Chapter 4 ‘Menshevising Idealism’ and Stalinisation of Philosophy

The turbulent events of Stalin’s ‘Great Break’ have often been seen as a turning point and the beginning of a Stalinist politics sensu stricto. A sharp philosophical debate occurred at this turning point. This chapter discusses how this shift occurred in Soviet Marxist philosophical circles. It anal...

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Hoofdauteur: Oittinen, Vesa
Formaat: Online
Taal:Engels
Gepubliceerd in: Taylor & Francis 2023
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Online toegang:https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/63065
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author Oittinen, Vesa
author_browse Oittinen, Vesa
author_facet Oittinen, Vesa
author_sort Oittinen, Vesa
collection Directory of Open Access Books
description The turbulent events of Stalin’s ‘Great Break’ have often been seen as a turning point and the beginning of a Stalinist politics sensu stricto. A sharp philosophical debate occurred at this turning point. This chapter discusses how this shift occurred in Soviet Marxist philosophical circles. It analyses the concept of ‘Menshevising Idealism’, an idea coined (maybe by Stalin himself) during the philosophical campaign around the year 1930. It targeted mainly the Deborin school of early Soviet philosophy. Deborin and his supporters were accused of ‘Hegelianising’ Marxism and of not understanding the significance of the new, Leninist stage of Marxist theory. The concept of Menshevising Idealism has later almost unanimously been viewed by scholars as a Stalinist label without any real content. While it is true that Stalin and his circle utilised the campaign against the Deborinites for their own purposes, there nevertheless were some real weaknesses in the philosophy of the Deborin School. One sign of this weakness is that such thinkers as Georg Lukács, Mikhail Lifshits and, later, Evald Ilyenkov all criticised the Deborin School even though they did not accept the Stalinist methods of its suppression.
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spelling doab-20.500.12854ir-1002812025-07-17T10:01:25Z Chapter 4 ‘Menshevising Idealism’ and Stalinisation of Philosophy Oittinen, Vesa Menshevising Idealism, Deborin, Stalinism, Ilyenkov, Lifshits, Lukács thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government The turbulent events of Stalin’s ‘Great Break’ have often been seen as a turning point and the beginning of a Stalinist politics sensu stricto. A sharp philosophical debate occurred at this turning point. This chapter discusses how this shift occurred in Soviet Marxist philosophical circles. It analyses the concept of ‘Menshevising Idealism’, an idea coined (maybe by Stalin himself) during the philosophical campaign around the year 1930. It targeted mainly the Deborin school of early Soviet philosophy. Deborin and his supporters were accused of ‘Hegelianising’ Marxism and of not understanding the significance of the new, Leninist stage of Marxist theory. The concept of Menshevising Idealism has later almost unanimously been viewed by scholars as a Stalinist label without any real content. While it is true that Stalin and his circle utilised the campaign against the Deborinites for their own purposes, there nevertheless were some real weaknesses in the philosophy of the Deborin School. One sign of this weakness is that such thinkers as Georg Lukács, Mikhail Lifshits and, later, Evald Ilyenkov all criticised the Deborin School even though they did not accept the Stalinist methods of its suppression. 2023-05-24T04:03:32Z 2023-05-24T04:03:32Z 2023-05-23T12:30:01Z 2023 chapter https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/63065 9781032114200 9781032114217 https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/100281 eng open access image/jpeg image/jpeg image/jpeg Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/63065/1/9781003219835_10.4324_9781003219835-4.pdf https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/63065/1/9781003219835_10.4324_9781003219835-4.pdf https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/63065/1/9781003219835_10.4324_9781003219835-4.pdf Taylor & Francis Routledge 10.4324/9781003219835-4 10.4324/9781003219835-4 fa69b019-f4ee-4979-8d42-c6b6c476b5f0 Stalin Era Intellectuals 9781032114200 9781032114217 Routledge 18 open access
spellingShingle Menshevising Idealism, Deborin, Stalinism, Ilyenkov, Lifshits, Lukács
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government
Oittinen, Vesa
Chapter 4 ‘Menshevising Idealism’ and Stalinisation of Philosophy
title Chapter 4 ‘Menshevising Idealism’ and Stalinisation of Philosophy
title_full Chapter 4 ‘Menshevising Idealism’ and Stalinisation of Philosophy
title_fullStr Chapter 4 ‘Menshevising Idealism’ and Stalinisation of Philosophy
title_full_unstemmed Chapter 4 ‘Menshevising Idealism’ and Stalinisation of Philosophy
title_short Chapter 4 ‘Menshevising Idealism’ and Stalinisation of Philosophy
title_sort chapter 4 menshevising idealism and stalinisation of philosophy
topic Menshevising Idealism, Deborin, Stalinism, Ilyenkov, Lifshits, Lukács
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government
topic_facet Menshevising Idealism, Deborin, Stalinism, Ilyenkov, Lifshits, Lukács
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government
url https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/63065
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