Lenin without dogmatism

Dados Bibliográficos

ID12190827
AutoresJoe Pateman (0000-0002-7623-9371, University of Nottingham, autor correspondente)
Ano2019
Volume71
Fascículo2
Páginas99-117
Data de publicação2019-04-08
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoStudies in East European Thought (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0925-9392 • E-ISSN: 1573-0948
EditoraSpringer Nature (PUBLISHER • SG)
DOI10.1007/s11212-019-09325-6
OpenAlexW2938135377
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas3
Referências citadas31

A longstanding criticism of Lenin is that his epistemological contributions to the theory of scientific socialism prompted the decline of Marxism in dogmatism and despotism in the twentieth century. According to this narrative, Lenin claimed to possess the objective truth, and he therefore refused to tolerate alternative perspectives. This article subjects these claims to a textual analysis, and it argues that they are erroneous. Lenin defends a fallibilist account of science that affirms the uncertainty of knowledge in the natural, philosophical and social sciences. This fallibilism pervades the text that supposedly showcases his intolerance, Materialism and Empirio-Criticism. Lenin’s scientific socialism opposes rigid conceptions of socialism, and it encourages an atmosphere of democratic debate. Whilst Lenin’s writings have their flaws, they are not the founding documents of Marxist dogmatism that they are often portrayed as being. Lenin is not the narrow-minded vulgariser of Marxism that he is routinely taken to be

Communism · Criticism · Democracy · Epistemology · Marxist philosophy · Materialism · Narrative · Political philosophy · Political science · Politics · Scientific socialism · Social science · Socialism · Sociology · Anarchism and Radical Politics · Critical Theory and Philosophy · Law · Philosophy · Philosophy, Science, and History