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Dialectical Materialism - An Introduction : Volume Three : Theory of Knowledge
1974. Reprint. 207 pages. Paperback book with green cover. Pages are bright and clean. Mild cracking to front hinge, however binding remains firm. Mild thumb-marking present. Paper cover has mild edge wear with mild corner curling. Moderate tanning to spine. Mild scratching and marking to covers. Notable staining to rear cover.
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About the author
Maurice Cornforth
35 books18 followersa.k.a. Maurice Campbell Cornforth
Maurice Campbell Cornforth (28 October 1909 – 31 December 1980) was a British Marxist philosopher. When he began his career in philosophy in the early 1930s, he was a follower of Wittgenstein, writing in the then current style of analytic philosophy. He later became a leading ideologist of the Communist Party of Great Britain.
He is noted for his attack on the aesthetic theories of Christopher Caudwell, and for his later partial engagement with the linguistic philosophy of Oxford origin of the 1940s and 1960s. He also wrote a defence of Marxism against Karl Popper, whose thought he heavily criticized.
His In Defense of Philosophy attacks, in their relationship to science, empiricist philosophies of many kinds, such as those of Rudolf Carnap (linguistic analysis) and William James (pragmatism), on the "materialist" grounds that they divorce science and scientific investigation from the search for truer understanding of the really existing universe. In this book there is a combination of Marxism with deep insights into the interrelations of the various sciences and the philosophical conundrums produced by the empiricist attempt to reduce science to the collection and correlation of data. Both the insights are based on the theory of the primacy of physical work and tools (thus, "materialism") in the development of specifically human traits such as language, abstract thought, and social organization, and the essential role of the external world in the increasingly complex development of forms of life. These latter ideas are remarkably consistent with the most current evolutionary thinking in biology and anthropology.
His multi-volume book entitled "Dialectical Materialism" was originally published in 1953 by the International Publishers, Co., INC. The first U.S. edition of this work was printed in 1971. The text originated from lectures that Cornforth received funding for from the London District Committee of the Communist Party of Great Britain in 1950. The first volume, "Materialism and the Dialectical Method" provides a good introduction to several important sociological principles; idealism, metaphysics, materialism, mechanical materialism, and dialectical materialism, in addition to Marxist philosophy. The other volumes of this text are entitled as follows, Volume Two Historical Materialism, Volume Three Theory of Knowledge."
Maurice Campbell Cornforth (28 October 1909 – 31 December 1980) was a British Marxist philosopher. When he began his career in philosophy in the early 1930s, he was a follower of Wittgenstein, writing in the then current style of analytic philosophy. He later became a leading ideologist of the Communist Party of Great Britain.
He is noted for his attack on the aesthetic theories of Christopher Caudwell, and for his later partial engagement with the linguistic philosophy of Oxford origin of the 1940s and 1960s. He also wrote a defence of Marxism against Karl Popper, whose thought he heavily criticized.
His In Defense of Philosophy attacks, in their relationship to science, empiricist philosophies of many kinds, such as those of Rudolf Carnap (linguistic analysis) and William James (pragmatism), on the "materialist" grounds that they divorce science and scientific investigation from the search for truer understanding of the really existing universe. In this book there is a combination of Marxism with deep insights into the interrelations of the various sciences and the philosophical conundrums produced by the empiricist attempt to reduce science to the collection and correlation of data. Both the insights are based on the theory of the primacy of physical work and tools (thus, "materialism") in the development of specifically human traits such as language, abstract thought, and social organization, and the essential role of the external world in the increasingly complex development of forms of life. These latter ideas are remarkably consistent with the most current evolutionary thinking in biology and anthropology.
His multi-volume book entitled "Dialectical Materialism" was originally published in 1953 by the International Publishers, Co., INC. The first U.S. edition of this work was printed in 1971. The text originated from lectures that Cornforth received funding for from the London District Committee of the Communist Party of Great Britain in 1950. The first volume, "Materialism and the Dialectical Method" provides a good introduction to several important sociological principles; idealism, metaphysics, materialism, mechanical materialism, and dialectical materialism, in addition to Marxist philosophy. The other volumes of this text are entitled as follows, Volume Two Historical Materialism, Volume Three Theory of Knowledge."
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July 12, 2025
The third and final volume of Cornforth's excellent series on Marxist philosophy, I must admit this volume covered more than I was expecting. Although the title may lead the reader to believe this book is principally concerned with epistemology, pedagogy, and the relationship between sensation, cognition, and practice. And while the author does deal brilliantly with these questions, explaining them, similar to previous two volumes, in clear, easy to understand words without dumbing down the concerned question, the author also touches on such pressing philosophical questions as the nature of truth, the relationship between the relative and absolute, and how knowledge broadens the freedoms of man by giving him the ability to master the world around him. All of this is dealt with in such a way that virtually anyone can come to understand the questions concerned, allowing this book (like the two before it) to assume first-rate importance as primer into the world of Marxist philosophy, acquainting the reader with the terminology and concepts dealt with by the classics in their more difficult works.
The value of the whole series which this book is a part of in explaining dialectical and historical materialism cannot be overstated. Few have written such engaging, easily understood, and descript, introductions, but in this series one definitely finds one of, if not the best, and this final book in the series once again proves why.
The value of the whole series which this book is a part of in explaining dialectical and historical materialism cannot be overstated. Few have written such engaging, easily understood, and descript, introductions, but in this series one definitely finds one of, if not the best, and this final book in the series once again proves why.
Displaying 1 of 1 review