[Marxism-Thaxis] Mathematics--The Pure Science?

R. Hirsch. Mathematics - the pure science? In Science and Society Spring 1996 issue, Vol. 60, No. 1, pp58 -79. http://www.cs.ucl.ac.uk/staff/R.Hirsch/R.Hirsch/papers/maths/maths.html Warning: the PDF file is defective. A quarter century ago I thought about the philosophy of mathematics, but I ha

Re: [Marxism-Thaxis] Religion and science: a reply to a right-wing attack on philosopher Daniel Dennett

I read Wieseltier’s weaselly review, and while I understand the reaction against him, there are a few things here that trouble me. A picture is painted of an intellectual climate so rabidly repressive and pro-religion, or intimidated by religion, that Dennett is innovative, courageous and icon

[Marxism-Thaxis] Maurice Cornforth: THE DIALECTICAL MATERIALIST APPROACH

Now on my web site: Marxism and the Linguistic Philosophy by Maurice Cornforth part III: Marxism chapter 1: THE DIALECTICAL MATERIALIST APPROACH http://www.autodidactproject.org/other/cornforth3/MLP3-1.html Note Cornforth's strong rejection of system-building, pretensions at metaphysics or empi

[Marxism-Thaxis] Maurice Cornforth: Criticism of linguistic philosophy

Now on my web site: Marxism and the Linguistic Philosophy by Maurice Cornforth part II: Linguistic Philosophy chap. 7: A Place in the Establishment http://www.autodidactproject.org/other/cornforth3/MLP2-7.html ___ Marxism-Thaxis mailing list Marxism-

Re: [Marxism-Thaxis] Partisanship and Objectivity in Theoretical Work

The problem here is that ideology has a variety of competing meanings within and without the marxist tradition. It's a long and complex history. See my ideology study guide: http://www.autodidactproject.org/guidideo.html Raymond Guess, for example, divides the differing meanings of the term

[Marxism-Thaxis] Maurice Cornforth on logic, categories, dialectics

Now on my web site: Marxism and the Linguistic Philosophy by Maurice Cornforth III Marxism 2 THE LAWS OF THOUGHT http://www.autodidactproject.org/other/cornforth3/MLP3-2.html This is so much more sensible than the usual presentations of diamat, including Cornforth's own. Granted the need for

[Marxism-Thaxis] general marxist philosophy sites in English?

On 25 August 2005 (on what would have been Lisa's birthday) I posted a list of sites with a variety of texts on Marxist philosophy and theory. I still need to catalog repositories of theoretical Marxist texts in English. At the time, I omitted the following categories: (1) specific thinkers,

[Marxism-Thaxis] more Cornforth

I've made a web page out of an old quote I had lying around: Maurice Cornforth on William Blake vs. the Fetishism of Language http://www.autodidactproject.org/quote/cornforth4.html Plus I added these links to the Linguistic Philosophy Page: Partisanship and Objectivity in Theoretical Work by Ma

[Marxism-Thaxis] Maurice Cornforth: Marxism and Linguistic Philosophy

I finally acquired a copy of this book. Here are the web pages I've put up so far: Marxism and the Linguistic Philosophy: Contents http://www.autodidactproject.org/other/cornforth3/MLP0.html FOREWORD http://www.autodidactproject.org/other/cornforth3/MLP01.html Part I, chapter 5, section 5: Th

Re: [Marxism-Thaxis] Elaboration of Engels conflating the logical and the empirical ?

We argued about this before and reached an impasse. You read Van Heijenoort's piece as well and disagreed with him. The imaginary numbers as negation of the negation is utter nonsense to me, but you disagreed. I'm not sure what else I can say. I'm not up on philosophy of mathematics, but ma

Re: [Marxism-Thaxis] anti-dialectics: formal logic [5]

Thanks, Jerry, for your interest in my work and your suggestion. At some point I might well take you up on it. I think it's a reasonably important issue, from the standpoint of history of ideas, the fragmentation of knowledge, and the socialization of Marxists. To do this, I would have to re

[Marxism-Thaxis] anti-dialectics: formal logic [5]

For my previous installments of this review, see my prior posts on [EMAIL PROTECTED] It is a shame that Rosa came on so belligerently and quickly unsubscribed, dismissing the possibility of productive feedback at the outset. This speaks to not only the ignorance and incompetence rife among ma

[Marxism-Thaxis] anti-dialectics: abstraction (4)

Part 2 of Rosa's treatise on abstraction: http://homepage.ntlworld.com/rosa.l/page%2003_02.htm The continuation of the argument involves the problem of universals, the difficulties of rationalism and empiricism, and German idealism as an illegitimate attempt to overcome all these difficulties,

Re: [Marxism-Thaxis] People's History of Science

Popularization is a tightrope act. It doesn't help if it sows confusion. The theoretically inclined popular audience is small enough as is. Sometimes students, even the less educated, are sharper than their teachers. Instead of talking down to them, perhaps respecting their intelligence wou

Re: [Marxism-Thaxis] Lawler's new book

nteresting. At 11:20 AM 3/2/2006 -0500, Charles Brown wrote: Ralph Dumain _ Since Rosa is not listening, I would like a bibliographical reference to the work of Lawler in question. BTW, has anyone seen Lawler's new book? ^ CB: No, thanks fo

Re: [Marxism-Thaxis] People's History of Science

TICAL THEORY OF MEANING, excerpts of which can be found on my web site, beginning with: THE DIALECTICAL METHOD AS APPLIED TO THE PROBLEM OF MEANING http://www.autodidactproject.org/other/markovic3.html At 10:46 AM 3/2/2006 -0500, Jim Farmelant wrote: On Thu, 02 Mar 2006 10:25:22 -0500 Ralph

[Marxism-Thaxis] anti-dialectics: abstraction (3)

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/rosa.l/page%2003_01.htm Nevertheless, the situation here is far worse than the above might suggest: Lenin made unqualified claims about all of reality for all of time (without exception) based on an examination of a few simplistic and unrepresentative sentences. Ev

Re: [Marxism-Thaxis] anti-dialectics: abstraction (2)

Oops, I left out something: Anti-Dühring by Frederick Engels 1877 Part I: Philosophy IV. World Schematism http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1877/anti-duhring/ch02.htm In this chapter Engels definitively skewers holistic metaphysical speculation. At 10:27 AM 3/2/2006 -0500, Ralph

[Marxism-Thaxis] anti-dialectics: abstraction (2)

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/rosa.l/page%2003_01.htm The argument continues with a discussion of logic and language inspired by analytical philosophy. You will have to study this for yourself. The conclusion is: However, this seemingly small adjustment to language had profound implications

Re: [Marxism-Thaxis] People's History of Science

Since Rosa is not listening, I would like a bibliographical reference to the work of Lawler in question. BTW, has anyone seen Lawler's new book? At 02:45 PM 3/2/2006 +, Rosa Lichtenstein wrote: Thanks Jim, I am aware of the work of most of those you list, but not all. I will have more to

[Marxism-Thaxis] anti-dialectics: abstraction (1)

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/rosa.l/page%2003_01.htm Oddly enough, however, we find a DM-classicist like Lenin arguing along familiar lines, for all the world sounding like a born-again Realist with added Hegelian spin: "Thought proceeding from the concrete to the abstract -- provided it is co

Re: [marxistphilosophy] Re: [Marxism-Thaxis] People's History of Science

ny discussions with Trotsky on the subject, though he notes Trotsky's general dogmatism. The rest is silence. At 04:34 PM 3/1/2006 -0500, Jim Farmelant wrote: On Wed, 01 Mar 2006 16:01:24 -0500 Ralph Dumain <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > This is all quite so. Marx's knowledge o

Re: [Marxism-Thaxis] People's History of Science

This is all quite so. Marx's knowledge of developments in the calculus was also behind the times, but Van Heijenoort absolves Marx of narrow-minded dogmatism. I still need to acquire a copy of that obscure bulletin containing Van H's arguments against Novack. For some reason, I can't find a

Re: [Marxism-Thaxis] People's History of Science

Given time constraints, I can only look in designated places for specific pieces of information, esp. as I am not a comrade. The introduction to the argument however is revealing of several aspects of your orientation: http://homepage.ntlworld.com/rosa.l/page%2001.htm (1) exposure to Trotsky

Re: [Marxism-Thaxis] People's History of Science

This is the core of the problem. "Active Marxists" are irrevelant. Even though only a teeny weeny portion of the literate public is interested in this subject matter, the idea that one addresses only one's comrades already condemns one to hopeless provincialism. You have no qualms about impo

Re: [Marxism-Thaxis] People's History of Science

Van Heijenoort argues that Engels was backwards with respect to the mathematics of his time, and also narrow-minded and provincial with respect to the history of science (anti-English prejudice) coupled with an uncritical veneration of Marx. However, there are two important circumstantial fact

Re: [Marxism-Thaxis] People's History of Science

Actually, the argument is framed in an entirely sectarian context, based on the experience of Trotskyism. Some examples from your home page: (1) Dialectical Materialism (DM) has been the official philosophy of active revolutionary socialists for over a hundred years. During that time, the mo

Re: [Marxism-Thaxis] People's History of Science

I don't know how you construct your web pages, but I am unable to fully access this page using Internet Explorer. My computer keeps freezing up. After numerous attempts I have been able to get to the beginning of note 18. Yet I can access presumably much larger size files on other sites. I

Re: [Marxism-Thaxis] People's History of Science

When I was first apprised of this web site, I read a few chapters, but did not make it to the text quoted My initial impression was that the author was a victim of an extremely sectarian milieu and had to go through quite an ordeal digging herself out of it. The marks of this sectarianism are

Re: [marxistphilosophy] Re: [Marxism-Thaxis] Albert Blumberg

Nope, I can't do this. maybe somebody with money or academic library privileges. What, am I everyone's work horse? At 11:38 AM 2/20/2006 -0500, Jim Farmelant wrote: As long as we are on this subject, perhaps Ralph can make available to us a couple of other articles including William Gruen's

Re: [Marxism-Thaxis] Albert Blumberg

I would prefer that someone with ready access to an academic library and cheap photocopying find this article for us. At 11:26 AM 2/20/2006 -0500, Jim Farmelant wrote: Perhaps Ralph could find for us, Blumberg's article, "Sciene and Dialectics: A Preface to a Re-examination," Science & Society

[Marxism-Thaxis] Re: Scientists and Humanists

Jim Rovira's argument here is completely incoherent, unless his objections to S. Willett's post, which I'll address separately. A few points to straighten out this mess: (1) I don't know who Daniel McDermott is. There's a philosopher Daniel Dennett, who indeed supports atheism and Darwinism

[Marxism-Thaxis] Sociobiology satire

Per the request of one of my readers: I've put up an article from the defunct SCIENCE AND NATURE, a journal of Marxist philosophy of science: AN EVOLUTIONARY INTERPRETATION OF THE ENGLISH SONNET by Isadore Nabi http://www.autodidactproject.org/other/sn-nabi1.html I missed Dennett last night. I

[Marxism-Thaxis] Dewey on racism?

I received this query, which I am unable to answer: I'd be grateful if you'd point me to info/material about any work/stance/position/activitity/writings of John Dewey (and the pragmatists in general) on the 'Negro question' and civil rights in general (in the US of course). Can anyone help? _

[Marxism-Thaxis] secular humanism or pseudoscience?

I've seen Michael Shermer on PBS and encountered his name in some other arenas. I don't think he is terribly intelligent, though he does play some role in promoting secular humanist ideas. Here's an example of my dislike of sociobiological "explanations" of human belief systems, esp. those usi

[Marxism-Thaxis] Maurice Cornforth: Science and Evaluation

New on my web site: Science and Evaluation by Maurice Cornforth http://www.autodidactproject.org/other/cornforth2.html SOURCE: Cornforth, Maurice. Communism and Human Values (New York: International Publishers, 1972), Chapter 8, pp. 41-47. MC, 1971: "This essay on Communism and Human Values

[Marxism-Thaxis] Dennett on religion & eovlution

Daniel Dennett is coming to town to do a book spiel on Valentine's Day, I suppose for the losers with nothing better to do. His new book is: "Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon" http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/067003472X/qid=1139811589/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/002-9455841-5053

[Marxism-Thaxis] Fwd: anti-dialectics

From: "rosa lichtenstein" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Date: Mon, 6 Feb 2006 23:12:09 - Comrade, Thank you for posting so much useful material at your site. You might like to visit my site, where you will find I challenge traditional Marxist Philosophy, but not Hi

[Marxism-Thaxis] science wars follow-up

Higher Superstition Revisited: an interview with Norman Levitt http://www.butterfliesandwheels.com/articleprint.php?num=7 Not much content, but no smoking guns either. Levitt says nothing about the 'academic left' here. Though I've used that phrase myself for certain purposes, I don't conside

[Marxism-Thaxis] Philipp Frank: chapter 16

Now on my web site: Modern Science and Its Philosophy by Philipp Frank Chapter 16: The Place of Logic and Metaphysics in the Advancement of Modern Science http://www.autodidactproject.org/other/frank-MSP/frank16.html This is Frank's latest thinking (as of 1947) on the meaning of metaphysics.

Re: [Marxism-Thaxis] Cool_African_philosophy

The disputes on the talk page for this entry are not very productive: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Cool_%28African_philosophy%29 I can see "cool" in the black American cultural context, but to predicate an African philosophy of which it is a descendant smacks of crackpot afrocentric nonse

[Marxism-Thaxis] Philipp Frank: historical background

Phillip Frank's 52-page introduction to his book MODERN SCIENCE AND ITS PHILOSOPHY (1949) is now on my web site: Introduction - Historical Background http://www.autodidactproject.org/other/frank-MSP/frank001.html Frank gives a historical overview of key moments in the philosophy of science of

[Marxism-Thaxis] Dennett's Breaking the Spell

I suspect this is bullshit, but what do you think? Breaking the Spell : Religion as a Natural Phenomenon by Daniel C. Dennett http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/067003472X/qid=1138785320/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/002-9455841-5053647?s=books&v=glance&n=283155 ___

Re: [Marxism-Thaxis] [NASSR-L] Air Pump

Read THE POLITICS OF MODERNISM by Raymond Williams. At 11:04 AM 1/27/2006 -0500, Charles Brown wrote: I don't have an extensive analysis or thought through fully the relationship between Romantic aesthetics and politics, but it often occurs to me that, especially in the modern era, artists, rom

[Marxism-Thaxis] Re: FW: [NASSR-L] Air Pump

him. Within the context of our discussion, this book emphasizes just how long this issue has been pertinent in the west. Orsini's _Coleridge and German Idealism_ is very good. I haven't read the other two books you asked about. It seems like Donald Reiman recently mentioned a book of his

[Marxism-Thaxis] Fwd: Re: Air Pump

Date: Tue, 17 Jan 2006 18:32:00 -0500 To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] From: Ralph Dumain <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: FW: [NASSR-L] Air Pump I've not read the book in question, but if its thesis is as stated here, then it is dubious indeed. The more general point of S&S as describe

Re: [Marxism-Thaxis] hull_sociobiology

Thanks for the elaboration. If I'm not mistaken, there's an ongoing debate on this book on the air pump on a Romanticist listserv. I haven't read the book, but from what I've read of its thesis, it looks very dubious to me. At 10:20 AM 1/26/2006 -0800, andie nachgeborenen wrote: An interesti

Re: Externalism/Intrrnalism (Was: Re: [Marxism-Thaxis] hull_sociobiology)

gnificant by, e.g., class interest. (This was the position I took myself in The Paradox of Ideology.) --- Ralph Dumain <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Internalism and externalism are standard concepts in > the sociology of > science. Perhaps andie could point us to key > reference

Re: [Marxism-Thaxis] Ludwig Andreas Feuerbach

Thanks for this, I've added it to my Feuerbach bibliography: http://www.autodidactproject.org/bib/feuerbib.html Also check out the entry on Feuerbach in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. It is outstanding, particularly the section on Feuerbach's later philosophy, apparently neglected u

Re: [Marxism-Thaxis] hull_sociobiology

006 -0500, Charles Brown wrote: Ralph Dumain : Yes, I think we're pretty much on the same page. I'm not up on anthropology, so I don't know to what extent cultural anthropology has integrated evolutionary theory into it, if at all. Or for that matter, to what degree cultural anth

Re: [Marxism-Thaxis] hull_sociobiology

Yes, I think we're pretty much on the same page. I'm not up on anthropology, so I don't know to what extent cultural anthropology has integrated evolutionary theory into it, if at all. Or for that matter, to what degree cultural anthropology has integrated physical anthropology. I thought I

Re: [Marxism-Thaxis] Domains of knowledge, particular spheres; levels of organization of reality; materialist dialectic

Engels made a heroic effort to fulfill this historic need. He also makes an important point: that gaps in existing knowledge are filled in by pseudoscientific rubbish, as occurred in his time and also in ours. This insight needs to be applied and expanded. Because of gaps in knowledge, the m

[Marxism-Thaxis] Re: Feuerbach's idealism

nd, Marxist scholars prefer to repeat what Marx and Engle's said about Feuerbach. But if we read his poshomous published papers he goes a long way towards Marx - after having read the first volume of Capital. In an email dated Wed, 25 1 2006 4:52:35 pm GMT, Ralph Dumain <[EMAIL PROTECTED]

Re: [Marxism-Thaxis] hull_sociobiology

Just a few remarks, below. At 09:55 AM 1/14/2006 -0500, Charles Brown wrote: ___ SJG Archive SJG Archive Activism, Scientists and Sociobiology by David L. Hull .. The controv

Re: [Marxism-Thaxis] Domains of knowledge, particular spheres; levels of organization of reality; materialist dialectic

At 10:48 AM 1/14/2006 -0500, Charles Brown wrote: Engels gives an further explication of Hegelianism here. Frederick Engels Ludwig Feuerbach and the End of Classical German Philosophy Part 4: Marx marx

Re: spam: [Marxism-Thaxis] Feuerbach's idealism

I think this is quite an eloquent statement of where Feuerbach went wrong, and congruent with M & E's criticism of Feuerbach in the 1840s. At 10:37 AM 1/14/2006 -0500, Charles Brown wrote: Feuerbach feuerbach

Re: [Marxism-Thaxis] objective reality: the property of being an objective reality, of existing outside our mind.

This is all good, with the addition of another quote from Lenin, that specifies that the reality outside our mind is given by sensation (the common ground of materialism and empiricism), not by a supersensible Platonic realm generating the imperfect material world. This is the differentiating

Re: [Marxism-Thaxis] Objective reality is

Going through old emails, not remembering which I've responded to. Comments below. At 04:02 PM 1/11/2006 -0500, Charles Brown wrote: .. Lenin: "The Machians contemptuously shrug their shoulders at the “antiquated” views of the “dogmatists,” the materialists, who still cling to the

RE: [Marxism-Thaxis] Roy Bhaskar

At 11:12 PM 1/18/2006 +, Phil Walden wrote: PW: Bhaskar defines the epistemic fallacy as the analysis or definition of statements about being in terms of statements about our knowledge (of being). For example, if somebody says that capitalism must give way to socialism because Hegelian-Marx

Re: [Marxism-Thaxis] Roy Bhaskar

At 05:52 PM 1/18/2006 +, Phil Walden wrote: One important idea of Bhaskar's was about what he called the intransitive and transitive dimensions of reality. This was akin to Althusser's idea of the real object and the thought object, but Bhaskar's version is better in my view because it is mo

Re: [Marxism-Thaxis] How many souls do Black Folk have ?

is this all about? He gave me the creeps. Not as creepy as that slick black neocon John McWhorter, but creepy nonetheless. What is the Manhattan Institute, anyway? At 06:40 PM 1/17/2006 -0500, Jim Farmelant wrote: On Mon, 16 Jan 2006 11:21:31 -0500 Ralph Dumain <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>

Re: [Marxism-Thaxis] Historical materialism

This Wikipedia article is quite remarkable, I think at first glance. It's the sort of material suitable for Marx Myths and Legends, to which it links. Especially noteworthy are the sections "Disclaimers" and "Historical materialism as doctrine." I'm sure there are many more marxist and quas

Re: [Marxism-Thaxis] Dialectical materialism

I thought similarly. What about Bhakar , before he became idealist ? Is that the way to spell it ? I was on a list. It sounded like sort of dialectical materialism to me, but the people interested in it didn't cop to that. There were a whole lot of people interested in it. CB Ralph Dumain Encyc

Re: [Marxism-Thaxis] Dialectical materialism

Encyclopedia entries like these can always be improved upon. There is one paragraph in this one which puzzles me. See below. Examples would have helped. Of course there have been philosophers interested in dialectical materialism as an ontology independent of its political marxist ramificat

Re: [Marxism-Thaxis] Mary, mary

You guys obviously have a history I know nothing of, but I'm hoping this is the last I'll see of this form of discourse, emoticon notwithstanding. At 05:45 PM 1/16/2006 -0500, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Now what nigga. :-) Waistline PS. For on lookers, pardon our form of discourse.

Re: [Marxism-Thaxis] How many souls do Black Folk have? -This is crazy

Your points are well taken. Taken literally, the concept of two racial souls is pure BS, but I doubt Charles is that stupid. My guess is that this is a metaphor that very imprecisely suggests the contradictory condition of black Americans and the psychological negotiation of this territory, w

Re: [Marxism-Thaxis] How many souls do Black Folk have ?

I immediately thought of the Du Bois double consciousness connection myself. The only thing different about King's statement was emphasizing the 'African' and not just the "Negro' side of the duality. I actually can't recall how current the emphasis was on an 'African' dimension of Negro Amer

Re: [Marxism-Thaxis] Phillip Frank & Stevie Wonder

I've been out of the loop, but a friend told me how good this was a week or two ago, and I only bought it Saturday night. I've missed an album or two you named, but I still think INNERVISIONS is the most inspired. At 01:36 AM 1/16/2006 -0500, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: >>I'm also listening to

[Marxism-Thaxis] Re: MLK & Hegel

One might also criticize MLK's Hegel scholarship, which is available online. Quotations are not meant to be taken as gospel, but rather starting points for further investigation, or at the very least curiosa of intellectual and social history. How many people even know about these statements

[Marxism-Thaxis] MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. ON CULTURAL HYBRIDITY, HEGEL, IDENTITY

Martin Luther King, Jr. (15 January 1929 - 4 April 1968) ON AFRO-AMERICAN IDENTITY -- HEGEL AND HYBRIDITY "Every man must ultimately confront the question, 'Who am I?' and seek to answer it honestly. One of the first principles of personal adjustment is the principle of self-acceptance. The

[Marxism-Thaxis] MARTIN LUTHER KING'S HEGELIANISM

ource: "The unseen harmony is stronger than the seen." (Ralph Dumain, originally composed 2 February 1994) ___ Marxism-Thaxis mailing list Marxism-Thaxis@lists.econ.utah.edu To change your options or unsubscribe go to: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/marxism-thaxis

[Marxism-Thaxis] Phillip Frank biblio

I've added the bibliography of the original publication of the essays contained in Frank's MODERN SCIENCE AND ITS BIBLIOGRAPHY to my contents page: http://www.autodidactproject.org/other/frank-MSP/frank00.html#bib Most of them were originally published in the 1930s or 1940s. I'm thinking of s

[Marxism-Thaxis] Philipp Frank on Science Teaching and the Humanities

The recent court decision sharply rejecting any legitimacy for the teaching of creationism (now retooled as 'intelligent design') in the science curriculum raises the question of the possible place of philosophy of science in general education. Coincidentally, I've been plowing through chapter

[Marxism-Thaxis] we canteloupe, they won't lettuce

Edgar Allan Poe wrote philosophical satires about Cant, Aries Tottle, deduction, induction, and other topics. But seriously, folks, we need to disaggregate a general discussion of the characteristics of materialism from the specific case of Kant. I barely have time to read through fresh batch

Re: [Marxism-Thaxis] Further focus on Engels definition of materialism

This is truly remarkable puzzlement for a professional philosopher. At 08:22 AM 1/11/2006 -0800, andie nachgeborenen wrote: Well, "spirit" and "nature" are not transparent terms either, not is "primacy," so it's not much help to say that idealists make spirit primary to nature and materialists v

Re: [Marxism-Thaxis] Correction: _Unknowable_ thing-in-itself

At 02:43 PM 1/10/2006 -0800, andie nachgeborenen wrote: Problems, then: What's "material" mean? Physical, what physics, biology, etc. say there is? What if, as seems to be the case, our best science tells us that important features of the world are mind-dependent in a deep way -- that is where q

Re: [Marxism-Thaxis] Unknowable thing-in-itself

Coincidentally, there's a group here in DC that wants to organize an ad hoc study group on Kant's CRITIQUE OF PURE REASON and is seeking advice. Perhaps I could solicit your input. Otherwise, the problem with the schooling in Marxism-Leninism we see here is two-fold: (1) social conditioning

Re: [Marxism-Thaxis] Unknowable thing-in-itself

Engels' characterization of 'shamefaced' belongs generically to a tendency, most pronounced among English empiricists, to shrink from the ultimate conclusions to be drawn from the direction set in motion, as Engels delineates in recently discussed writings. "Materialism' in this context can on

Re: [Marxism-Thaxis] Philipp Frank on the mystification of physics again

This chapter and others does indeed confirm Frank's interest in a united front against the common right-wing enemy. As I did not digitize the chapters in their original order, one may get a different impression: i.e., Frank's objections to Soviet philosophy and dialectical materialism only app

[Marxism-Thaxis] Re: agnosticism, materialism, atheism

I re-read this material in recent months. I cited from this and other works on my web page containing comparable remarks: Marx & Engels on Skepticism & Praxis: Selected Quotations http://www.autodidactproject.org/quote/marx-skeptic.html Most of these passages are very well-known, but check out

[Marxism-Thaxis] Philipp Frank on the mystification of physics again

A fourth chapter of Frank's MODERN SCIENCE AND ITS PHILOSOPHY is now on my web site: CHAPTER 8: philosophic misinterpretations of the quantum theory http://www.autodidactproject.org/other/frank-MSP/frank08.html As I mentioned before, Chapter 8 deals with the mystification of quantum theory, p

Re: [Marxism-Thaxis] Marxism Leninism lives

By riffraff I meant the Soviet philosophers and theoreticians who followed Lenin, not only the less supple thinkers of Lenin's generation (including the ex-Menshevik Deborin), but especially the younger breed that supplanted their elders as Stalinism was consolidated. The records of Haldane an

[Marxism-Thaxis] Re: [hegel-marx] For Erich (A quote! oh no!)

The confused leading the confused . . . how sad. First!--see: Marx & Engels on the Science of History http://www.autodidactproject.org/quote/marxsci2.html Neither Marx nor Engels were social constructionists, nor was their 'sociology' so shallow as the undialectical sociology of science that

[Marxism-Thaxis] Paul Forman and postmodernism

My suspicions are becoming confirmed: In postmodernity the two cultures are one -- and many Paul Forman http://www.stanford.edu/dept/HPST/FormanThinkPiece.html To me, this is yet another symptom of the disintegrating research programme of bourgeois liberalism. In fact, the war between the post

[Marxism-Thaxis] Paul Forman and his critics

I don't know what to make of this weird stuff: Whig History of Science http://www.ivorcatt.com/3802.htm As far as I can tell, Forman still has a position at the Smithsonian: http://americanhistory2.si.edu/about/staff.cfm?key=12&staffkey=320 I have a deep suspicion of all sociology of science.

[Marxism-Thaxis] Philipp Frank on mathematics & mechanics

Modern Science and Its Philosophy by Philipp Frank Chapter 6: Mechanical "Explanation" or Mathematical Description? http://www.autodidactproject.org/other/frank-MSP/frank06.html Latest installment. Most interesting here is the relationship between mathematics and physical explanation in the his

Re: [Marxism-Thaxis] Philipp Frank on the mystification of physics

Ooops, one of my sentences is rather awkward At 08:24 AM 1/8/2006 -0500, Ralph Dumain wrote: As Frank documents in his book, Heisenberg shared the same reactionary idealist views as other prominent physicists such as James Jeans and Arthur Eddington. Heisenberg never quite claimed that the

Re: [Marxism-Thaxis] Philipp Frank on the mystification of physics

As to extrascientific orientations that may have affected Heisenberg, Paul Forman had a rather bold thesis: Paul Forman. "Weimar Culture, Causality and Quantum Theory, 1918-1927: Adaptation by German Physicists and Mathematicians to a Hostile Intellectual Environment," published in Historical

[Marxism-Thaxis] Philipp Frank on the mystification of physics

A third chapter of Frank's MODERN SCIENCE AND ITS PHILOSOPHY is now on my web site: CHAPTER 5: is there a trend today toward idealism in physics? http://www.autodidactproject.org/other/frank-MSP/frank05.html Here there is a detailed critique of the idealist mystification of physics, among whos

Re: [Marxism-Thaxis] Re: [marxistphilosophy] Philipp Frank on diamat

Actually, I didn't know this about Neurath. It's not a good sign. I also need to know more about Neurath's relation to Austrian socialist politics. There are only a few lines in RED VIENNA, suggesting these people were too much anal retentive control freaks even for Neurath. I'm editing cha

Re: [Marxism-Thaxis] Re: [marxistphilosophy] Philipp Frank on diamat

I've not seen an indication in Reisch that Frank ever revised his view, and he lived past the McCarthy era, I believe. Perhaps he merely forgot about what he had written. But yeah, this would account for his superficial engagement with the most superficial of Stalinist philosophy. Obviously,

Re: [Marxism-Thaxis] Chris Sciabarra on Marx (for the International Encyclopedia of Economic Sociology)

While it's not exactly horrible, there is something about this encyclopedia article that bugs the hell out of me. To begin with: (1) It's too philosophical, if you know what I mean. (2) The bare citation of Marx's 11th thesis makes me break out in hives. (3) It quotes too many extraneous and

Re: [Marxism-Thaxis] Have a happy and merry December 25

I put the word out myself at the stroke of midnight. You'd be surprised how many people appreciate it. If we try hard enough, we might even supplant Festivus. I wonder what Newton thought of having to share his birthday with Hanukkah. It's nice to know there are alternatives. Back in Buffalo

[Marxism-Thaxis] Philipp Frank (w/ ref to Lenin)

I've read over 200 pages of George Reisch's HOW THE COLD WAR TRANSFORMED PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE. There is a lot of fascinating material in it, much new to me. I've just read the chapter on how Frank carried on after Neurath's death, noting his public interventions in explaining philosophical, s

[Marxism-Thaxis] Re: A People's History of Science

why would a Trot even use it, unless of course, it's really a Romantic notion as I suspect it to be? At 07:19 PM 12/18/2005 -0500, Jim Farmelant wrote: On Sun, 18 Dec 2005 15:47:40 -0500 Ralph Dumain <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > I haven't registered as a user of NYT, so I hav

[Marxism-Thaxis] Re: [marxistphilosophy] A People's History of Science

I haven't registered as a user of NYT, so I haven't seen the review yet. How did Conner get a review in the Times? Isn't he a Trot? I shudder to think what I'm in for. The very title of the book sounds stupid. At 02:47 PM 12/18/2005 -0500, Jim Farmelant wrote: Read Jonathon's NY Times re

[Marxism-Thaxis] Tailism and the Dialectic reviewed

Issue 89 of INTERNATIONAL SOCIALISM JOURNAL Published Winter 2000 Copyright © International Socialism A comment on Tailism and the Dialectic MARK O'BRIEN http://pubs.socialistreviewindex.org.uk/isj89/obrien.htm This is the best review I've seen to date.

[Marxism-Thaxis] Lukacs: The Philosopher and the Politician

The Philosopher and the Politician By Georg Lukacs It is rare for one person to be at the same time theoretician and politician. In Marx's opinion, ideology is needed, first, to make social conflicts conscious, and, second, to serve in the struggle for their resolution. With minor reservation

Re: [Marxism-Thaxis] Logical Empiricism (reformatted)

Again, briefly. See below. When I have time to write about the Reisch book, I'll have more to say. -Original Message- From: Charles Brown <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Dec 12, 2005 3:05 PM To: 'Forum for the discussion of theoretical issues raised by Karl Marx and the thinkers he in

Re: [Marxism-Thaxis] Logical Empiricism (reformatted)

I'm rather pressed for time now, so just a few sentences. But as coincidence would have it, Riesch's HOW THE COLD WAR TRANSFORMED PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE provides excellent historical examples of the problem at hand. It was not the case that all Marxists or even all Communist Party intellectuals

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