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The myth that
Karl Marx formulated a fully worked-out
method and philosophical system
called “dialectical materialism”
is the core claim of Marxism, but
it has no basis at all in the writings
of Karl Marx and but a slim basis
in the writings of Frederick Engels.
It is widely recognised now that
Marx was not a philosopher and the
term “dialectical materialism”
was invented after his death. Cyril
Smith, for example, has written
along similar lines in "Marx
at the Millenium". However,
Zbigniew Jordan was one of the first
to call this myth into question.
Jordan also deepened the intensifying
debate over the role of Frederick
Engels in creating rather than just
transmitting, the Marxist canon.
Critiques & Rejoinders for
"The Origins of Dialectical Materialism"
-Brian
Basgen
Submit
a rejoinder
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Source: From Z.A.
Jordan’s book “The Evolution
of Dialectical Materialism,”
published by Macmillan, 1967. This
chapter of the book is reproduced
for non-commercial, educational
purposes only, and no permission
is granted to reproduce the text.
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Biographical information
Professor Zbigniew
A Jordan was co-author in 1963 of
Philosophy and Ideology: The Development
of Philosophy and Marxism-Leninism
in Poland since the Second World
War, a monumental work tracking
the first movement to publicly criticise
the orthodox Stalinist reading of
Marx from within the Soviet Bloc.
His 1967 article The Origins of
Dialectical Materialism, reproduced
here, was one of the first to challenge
the core claim of Marxist orthodoxy.
Jordan died in 1978.
See also: Philosophy
and Ideology: The Development of
Philosophy and Marxism-Leninism
in Poland since the Second World
War and Marxian
Naturalism.
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