[lbo-talk] "Theory's Empire," an anti-"Theory" anthology

Carrol Cox cbcox at ilstu.edu
Wed May 28 05:53:35 PDT 2008


Chris Doss wrote:
>
> I do not believe there have even been idealists of the
> sort Lenin thought he was describing. There has never
> been a philosopher or philosphical movement that held
> the belief that nothing exists outside the human mind.

Well, the Lenin you describe exists only in your mind, so . . .?

The point of Lenin's polemic was to insist on the reality of non-observables -- i.e., of relations, which as Marx points out cannot be observed but only thought. Radical empiricism such as Lenin was attacking denied the reality of such non-observables, thus making systematic thought impossible.

Carrol



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