Lenin’s Encyclopaedia entry on Marx

Philosophy and Religion, Part 4b

Lenin’s Encyclopaedia entry on Marx

The main linked item today is Lenin’s “Biographical Sketch and Exposition” of Karl Marx, written and first published as an encyclopaedia entry. It has all the hallmarks of Lenin’s precision of style, being concise and concrete, but also has traces of the worst side of Lenin’s didacticism, almost to the point of dogma. “Marxism is the system of Marx’s views and teachings,” writes Lenin, cheerfully beginning a section headed “The Marxist Doctrine”. The next section is called “Marx’s Economic Doctrine”.

Marx did not write economics, and he didn’t write “doctrine” of any kind. We will be dealing with such un-Marx-like formulations as “Marx’s Economic Doctrine” in later parts of this course.

Lenin was the greatest revolutionist in history, up to now, but he was not the greatest philosopher. Karl Marx was the greatest philosopher, up to now; and Marx stood on the shoulders of Hegel.

Lenin was one of hundreds of millions of followers of Marx. Nearly all of them have struggled to understand Marx. Lenin wrote in 1914:

“It is impossible completely to understand Marx's Capital, and especially its first chapter, without having thoroughly studied and understood the whole of Hegel's Logic. Consequently, half a century later none of the Marxists understood Marx!!”

Lenin’s long book on philosophy is called “Materialism and Empirio-Criticism” (1909).

The main downloadable document is an outstanding summary of Karl Marx’s life and work. A large portion of it is about philosophy. Do not be put off by any reservations that may have been expressed above. This text is a “must read”, in any case, as well as being a significant part of this course.

Download:

Karl Marx, Biographical Sketch and Exposition, 1914, Lenin (14044 words)

Further reading:

Attitude of Worker's Party to Religion, 1900, Lenin (4419 words)

3 Sources and 3 Component Parts of Marxism, 1913, Lenin (1838 words)

Previous main Communist University posts:
Channel [members]	Course Archive	Weeks	Posted
SADTU Pol Ed [436]	Lenin’s The State & Revolution	5/6	12 July 2010
CU Africa [233]	Marx’s Capital, Volumes 1, 2 & 3	4/33	6 July 2010
CU [2924]	Philosophy and Religion	4/10	12 July 2010
Courses completed in 2010 to date:
SADTU Pol Ed	National Democratic Revolution	12	March - June
	Basics	10	January - March
SADTU Pol Schools	3-Day School	3 days	2-4 June
CU	No Woman, No Revolution	10	March - June
	Basics	10	January – March
Click here to visit Marxists Internet Archive