The philosophical foundation of Marxism-Leninism — the science of the most general laws of development of nature, society, and thought.
Materialism is the philosophical position that matter is primary, and that consciousness, thought, and ideas are secondary — products of material processes. The world exists objectively, independent of our perception of it. There is no God, no soul, no spirit-world. The universe is physical, and everything in it — including human consciousness — arises from material causes.
This stands in direct opposition to idealism, which holds that ideas, spirit, or consciousness are primary and that the material world is a reflection or product of mind. Idealism, in all its forms, serves the ruling class by mystifying reality and directing attention away from material conditions.
Every philosophical system ultimately answers two questions:
Materialists answer: matter. The material world exists before and independently of any consciousness. Consciousness is a property of highly organised matter (the brain). There is no "mind" separate from the body.
Materialists answer: yes. The world is knowable. Through practice, experiment, and scientific investigation, humanity can and does arrive at objective truth. There are no unknowable mysteries — only things not yet known.
While we reject Hegelian idealist dialectics, materialist dialectics — the study of change, motion, and development in the material world — identifies real patterns in nature and society.
Everything contains internal contradictions — opposing forces or tendencies. Development occurs through the struggle between these opposites. In society, the contradiction between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat drives historical development under capitalism.
Gradual quantitative changes accumulate until they produce a qualitative leap — a transformation in the nature of the thing. Water heated gradually reaches 100°C and becomes steam. Reforms accumulate until revolution becomes possible and necessary.
Development proceeds through successive negations. Feudalism was negated by capitalism; capitalism is negated by socialism. Each stage preserves what is progressive from the previous one while abolishing what is reactionary. Development is not circular but spiral.
Historical materialism is the application of materialist philosophy to the study of human society and history. Its central thesis is that the mode of production — the way a society organises its economic life — is the foundation upon which all political, legal, cultural, and ideological structures arise.
Every society has an economic base (the forces of production and the relations of production) and a superstructure (the state, law, religion, culture, ideology). The base determines the superstructure. When the base changes, the superstructure eventually changes too.
This does not mean ideas are unimportant — they can accelerate or retard historical development. But ideas do not fall from the sky. They arise from material conditions and class interests.
No private property, no classes, no state. Collective ownership of the means of survival. Ended when surplus production made exploitation possible.
The first class society. Slaveholders owned both the means of production and the producers themselves. Ancient Greece, Rome, and the antebellum American South.
Land-owning lords exploit serfs who are bound to the land. The serf retains some product but owes labour, rent, or tribute to the lord. Medieval Europe, Tsarist Russia.
The bourgeoisie owns the means of production. The proletariat — owning nothing but its labour-power — is compelled to sell itself to survive. Exploitation occurs through surplus value extraction.
The working class seizes power and establishes social ownership of the means of production. Socialism is the transitional stage; communism is the classless, stateless society that follows.
"It is not the consciousness of men that determines their being, but, on the contrary, their social being that determines their consciousness."
— Karl Marx, A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy (1859)Historical materialism demonstrates that the history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles. Every major transformation in human history — from slave revolts to bourgeois revolutions to proletarian uprisings — has been driven by the conflict between exploiting and exploited classes.
The class struggle under capitalism takes three forms:
The fight for better wages, shorter hours, safer conditions. Trade union activity. Necessary but insufficient on its own — it cannot abolish the system of exploitation.
The fight for state power. Only by conquering political power can the working class reorganise society. This requires a disciplined, theoretically armed revolutionary party.
The fight against bourgeois ideas, revisionism, and false consciousness. The ruling class controls the means of mental production — schools, media, religion. The proletariat must develop its own revolutionary ideology.
The first systematic statement of historical materialism. Establishes that consciousness is determined by material life, not the reverse.
A comprehensive defence of Marxist philosophy, political economy, and socialism against Eugen Dühring's attacks. Essential for understanding materialist dialectics.
Lenin's defence of materialist philosophy against idealist revisions. Establishes the theory of reflection and the objectivity of truth.
A concise summary of Marxist philosophy from the History of the CPSU(B). Clear, accessible, and systematic.
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