2 2hereby
e0erything animate and inanimate is 1ust as much a manifestation of the 2ill*to*3o2er as
it 2as a manifestation of the 2ill for "cho3enhauer( The basic 3rinci3le@s mythical
concreti#ation& a33lied 2ith an e6ual degree of arbitrariness& brings about the matching
acts of concreti#ation that 2e ha0e already discussed( :t naturally follo2s that the body
itself is a ?3o2er structure@>J9FK that ?the su33osed Hnatural la2sI are formulae for 3o2er
relationshi3s@>J9NK that the 2ill*to*3o2er go0erns the 2hole of 3hysics ?:t is my idea that
e0ery s3ecific body is stri0ing for mastery o0er the 2hole of s3ace& to e43and its strength
5its 2ill*to*3o2er7 and to re3el e0erything 2hich resists its e43ansion( -ut it continually
meets 2ith other bodies that are like2ise engaged and finishes by ad1usting 5HunitingI7
itself to those 2hich ha0e enough affinity 2ith it thus they then cons3ire to achie0e
3o2er( ;nd the 3rocess goes on (((@&J9OK etc( ;nd in -eyond Good and /0il ,iet#sche Y
2ith some reser0ations in res3ect of 0erifiability that are 2holly absent from his later
statements Y formulated his 3rogramme for natural 3hiloso3hy ?The 2orld seen from
2ithin& the 2orld determined and designated 2ith regard to its Hintelligible characterI Y
this 2ould be sheer H2ill*to*3o2erI and nothing else(@J9DK
;ll these tendencies re0ol0e round the 3ith of ,iet#schean 3hiloso3hy& the doctrine of
?eternal recurrence@( :n its farrago of 3seudo*science and 2ild fantasy& this doctrine has
caused many ,iet#sche inter3reters a lot of embarrassment( -aeumler e0en tries to take
it right out of ,iet#sche@s ?authentic@ fascist system(J9.K ;nd he 2as 6uite correct from
that 3articular stand3oint( For ?national socialist 3hiloso3hy@ had a fully ade6uate
substitute for the crucial social function of eternal recurrence in ,iet#sche@s thought& the
function of denying that history could 3roduce anything that 2as ne2 in 3rinci3le 5such
as socialism after the class society7( This substitute 2as the dogma of racial immutability&
2hich taught that the ?Third Reich@ 2as only a consciously induced rene2al of 3rimal
racial energies that had ne0er changed( 9ther bourgeois commentators 2ere hard 3ut to
treat eternal recurrence as a harmless intellectual affair( Caufmann& for e4am3le& regards
it as a glorification of the 3assing moment 5e0en dra2ing a 3arallel 2ith Faust7 or as a
training method> of course he al2ays kee3s silent about ,iet#sche@s 3ur3ose behind this
training(J9PK
136
For ,iet#sche himself& eternal recurrence is the decisi0e counter*idea to the conce3t of
becoming( This counter balance 2as needed because -ecoming cannot gi0e rise to
something ne2 5in the conte4t of ca3italist society7 2ithout betraying its function in
,iet#sche@s system( )e ha0e already encountered the tendency to transform -ecoming
into a simulated mo0ement& to assign to it the mere role of 3ro0iding 0ariations 2ithin
the ?eternally cosmic@ la2s of the 2ill*to*3o2er( /ternal recurrence narro2s the sco3e
e0en more the emergence of something ne2 is a ?cosmic@ im3ossibility( ?The rotating
cycle@& 2rote ,iet#sche no later than the time of his Eoyful "cience& ?is not something that
has he come but a first 3rinci3le& 1ust as mass is a first 3rinci3le& 2ithout e4ce3tion or
transgression( ;ll -ecoming is 2ithin the cycle and mass(@J99K 9ne of the most detailed
3assages in the late sketches gi0es a clear 3icture of this( There is small interest for us in
,iet#sche@s allegedly scientific argumentation&J1BBK 2hich counts for as little as his other
sorties in this field( Far more im3ortant are his conclusions> ,iet#sche regards as
theologians all 2ho ackno2ledge the origination of some thing ne2 in the 2orld(
?This notion Y that the 2orld is deliberately e0ading a goal and can e0en 3re0ent
artificially the entry into a cyclical 3rocess Y is one to 2hich all those must succumb 2ho
2ould like to decree u3on the 2orld the 3o2er of eternal inno0ation& i(e(& to in0est such a
finite& s3ecific& constant and immutable force as Hthe 2orldI 2ith a miraculous ca3acity
for the infinite sha3ing ane2 of its forms and conditions( They insist that the 2orld& e0en
though bereft of a God& must be ca3able of di0ine creati0ity& the infinite 3o2er of
transformation( :t must deliberately restrain itself from re0erting to one of its old forms&
and must ha0e not only the intention but also the means of 3reser0ing itself from all
re3etition (((@J1B1K
)e ha0e laid stress on the ?becoming@ in ,iet#sche@s ethics( This& 2e belie0e& is right
because it contains the immediate reasoning behind these ethics and 3articularly their
re0olutionary gestures such as the trans0aluation of all 0alues( :n order to break the old
moral ?tablets@ on 2hich ?eternal la2s@ of morality 2ere inscribed& ,iet#sche used the
conce3t of becoming Y 2hich he often traced back to !eraclitus Y as a 3hiloso3hical
battering*ram( The ?innocence of becoming@ 2as the immediate 3rere6uisite for
,iet#sche@s acti0ism& his reactionary militancy& his con6uest of "cho3enhauerian
3assi0ity( !ence the ,iet#schean conce3t of becoming had to sur3ass "cho3enhauer@s
2holly senseless& 3atently merely a33arent agitation of ?the 2orld as a33earance@( -ut it
is of the 0ery essence of ,iet#schean 3hiloso3hy that all this can be only a 3relude( Let us
recall the structure of Warathustra& 2here the idea of becoming reigns su3reme in the
first 3art& e(g(& in the call to create the "u3erman& but 2here the same ty3e@s recurrence
forms the cro2ning conclusion in the ?Lrunken "ong@( 5That the idea of recurrence
figures in se0eral earlier e3isodes does not affect the under lying construction(7 -aeumler
is thinking in a 0ery shallo2 and anti*,iet#schean manner 2hen he scents in this a
contradiction of the 2ill*to*3o2er( For here ,iet#sche is 6uite lucid about the true
hierarchy of his system( :n The )ill to Po2er 2e read ?To im3ress on -ecoming the
character of -eing Y that is the highest 2ill*to*3o2er ((( The fact that e0erything recurs is
the 0ery nearest a33roach of a 2orld of -ecoming to the 2orld of -eing Y a
contem3lati0e 3eak(@J1B+K For ,iet#sche& moreo0er& the 2ill*to*3o2er& though
admittedly the mo0ing 3rinci3le of all -ecoming& is in itself Y like "cho3enhauer@s 2ill Y
something that has not come into being ?9ne cannot locate the cause of the fact that
there is any de0elo3ment at all by follo2ing the same road in one@s in0estigation> one
must not attem3t to gras3 it as HbecomingI& and e0en less as that 2hich has become (((
The )ill to Po2er cannot ha0e come into being(@J1BFK !ere 2e 3lainly see ho2
su3erficially ,iet#sche treated all -ecoming& all historical e0ents as merely a
manifestation of ?eternal@ 3rinci3les(
137
:n itself& of course& this hierarchy is Y if regarded logically Y a crass contradiction( ;t the
same time& it is also the 3hiloso3hical e43ression of the fact that& after sub1ecti0e
idealism and irrationalism had trium3hed o0er !egel& bourgeois 3hiloso3hy became
inca3able of any dialectical linking of becoming and being& freedom and necessity> it
could e43ress their mutual relationshi3 only as an insoluble antagonism or an eclectic
amalgam( ,either in 3urely logical nor in general 3hiloso3hical terms did ,iet#sche
surmount this irrationalist barrier either( !is myth of eternal recurrence as the highest
fulfilment of the 2ill*to*3o2er combines& 2e might say& hard antagonism and
3ictures6uely blurred eclecticism( The t2o e4tremes& ho2e0er& 3erform a single function
from the 0ie23oint of his central 3olemical stance& his fight against socialism and for
im3erialist barbarity( They ha0e the function of remo0ing all moral restraints 2ith a 0ie2
to the ruthless termination of this social conflict( ;s 2e ha0e noted& ,iet#sche@s
boundless freedom created for the ?lords of the earth@ the 3rinci3le that e0erything is
3ermitted> fatalistic necessity led& in his 0ie2& to the same result( :n The T2ilight of the
:dols he 6uite une6ui0ocally 3osed this 6uestion ?)hat can our only doctrine be= That
nobody gi0es man his attributes& neither God nor society nor his 3arents and fore
fathers& nor he himself ((( ,obody is res3onsible for his being here at all& his dis3osition
to this and that& his e4isting in these surroundings under these conditions( The fatality of
his essential being is not to be 3u##led out of the fatality of all that 2as and 2ill be ((( )e
are necessary& a 3ortion of destiny& 2e belong to the 2hole& 2e are in the 2hole Y and
there is nothing 2hich could 1udge& measure& com3are and condemn our being& for that
2ould mean 1udging& measuring& com3aring and condemning the 2hole ((( -ut there is
nothing outside the 2holeR ((( 9nly then is the innocence of -ecoming restored (((
J1BNK ;nd the indirectly a3ologetic& moral function of eternal recurrence is e4actly the
same( :n Warathustra& in fact& by 2ay of introducing the crucial 3roclamation of eternal
recurrence& the ?ugliest 3erson@ suddenly 0oices as an ins3iration the ,iet#schean
2isdom ? H)as that Y life=I is 2hat : 2ould say to death( H)ell and goodR 9ne more
timeRI @J1BOK
Thus from the stand3oint of this central moti0e of ,iet#sche@s 3hiloso3hy& the Y logically
dis1ointed Y series of thoughts combine in a unified content( From the ?innocence of
-ecoming@ stems ,iet#sche@s 3seudo*re0olution& the bourgeois transition from the liberal
age of ?security@ to that of ?great 3olitics@ and the struggle for control of the earth( Les3ite
all the e4aggerated 3athos o0er the change in 0alues& this u3hea0al is 1ust a sham
re0olution& a mere heightening of the reactionary contents of ca3italism tricked out 2ith
re0olutionary gestures( ;nd eternal recurrence has the function of e43ressing the
ultimate meaning of this myth the barbaric and tyrannical social order thus created is to
be a definiti0e order& the conscious reali#ation of that 2hich 2as al2ays sought in 3ast
history& that 2hich usually came to grief and en1oyed a 3artial success only no2 and
again( ,o2 if 2e consider the methodological structure of this system of thought& 2e see
that it fully tallies 2ith !itler@s& e4ce3t that instead of eternal recurrence& !itler
incor3orates the Chamberlain racial theory as the ne2& com3lementary element(
Therefore one cannot dismiss the closeness of ,iet#sche@s thinking to !itler@s by
dis3ro0ing false assertions& misre3resentations& etc(& by -aeumler or Rosenberg( Taken
ob1ecti0ely& the t2o 2ere e0en closer than these men imagined(
D
The reader may ha0e been struck by the fact that 2e ha0e left ,iet#sche@s e3istemology
until the end of our study( :n this 2ay& ho2e0er& 2e think 2e can ade6uately re3resent
the real coherence of his system of ideas( Luring the rise of irrationalism&
e3istemological 6uestions 3layed a decisi0e role in 3hiloso3hy( :t 2as in this 0ery area
that& for instance& crucial collisions bet2een idealist dialectics and irrationalism occurred
in the conflict o0er the ?intellectual intuition@& the ?3ositi0e 3hiloso3hy@ of "chelling( ;nd
138
their outcome deter mined Y 3hiloso3hically Y the Concrete 6uestions of the
inter3retation of history& etc( )ith ,iet#sche this 6uestion is com3letely re0ersed( !is
3hiloso3hy takes issue 2ith an ad0ersary 2holly unkno2n to it Y e0en in the realm of
3hiloso3hical theory Y that ad0ersary being the 2orld*0ie2 and scientific method of
socialism( ,iet#sche had not an inkling of the 3hiloso3hical 3roblems of dialectical and
historical materialism( !e contested socialism 2here0er he thought he could confront it
in the flesh socially& historically& morally( The concrete contents of these 3hiloso3hical
areas are therefore 3rimary to his system( For him e3istemology 2as only a tool 2hose
character and dis3osition 2ere dictated by the 3ur3oses it ser0ed(
This ne2 situation too is ty3ical not only of ,iet#sche but of all bourgeois 3hiloso3hy in
the age of its decline( The 3eriod of its rise& 2hose im3ort 2as determined by the struggle
against feudal ideology and by conflicts of direction 2ithin bourgeois ideology&
accordingly e0inces a great 0ariety of e3istemological trends> idealism and materialism&
sub1ecti0e and ob1ecti0e idealism& meta3hysics and dialectics 0ied 2ith one another for
3redominance( 9b1ecti0e idealism& 2hose bourgeois 3er0ersion 2as considerably
fostered by the ?heroic illusions@ of the democratic re0olution& died out 2ith increasing
s3eed as this 3eriod came to an end( ;fter the French Re0olution& mechanical
materialism lost its earlier uni0ersality> Feuerbach@s 3ur0ie2 2as already much narro2er
than that of his se0enteenth* and eighteenth*century 3redecessors( 5)hile de0elo3ments
in Russia form an e4ce3tion to this& they 2ere not kno2n to contem3orary thinkers
outside Russia(7 ;fter a brief 3eriod of su3remacy in natural 3hiloso3hy& mechanical
materialism forfeited its leading 3osition in this s3here also( ;lthough& as Lenin
demonstrates& e0ery genuine scientist@s 3ra4is remained s3ontaneously materialistic&
3hiloso3hical idealism falsified and deformed the great scientific disco0eries( "o
e3istemology sank 0ery lo2 3recisely as a result of the near*total hegemony 2hich
sub1ecti0e idealism e4ercised in the bourgeois 3hiloso3hy of this 3eriod( 9n the surface&
admittedly& e3istemology go0erned the con tent and method of 3hiloso3hi#ing much
more firmly than e0er before> it is as though 3hiloso3hy consisted of almost nothing else(
-ut in actual fact an academic scholasticism 2as gro2ing u3& and tri0ial 3rofessorial
s6uabbles o0er insignificant nuances 2ere re3lacing the great 3hiloso3hical conflicts(
The 3re*im3erialist 3eriod energetically 3a0ed the 2ay for this decline( !ere the social
grounds for sub1ecti0e idealism@s total control o0er bourgeois 3hiloso3hy are also clearly
0isible( This idealism& along 2ith the agnosticism to 2hich it 2as inse3arably linked&
enabled the bourgeois ideologist to take from the 3rogress of science& and first and
foremost the natural sciences& all that ser0ed ca3italist interests& 2hile at the same time
a0oiding taking a stand 2ith regard to the altered 2orld*3icture( !ence /ngels 0ery
rightly calls this 3eriod@s agnosticism a ?shame*faced materialism@(J1BDK
:n not only the im3erialist 3eriod but also in the years immediately 3receding it& the
ideological needs of the bourgeoisie under2ent a change( ; mere ?abstention@ from
6uestions of 0ie23oint no longer sufficed& and 3hiloso3hy 2as obliged to make a stand&
abo0e all a stand against materialism more and more clearly the 3ositi0ist agnostics@
?shame*faced materialism@ 2as ac6uiring an anti*materialist accent( ,eo*Cantianism and
Machism 2ere their chief orientations as they com3leted this shift& 2hich 2as concurrent
2ith ,iet#sche@s acti0ities(J1B.K The bourgeois ideological 3osition& ho2e0er& 3ermitted
less and less of a clear and 3ublic 3latform on the decisi0e 6uestions of outlook( Lenin
has clearly demonstrated the contrast bet2een -erkeley@s o3en 2ar on materialism and
that 2hich the Machists 2aged behind their anti*idealist camouflage( The 0ery fact that
bourgeois thinking 2as forced Y in order to defend idealism against materialism Y to
take a ?third road@& i(e(& to act as if it 2ere critici#ing and re1ecting both idealism and
materialism from a ?higher 0antage 3oint@& indicates that Y on the 2orld*historical scale
Y it had been already forced into a defensi0e 3osture( :ts 3ro3ositions& methods and so
139
forth 2ere more in the nature of 3rotecti0e measures than means of analysing and
inter3reting ob1ecti0e reality in a 2ay of its o2n( :t goes 2ithout saying that this
defensi0e character did not e4clude the most 0iolent attacks on the declining
bourgeoisie@s o33onents or a 3assionate ad0ocacy of its class interests& etc( These actions
e0en gained in intensity 2ith the onset of the im3erialist age& 2here it is 3recisely the
e0er*gro2ing ?need of a 2orld*0ie2@ that characteri#es the contrast 2ith the age 2hich
/ngels described( The ?2orld*0ie2s@ 2hich no2 came about 2ere& ho2e0er& 6ualitati0ely
different from those of the ideological heyday( Then& the bourgeois 0ie2 of the 2orld Y
albeit emerging in a more or less idealistically distorted form Y had been designed to
reflect the essence of ob1ecti0e reality( -ut no2 e0ery such ?2orld*0ie2@ had its basis in an
agnostic e3istemology& in a denial that 2hat 2as ob1ecti0ely real 2as 3erce3tible( For
that reason it could only be a myth& something sub1ecti0ely contri0ed 2ith 3retentions to
5an e3istemologically unarguable7 ob1ecti0ity& an ob1ecti0ity resting solely on an
e4tremely sub1ecti0ist foundation& on intuition and the like& and so ne0er more than a
feigned ob1ecti0ity( The bourgeoisie@s age of decline finds a clear e43ression in this
mounting and increasingly uncritical need of myth( :n the 3seudo*ob1ecti0e form of
myth& the bourgeoisie countered real e0olution 2ith 2ishful thinking( :n its heyday& on
the contrary& its 3hiloso3hical systems had sought to o33ose the feudal legends 3recisely
by a33ealing to real e0olutionary trends in nature and history(
,o2 ,iet#sche@s s3ecial 3osition is determined by the fact that he& at the same time as
Machism& introduced the ne2 agnosticist method into e3istemology( -ut in doing so he
2ent much further than his contem3oraries( ;ntici3ating the s3read of agnosticism into
the s3here of myth& he sho2ed in his myth*making a careless daring that general
bourgeois de0elo3ments only came close to matching at the end of the first im3erialist
2orld 2ar& as in the 2ork of "3engler( Thus ,iet#sche 2as by no means original in his
e3istemology either> his treatment of indi0idual 3roblems is entirely on the general le0el
of Machism( To be sure& he did strike a s3ecial note in his determination to think
reactionary bourgeois tendencies through to the most e4treme conse6uences and o3enly
to state their conclusions in a crude and 3arado4ical form( This is connected 2ith an
attitude in 2hich 2e see the binding centre of ,iet#sche@s 3hiloso3hical system 2ith his
unceasing and 3assionate o3en 2arfare against the 3eril of socialism( !e subordinated
all the 3rinci3al contents of his thought to the needs of this battle> he al2ays allo2ed
these needs to dictate the content(
!ence his e3istemology too& though 0ery close to the Machist in general& far e4ceeded
that of his contem3oraries and allies in its cynically frank conclusions( ; salient e4am3le
2ill clearly illustrate the similarity and difference( ,iet#sche 2as in com3lete agreement
2ith the Machists in res3ect of the ?immanence@ of 3hiloso3hy& of the 3rogrammatic
denial of all ?transcendence@( -ut 2hat did both 3arties mean by the terms= ?:mmanence@
signifies the 2orld of our intuitions and ideas& ?transcendence@ all that in reality goes
beyond these& i(e(& ob1ecti0e reality itself& e4isting inde3endently of our consciousness(
There is a further agreement in that both 3arties Y so it a33ears Y 3olemici#e against
idealism@s 3ur3orted claims to be able to 3ercei0e ob1ecti0e reality> here& therefore& anti*
idealist 3olemics mask the denial of materialism( -ut ,iet#sche 2ent still further along
this road by linking the cam3aign against ?transcendence@ and the -eyond 2ith his anti*
Christian 0ie2s( !ence he 2as ca3able on occasion of misleading those 2ho failed to see
that the Christian !ea0en and the materialist 0ie2 of ob1ecti0e reality are mythically
synthesi#ed in his conce3t of the -eyond( 5:ncidentally& e0en the Machists critici#ed
materialism as ?meta3hysical@ theory(7 -ut 2hereas the Machists 2ere largely content to
3resent the ?immanence@ of the realm of ideas as the sole scientific basis for
com3rehending the 2orld& ,iet#sche& 2ith nihilistic o3enness& formulated this theory in
bold 3arado4es( :n The T2ilight of the :dols his mocking 3olemics in0eigh against the
140
conce3tion of a ?true 2orld@ 5of ob1ecti0e reality7& and his deductions clima4 in the
sentences 3roclaiming the ?end of the longest error@ and the ?3eak of mankind@ ?The true
2orld 2e ha0e abolished 2hat 2as left= the a33arent 2orld& 3erha3s= ((( -ut noR ;long
2ith the true 2orld 2e ha0e also abolished the a33arent oneR@J1BPK
-ut ,iet#sche 2as not content 2ith mere e3istemological statements( !is 2hole
e3istemology 2as for him 1ust one 2ea3on in the main battle against socialism( !ence it
follo2s that in the same 2ork he should gi0e a socially concrete definition of that 2hich
he understood by ?immanence@& namely not only Y e3istemologically Y the 2orld of
ideas but also& inse3arable from it on the general 3hiloso3hical le0el& the actual condition
of society at any gi0en time in concrete terms& ca3italism( ;nd anybody 2ho ste33ed
beyond this ?immanence@ 2as in his eyes a bad reactionary from the 3hiloso3hical angle(
!ere again& of course Y as 2e ha0e noted in earlier sections Y Christians and socialists
alike are made to look 3hiloso3hically and morally re3rehensible because they re3resent
?transcendence@ and are therefore reactionaries( ?-ut@& ,iet#sche )rote& ?e0en if the
Christian condemns& slanders and 0ilifies the H2orldI& he does so from the same instinct
as the socialist 2orker 2ho condemns& slanders and 0ilifies society the HLast
EudgementI itself continues to offer s2eet re0enge Y the same re0olution that the
socialist 2orker a2aits& only carried some2hat further ((( The H-eyondI itself Y 2hat
good might a -eyond ha0e e4ce3t as a means of 0ilifying this 2orld= (((@J1B9K :n the last
analysis all ?immanence@ in im3erialist bourgeois 3hiloso3hy is aiming at this target to
deduce from e3istemology the ?e0erlastingness@ of ca3italist society( ,iet#sche 2as
3articularly im3ortant because he 3ublicly 0oiced in suggesti0e 3arado4es this common
idea in im3erialist 3hiloso3hy( !ence in the e3istemological field& too& he became the
leading ideologist of the militant reactionaries(
,iet#sche@s indi0idual e3istemological statements are of little interest( )here they do not
1um3 across to the o0ertly social s3here& as in the abo0e 3assage& they 3roceed along
2ell*kno2n Machist lines( They challenge the 3erce3tibility of ob1ecti0e reality& indeed
all ob1ecti0ity of kno2ledge 5hence ,iet#sche also o33osed the materialist side of the
Cantian Ling an sich or ?thing*in*itself@7( They regard causality& la2s& etc(& as categories
of an idealism that has been con6uered once and for all( !ere 2e 2ish only to d2ell
briefly on those elements in 2hich ,iet#sche@s s3ecial historical indi0iduality finds
e43ression( 9ne such element is that ,iet#sche@s sub1ecti0e idealism and agnosticism
2hich& 2hile certainly deri0ed 0ia -erkeley and "cho3enhauer& belong to modern
im3erialism Y are a0o2edly based on !eraclitus( This lends his agnosticism a
?3hiloso3hical@ character that e4ceeds the drily scientific and hel3s him to trans3ose
agnosticism into myth*making( 5"mall 2onder that it is 3recisely his fascist follo2ers&
such as -aeumler& 2ho lay so much stress on his deri0ation from !eraclitus( For this
makes it easier to e4tract him from mainstream bourgeois 3hiloso3hy& 2here he belongs&
and to make him a ?solitary@ forerunner of !itler(7
-ut e0en more instructi0e& on the other hand& is the 3oint that the !eraclitus*based
inter3retations offer a 3erfect e4am3le of our general 0ie2 that in reactionary hands&
dialectical 3roblems turn into irrationalist myths( :n his notes for Philoso3hy in the
Tragic ;ge of the Greeks 51P.+*F7& ,iet#sche touches on a central thesis of !eraclitus@s
dialectics& ?/0erything al2ays contains its o33osite@& and ;ristotle@s 3olemics against this
thesis( !is commentary is highly significant ?!eraclitus 3ossesses the regal gift of the
highest 3o2er of intuiti0e thinking& 2hile sho2ing himself cool& insensiti0e and indeed
hostile to2ards that other ty3e of thinking 2hich is accom3lished in conce3ts and logical
combinations& i(e(& to2ards reason and he seems to take 3leasure in any chance to
contradict it 2ith a truth intuiti0ely arri0ed at(@J11BK "o 2e see that& for ,iet#sche& the
criti6ue of understanding 5Merstand7 through its o2n contrariety Y !eraclitus@s great
141
dialectical disco0ery Y is sim3ly identical 2ith the so0ereign su3remacy of intuition o0er
reason(J111K
,iet#sche then goes on& 6uite logically& to establish a close link bet2een !eraclitus@s
dialectics and "cho3enhauer@s consciously anti*dialectical irrationalism& 2hereby he
like2ise establishes the link 2ith -erkeley and Mach( The !eraclitean conce3t of
becoming he inter3rets in e4actly the same con te4t( :n his studies from the time of The
-irth of Tragedy51P.B*17 he 2rote of it ?:n -ecoming is manifested the ideational nature
of things there is nothing& nothing e4ists& e0erything becomes& i(e(& is idea(@J11+K Let us
not su33ose that this 0ie2 belongs only to ,iet#sche@s youth& 2hen he stood under
"cho3enhauer@s influence( This 0ie2 of -eing and -ecoming dominates the 2hole
e3istemology of ,iet#sche@s oeu0re( )hen& at the end of his career& in The T2ilight of the
:dols& he again touched on !eraclitus& he stressed the 0ery same idea ?-ut !eraclitus
2ill be fore0er right in that -eing is an em3ty fiction( The Ha33arentI 2orld is the one
and only the Htrue 2orldI is only a mendacious gloss (((@J11FK :ndeed ,iet#sche@s intre3id
lack of concern for the facts of 3hiloso3hical history 2as continually on the increase( :n
the 3re3aratory 2ritings for The )ill to Po2er e0en the materialist Lemocritus has to
testify to ,iet#schean irrationalism( ;nd the de0elo3ment reaches its acme Y
characteristically once more Y in the Machists@ 3atron saint& Protagoras& 2ho ?united in
himself both !eraclitus and Lemocritus@(J11NK
)e can 3ro3erly a33reciate ,iet#sche@s doctrine of eternal recurrence as a 0ictory of
-eing o0er -ecoming only if 2e re0ie2 it in the light of these e3istemological findings(
)e no2 see that the conce3t of -eing em3loyed therein has nothing to do 2ith real -eing
5e4isting inde3endently of consciousness7> on the contrary& it is in0oked 3urely in order
to lend myth Y 2hich can be a33rehended only intuiti0ely& through ?illumination@ Y a
semblance of ob1ecti0ity( ,iet#sche@s conce3t of -ecoming& as 2e could see in his
!eraclitus inter3retations& ser0es 3rinci3ally to destroy all ob1ecti0ity& all 3erce3tibility
of reality( :n The )ill to Po2er he 2rote ?The character of the becoming 2orld as
defying formulation& as HfalseI& as Hself*contradictoryI( Cno2ledge and -ecoming are
mutually e4clusi0e(@J11OK \uite logically for ,iet#sche& the same consideration
determines the 3urely ficti0e character of -eing ?The assum3tion of that 2hich is in
being is necessary in order to be able to think and summari#e logic only deals in
formulae for unchanging things( !ence this act of assuming could still furnish no 3roof
of reality HThat 2hich is in beingI 5Las "eiende7 belongs to our o3tics(@J11DK -ut if -eing
is a mere fiction& then ho2 can a -eing arise in eternal recurrence 2hich is higher than a
real -ecoming Y real at least in our idea of it=
:t no2 gro2s 6uite clear ho2 ,iet#sche carried on the irrationalist tradition in
com3arison to "cho3enhauer and Cierkegaard( These authors& in contesting idealist
dialectics as the highest form of the bourgeois conce3tion of 3rogress& had like2ise to
o33ose the dialectical self*agitation of -eing and to fall back on a contrastingly mythical&
only intuiti0ely a33rehensible -eing( -ut since their 3olemics against !egelian dialectics
2ere only a conflict of orientation 2ithin bourgeois 3hiloso3hy& they could content
themsel0es 2ith narro2ing and distorting dialectics in a reactionary irrationalist s3irit(
5"chelling@s distinction bet2een ?negati0e@ and ?3ositi0e@ 3hiloso3hy& Cierkegaard@s
?stages@(7 True& the resultant distinctions bet2een ?lo2er@ and ?higher@ ty3es of -eing ha0e
an anti*scientific character and structure& but formally they remain Y at least until
Cierkegaard@s ?lea3@ Y 2ithin the s3here of a certain logical order( 9ne might say that the
tattered 3ieces of dialectics taken o0er in garbled form from !egel restore& for "chelling
and Cierkegaard& the a33earance of a modicum of rational coherence( ,iet#sche&
ho2e0er& did a2ay 2ith the connecting links from the outset in his e3istemology& 2hich
follo2ed the line of -erkeley& "cho3enhauer and Mach( ;nd to the e4tent to 2hich 2e
can s3eak of a logico*3hiloso3hical order in his 2ork here at all& it can ha0e but one
142
meaning( The more ficti0e a conce3t is and the more 3urely sub1ecti0ist its origins& the
higher it stands and the ?truer@ it is in the mythical scale of 0alues( -eing& so long as its
conce3t contains e0en the slightest 0estiges of a relationshi3 to a reality inde3endent of
our consciousness& must be dis3laced by -ecoming 5e6uals idea7( -eing& ho2e0er& 2hen
freed from these shackles and 0ie2ed 3urely as fiction& as a 3roduct of the 2ill*to*3o2er&
may then& for ,iet#sche& be a still higher category than -ecoming an e43ression of the
intuiti0e 3seudo*ob1ecti0ity of myth( )ith ,iet#sche& the s3ecial function of such a
definition of -ecoming and -eing lies in su33orting the 3seudo*historicity 0ital to his
indirect a3ologetics and in simultaneously dismissing it& confirming 3hiloso3hically that
historical -ecoming can 3roduce nothing that is ne2 and outruns ca3italism(
-ut the significance of ,iet#schean e3istemology as a structural tool for the systematic
articulation of his thoughts e4ceeds this single instance& central though it is( :t
encom3asses the full totality of his uni0erse( To hel3 com3lete the 3icture& let us take
another im3ortant e4am3le( :n contrast to contem3orary neo*Cantianism and
Positi0ism& 2hose basic a33roach 2as a s3ecific ob1ecti0ism& an a0o2edly solely scientific
abstention from any e43licit attitude and relation shi3 to 3ra4is& ,iet#sche 0igorously
shifted the connection bet2een theory and 3ra4is to the centre of his 2hole
e3istemology( !ere& too& he dre2 all the inferences of agnosticism and of the relati0ism
succeeding it earlier and more radically than his contem3oraries( -y re1ecting any
criterion of truth other than usefulness for the biological sur0i0al of the indi0idual 5and
the s3ecies7& he became an im3ortant 3recursor of im3erialist 3ragmatism( ?)e ha0e
al2ays@& he stated&
?forgotten the main thing 2hy does a 3hiloso3her 2ant to kno2= )hy does he 0alue
HtruthI more highly than a33earance= This 0aluation is older than any cogito ergo sum
e0en 3resu33osing the logical 3rocess& there is something inside us 2hich affirms it
and denies its o33osite( )hence the 3reference= /0ery 3hiloso3her has neglected to
e43lain2hy he 0alues the true and the good& and none has sought to attem3t the same for
the o33osite( ;ns2er the True is more useful 5for 3reser0ing the organism7 Y but not in
itselfmore acce3table( /nough> from the 0ery beginning 2e find the organism s3eaking
as a 2hole& 2ith H3ur3osesI Y there fore making 0alue 1udgements(@J11.K
:t goes 2ithout saying that this a33lies to an e0en greater degree to the truths of
morality ?;ll moralists 1oin in dra2ing lines regarding good and e0il& de3ending on their
sym3athetic and egotistic im3ulses( : regard as good that 2hich ser0es some end but the
Hgood endI is nonsense( For the 6uestion is al2ays Hgood for 2hat=I Good is al2ays
merely a term for ameans( The Hgood endI is a good means to an end(@J11PK ;nd in The
)ill to Po2er& ,iet#sche summed u3 this doctrine in the suggesti0e 2ords ?Truth is the
ty3e of error2ithout 2hich a 3articular ty3e of li0ing being could not e4ist( :n the last
resort the decisi0e 0alue is the 0alue for li0ing(@J119K
,iet#sche& ho2e0er& 2as not satisfied 2ith tracing the good and true back to biological
0ital interests& thereby de3ri0ing them of all absolute& ob1ecti0e 2orth( The ob1ect of his
endea0ours 2ent e0en beyond his referring in general to biological usefulness for the
s3ecies& rather than merely for the indi0idual( For the life of the s3ecies Y this returns us
to the s3here of -ecoming Y is& firstly& a historical 3rocess and& secondly& as historical
content& the uninterru3ted conflict bet2een t2o human ty3es& t2o races& namely masters
and sla0es( :n The Genealogy of Morals& ,iet#sche e43ressly em3hasi#ed that his
starting*3oint 2as an etymological one the insight that the morally 3ositi0e element is
identical 2ith the socially eminent man& and the negati0e 2ith the socially subordinate(
J1+BK -ut this ?natural@ condition is dissi3ated in the course of history there arises that
embittered struggle bet2een masters and herd 2hose 3hiloso3hical& moral and other
conse6uences& as 2ell as its 3ers3ecti0es for ,iet#sche& 2e ha0e 3ortrayed in detail in
other conte4ts( ;nd the function 2hich all categories ac6uire in this struggle determines
143
the degree of truth they 3ossess( More 3recisely& the determining factor is their 3otential
usefulness to the master race in obtaining and establishing ultimate control( To refer
back 1ust briefly to 2hat 2e ha0e already e43ounded& let us 6uote the statement& like2ise
from the Genealogy ?/gotism and a kind of second innocence go hand in hand(@J1+1K
9nce this condition& a ?clear conscience@ for the master race@s most e4treme egotism and
e0ery sort of cruelty and barbarity& has been fulfilled 5?the innocence of -ecoming@7& then
Y and only then this conce3t is finally established and set free in the mythical realm
through eternal recurrence( 9nly for the ?lords of the earth@& of Course& but then it 2as
only for them that ,iet#sche 2anted to 3ro0ide a militant 3hiloso3hy( !ence he 2rote of
eternal recurrence ?:t is the great disci3linary idea those races 2hich cannot endure it
are condemned& those that find it of the greatest benefit are destined for
mastery(@J1++K ;nd it totally accords 2ith this conce3tion that& in ,iet#sche@s 0ie2&
eternal recurrence must be a deadly 3oison for the herd( )e ha0e already noted that in
defining e3istemological ?immanence@ he launched a 0iolent attack on all ?transcendence@&
and identified the Christian belief in a -eyond 2ith socialism@s re0olutionary
3ers3ecti0es on the future( -ut eternal recurrence re0okes& in his o3inion& all
transcendence and hence the basis of all Christian 5or socialist7 morality( Thus 2e read
in The )ill to Po2er ?Morality 3rotects the defeated ty3e from nihilism by attributing
to each 3erson of this ty3e an infinite& meta 3hysical 2orth and by assigning each to an
order 2hich differs from 2orldly 3o2er and hierarchy it taught submissi0eness&
humility& etc( "u33osing that faith in this morality 3erishes& the defeated 2ould no longer
ha0e their consolation Y and 2ould 3erish(@J1+FK
The ?lords of the earth@ are& of course& the decadent 3arasites of im3erialism( This
definition of the decadent man as a central figure in future de0elo3ments& and of
decadence as a s3ringboard for the desired future condition& again distinguishes
,iet#sche from the other reactionary 3hiloso3hers( The latter& 2ho 2anted to sa0e
ca3italist society as ty3ified by the ?normal@ man 5bourgeois and 3etty*bourgeois7& found
themsel0es increasingly at loggerheads in the course of time 2ith the ca3italist reality&
2ith its mounting and increasingly total distortion of man( ,iet#sche 3roceeded
resolutely from this distortion& 2hich manifested itself in his age as 2orld*2eariness&
3essimism& nihilism& dissi3ation& lack of self*belief& lack of 3ers3ecti0es and so on(
Recogni#ing himself in these decadent ty3es& he regarded them as brothers( -ut in his
o3inion& it 2as 3recisely these decadent attributes 2hich 2ould 3ro0ide the right
material for the ne2 lords of the earth( ;s 2e ha0e noted& he considered himself to be
decadent and to be its antithesis at one and the same time( This a0o2al is 1ust an
e3igrammatic summary of the concluding section of Warathustra here the ?higher men@
gather round Warathustra Y a gallery of the most di0erse decadent ty3es that ,iet#sche
characteri#es 2ith shre2d 3sychology Y and to them is addressed the 3ro3hetic
announcement of the "u3erman and eternal recurrence( The con6uest of decadence& or
its o2n self*con6uest& is not ,iet#sche@s aim( )hen he 3raises the 3hiloso3hical merits of
his eternal recurrence & he is chiefly 3raising its nihilistic& relati0istic and 3ers3ecti0eless
character( ?Let us think this idea in its most fearful form e4istence 1ust as it is& 2ithout
meaning or goal& but ine0itably returning into nothingness 2ithout a finale eternal
recurrence( That is the most e4treme form of nihilism( ,othingness 5the HmeaninglessI7
for e0er moreR@J1+NK !ence this ne2 3erce3tion 2as intended to rein force decadent
nihilism rather than to su3ersede it( )hat ,iet#sche 2anted 2as to obtain on this basis a
change of direction& a turn*round& 2ithout affecting the status 6uo( ;ll decadent
attributes 2ere to be con0erted into tools for a militant ad0ocacy of ca3italism& and the
decadents them sel0es into acti0ists su33orting the Y both out2ardly and in2ardly Y
aggressi0e and barbaric im3erialist cause(
144
Lionysos is the mythical symbol for this turn among the ruling class( ;lthough the
connection bet2een the cro2ning figure of ,iet#schean myth Y ?Lionysos 0ersus the
Crucified(((@& reads the closing line of /cce homoJ1+OK Y and its first& youthful 0ersion is
fairly tenuous& a 0ery im3ortant moti0e does link the t2o the domination of
understanding and reason by the instincts 5hence "ocrates 2as the contrasting figure to
Lionysos in the debut 2ork7( -ut 2ith the later ,iet#sche& the liberation of the instincts
3oses much 2ider 6uestions Y moral and social Y than did his youthful& largely
artistically oriented Lionysos sketch( ;t the end of his career& the com3le4 of ideas is
summed u3 again in this much transformed mythical figure( Lecadence is no2& to
,iet#sche@s mind& a uni0ersal 3roblem& and Lionysos a33ears as a symbol of the for2ard*
thrusting& commendable ty3e of decadence& decadence in strength& as o33osed to
3aralysing& debilitating 3essimism 5"cho3enhauer7 or a liberation of the instincts 2ith
3lebeian o0ertones 5)agner7( ,iet#sche said of this 3essimism of strength ?Man no2
needs a H1ustification of the badI no longer& it is 3recisely H1ustifyingI that he abhors he
en1oys the bad in its ra2 3urity and finds the meaninglessbad the most interesting (((
Ander such conditions it is 3recisely the good 2hich needs H1ustifyingI& i(e(& it must ha0e
an e0il and dangerous undercurrent or incor3orate a great stu3iditythen it 2ill still find
fa0our( ;nimality no2 no longer shocks> a li0ely and cheerful bra0ado in fa0our of the
beast in man is& in such times& the most 0ictorious form of mental acti0ity(@J1+DK ?:t is
3art and 3arcel of this@& he stated some2hat later& ?to gras3 the hitherto re1ected sides of
e4istence not only as necessary but also as desirable and not only as desirable 2ith
regard to the hitherto a33ro0ed sides 5as& say& their com3lements or 3reconditions7& but
for their o2n sake as the mightier& more fruitful and truer sides of e4istence through
2hich its 2ill is distincti0ely 0oiced(@J1+.K The god of this decadence ?redeemed@ for
acti0ity is Lionysos> his distinguishing marks are ?sensuality and cruelty@(J1+PK !e is the
ne2 God ?God& concei0ed as a state of liberation from morality& cramming into himself
the 2hole abundance of life@s antitheses and redeeming& 1ustifying them in di0ine
torment Y God as the -eyond& su3erior to the 3itiful 2orkaday morality of Hgood and
e0ilI(@J1+9K
There is no need& 2e think& to go into any further details of ,iet#schean e3istemology
and its a33lication( ;s 2e can already see& ,iet#sche hereby created for the 2hole
im3erialist 3eriod a methodological ?model@ of the indirect a3ologetics of ca3italism&
sho2ing 1ust ho2 a fascinating and colourful symbol*realm of im3erialist myth could be
e0ol0ed from an e4tremely agnosticist e3istemology& a theory of the most e4treme
nihilism( )e ha0e a0oided d2elling Y deliberately so Y on the blatant contradictions in
his myth structures( )ere 2e to study ,iet#sche@s statements in this area from a logico*
3hiloso3hical angle& 2e 2ould be confronted by a di##y chaos of the most lurid
assertions& arbitrary and 0iolently incom3atible( ,e0ertheless 2e do not belie0e that this
obser0ation contradicts the 0ie2 2e de0elo3ed at the outset& the 0ie2 that ,iet#sche had
a consistent system( The binding or systematic factor lies in the social content of his
thinking& in the struggle against socialism( Regarded from this 0ie23oint& ,iet#sche@s
brightly 0ariegated& mutually irreconcilable myths 2ill yield u3 their ideational unity&
their ob1ecti0e coherence they are im3erialist bourgeois myths ser0ing to mobili#e all
im3erialist forces against the chief ad0ersary( The fact that the struggle of masters and
herd& of nobles and sla0es amounts to a mythical counter3art& in caricature form& to the
class struggle is not too hard to discern( )e ha0e demonstrated that ,iet#sche@s
challenge to Lar2in 2as a myth arising from the 1ustified fear that the normal course of
history must lead to socialism( )e ha0e also sho2n that behind eternal recurrence there
hides a self*consoling& mythical decree that e0olution can 3roduce nothing
fundamentally ne2 5and therefore no socialism7( ;nother 3oint 2e can see 6uite easily is
that the "u3erman came about in order to steer back on to ca3italist lines& etc(& etc(& the
145
yearning s3ontaneously s3ringing from the 3roblems of ca3italist life& its distortion and
stunting of human beings( ;nd the ?3ositi0e@ 3art of the ,iet#schean myths is no more
than a mobili#ation of all the decadent and barbaric instincts in men corru3ted by
ca3italism in order to sa0e by force this 3arasitical 3aradise> here again& ,iet#sche@s
3hiloso3hy is the im3erialist myth designed to counter socialist humanism(
Perha3s a 3oint 2hich 2e ha0e e43ounded earlier& 0i#(& that the ideology of the declining
bourgeoisie 2as forced on the defensi0e& is no2 becoming e0en clearer( :t is of the
essence of bourgeois thinking that it cannot manage 2ithout illusions( ,o2 if& from the
Renaissance to the French Re0olution& men 2ere 3ro1ecting as a model an image of the
Greek 3olis that 2as full of such illusions& its nucleus 2as nonetheless made u3 of real
e0olutionary currents& the real e0olutionary trends of a rising bourgeois society> hence of
elements of its o2n social life and 3ers3ecti0es of its o2n concrete future( -ut 2ith
,iet#sche& all his contents stem from the fear Y 2hich sought refuge in myth Y of the fall
of his o2n class& and from an inability genuinely to measure u3 to the ad0ersary in
intellectual terms( :t is material from ?enemy territory@& 3roblems and 6uestions im3osed
by the class enemy 2hich ultimately determine the content of his 3hiloso3hy( ;nd the
aggressi0e tone& the offensi0e a33roach in each indi0idual instance barely disguises this
underlying structure( The e3istemological a33eal to ado3t the most e4treme
irrationalism& to deny com3letely all kno2ability of the 2orld and all reason& cou3led
2ith a moral a33eal to all the bestial and barbaric instincts& is an Y unconscious Y
admission of this 3osition( ,iet#sche@s uncommon gift is manifest in his ability to
3ro1ect& on the threshold of the im3erialist 3eriod& a counter*myth that could e4ert such
influence for decades( Mie2ed in this light& his a3horistic mode of e43ression a33ears the
form ade6uate to the socio historical situations( The inner rottenness& hollo2ness and
mendacity of the 2hole system 2ra33ed itself in this motley and formally disconnected
ragbag of ideas(
Georg Lukcs 19D+
Reflections on the Cult of "talin
First 3ublished as H-rief an ;lberto CarocciI in the s3ecial issues of ,uo0i ;rgomenti&
,os( O.*OP& 19D+& de0oted to the discussion of the T2enty*second Congress of the
Communist Party of the "o0iet Anion> it 2as subse6uently 3ublished as HPri0atbrief Vber
"talinismus& -rief an ;lberto CarocciI in Forum& ,os( 11O*11.& 1D9F> abridged /nglish
translation& 3ublished 19DF>
Transcribed by ;ndr% ,1(
Lear "enor Carocci&
: am 0ery tem3ted to re3ly at length to the 3roblems 2hich you raise in your Height
6uestionsI for 3ractically e0erything that has occu3ied the minds of many of us for years
8 3ast is concentrated in them( Anfortunately& the circumstances in 2hich : find myself
com3el me to renounce this intention( -ut since : do not 2ish to kee3 from you
com3letely the ideas in my mind& : am 2riting 1ust a sim3le 3ri0ate letter& 2hich& of
course& does not 3retend at all to deal systematically 2ith all the essential 6uestions(
: begin 2ith the e43ression Hcult of the 3ersonality(I 9f course : regard it as absurd to
reduce the substance and the 3roblems of such an im3ortant 3eriod in the history of the
2orld to the 3articular character of an indi0idual( (((
146
My first reaction to the T2entieth Congress concerned not only the 3ersonality but the
organi#ation the a33aratus 2hich had 3roduced the cult of the 3ersonality and 2hich
had fi4ed it in a sort of endless enlarged re3roduction( : 3ictured "talin to myself as the
a3e4 of a 3yramid 2hich 2idened gradually to2ard the base and 2as com3osed of many
?little "talinsI they& seen from abo0e& 2ere the ob1ects and& seen from belo2& the creators
and guardians of the Hcult of the 3ersonality(I )ithout the regular and unchallenged
functioning of this mechanism the Hcult of the 3ersonalityI 2ould ha0e remained a
sub1ecti0e dream& a 3athological fact& and 2ould not ha0e attained the social
effecti0eness 2hich it e4ercised for decades(
:t did not need much reflection to understand that this immediate image& 2ithout being
false& could gi0e only a fragmentary and su3erficial idea of the origins& character and
effects of an im3ortant 3eriod( For thinking men 2ho are truly de0oted to the cause of
3rogress& the 3roblem ine0itably arose out of the social genesis of this e0olutionary stage&
a 3roblem 2hich Togliatti first formulated 3recisely& 2hen he said that it 2as necessary
to bring to light the social conditions in 2hich the Hcult of the 3ersonalityI 2as born and
consolidated( ((( Togliatti added& e6ually correctly& that this task 2as in the first 3lace one
for "o0iet scholars( (((
This research has remained& to the 3resent day& an undischarged obligation for true
Mar4ism& and you cannot e43ect me& 2ho am not a s3ecialist in this field& to make e0en a
sim3le attem3t at a solution> certainly not in a letter& 2hich necessarily has an e0en more
sub1ecti0e and fragmentary character than an essay on the sub1ect 2ould ha0e( :n any
case& it must be clear to any thinking man that the 3oint of de3arture can only be the
internal and international situation of the Russian 3roletarian re0olution of 191.( From
an ob1ecti0e 3oint of 0ie2 2e must think of the de0astation caused by the 2ar& of
retarded industrial de0elo3ment& of the relati0e cultural back2ardness of Russia
5illiteracy& etc(7& of the series of ci0il 2ars and foreign inter0entions from -rest*Lito0sk to
)rangel& etc( ;s a sub1ecti0e element 5often neglected7 2e must add ((( Lenin@s
3ossibilities of translating his e4act theories into 3ractice( There is today ((( a tendency to
forget the resistance 2hich he had to o0ercome inside his o2n 3arty( ;nyone 2ho kno2s
e0en 3art of the background to ,o0ember .& to the 3eace of -rest*Lito0sk& to ,/P& 2ill
understand 2hat : mean( 5:n later years a story 2ent around that "talin said at the time
of the discussions 2ithin the Party on the -rest*Lito0sk 3eace HThe most im3ortant task
is to ensure Lenin a firm ma1ority in the central committee(I7
;fter Lenin@s death& although the 3eriod of ci0il 2ars and foreign inter0entions 2as at an
end& there 2as not the slightest guarantee that they& es3ecially the inter0entions& 2ould
not begin again from one day to the ne4t( /conomic and cultural back2ardness a33eared
to be a hardly su3erable obstacle to a reconstruction of the country& 2hich 2ould be at
once the building of socialism and the assurance of its defense against any attem3t to
restore ca3italism( )ith the death of Lenin the difficulties inside the Party naturally only
got 2orse( "ince the re0olutionary 2a0e set in motion in 191. had subsided 2ithout
establishing a stable dictatorshi3 of the 3roletariat in other countries too& it 2as
necessary to confront boldly the 3roblem of building socialism in a single country 5a
back2ard one7( :t is in this 3eriod that "talin sho2ed himself a notable and far*seeing
statesman( The 0igorous defense of the ne2 Leninist theory on the 3ossibility of a
socialist society in a single country& against the attacks of Trotsky in 3articular&
re3resented ((( the sal0ation of the "o0iet form of de0elo3ment( :t is im3ossible to form a
historically correct 1udgment of the "talin 3roblem unless the factional struggles 2ithin
the Communist Party are considered from this 3oint of 0ie2> Chrushche0 dealt 2ith this
3roblem in the 3ro3er 2ay at the T2entieth Congress(
Permit me no2 a brief digression on the significance of the rehabilitations( :t goes
2ithout saying that all those 2ho in the thirties and later 2ere un1ustly 3ersecuted&
147
condemned or murdered by "talin must be absol0ed of all the charges in0ented against
them 5es3ionage& sabotage& etc(7( -ut this does not im3ly that their 3olitical errors (((
should also be the sub1ect of Hrehabilitation((I(( This a33lies abo0e all to Trotsky& 2ho
2as the 3rinci3al theoretical e43onent of the thesis that the construction of socialism in a
single country is im3ossible( !istory has long ago refuted his theory( -ut if 2e take
oursel0es back to the years immediately after the death of Lenin& Trotsky@s 3oint of 0ie2
ine0itably gi0es rise to the need to choose bet2een enlarging the base of socialism by
re0olutionary 2arsI or returning to the social situation before ,o0ember .& i(e( the
dilemma of ad0enturism or ca3itulation( !ere history cannot agree at all to the
rehabilitation of Trotsky> on the decisi0e strategic 3roblems of the time "talin 2as
absolutely right( (((
/6ually un1ustified in my 0ie2 is the legend 2idely disseminated in the )est that if
Trotsky had come to 3o2er there 2ould ha0e been a more democratic de0elo3ment than
under "talin( :t suffices to think of the discussion on the trade unions in 19+1 to
understand that this is a 3ure legend( ((( : don@t 2ant to deal 2ith this 3roblem at length(
-ut it is certain that& in the years that follo2ed& "talin follo2ed de facto ((( Trotsky@s line
and not that of Lenin( :f Trotsky later on sometimes re3roached "talin for a33ro3riating
his 3rogram& 2e can readily concede that he 2as in many res3ects right( :t follo2s&
according to my 1udgment of the t2o 3ersonalities& that 2hat 2e today regard as des3otic
and undemocratic in the "talin 3eriod has 6uite close strategic connections 2ith the
fundamental ideas of Trotsky( ; socialist society under Trotsky@s leadershi3 2ould ha0e
been at least as undemocratic as that of "talin& but it 2ould ha0e faced the dilemma a
catastro3hic 3olicy or ca3itulation( ((( 5The 3ersonal im3ressions 2hich : recei0ed from
my meetings 2ith Trotsky in 19F1 aroused in me the con0iction that he as an indi0idual
2as e0en more inclined to the Hcult of the 3ersonalityI than "talin(7 (((
Let us return to the main sub1ect( )ith his 2ell*deser0ed 0ictories in the discussions of
the t2enties the difficulties in "talin@s 3osition did not disa33ear( )hat 2as ob1ecti0ely
the central 3roblem& that of shar3ly accelerating the tem3o of industriali#ation& 2as in all
3robability hardly to be resol0ed 2ithin the frame2ork of normal 3roletarian democracy(
:t 2ould be useless today to ask 2hether ((( Lenin 2ould ha0e found a 2ay out( )e can
see in retros3ect on the one hand the difficulties of the ob1ecti0e situation& and on the
other the fact that to o0ercome them "talin& as time 2ent by& 2ent farther and farther
beyond the limits of 2hat 2as strictly necessary( :t must be the task of ((( "o0iet science
to bring to light the e4act 3ro3ortions( Closely bound u3 2ith this 3roblem 5but not
identical 2ith it7 is that of "talin@s 3osition in the Party( :t is certain that he built u3 little
by little during and after the 3eriod of the discussions that 3yramid of 2hich : s3oke at
the beginning( -ut it is not enough to construct such a mechanismYit must be ke3t in
continuous 2orking order> it must al2ays *react in the desired 2ay& 2ithout 3ossibility of
sur3rises& to day*to*day 3roblems of e0ery kind( This is the 2ay in 2hich little by little
the 3rinci3le& 2hich today is usually called the Hcult of the 3ersonality&I must ha0e been
elaborated( The history of this too should be radically re*e4amined by "o0iet scholars in
command of all the material 5including material so far un3ublished7( )hat could be
obser0ed e0en from outside 2as& in the first 3lace& the systematic su33ression of
discussion 2ithin the Party> in the second 3lace& the gro2ing use of organi#ational
measures against o33onents> and in the third 3lace& the transition from these measures
to 3rocedures of a 1udicial and administrati0e character( This last de0elo3ment 2as
naturally recei0ed 2ith silent dread( Luring the second stage the traditional sense of
humor of the Russian intelligentsia 2as still acti0e( H)hat is the difference bet2een
!egel and "talin=I 3eo3le asked( The ans2er 2as Hin !egel there are thesis& antithesis
and synthesis& in "talin re3ort& counter*re3ort& and organi#ational measures((I((
148
: do not consider myself at all com3etent to describe this de0elo3ment and its moti0e
forces( From the theoretical 3oint of 0ie2 too it 2ould be necessary to sho2 ho2 "talin&
2ho in the t2enties defended the legacy of Lenin 2ith skill and intelligence& later found
himself more and more fre6uently in o33osition to Lenin on all im3ortant 3roblems a
circumstance 2hich is not in the least affected by his 0erbal attachment to Lenin@s
doctrines( Thus& since "talin succeeded ((( in making 3eo3le regard him as the legitimate
heir of Lenin and his only authentic inter3reter& since he 2as recogni#ed as the fourth
classic of Mar4ism& the fatal su3erstition that "talin@s theories 2ere identical 2ith the
fundamental 3rinci3les of Mar4ism gained an e0er stronger hold( ((( : am not concerned
2ith the 6uestion 2hether and to 2hat e4tent 3articular theories can be 3ositi0ely traced
to "talin himself( :n the conditions of intellectual centrali#ation 2hich he created it 2as
im3ossible for any theory to be firmly established unless it 2as at least authori#ed by
him( (((
: begin 2ith a 6uestion of method 2hich may a33ear e4tremely abstract the "talinist
tendency is al2ays to abolish& 2here0er 3ossible& all intermediate factors& and to
establish an immediate connection bet2een the crudest factual data and the most
general theoretical 3ro3ositions( The contrast bet2een Lenin and "talin is 3articularly
ob0ious here( Lenin distinguished 0ery scru3ulously bet2een theory& strategy and tactics
and al2ays e4amined meticulously and took into account count all the mediating factors
bet2een them( (((
"talin@s unscru3ulousness in this matter reached the 3oint of altering the theory itself if
necessary( ((( : refer to the "talin*!itler 3act in 19F9( !ere& too& in my o3inion& "talin
took a decision 2hich from a tactical 3oint of 0ie2 2as substantially correct& but 2hich
nonetheless had tragic conse6uences because once again instead of treating a tactical
retreat& made necessary by concrete circumstances& as such& he made his measures ((( a
criterion of correctness in 3rinci3le for the international strategy of the 3roletariat( (((
The immediate 3ur3ose Jof the 3actK 2as to re3el the threat of an imminent attack by
!itler ((( 2hich 2ould 3robably ha0e been su33orted o3enly or co0ertly by Chamberlain
and Laladier( The long*term tactical calculation 2as that if !itlerYas in fact ha33enedY
took ad0antage of the 3act 2ith the "o0iet Anion as a fa0orable o33ortunity for an
offensi0e against the )est& then later on& in case of a 2ar bet2een Germany and the
"o0iet Anion& an alliance bet2een the "o0iet Anion and )estern democracies ((( 2ould
ha0e become e4tremely 3robable> here too the facts confirmed "talin@s tactical foresight(
-ut the theoretical strategic conse6uences 2hich "talin dre2 from the 3act 2ere fatal to
the 2hole re0olutionary 2orkers@ mo0ement( The 2ar bet2een !itler Germany and the
/uro3ean 3o2ers 2as declared an im3erialist 2ar& like the first )orld )ar( This meant
that the strategic formulas of Lenin& correct in their time 5Hthe real enemy is in your o2n
country&I Htransformation of im3erialist 2ar into ci0il 2ar&I etc(7 had to remain in force
unchanged for countries 2hich 2anted and had to defend themsel0es against !itlerite
fascism( :t is enough to read the first 0olume of Les Communistes& by an orthodo4 2riter
like ;ragon& to see clearly the disastrous international conse6uences of this H"talinist
generali#ationI from a 3ractical 0ie23oint( -ut the most unfortunate conse6uences go
beyond 3articular cases( ((( The great authority of Mar4ism in Lenin@s time rested on the
fact that the dialectical unity of theoretical soundness& stability of 3rinci3les and tactical
elasticity 2as recogni#ed by all( This ne2 HmethodologyI of "talin made it 3ossible for
2ide circles& not al2ays hostile in ad0ance to Mar4ism& hencefor2ard to see in "talin@s
theoretical utterances no more than H1ustifications(I ((( of 3urely tactical measures( (((
Thus "talin 3layed into the hands of the many bourgeois thinkers for 2hom Mar4ism
2as merely a 3olitical HideologyI like any other( :f today the 3rofound and 3recise
formulations of Chrushche0 5on the a0oidability of im3erialist 2ar& coe4istence& etc(7 are
often treated in the same 2ay& this too is the fruit of "talin@s heritage( (((
149
)e must not forget& besides the moti0es so far mentioned& that a considerable 3art of the
old intelligentsia in the Party 2as in o33osition to "talin( ((( "talin needed the 3recise
e4ecution of his decisions on the 3art of the a33aratus and also if 3ossible the a33ro0al of
the broad masses> for this reason too he radically sim3lified his theoretical utterances(
The su33ression of intermediate factors& the direct linking of the most general 3rinci3les
2ith the concrete e4igencies of daily 3ractice& seemed a suitable means to this end too(
!ere& too& theory 2as not concreti#ed by a33lying it to 3ractice& but& on the contrary&
3rinci3les 2ere sim3lified and 0ulgari#ed according to the e4igencies 5often 3urely
notional7 of 3ractice( !ere& too& : confine myself to one 3articularly ty3ical e4am3le 5but
: could mention an infinite number of others7( :n his last 2ork on economics "talin
Hdisco0eredI something that had Hesca3edI Mar4& /ngels and Lenin& that e0ery economic
formation has a Hfundamental la2I 2hich can be synthesi#ed in a short 3ro3osition( :t is
so sim3le that e0en the most limited and uneducated official can understand it at once>
and so he is in a 3osition ((( to condemn out of hand for its de0iation Hto the rightI or Hto
the leftI any 2ork of scientific economics of 2hich ob1ecti0ely he understands nothing( (((
-ecause "talin 2anted to maintain at any cost a continuity Hin 6uotationI 2ith Lenin@s
2ork& not only facts but Leninist te4ts also 2ere distorted( The most ob0ious e4am3le is
the article 2hich Lenin 2rote in 19BO 2ith the ob1ect of bringing order into the Party
3ress and Party 3ublications in the ne2 conditions of legality( Ander "talin this article
gradually became the -ible of 3artiinost in the 2hole field of culture and es3ecially of
literature ((( and although Cru3skaya& Lenin@s 2ife and closest collaborator& had dra2n
attention ((( to the fact that this article has absolutely no reference to literature& e0en
today there is no lack of 3eo3le 2ho 2ould like to let the -ible remain a -ible( (((
This tendency reaches its highest 3oint in the "hort !istory of the CP"A& 2hich 2as
circulated in many millions of co3ies( !ere the 3artiinost of the su3reme functionary is
the demiurge 2hich creates or abolishes facts& and& according to need& confers e4istence
and significance on men and e0ents or else annuls them( :t is a history of struggle
bet2een different trends 2hich are not& ho2e0er& re3resented or ke3t going by men& of
anonymous o33ositions& a history in 2hich& a3art of course from Lenin& only "talin has
an e4istence of his o2n( 5:n the first edition& there 2as& it is true& one e4ce3tion Te#ho0&
Hour Marat&I the 3rime organi#er of the great trials& also a33eared there> after his fall his
name& too& 2as omitted(7
:n all this another methodological as3ect can be discerned( For the classics of Mar4ism it
2as ob0ious that science furnishes the materials ((( on the basis of 2hich 3olitical
decisions are taken( Pro3aganda and agitation recei0e their material from science& from
3ractice scientifically elaborated( "talin re0ersed this relationshi3( For him& in the name
of 3artiinost& agitation is 3rimary( :ts needs determine ((( 2hat science must say and ho2
it must say it( 9ne e4am3le 2ill make this clearer( :n the famous Cha3ter :M of the "hort
!istory& "talin defines the essence of dialectical and historical materialism( "ince 2e
ha0e to do 2ith a 3o3ular 2ork 2ritten for the masses& no one could find fault 2ith "talin
for reducing the 6uite subtle and com3le4 arguments of the classics on this theme to a
fe2 definitions enumerated in schematic te4tbook form( -ut the fate of the 3hiloso3hical
sciences since the 3ublication of this 2ork sho2s that this is a matter of conscious
methodology and of a deliberate cultural 3olicy( ((( "talin@s 3ro3agandistic sim3lifications
5often 0ulgari#ations7 at once became the uni6ue and absolutely binding norm and the
utmost limit of 3hiloso3hical in0estigation( :f anyone 0entured& a33ealing for instance to
Lenin@s 3hiloso3hical notes& to go beyond the definitions of Cha3ter :M or sim3ly to
su33lement them& he 2as courting ideological condemnation and could not 3ublish his
researches( :lyche0 at the T2entieth Congress said 2ith good reason that 3hiloso3hy&
economics and history had stagnated in recent decades( (((
150
;ll science and all literature had to ser0e e4clusi0ely the 3ro3agandistic demands
formulated abo0e& by "talin himself( The understanding and s3ontaneous elaboration of
reality by means of literature& 2as more and more strictly 3rohibited( HPartyI literature
must no longer creati0ely reflect ob1ecti0e reality& but must illustrate in literary form the
decisions of the Party( :t is to the honor of the literary critic !elena Asie0ich that she
made a stand in the thirties against the demand that literature should be illustrati0e( The
3oet T0ardo0sky& in his s3eech at the T2enty*second Congress& continued this struggle
2hich is still necessary( ((( The insistence on illustration makes a general abstract truth 5if
indeed it is the truth7 the base of the 2ork ((( and men and their destinies ha0e to be
ada3ted at any cost to this thesis(
;ll this of course 2as not an end in itself( :t arose from "talin@s 3osition& from his need
for an authority not sub1ect to discussion( : must re3eat once again that only thorough
in0estigation by com3etent scholars can establish 2hat 3art 2as 3layed by ob1ecti0e
difficulties and 2hat 3art by "talin@s e4cessi0e reactions to them( There 2as 2ithout
doubt in the thirties an ob1ecti0e shar3ening of the situation internally& a3art from the
acceleration of industriali#ation& as the result of collecti0i#ation of agriculture> in foreign
relations as the result of !itler@s accession to 3o2er and the threat of an attack on the
A""R by ,a#i Germany( )hether the class struggle in the country ((( really became more
acute ((( is a 3roblem on 2hich only detailed in0estigation by scholars can gi0e a
com3etent ans2er( "talin& ho2e0er& found 6uickly the necessary& sim3lifying
generali#ation the continual shar3ening of the class struggle is ine0itable under the
dictatorshi3& of the 3roletariat& is its Hfundamental la2(I
This thesis ((( aims at creating an atmos3here of 3er3etual mutual distrust& in 2hich
e0eryone is on his guard against e0eryone else& the atmos3here of a 3ermanent state of
siege( : can only refer in a brief and fragmentary form to the secondary conse6uences
the fear of enemies& s3ies and saboteurs aggra0ated beyond all measure and a system of
obsessi0e secrecy in e0erything that has anything at all to do 2ith 3olicy( Thus statistics&
for e4am3le& became a Hstrictly secretI science& 2hose findings 2ere accessible only to
absolutely reliable 3ersons( (((
Thus the 3icture of the "talinist method ac6uires a com3lementary trait 2hich hitherto
2as missing e0erything that is ob1ecti0ely ine0itable in an acute re0olutionary situation&
2here the e4istence of a society is in effect at stake& 2as arbitrarily made by "talin the
foundation of ordinary "o0iet 3ractice( : don@t 2ant to d2ell here on the great trials( This
is the sub1ect 2hich has hitherto been dealt 2ith most fully@ and "hele3in in his s3eech to
the T2enty*second Congress ga0e a detailed analysis of their conse6uences for "o0iet la2
and 1uris3rudence( : should like only to dra2 attention briefly to some conse6uences of a
cultural nature( The su33ression of mediate factors carries 2ith it a tendency to treat all
the 3henomena of life as monolithic blocks( The 3ermanence of the acute re0olutionary
situation intensifies this tendency( /0eryone is dissol0ed 2ithout residue ((( into the
function 2hich he fulfils 5or 2hich it is claimed that he fulfils7 at a 3articular moment( (((
Thus& to take an e4am3le& from the logic of the trials because -ukharin in 19+P o33osed
"talin@s 3lan for collecti0i#ation& it is certain that in 191P he took 3art in a cons3iracy to
kill Lenin( This is the method of Myshinsky in the great trials( -ut this methodology
e4tends also to 1udgments in history& science and art( !ere& too& it is instructi0e to
com3are Lenin@s method 2ith that of "talin( Lenin& for e4am3le& harshly critici#ed
Plekhano0@s 3olicy in 19BO and 191.( -ut at the same timeYand this im3lies no
contradiction for LeninYhe insists that it is necessary to make use of Plekhano0@s
theoretical 2ork for the 3ro3agation and the further study of Mar4ist culture(

151
Georg Lukcs 19N9
/4istentialism
)ritten 19N9>
Translator !enry F( Mins>
"ource Mar4ism and !uman Liberation /ssays on !istory& Culture and Re0olution by
Georg Lukacs& Lell Publishing Co(& 19.F>
Transcribed !arrison Fluss for mar4ists(org& February +BBP(
Tout se 3asse comme si le monde&
l@homme et l@homme dans le monde
n@arri0aient a r%aliser 6u@un Lieu
man6u%(
8 "artre& L@/tre et le n%ant
There is no reasonable doubt that e4istentialism 2ill soon become the 3redominant
3hiloso3hical current among bourgeois intellectuals( This state of affairs has been long in
the making( /0er since the 3ublication of !eidegger@s "ein und Weit the a0ant*garde
intellectuals ha0e seen in e4istentialism the 3hiloso3hy of our times( :n Germany&
Eas3ers undertook to communicate the 3rinci3les of the ne2 3hiloso3hy to broader
sections of the educated 3ublic( Luring the 2ar and since its end& the tide of
e4istentialism rolled o0er the entire )estern cultural field& and the leading German
e4istentialists and their 3recursor& !usserl& ha0e made great con6uests in France and in
;merica 8 not only in the Anited "tates but in Latin ;merica as 2ell( :n 19NF the basic
2ork of 2estern e4istentialism a33eared& "artre@s big book cited abo0e> and since then
e4istentialism has been 3ressing for2ard irresistibly& through 3hiloso3hical debates&
s3ecial 3eriodicals 5Les Tem3s modernes7& no0els& and dramas(
1( Method as ;ttitude
:s all this a 3assing fad*3erha3s one 2hich may last a fe2 years= 9r is it really an e3och*
making ne2 3hiloso3hy= The ans2er de3ends on ho2 accurately the ne2 3hiloso3hy
reflects reality& and ho2 ade6uately it deals 2ith the crucial human 6uestion 2ith 2hich
the age is faced(
;n e3och*making 3hiloso3hy has ne0er yet arisen 2ithout a really original method( This
2as so for all the great 3hiloso3hers of the 3ast& Plato and ;ristotle& Lescartes and
"3ino#a& Cant and !egel( )hat is the originality of e4istentialism@s method= The
6uestion is not settled by referring to the fact that e4istentialism is an offshoot of
!usserl@s 3hiloso3hy( :t is im3ortant to note that modern 3henomenology is one of the
numerous 3hiloso3hical methods 2hich seek to rise abo0e both idealism and
materialism by disco0ering a 3hiloso3hical Hthird 2ay&I by making intuition the true
source of kno2ledge( From ,iet#sche through Mach and ;0enarius to -ergson and
beyond& the mass of bourgeois 3hiloso3hy goes this 2ay( !usserl@s intuition of essence
5)esensschau7 is but one strand of the de0elo3ment(
This 2ould not in itself be a decisi0e argument against the 3henomenological method( :f
2e are to arri0e at a correct 1udgment& 2e must first understand the 3hiloso3hical and
to3ical significance of the Hthird 2ay&I as 2ell as the 3lace and function of intuition in the
kno2ing 3rocess(
:s there any room for a Hthird 2ayI besides idealism and materialism= :f 2e consider this
6uestion seriously& as the great 3hiloso3hers of the 3ast did& and not 2ith fashionable
3hrases& there can be only one ans2er& H,o(I For 2hen 2e look at the relations 2hich can
e4ist bet2een being and consciousness 2e see clearly that only t2o 3ositions are
152
3ossible either being is 3rimary 5materialism7& or consciousness is 3rimary 5idealism7(
9r& to 3ut it another 2ay& the fundamental 3rinci3le of materialism is the inde3endence
of being from consciousness> of idealism& the de3endence of being on consciousness( The
fashionable 3hiloso3hers of today establish a correlation bet2een being and
consciousness as a basis for their Hthird 2ayI there is no being 2ithout consciousness
and no consciousness 2ithout being( -ut the first assertion 3roduces only a 0ariant of
idealism the ackno2ledgment of the de3endence of being on consciousness(
:t 2as the grim reality of the im3erialist 3eriod that forced the 3hiloso3hical Hthird 2ayI
on bourgeois thinking for only in becalmed& untroubled times can men hold themsel0es
to be thorough*going idealists( )hen some students broke Fichte@s 2indo2s o0er a
college 6uarrel Goethe said& smiling HThis is a 0ery disagreeable 2ay to take cogni#ance
of the reality of the e4ternal 2orld(I The im3erialist e3och ga0e us such 2indo2*breaking
on a 2orld*2ide scale( Lo2nright 3hiloso3hical idealism gently faded out( ;3art from
some minor 3rofessorial 3hiloso3hers& anyone 2ho declares himself an idealist today
feels ho3eless about a33lying his 3hiloso3hy to reality 5Malery& -enda& etc(7(
The abandonment of the old do2nright idealism had been antici3ated e0en in the middle
of the last century by 3etty*bourgeois asceticism( /0er since ,iet#sche& the body 5Leib7
has 3layed a leading role in bourgeois 3hiloso3hy( The ne2 3hiloso3hy needs formulas
2hich recogni#e the 3rimary reality of the body and the 1oys and dangers of bodily
e4istence& 2ithout& ho2e0er& making any concessions to materialism( For at the same
time materialism 2as becoming the 2orld0ie2 of the re0olutionary 3roletariat( That
made a 3osition such as Gassendi and !obbes look im3ossible for bourgeois thinkers(
;lthough the method of idealism had been discredited by the realities of the time& its
conclusions 2ere held indis3ensable( This e43lains the need for the Hthird 2ayI in the
bourgeois 2orld of the im3erialist 3eriod(
The 3henomenological method& es3ecially after !usserl& belie0es it has disco0ered a 2ay
of kno2ing 2hich e4hibits the essence of ob1ecti0e reality 2ithout going beyond the
human or e0en the indi0idual consciousness( The intuition of essence is a sort of intuiti0e
intros3ection& but is not 3sychologically oriented( :t in6uires rather 2hat sort of ob1ects
the thought 3rocess 3osits& and 2hat kind of intentional acts are in0ol0ed( :t 2as still
relati0ely easy for !usserl to o3erate 2ith these conce3ts& because he 2as concerned
e4clusi0ely 2ith 6uestions of 3ure logic& i(e(& 3ure acts and ob1ects of thought( The
6uestion became more com3le4 as "cheler took u3 3roblems of ethics and sociology& and
!eidegger and "artre broached the ultimate 6uestions of 3hiloso3hy( The need of the
times 2hich dro0e them in this direction 2as so com3elling that it silenced all
gnosiological doubts as to 2hether the method 2as ade6uate to ob1ecti0e reality(
/0en 2hen the 3henomenologists dealt 2ith crucial 6uestions of social actuality& they 3ut
off the theory of kno2ledge and asserted that the 3henomenological method sus3ends or
HbracketsI the 6uestion 2hether the intentional ob1ects are real( The method 2as thus
freed from any kno2ledge of reality( 9nce during the First )orld )ar "cheler 0isited me
in !eidelberg& and 2e had an informing con0ersation on this sub1ect( "cheler maintained
that 3henomenology 2as a uni0ersal method 2hich could ha0e anything for its
intentional ob1ect( For e4am3le& he e43lained& 3henomenological researches could be
made about the de0il> only the 6uestion of the de0il@s reality 2ould first ha0e to be
Hbracketed(I HCertainly&I : ans2ered( Hand 2hen 2hen you are finished 2ith the
3henomenological 3icture of the de0il& you o3en the brackets 8 and the de0il in 3erson is
standing before you(I "cheler laughed& shrugged his shoulders& and made no re3ly(
The arbitrariness of the method is seen es3ecially 2hen the 6uestion is raised :s 2hat
3henomenological intuition finds actually real= )hat right does that intuition ha0e to
s3eak of the reality of its ob1ect= For Lilthey@s intuition& the colorfulness and the
uni6ueness of historical situations are the reality> for -ergson@s& it is the flo2 itself& the
153
duration 5dur%e7& that dissol0es the 3etrified forms of ordinary life> 2hile for !usserl@s&
the acts in 2hich indi0idual ob1ects are meant constitute HrealityI 8 ob1ects 2hich he
treats as isolated units& 2ith hard contours like statuary( ;lthough mutually e4clusi0e&
these intuitions 2ere able to d2ell together in relati0e 3eace(
These inter3retations of reality stem from factors e0en more concrete than the social
need for a Hthird 2ay(I :t is a general tendency of the im3erialist 3eriod to regard social
relationshi3s as secondary circumstances 2hich do not concern the essence of man( The
intuition of essence takes the immediate gi0enness of inner e43erience as its starting
3oint& 2hich it regards as unconditioned and 3rimary& ne0er looking into its character
and 3reconditions& and 3roceeds thence to its final abstract H0ision&I di0orced from
reality( "uch intuitions& under the social conditions of the time& could easily abstract
from all social actuality 2hile kee3ing the a33earance of utter ob1ecti0ity and rigor( :n
this 2ay there arose the logical myth of a 2orld 5in s3lendid accord 2ith the attitude of
bourgeois intellectuals7 inde3endent of consciousness& although its structure and
characteristics are said to be determined by the indi0idual consciousness(
lt is im3ossible here to gi0e a detailed criti6ue of the 3henomenological method( )e shall
therefore merely analy#e in summary fashion an e4am3le of the 2ay it is a33lied( )e
ha0e chosen the book of "#ilasi& the 2ell kno2n student of !usserl and !eidegger&
J1K 3artly because "#ilasi is an earnest thinker 2ho aims at scientific ob1ecti0ity& not a
cynical fabricator of myths like "cheler> and 3artly because the elementary form of the
e4am3le is 2ell suited to a brief treatment( "#ilasi takes as his instance the co*3resence
5Miteinandersein7 at his lecture of his hearers and himself( Lescribing the essence of the
situation& he finds that the hall lies before him& the benches& in a 2ord& the e4ternal
2orld HThis s3ace 2ith its 0ariously 2orked boards is a lecture hall only because 2e
understand this mass of 2ooden ob1ects as such& and 2e do understand it so because
from the outset 2e mean it as something 3resu33osed in our common task 8 namely&
lecturing and listening(I From 2hich he concludes& H:t is the 2ay of being together that
determines 2hat the thing is(I
Let us consider the result of this intuition of essence from the methodological 3oint of
0ie2( First& it is a 3rimiti0e abstraction 2hen "#ilasi s3eaks of H0ariously 2orked boards&I
and not of desks& benches& etc( -ut this is methodologically essential& for if he should
concede that the lecture hall is e6ually ada3ted to holding 3hilological& legal& and other
lectures& 2hat 2ould be left of the magical 3otency of the intentional e43erience& 2hich is
su33osed to make the ob1ect 2hat it is=
!o2e0er& 2hat the analysis omits is still more im3ortant( The hall is in Wurich& and the
time is the 19NBs( The fact that "#ilasi could deli0er a lecture 3recisely in Wurich has the
most di0erse social 3reconditions( For instance& before !itler@s sei#ure of 3o2er "#ilasi
ga0e his lectures in Freiburg> after 19FF they 2ere no longer 3ermitted& in fact the
lecturer had to lea0e Germany because his 3ersonal safety 2as threatened( )hy is all this
missing from the intuition of co*3resence= :t belongs there at least as much as do the
H2orked boards(I
-ut let us return to the boards( The fact that boards are used in a certain 2ay to make
desks and benches 3resu33oses a certain stage of de0elo3ment of industry and of society(
;gain& the fact that the boards and the ball as a 2hole are in a certain condition 5is there
coal for heating& or glass in the 2indo2s=7 is inse3arably connected 2ith other social
e0ents and structures( -ut 3henomenological method& e4cluding all social elements from
its analysis& confronts consciousness 2ith a chaos of things 5and men7 2hich only
indi0idual sub1ecti0ity can articulate and ob1ectify( !ere 2e ha0e the 2ell*3ublici#ed
3henomenological ob1ecti0ity& the Hthird 2ay&I 2hich turns out to be only a re0i0al of
neo*Cantianism(
154
Phenomenology and the ontology deri0ing from it only seem to go beyond the
gnosiological soli3sism of sub1ecti0e idealism( ; formally ne2 formulation of the
6uestion reinstates ontological idealism( :t is no accident that 51ust as forty years ago the
Machists re3roached one another for idealism& each recogni#ing only himself as the
disco0erer of the 3hiloso3hical Hthird 2ayI7 today the e4istentialists make similar
accusations against one another( "o "artre com3lains of !usserl and !eidegger& t2o men
he other2ise 3ri#es highly( !usserl& in his o3inion& has not gone beyond Cant> and he
critici#es !eidegger as follo2s HThe character being*together Jco*3resence& MitseinK
introduced by !eidegger is a character of the isolated ego( !ence it does not lead beyond
soli3sism( Therefore 2e shall search "ein und Weit in 0ain for a 3osition beyond both
idealism and realism Jmeaning materialismK(I ;n analysis of "artre@s 3hiloso3hy 2ill
sho2 us that he can be ta4ed 2ith the offense for 2hich he condemns !usserl and
!eidegger( !eidegger@s 3hiloso3hy e4istence 5Lasein7 does not mean ob1ecti0e being
5"ein7 3ro3er& but human e4istence& i(e(& a being a2are of e4istence( :n some 3laces
"artre& 2ho has more interest than his 3redecessors in the emotional and 3ractical
relation of man to nature& s3ells out the com3lete de3endence of nature on man s
consciousness( )hen s3eaking of de0astation& he denies that it e4ists in nature itself& in
2hich only changes take 3lace( H;nd e0en this e43ression is inade6uate& for in order that
this changing*to*something*else may be 3osited& a 2itness is needed 2ho someho2 or
other 3reser0es the 3ast 2ithin himself and is able to com3are it 2ith the 3resent in its
?no*longer@ form(I ;nd in another 3lace he says HThe full moon does not denote the
future& e4ce3t 2hen 2e obser0e the 2a4ing moon in the ?2orld@ 2hich re0eals itself in
human actuality the future comes into the 2orld by 2ay of human e4istence(I
This 3urely idealistic tendency is heightened in "artre by the fact that his 2ay of
handling 3roblems com3els him to study concrete 6uestions of co*e4istence 5Mitsein7
e0en more fre6uently than !eidegger( !e meets the difficulty 3artly by choosing loosely
connected manifestations of co*3resence that can be referred 2ith some 3lausibility to
the inner e43eriences of the ego 5a rende#0ous at a caf%& a tri3 in the sub2ay7( -ut 2hen
actual social acti0ity is in0ol0ed 5labor& class consciousness7& he makes a
methodological salto mortaleand declares that the e43eriences of the rele0ant intuitions
of essence are of 3sychological and not of ontological character( The reason for this is the
secret of the initiate& those to 2hom the intuition of essence is granted( :t is therefore no
accident that 2hen "artre tests the relation of man to his fello2 man he recogni#es only
the follo2ing relations as ontologically essential& that is& as elements of reality in itself
lo0e& s3eech& masochism& indifference& longing& hate& and sadism( 5/0en the order of the
categories is "artre@s(7 ;nything beyond this inMiteinandersein& the categories of
collecti0e life together& of 2orking together& of fighting in a common cause& is for "artre&
as 2e ha0e seen& a category of consciousness 53sychological7 and not a really e4istent
category 5ontological7(
)hen all this is a33lied to actual cases& the result is banal Philistine common3laces( :n
his 3o3ular book "artre takes u3 the 6uestion of ho2 far he can ha0e confidence in his
freely acting comrades( ;ns2er H;s far as : ha0e immediate 3ersonal kno2ledge of
them& to count on the unity and 2ill of the 3arty is 1ust like counting on the streetcar to
come on time& and on the train not to 1um3 the tracks( -ut : cannot count on men that :
do not kno2& banking on human goodness or man@s interest in the common good& for it
is a gi0en datum that man is free and there is no such thing as a human nature on 2hich
: can count(I ;3art from the in0ol0ed terminology& any 3etty bourgeois& shrinking from
3ublic affairs& could& and does& say as much(
155
+( The Myth of ,othingness
:l est absurde 6ue nous sommes n%s&
il est absurde 6ue nous mourrons(
8 "artre& L@/tre et le n%ant
:t 2ould be an error to assume that such an abstract narro2ing of reality& such an idealist
distortion of the 3roblem of reality& by intelligent and e43erienced men is intentional
deceit( 9n the contrary& those inner e43eriences 2hich constitute the attitude re0ealed in
the intuition of the )esensschau& and its content& are as sincere and s3ontaneous as
3ossible( -ut that does not make them ob1ecti0ely correct( :ndeed this s3ontaneity& by
betraying its immediate uncritical attitude to2ard the basic 3henomenon& creates the
false consciousness fetishism( Fetishism signifies& in brief& that the relations among
human beings 2hich function by means of ob1ects are reflected in human consciousness
immediately as things& because of the structure of ca3italist economy( They become
ob1ects or things& fetishes in 2hich men crystalli#e their social relationshi3s& as sa0ages
do their relationshi3s to nature> and for sa0ages the la2s of natural relations are 1ust as
im3enetrable as the la2s of the ca3italist system of economy are to the men of the 2orld
of today( Like sa0ages& modern men 3ray to the fetishes they themsel0es ha0e made& bo2
do2n to them& and sacrifice to them 5e(g(& the fetish of money7( !uman relations& as
Mar4 says& ac6uire Ha s3ectral ob1ecti0ity(I The social e4istence of man becomes a riddle
in his immediate e43erience& e0en though ob1ecti0ely he is a social being first and
foremost& des3ite all immediate a33earances to the contrary(
:t is not our aim nor our task to treat of the 3roblem of fetish making to do so 2ould
re6uire a systematic de0elo3ment of the 2hole structure of ca3italist society and the
forms of false consciousness arising out of it( : shall merely 3oint out the most im3ortant
6uestions 2hich ha0e had decisi0e influence on the de0elo3ment of e4istentialism(
The first is life@s losing its meaning( Man loses the center& 2eight& and connectedness of
his o2n life& a fact life itself com3els him to reali#e( The 3henomenon has been kno2n for
a long time( :bsen& in Peer Gynt& 3uts it into a striking little scene( The aging Peer Gynt is
3eeling off the layers of an onion& and 3layfully com3ares the single layers 2ith the
3eriods of his life& ho3ing at the end to come to the core of the onion and the core of his
o2n 3ersonality( -ut layer follo2s layer& 3eriod after 3eriod of life> and no core is found(
/0eryone 2hom this e43erience has touched faces the 6uestion !o2 can my life become
meaningful= The man 2ho li0es in the fetish*making 2orld does not see that e0ery life is
rich& full& and meaningful to the e4tent that it is consciously linked in human relations
2ith other li0es( The isolated egoistic man 2ho li0es only for himself li0es in an
im3o0erished 2orld( !is e43eriences a33roach threateningly close to the unessential and
begin to merge into nothingness the more e4clusi0ely they are his alone& and turned
solely in2ard(
The man of the fetishi#ed 2orld& 2ho can cure his disgust 2ith the 2orld only in
into4ication& seeks& like the mor3hine addict& to find a 2ay out by heightening the
intensity of the into4icant rather than by a 2ay of life that has no need of into4ication(
!e is not a2are that the loss of communal life& the degradation and dehumani#ation of
collecti0e 2ork as a result of ca3italist di0ision of labor& and the se0erance of human
relations from social acti0ity ha0e stu3efied him( !e does not see this& and goes further
and further along the fatal 3ath& 2hich tends to become a sub1ecti0e need( For in
ca3italist society 3ublic life& 2ork& and the system of human relations are under the s3ell
of fetish making& reification and dehumani#ation( 9nly re0olt against the actual
foundations& as 2e can see in many authors of the time& leads to a clearer a33reciation of
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these foundations& and thence to a ne2 social 3ers3ecti0e( /sca3e into in2ardness is a
tragic*comical blind alley(
;s long as the 3illars of ca3italist society seemed unshakable& say u3 to the first 2orld
2ar& the so*called a0ant*garde danced 2ith the fetishes of their inner life( "ome 2riters&
it is true& sa2 the a33roach of the ine0itable catastro3he 5:bsen& Tolstoy& Thomas Mann&
etc(7( The gaudy carni0al& often 2ith a ghastly tone from tragic incidental music& 2ent on
uninterru3ted( The 3hiloso3hy of "immel and -ergson and much of the literature of the
time sho2 e4actly 2here things 2ere heading(
Many a good 2riter and keen thinker sa2 through the into4ication of carni0al to the fact
that the fetishi#ed ego had lost its essence( -ut they 2ent no further than to sketch tragic
or tragi*comic 3ers3ecti0es behind the garish 2hirl( The fetishi#ed bases of life seemed
so beyond 6uestion that they esca3ed study& let alone criticism( :f there 2ere doubts& they
2ere like the doubt of the !indu 2ho 6uestioned the acce3ted doctrine that the 2orld
rests on a huge ele3hant> he asked modestly on 2hat the ele3hant rested> and 2hen told
it rested on a huge tortoise& he 2ent his 2ay contented( Mind 2as so formed by fetish
thinking that 2hen the first 2orld 2ar and the subse6uent series of crises called the 0ery
3ossibility of human e4istence into 6uestion& gi0ing a ne2 tinge to e0ery idea& and 2hen
the carni0al of isolated indi0idualism ga0e 2ay to its ;sh )ednesday& there 2as still
0irtually no change in the 2ay that 3hiloso3hical 6uestions 2ere asked(
Tet the aim and direction of the 6uest for essence did change( The e4istentialism of
!eidegger and Eas3ers is 3roof( The e43erience 2hich underlies this 3hiloso3hy is easily
stated man stands face to face 2ith nothingness or nonbeing( The fundamental relation
of man to the 2orld is the situation of 0is*<*0is de rien( There is nothing 3articularly
original in this( /0er since Poe& 3erha3s the first to describe the situation and the
corres3onding attitude& modern literature has d2elt u3on the tragic fate 2hich dri0es a
man to the edge of the abyss( ;s e4am3les 2e may mention the situation of Raskolniko0
after the murder& and the road to suicide of "0idrigailo0 or "ta0rogin( )hat is in0ol0ed
here= ; characteristic tragic form of de0elo3ment& arising out of 3resent*day life( ; great
2riter 2ea0es these tragic destinies& 2hich are as 0i0id and 3ositi0e as 2ere the tragedies
of 9edi3us and !amlet in their day(
The originality of !eidegger is that he takes 1ust such situations as ty3ical and makes
them his starting 3oint( )ith the hel3 of the com3licated method of 3henomenology& he
lodges the entire 3roblem in the fetishi#ed structure of the bourgeois mind& in the dreary
ho3eless nihilism and 3essimism of the intellectuals of the inter0al bet2een the t2o
2orld 2ars( The first fetish is the conce3t of nothingness( :n !eidegger as in "artre& this
is the central 3roblem of reality& of ontology( :n !eidegger nothingness is an ontological
datum on a le0el 2ith e4istence> in "artre it is only one factor in e4istence& 2hich
ne0ertheless enters into all the manifestations of being(
; 0ery s3eciali#ed 3hiloso3hical dissertation 2ould be re6uired to sho2 the chains of
thought& sometimes 6uite false& sometimes ob0iously so3histical& by 2hich "artre seeks
to 1ustify his theory of negati0e 1udgment( :t is true that& for e0ery H,oI 2hich e43resses a
3articular 1udgment& there is a 3ositi0ely e4isting situation( -ut it is only idoli#ing of
sub1ecti0e attitudes that gi0es nothingness the semblance of reality( )hen : in6uire& for
instance& 2hat the la2s of the solar system are& : ha0e not 3osited any negati0e being&
such as "artre en0isages( The meaning of my 6uestion is sim3ly that : lack kno2ledge(
The ans2er may be 3ut in either 3ositi0e or negati0e form& but the same 3ositi0e reality
is indicated in either case( 9nly so3histry could infer the He4istenceI of nonbeing( The
nothingness 2hich fascinates recent 3hiloso3hers is a myth of declining ca3italist
society( )hile 3re0iously it 2as indi0iduals 5though socially ty3ical ones7 like "ta0rogin
and "0idrigailo0 that had to face nothingness& today it is a 2hole system that has reached
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this chimerical outlook( For !eidegger and "artre life itself is the state of being cast into
nothingness(
/4istentialism consistently 3roclaims that nothing can be kno2n by man( :t does not
challenge science in general> it does not raise ske3tical ob1ections to its 3ractical or
technical uses( :t merely denies that there is a science 2hich has the right to say anything
about the one essential 6uestion the relation of the indi0idual to life( This is the alleged
su3eriority of e4istentialism to the old 3hiloso3hy( H/4istential 3hiloso3hy&I Eas3ers
says& H2ould be lost immediately if it started belie0ing again that it kne2 2hat man
is(I This radical ignorance on 3rinci3le& 2hich is stressed by !eidegger and "artre& is one
of the main reasons for the o0er2helming influence of e4istentialism( Men 2ho ha0e no
3ros3ects themsel0es find consolation in the doctrine that life in general has no
3ros3ects to offer(
!ere e4istentialism flo2s into the modern current of irrationalism( The
3henomenological and ontological method seems& it is true& to stand in bold contrast to
the ordinary irrationalist tendencies( ;re not the former Hrigorously scientific&I and 2as
not !usserl a su33orter of the most fanatical of logicians& -ol#ano and -rentano= -ut
e0en a su3erficial study of the method at once discloses its links 2ith the masters of
irrationalism& Lilthey and -ergson( ;nd 2hen !eidegger rene2ed Cierkegaard@s efforts&
the tie became e0en closer(
This connection is more than an accidental con0ergence of t2o methods( The more
3henomenology is transformed into the method of e4istentialism& the more the
underlying irrationality of the indi0idual and of being becomes the central ob1ect& and
the closer becomes its affinity to irrational currents of the time( -eing is meaningless&
uncaused& unnecessary( -eing is by definition Hthe originally fortuitous&I says "artre( :f
nothingness comes to He4istI by the magic of e4istentialism& e4istence is made negati0e(
/4istence is 2hat man lacks( The human being& says !eidegger& Hkno2s 2hat he is only
from ?e4istence&@ i(e(& from his o2n 3otentialities&I 2hether he becomes the one he His&I or
not( :s man@s becoming authentic or not= )e ha0e seen that in the leading trends of
modern 3hiloso3hy this 6uestion has an antisocial character( Asing the familiar method&
!eidegger sub1ects man@s e0eryday life to 3henomenological analysis( The life of man is a
co*e4istence and at the same time a being*in*the*2orld( This being also has its fetish>
namely& Hone(I :n German& sub1ectless sentences begin 2ith man 5HoneI7 H9ne 2rites&I
H9ne does(I !eidegger& making myths& erects this 2ord into an ontological e4istent in
order to e43ress 3hiloso3hically 2hat seems to him to be the function of society and
social life> 0i#(& to turn man a2ay from himself& to make him unauthentic& to 3re0ent him
from being himself( The manifestation of HoneI in daily life is chatter& curiosity&
ambiguity& Hfalling(I To follo2 the 3ath of one@s o2n e4istence& according to !eidegger&
one must take the road to death& his o2n death> one must li0e in such a 2ay that his
death does not come u3on him as a brute fact breaking in on him from 2ithout& but as
his o2n( ;ctual e4istence can find its cro2ning achie0ement only in such a 3ersonal
demise( The com3lete ca3riciousness and sub1ecti0ism of the ontology& concealed behind
a sho2 of ob1ecti0ity& come to light once more( ;s a confession of a citi#en of the 19+Bs&
!eidegger@s 2ay of thinking is not 2ithout interest( "ein und Weit is at least as absorbing
reading as C%line@s no0el& Eourney to the /nd of the ,ight( -ut the former& like the latter&
is merely a document of the day sho2ing ho2 a class felt and thought& and not an
HontologicalI disclosure of ultimate truth( :t is only because this book is so 2ell suited to
the emotional 2orld of today@s intellectuals that the arbitrariness of its
3seudoargumentation is not e43osed( The contrast of abstract death to meaningless life
is for many men today an im3licit a4iom( -ut it suffices to glance at the mode of thought
of older times& before colla3se started& to reali#e that this attitude to2ard death is not the
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ontological character of HbeingI but a transitory 3henomenon( "3ino#a said HThe free
man thinks of anything but his death> his 2isdom is not death but 3ondering on life(I
Eas3ers and "artre are less radical than !eidegger in this res3ect& although their thought
is not the less conditioned by time and class( "artre flatly re1ects the conce3t of s3ecific
or 3ersonal death as a category of e4istentialism( :n Eas3ers& the 3hantom of HoneI does
not a33ear formally in such a radically mystifying form& but only as the totality of the
nameless 3o2ers ruling life 5that is& essentially& social life once more ob1ecti0i#ed in a
fetish7( !e contents himself 2ith assigning man& once he has ac6uired his essence and
begun to li0e his o2n 3ri0ate e4istence& strictly to the 3aths of 3ri0ate life( :n Gene0a
recently Eas3ers de0elo3ed the thesis that nothing good or essential can come of 3olitical
or social acti0ity the sal0ation of man is 3ossible only 2hen e0ery one 3assionately
concerns himself e4clusi0ely 2ith his o2n e4istence and in relations 2ith other
indi0iduals of like 3ersuasion(
!ere the labors of the 3hiloso3hical mountain ha0e only 3roduced a dreary Philistine
mouse( /rnst -loch& the 2ell kno2n German anti*fascist 2riter 52hose book a33eared in
19FO7& said of !eidegger@s death theory 5from 2hich Eas3ers@ 3ersonal morality is
obtained sim3ly by the addition of 2ater7 Taking eternal death as goal makes man@s
e4isting social situation a matter of such indifference that it might as 2ell remain
ca3italistic( The assertion of death as absolute fate and sole destination has the same
significance for today@s counterre0olution as formerly the consolation of the hereafter
had( This keen obser0ation casts light too on the reason 2hy the 3o3ularity of
e4istentialism is gro2ing not only among snobs but also among reactionary 2riters(
F( Freedom in a Fetishi#ed )orld and the Fetish of Freedom
Ee construis l@uni0ersel en me choisissant(
8 "artre L@/4istentialisme est un hurnanisme(
/4istentialism is the 3hiloso3hy not only of death but also of abstract freedom( This is
the most im3ortant reason for the 3o3ularity of "artre@s forms of e4istentialism> and*
although it may sound 3arado4ical*the reactionary side of e4istentialism@s 3resent
influence is here concealed( !eidegger& as 2e kno2& sa2 the 2ay to e4istence@s becoming
essential and real only in a life directed to2ard death> "artre@s shre2d comments 3ut an
end to the s3ecious 3robati0eness of !eidegger@s e43osition( This contradiction bet2een
"artre and !eidegger is an e43ression not merely of the di0ergent attitudes of French
and German intellectuals to2ard the central 3roblems of life& but also of the changed
times( !eidegger@s basic book a33eared in 19+.& on the e0e of the ne2 2orld crisis& in the
o33ressed murky atmos3here before the fascist storm> and the effect -loch described
2as the general state of intellectuals( )e do not kno2 2hen "artre@s book a33eared> the
nominal date is 19NF 8 that is& 2hen liberation from fascism 2as already in sight and
2hen& 1ust because of the decade*long rule of fascism& the longing for freedom 2as the
dee3est feeling of the intellectuals of all /uro3e& es3ecially of countries 2here they had
gro2n u3 in democratic traditions( The inner e43erience 8 abo0e all& in the )estern
countries 8 2as one of freedom in general& abstractly& 2ithout analysis or differentiation&
in brief freedom as myth& 2hich 3recisely because of its formlessness 2as able to unite
under its flag all enemies of fascism& 2ho 52hate0er their 3oint of 0ie27 hated their
origin or their goal( 9nly one thing mattered to these men& to say H,oI to fascism( The
less s3ecific the H,oI 2as& the better it e43ressed the feeling of actuality( The abstract
H,oI and its 3endant& abstract freedom& 2ere to many men the e4act e43ression of the
HmythI of the resistance( )e shall see that "artre@s notion of freedom is most abstract(
This enables us to understand 2hy the sense of the time e4alted e4istentialism and
yielded to it as ade6uate 3hiloso3hy of the day(
!o2e0er& fascism colla3sed& and the construction and re*enforcement of democracy and
free life engaged the 3ublic o3inion of e0ery country as its first concern( /0ery serious
159
argument& from 3olitics to )eltanschauung& re0ol0es no2 around the 6uestion of 2hat
the democracy and freedom should be 2hich mankind is building on the ruins of fascist
destruction(
/4istentialism has ke3t its 3o3ularity under these changed circumstances> indeed& it
2ould seem that it is no2 for the first time 8 to be sure& in "artre@s formulation& not
!eidegger@s 8 on the road to 2orld con6uest( 9ne decisi0e factor here is the fact that
e4istentialism gi0es the notion of freedom a central 3lace in its 3hiloso3hy( -ut today
freedom is no longer a myth( The stri0ings for freedom ha0e become concrete& more and
more concrete e0ery day( Miolent dis3utes o0er the inter3retation of freedom and
democracy ha0e s3lit the su33orters of the 0arious schools into antagonistic cam3s(
Ander such circumstances ho2 is it 3ossible that e4istentialism& 2ith its rigid& abstract
conce3tion of freedom& should become a 2orld2ide trend= 9r more 3recisely& 2hom&
and ho2& does e4istentialism carry con0iction as a 3hiloso3hy of freedom= To ans2er
this central 6uestion& 2e must come to closer gri3s 2ith "artre@s conce3t of freedom(
;ccording to him& freedom is a basic fact of human e4istence( )e re3resent& says "artre&
Hfreedom 2hich chooses& but 2e could not choose to be free( )e are doomed to
freedom(I )e are thro2n into freedom 5!eidegger@s Ge2orfenheit7(
,ot choosing& ho2e0er& is 1ust as much choice as choosing is> a0oiding action is action
too( /0ery2here "artre stresses this role of freedom& from the most 3rimiti0e facts of
e0eryday life to the ultimate 6uestions of meta3hysics( )hen : take 3art in a grou3
e4cursion& get tired& am 2eighed do2n by my 3ack& and so forth& : am faced 2ith the fact
of free choice& and must decide 2hether : 2ill go on 2ith my com3anions or thro2 off my
burden and sit do2n by the roadside( From this 3roblem the 2ay leads to the final& most
abstract 3roblems of human e4istence> in the 3lans or 3ro1ects in 2hich man concreti#es
his free decision and free choice 53ro1et& 3ro1eter is one of the most im3ortant notions of
"artre@s theory of freedom7 there lies the content of the ultimate ideal& the last H3ro1ectI
God( :n "artre@s 2ords HThe basic 3lan of human reality is best illustrated by the fact
that man is the being 2hose 3lan it is to become God( ( ( ( -eing a man is e6ui0alent to
being engaged in becoming God(I ;nd the 3hiloso3hical content of this ideal of God is
the attainment of that stage of e4istence 2hich the old 3hiloso3hy denoted as causa sui(
"artre@s notion of freedom is e4tremely broad and indeterminate& lacking s3ecific
criteria( Choice& the essence of freedom& consists for him in the act of choosing oneself(
The constant danger lurking here is that 2e could become other than 2e are( ;nd here
there is no moral com3ass or 3lumb line( For instance& co2ardice stems from free choice
1ust as much as courage does( HMy fear is free and attests my freedom> : ha0e cast all my
freedom into my fear and chosen myself as co2ardly in such and such circumstances> in
other circumstances : might e4ist as courageous and 3ut my freedom into courage( )ith
res3ect to freedom& no ideal has any 3recedence(I
"ince for "artre all human e4istence is free by definition& his notion of freedom is e0en
more indefinite than that of !eidegger( !eidegger could differentiate bet2een the free
and the unfree( For him& that man is free 2ho 3rogrammatically li0es to2ard his o2n
death> unfree and unauthentic& he 2ho& forgetting his o2n death& li0es not as a self but in
the cro2d( "artre re1ects this criterion& as 2e ha0e seen( !e also re1ects such a hierarchy
of moral 0alues as "cheler had concei0ed& as 2ell as any connection of free choice 2ith
man@s 3ast& 0i#(& the 3rinci3le of continuity and consistency of 3ersonality( Finally& he
denies the Cantian formal distinction bet2een free and unfree acts(
!e seems& it is true& to be some2hat frightened by this indeterminateness( :n his 3o3ular
3am3hlet he says& H,othing can be good for us 2hich is not good for e0eryone&I and in
another 3lace H;t the same time that : 2ill my o2n freedom it is my duty to 2ill the
freedom of others( : cannot set my o2n freedom as goal unless : also set that of others as
my goal(I This sounds 0ery fine( -ut in "artre it is only an eclectic insertion into
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e4istentialism& of the moral 3rinci3les of the /nlightenment and the Cantian 3hiloso3hy(
Cant did not succeed in establishing ob1ecti0e morality by generali#ing sub1ecti0ity( The
young !egel& in a shar3 criti6ue& sho2ed this failure( !o2e0er& Cant@s generali#ation still
stands in intimate connection 2ith the first 3rinci3les of his social 3hiloso3hy> in "artre&
this generali#ation is an eclectic com3romise 2ith traditional 3hiloso3hical o3inion&
contradicting his ontological 3osition(
:n his ca3ital 2ork he does not make these concessions( True to his basic thought&
ontological soli3sism& the content and goal of the free act are meaningful and e43licable
only from the 3oint of 0ie2 of the sub1ect( !ere "artre still states a 0ie2 o33osite to that
of his 3o3ular brochure HRes3ect for the freedom of one@s fello2 man is idle chatter
e0en if 2e could so 3lan that 2e honored this freedom& such an attitude 2ould be a
0iolation of the freedom 2hich 2e 2ere so busy res3ecting(I :n the same 3lace he
illustrates this conce3tion by a 0ery concrete e4am3le H)hen : bring about tolerance
among my fello2 men : ha0e forcibly hurled them into a tolerant 2orld( :n so doing :
ha0e in 3rinci3le taken a2ay their free ca3acity for courageous resistance& for
3erse0erance& for self*testing& 2hich they 2ould ha0e had the o33ortunity of de0elo3ing
in some 2orld of intolerance(I
This cynical 0ie2 that there are no unfree acts has significant resemblance to the 0ie2
that there are no free acts( )hile e0en !eidegger kne2 that 2e can s3eak of a free act
only if man is ca3able of being coerced as 2ell& "artre does not kno2 this( Like the
determinist& "artre reduces human 3henomena to one le0el( -ut determinism is at least a
system& 0erifiable in 3art& 2hereas "artre@s free acts are a disconnected& fortuitous
conglomeration(
)hat is the legitimate factor in "artre= )ithout 6uestion& the em3hasis on the
indi0idual@s decision& 2hose im3ortance 2as under0alued alike by bourgeois
determinism and by 0ulgar Mar4ism( ;ll social acti0ity is made u3 of the actions of
indi0iduals& and no matter ho2 decisi0e the economic basis may be in these decisions& its
effects are felt only Hin the long run&I as /ngels so often stresses( This means that there is
al2ays a concrete area of free choice for the indi0idual& 2hich does not conflict 2ith the
feet that history has its general and necessary trends of de0elo3ment( The mere e4istence
of 3olitical 3arties 3ro0es the reality of this area( The main directions of de0elo3ment can
be foreseen> but& as /ngels stressed& it 2ould be idle 3edantry to try to foretell from the
la2s of e0olution 2hether in a gi0en case Peter or Paul 2ill indi0idually decide this 2ay
or that& 0ote for this 3arty or the other& and so forth( The necessity of e0olution is al2ays
effected by means of internal and e4ternal contingencies( :t 2ould be a ser0ice to science
to sho2 their significance and study their 3lace and role& if at the same time their
methodological meaning in the 2hole dialectical 3rocess 2ere more 3recisely determined
than formerly( :n this sense a role 2hich should not be underestimated attaches to moral
3roblems and 6uestions of freedom and indi0idual decision in the total dialectical
kno2ledge of social de0elo3ment(
"artre& to be sure& does e4actly the o33osite( )e ha0e seen that& as has been fashionable
for decades& he denies necessary de0elo3ment and e0en de0elo3ment itself( /0en in the
case of indi0iduals he di0orces decision situations from the 3ast( !e denies any genuine
connection of the indi0idual 2ith society( !e construes the indi0idual@s 2orld as
com3letely different from that of his fello2 men( The notion of freedom thus obtained is
fatalistic and strained in a mechanical 2ay> it thus loses all meaning( :f 2e look at it a
little more closely& it has 0irtually no connection 2ith the actual moral conce3t of
freedom( :t says no more than 2hat /ngels said in an occasional remark> namely& that
there is no human acti0ity in 2hich indi0idual consciousness could not 3lay a 3art(
9b0iously "artre himself sees the difficulty of his notion of freedom( -ut he remains
faithful to his method& and busies himself 2ith balancing one o0erstrained and
161
meaningless conce3tion against another freedom against res3onsibility& the latter being
for "artre 1ust as uni0ersal and unconditionally 0alid as the conce3t of freedom( H:f :
choose to 1oin the army instead of to die or suffer dishonor& that is e6ui0alent to taking
the entire res3onsibility for this 2ar(I
!ere again the formal*logical o0erstraining of a relati0e truth*factor leads to the
theoretical and 3ractical annihilation of the conce3t in 6uestion( For so rigid a
formulation of res3onsibility is identical 2ith com3lete irres3onsibility( )e did not need
to be 3oliticians or Mar4ists to see that( ; master of the H3sychology of de3ths&I
Lostoe0sky& often said that e4treme rigid forcing of moral 3rinci3les and moral decisions
generally has no influence on men@s actions( They s2ee3 o0erhead& and the men 2ho act
on them ha0e 2eaker moral guidance than 2ould be the case if they had no 3rinci3les at
all( :n the shado2 of the rigorous 3itiless feeling of res3onsibility& e4tending to the 3oint
of suicide& it is easy to commit one 0illainy after another 2ith fri0olous cynicism(
"artre sees something of all this& but 2ithout dra2ing any conclusions from it( "o he
2ea0es fetishes and myths around the 3roblem he 0aguely discerns& and concludes 2ith
the tri0ial 3hrase H;ny one 2ho in anguishI 5angoisse has been a decisi0e category of
e4istentialism since the Cierkegaardian Rece3tion7 Hreali#es that his condition of life is
that of being thro2n into a res3onsibility 2hich leads to com3lete isolation that man
kno2s no more remorse& regret& or self*1ustification(I Eust as the sublime is but a ste3
from the ridiculous& so a certain kind of moral sublimity is only a ste3 from fri0olity and
cynicism(
:t 2as necessary for us to elaborate thus shar3ly on the bankru3tcy of the "artrean
conce3t of freedom because this is 3recisely the key to the 2ides3read effecti0eness of
the doctrine in certain circles( "uch an abstract& forced& totally 0acuous and irrationali#ed
conce3tion of freedom and res3onsibility& the haughty scorn for social 0ie23oints and
3ublic life used to defend the ontological integrity of the indi0idual 8 all ade6uately
rounds out the myth of nothingness& es3ecially for the re6uirements of snobs for they
must be 3articularly im3ressed 2ith the mi4ture of cruelly strict 3rinci3le 2ith cynical
looseness of action and moral nihilism( -ut in addition this conce3tion of freedom gi0es
a certain section of intellectuals& al2ays inclined to2ard e4treme indi0idualism& an
ideological su33ort and 1ustification for refusing the unfolding and building of
democracy( There ha0e been 2riters 2ho& calling themsel0es democrats& under took to
defend the rights of the black market and of the sabotaging and s2indling ca3italist& all
in the name of indi0idual freedom& and 2ho carried the 3rinci3le so far that room is
found for the freedom of reaction and fascism> res3onsibility has been the slogan in
2hose name the attem3t 2as first made to block the registration of the ne2 o2ners@ land
and later to call for their return( "artre@s abstract and strained conce3tion of freedom
and res3onsibility 2as 1ust 2hat these forces could use(
"artre@s hooks do not gi0e us the im3ression that he e4actly desires to be the ideologist of
these grou3s> and certainly there are genuine and sincere democrats among his French
su33orters( -ut large*scale fashions 3ay little heed to the internal intentions of their
authors( The 0arious currents of society ha0e their o2n ideological re6uirements& and say
2ith Moliere& H1e 3rends mon bien ob 1e le trou0e(I "o& not only snobbishness but
reaction too manages to cook its broth at the fire of e4istentialism( This is one more
reason for us to 3oint out that the ac6uisition of e4istentialism is no Promethean deed&
no theft of celestial fire& but rather the common3lace action of using the lighted cigarette
of a chance 3asser*by to light one@s o2n(
This is no accident& but follo2s from the 0ery nature of the 3henomenological method
and from the ontology 2hich gro2s out of it( The method is far from being as original as
its a3ostles 2ould like to belie0e( For& no matter ho2 arbitrary the transition may be
from HbracketedI reality to allegedly genuine ob1ecti0e reality& the mere 3ossibility of the
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transition still has its 3hiloso3hical roots& though this 3oint ne0er is consciously
formulated by the ontologists( This basis is essentially that of the dominant theory of
kno2ledge in the nineteenth century> namely& the Cantian( Cant@s clear formulation had
the cogency 2orthy of a serious 3hiloso3her e4istence does not signify enrichment of the
content of ob1ecti0ity& and hence not formal enrichment either> the content of the
thought*of dollar is e4actly the same as that of the real dollar( The e4istence of the ob1ect
means neither no0elty nor enrichment& 2hether 2ith res3ect to content or to structure of
the conce3t( Clearly& therefore& 2hen the ontologists HbracketI the thought*of ob1ect and
then clear the Hbrackets&I they tacitly assume this Cantian conce3tion(
The notion a33ears 6uite ob0ious> the only thing 2rong 2ith it is that it is not true( The
Cantian idealism unconsciously borro2ed from mechanical materialism the identity of
the structure and content of the thought*of and the actual ob1ect( The real dialectic of
ob1ecti0e reality& ho2e0er& sho2s at e0ery ste3 that e4istence enriches the thought*of
ob1ect 2ith elements 2hich are conce3tually ne2 2ith res3ect to content and structure(
This conse6uence follo2s not only from the 0irtual infinity of e0ery actual ob1ect& as a
result of 2hich the most com3lete thought is only an a33ro4imation& i(e( the ob1ect of
ontology is e0en in 3rinci3le richer in content and therefore of richer& more com3licated
structure than the 3henomenological ob1ect of mere consciousness( ;nd this is a
conse6uence as 2ell of the e4tensionally and intensionally
infinite Merflochtenheit 5interrelatedness7 of real ob1ects& in 2hich the reci3rocal action
of their relations changes the ob1ects@ functions and then reacts on their ob1ecti0ity( :n
this conte4t mere e4istence& the brute fact& becomes under certain circumstances one of
the characters and changes the conce3t of ob1ecti0ity& 2ith res3ect to content and
structure( Let us consider the theory of money& to continue 2ith Cant@s e4am3le( "o long
as 2e s3eak of money as a medium of circulation& 2e might still assume that thought*of
money is identical 2ith real money 5although 2e should be 2rong e0en here7( -ut the
0ery conce3t of money as a medium of 3ayment im3lies e4istence> there is 3resent in this
case a conce3tual difference bet2een the thought*of dollar and the real one& a difference
2hich constitutes a ne2 category( 9nly the actual dollar& in one@s 3ossession& can be a
means of 3ayment( Money in itself is not enough> 2e must ha0e it too(
Modern ontology by3asses these considerations& not unintentionally( The isolating
intuition of the isolated indi0idual 8 in this connection it is immaterial 2hether his
interest is directed to2ard the ob1ect& fi4ed in its rigidity& or to2ard the changefulness of
thought 8 lifts e0ery ob1ect out of the com3le4 and li0ing fabric of its e4istence&
functions& relations& interactions& etc(& dissol0ing it out of the real& li0ing& mo0ing totality(
The Horiginal achie0ementI of 3henomenology and ontology in this field consists merely
in the fact that it dogmatically identifies reality 2ith the ob1ecti0ity it has thus obtained(
For them& ob1ecti0ity and ob1ecti0e reality mean one and the same thing(

1( )issenschaft als Philoso3hie& Wurich& 19NO(

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