''Materialism and Empirio-criticism'' ( Russian: ''Материализм и эмпириокритицизм, Materializm i empiriokrititsizm'') is a philosophical work by

Vladimir Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 1 ...

, published in 1909. It was an obligatory subject of study in all institutions of higher education in the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

, as a seminal work of

dialectical materialism Dialectical materialism is a philosophy of science, history, and nature developed in Europe and based on the writings of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Marxist dialectics, as a materialist philosophy, emphasizes the importance of real-world c ...

, a part of the curriculum called " Marxist–Leninist Philosophy". Lenin argued that human perceptions correctly and accurately reflect an objective external world. Lenin formulates the fundamental philosophical contradiction between idealism and materialism as follows: "Materialism is the recognition of 'objects in themselves' or objects outside the mind; the ideas and sensations are copies or images of these objects. The opposite doctrine (idealism) says: the objects do not exist, outside the mind '; they are 'connections of sensations'."W. I. Lenin: '' Materialism and empirio-criticism. Critical remarks about a reactionary philosophy ''. Publisher for foreign language literature, Moscow 1947. p. 14.

Background

The book, whose full title is ''Materialism and Empirio-criticism. Critical Comments on a Reactionary Philosophy'', was written by Lenin from February through October 1908 while he was exiled in

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland. Situ ...

and

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

and was published in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

in May 1909 by Zveno Publishers. The original

manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand – or, once practical typewriters became available, typewritten – as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced ...

and preparatory materials have been lost. Most of the book was written when Lenin was in Geneva, apart from the one month spent in London, where he visited the library of the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docume ...

to access modern philosophical and natural science material. The index lists in excess of 200 sources for the book. In December 1908, Lenin moved from Geneva to

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...

, where he worked until April 1909 on correcting the proofs. Some passages were edited to avoid tsarist censorship. It was published in

Imperial Russia The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. T ...

with great difficulty. Lenin insisted on the rapid distribution of the book and stressed that "not only literary but also serious political obligations" were involved in its publication. The book was written as a reaction and criticism to the three-volume work ''Empiriomonism'' (1904–1906) by

Alexander Bogdanov Alexander Aleksandrovich Bogdanov (russian: Алекса́ндр Алекса́ндрович Богда́нов; – 7 April 1928), born Alexander Malinovsky, was a Russian and later Soviet physician, philosopher, science fiction writer, and ...

, his political opponent within the

Party A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will often feature ...

. In June 1909, Bogdanov was defeated at a Bolshevik mini-conference in Paris and expelled from the Central Committee, but he still retained a relevant role in the Party's left wing. He participated in the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and adopt a socialist form of government ...

and after 1917, he was appointed director of the Socialist Academy of Social Sciences. ''Materialism and Empirio-criticism'' was republished in Russian in 1920 with an introduction attacking Bogdanov by Vladimir Nevsky. It subsequently appeared in over 20 languages and acquired canonical status in Marxist–Leninist philosophy.

Chapters summary

;Chapter I: The Epistemology of Empiriocriticism and Dialectical Materialism I Lenin then discusses the "

solipsism Solipsism (; ) is the philosophical idea that only one's mind is sure to exist. As an epistemological position, solipsism holds that knowledge of anything outside one's own mind is unsure; the external world and other minds cannot be known and ...

" of

Mach Mach may refer to Mach number, the speed of sound in local conditions. It may also refer to: Computing * Mach (kernel), an operating systems kernel technology * ATI Mach, a 2D GPU chip by ATI * GNU Mach, the microkernel upon which GNU Hurd is bas ...

and

Avenarius Avenarius (translated from german: Haber, Habermann) may refer to: * Ferdinand Avenarius (1856–1923), a German poet * Georgy Alexandrovich Avenarius (1903–1958), one of the founders of Soviet film criticism * Johannes Avenarius, or Johann H ...

. ;Chapter II: The Epistemology of Empiriocriticism and Dialectical Materialism II Lenin, Chernov and Basarov confront the views of Ludwig Feuerbach, Joseph Dietzgen and

Friedrich Engels Friedrich Engels ( ,"Engels"
'' immanence The doctrine or theory of immanence holds that the divine encompasses or is manifested in the material world. It is held by some philosophical and metaphysical theories of divine presence. Immanence is usually applied in monotheistic, pantheis ...

, Bogdanov's empiriomonism, and the critique of Hermann von Helmholtz on the "theory of symbols." ;Chapter V: The latest revolution in science and philosophical idealism Lenin deals with the thesis that "the crisis of physics" "has disappeared matter". In this context he speaks of a "physical idealism" and notes (on p. 260): "For the only" property "of matter to whose acknowledgment philosophical materialism is bound is the property of being objective reality, outside of our consciousness." ;Chapter VI: Empiriocriticism and Historical Materialism Lenin discusses authors such as Bogdanov, Suvorov,

Ernst Haeckel Ernst Heinrich Philipp August Haeckel (; 16 February 1834 – 9 August 1919) was a German zoologist, naturalist, eugenicist, philosopher, physician, professor, marine biologist and artist. He discovered, described and named thousands of new s ...

and Ernst Mach. In an addition to Chapter IV, Lenin addresses the question: "From what side did

N. G. Chernyshevsky Nikolay Gavrilovich Chernyshevsky ( – ) was a Russian literary and social critic, journalist, novelist, democrat, and socialist philosopher, often identified as a utopian socialist and leading theoretician of Russian nihilism. He was ...

criticize Kantianism?"

Philosophers and scientists cited

Lenin cites a broad range of philosophers:

Immanentist

Richard Avenarius Richard Ludwig Heinrich Avenarius (19 November 1843 – 18 August 1896) was a German-Swiss philosopher. He formulated the radical positivist doctrine of "empirical criticism" or empirio-criticism. Life Avenarius attended the Nicolaischule in Le ...

Ernst Mach Ernst Waldfried Josef Wenzel Mach ( , ; 18 February 1838 – 19 February 1916) was a Moravian-born Austrian physicist and philosopher, who contributed to the physics of shock waves. The ratio of one's speed to that of sound is named the Mac ...

* Richard von Schubert-Soldern

Russian Machists

* Jakov Berman * Osip Helfond * Sergei Suvorov * Pavel Yushkevich

Notes

External links

*
Materialism and Empirio-criticism
' by

at the

Marxists Internet Archive Marxists Internet Archive (also known as MIA or Marxists.org) is a non-profit online encyclopedia that hosts a multilingual library (created in 1990) of the works of communist, anarchist, and socialist writers, such as Karl Marx, Friedrich En ...

*
Materialism and Empirio-criticism
', a PDF version published by

Progress Publishers Progress Publishers was a Moscow-based Soviet publisher founded in 1931. Publishing program Progress Publishers published books in a variety of languages: Russian, English, and many other European and Asian languages. They issued many scientific ...

{{Authority control 1909 non-fiction books Works by Vladimir Lenin Materialism Marxism Academic works about philosophy Epistemology literature Dialectical materialism