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The Origins of Materialism: The Evolution of a Scientific View of the World
The rise of a scientific world outlook in ancient Greece, and the development of agriculture, manufacturing, and trade that prepared its way. List of works cited in book, index.
292 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1965
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139 people want to read
About the author
George Novack
47 books22 followersLeftist political activist and Marxist theoretician.
He attended Harvard University, earning a B.A. in 1926, and an M.A. in 1927. He was on a successful track in the publishing business, when the beginning of the Great Depression radicalized him. He joined the Trotskyist Communist League of America in 1933 and was a member of the National Committee of the Socialist Workers Party (SWP) from 1940 to 1973.
In 1937-40 Novack served as the secretary of the American Committee for the Defence of Leon Trotsky. This body initiated the celebrated 1937 Dewey Commission that inquired into the charges made against Trotsky in the Moscow show trials, and found the Moscow trials to have been a complete frame-up.
George Novack was not one of the 18 SWP leaders imprisoned in World War II under the Smith Act, but he played a major role in the defense campaign.
Novack produced a number of books on various aspects of Marxism: An Introduction to the Logic of Marxism, America's Revolutionary Heritage, Democracy and Revolution, Empiricism and Its Evolution, Humanism and Socialism, The Origins of Materialism, Polemics in Marxist Philosophy, Revolutionary Dynamics of Women's Liberation, and Understanding History, Marxist Essays.
He attended Harvard University, earning a B.A. in 1926, and an M.A. in 1927. He was on a successful track in the publishing business, when the beginning of the Great Depression radicalized him. He joined the Trotskyist Communist League of America in 1933 and was a member of the National Committee of the Socialist Workers Party (SWP) from 1940 to 1973.
In 1937-40 Novack served as the secretary of the American Committee for the Defence of Leon Trotsky. This body initiated the celebrated 1937 Dewey Commission that inquired into the charges made against Trotsky in the Moscow show trials, and found the Moscow trials to have been a complete frame-up.
George Novack was not one of the 18 SWP leaders imprisoned in World War II under the Smith Act, but he played a major role in the defense campaign.
Novack produced a number of books on various aspects of Marxism: An Introduction to the Logic of Marxism, America's Revolutionary Heritage, Democracy and Revolution, Empiricism and Its Evolution, Humanism and Socialism, The Origins of Materialism, Polemics in Marxist Philosophy, Revolutionary Dynamics of Women's Liberation, and Understanding History, Marxist Essays.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
May 6, 2021
A clear, accessible introduction to a pivotal period in the development of philosophy. Perfect for students, whatever their age.
October 19, 2013
I think this book is an awesome start to understanding the origins of the scientific pursuits of man, and how certain worldviews began to develop after certain innovations in soceity.
February 9, 2008
the silencing of the atomists in ancient Greece to the fabrication of stories to rationalize the injustice of slavery
February 24, 2025
If you have had the misfortune of going through a formal philosophy curriculum in a bourgeois "educational" institution, this title should be considered required reading. Only a dialectical and historical materialist understanding of social development can place the evolution of human thought in its appropriate context.
Bourgeois philosophy, as taught in the university system—eclectic and rudderless as it is—is entirely incapable of explaining the origins of various schools of thought. A Marxist appreciation of philosophy’s origins, however, can make sense of why the rich history of philosophy has been reduced to the dull, purely abstract teachings found in universities today: the prevailing mode of thought is a product of the prevailing mode of production. The idealism of contemporary philosophy professor-priests is entirely divorced from the day-to-day life of the average person because it serves the class interests of the upper strata of society. Philosophy is only progressive when the underlying social relations are themselves progressive. The radically individualist and anti-scientific thinking of modern philosophers reflects the rotten condition of capitalist relations of production.
Novack’s works on the history of philosophy, especially this title, restore the ancient philosophers to their rightful place in history. Students of philosophy will gain a deeper appreciation for the accomplishments of the first naturalists—the pre-Socratics—from this text in particular. Novack provides a novel defense of the atomists, who are often accused by bourgeois philosophers of arriving at correct conclusions through mere speculation. This accusation reflects the antagonistic relationship between present-day philosophy and the sciences. Novack, however, demonstrates that the atomists' philosophy was inferred from empirical examinations aimed at providing naturalistic causal explanations, as opposed to the magical, superstitious, and supernatural causal theories stagnating at the top of society.
These natural explanations served a growing society that was expanding, colonizing, and utilizing distant peoples and resources under the dominion of more primitive cultures. Novack traces the milestones in the evolution of philosophy to the development of the economic and social relations that dominated Hellenic society. Innovations in human thought became necessary as old systems proved obsolete in addressing new societal challenges. These emerging progressive economic relations, which spanned the Mediterranean basin, provided the substrate for a new mode of thought.
As any good dialectician would, Novack deepens the reader's understanding of the development of materialism by contrasting it with the rise and eventual dominance of its opposite: idealist philosophy. Readers will also appreciate his exposition on the role of atheism and the impact of the Socratic revolution on materialist thought. Novack’s analyses are always excellent exercises in dialectical reasoning, and this title is no exception.
For a great follow-up on social development, I recommend reading 𝘜𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘏𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺, also by Novack, after this book.
Bourgeois philosophy, as taught in the university system—eclectic and rudderless as it is—is entirely incapable of explaining the origins of various schools of thought. A Marxist appreciation of philosophy’s origins, however, can make sense of why the rich history of philosophy has been reduced to the dull, purely abstract teachings found in universities today: the prevailing mode of thought is a product of the prevailing mode of production. The idealism of contemporary philosophy professor-priests is entirely divorced from the day-to-day life of the average person because it serves the class interests of the upper strata of society. Philosophy is only progressive when the underlying social relations are themselves progressive. The radically individualist and anti-scientific thinking of modern philosophers reflects the rotten condition of capitalist relations of production.
Novack’s works on the history of philosophy, especially this title, restore the ancient philosophers to their rightful place in history. Students of philosophy will gain a deeper appreciation for the accomplishments of the first naturalists—the pre-Socratics—from this text in particular. Novack provides a novel defense of the atomists, who are often accused by bourgeois philosophers of arriving at correct conclusions through mere speculation. This accusation reflects the antagonistic relationship between present-day philosophy and the sciences. Novack, however, demonstrates that the atomists' philosophy was inferred from empirical examinations aimed at providing naturalistic causal explanations, as opposed to the magical, superstitious, and supernatural causal theories stagnating at the top of society.
These natural explanations served a growing society that was expanding, colonizing, and utilizing distant peoples and resources under the dominion of more primitive cultures. Novack traces the milestones in the evolution of philosophy to the development of the economic and social relations that dominated Hellenic society. Innovations in human thought became necessary as old systems proved obsolete in addressing new societal challenges. These emerging progressive economic relations, which spanned the Mediterranean basin, provided the substrate for a new mode of thought.
As any good dialectician would, Novack deepens the reader's understanding of the development of materialism by contrasting it with the rise and eventual dominance of its opposite: idealist philosophy. Readers will also appreciate his exposition on the role of atheism and the impact of the Socratic revolution on materialist thought. Novack’s analyses are always excellent exercises in dialectical reasoning, and this title is no exception.
For a great follow-up on social development, I recommend reading 𝘜𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘏𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺, also by Novack, after this book.
January 24, 2026
Jädrar vad cool book!
Har fördjupat min förståelse enormt om filosofins uppkomst, lärt mig att separera det progressiva i idealisternas idéer och var allmänt bara coolt att läsa.
Fått mig att uppskatta också hur avancerade vissa av dessa idéer var
Har fördjupat min förståelse enormt om filosofins uppkomst, lärt mig att separera det progressiva i idealisternas idéer och var allmänt bara coolt att läsa.
Fått mig att uppskatta också hur avancerade vissa av dessa idéer var
March 13, 2025
A little Marxist!
November 2, 2025
I didn't have a lot of classes that really interested me in college, but Problems of Philosophy was one. I would have liked it even better if this book had been used.
Novack takes us back to ancient Greece where materialism--the philosophy that reflects what science is based on-- gets its start. To understand why it developed here, we have to understand the new classes coming into being as a result of extensive trade, manufacture, and banking in the Greek city-states. And he discusses the reasons for the eclipse of materialism, and its being largely replaced by idealism for many years.
Today science is again under attack, and it comes from the very people who claim to represent progress, liberals and "leftists" pushing a "woke" agenda that denies scientific facts, such as sex being of two kinds, and being determined before birth. It tells us that racism comes out of, not of the necessity of the rulers to keep the working class divided, but out of bad thoughts, which they attribute to those with the least influence in society, and the least to gain from it. And the conclude that "whiteness" itself is to blame. And how do they propose fighting racism? By solidarity in antiracist actions and on the picket lines of the working class? No, by listening to the elite in society who they pretend are the least privileged! By making poor Caucasian workers feel guilty! This is their answer--good thoughts--and it's all subsidized by giant corporations who are run by people with the most privilege.
These views are not progressive; they are reactionary. Conservatives claim these views represent "cultural Marxism." I have no idea what that means, but they are anti-culture and anti-Marxist. One of the new enemies of the woke is "cultural appropriation." But there is no culture without appropriation.
To examine this further, let me suggest a new book with contributions by Novack as well as Marx, Engels, and Mary-Alice Waters: Labor, Nature, and the Evolution of Humanity: The Long View of HistoryLabor, Nature, and the Evolution of Humanity: The Long View of History.
Incidentally, contrary to what the biography above, which didn't come from the publisher, says, Novack left Harvard after five years without a degree. I got a BA, and never used it for anything.
Novack returned to ancient Greece for his book Democracy and Revolution.
Novack takes us back to ancient Greece where materialism--the philosophy that reflects what science is based on-- gets its start. To understand why it developed here, we have to understand the new classes coming into being as a result of extensive trade, manufacture, and banking in the Greek city-states. And he discusses the reasons for the eclipse of materialism, and its being largely replaced by idealism for many years.
Today science is again under attack, and it comes from the very people who claim to represent progress, liberals and "leftists" pushing a "woke" agenda that denies scientific facts, such as sex being of two kinds, and being determined before birth. It tells us that racism comes out of, not of the necessity of the rulers to keep the working class divided, but out of bad thoughts, which they attribute to those with the least influence in society, and the least to gain from it. And the conclude that "whiteness" itself is to blame. And how do they propose fighting racism? By solidarity in antiracist actions and on the picket lines of the working class? No, by listening to the elite in society who they pretend are the least privileged! By making poor Caucasian workers feel guilty! This is their answer--good thoughts--and it's all subsidized by giant corporations who are run by people with the most privilege.
These views are not progressive; they are reactionary. Conservatives claim these views represent "cultural Marxism." I have no idea what that means, but they are anti-culture and anti-Marxist. One of the new enemies of the woke is "cultural appropriation." But there is no culture without appropriation.
To examine this further, let me suggest a new book with contributions by Novack as well as Marx, Engels, and Mary-Alice Waters: Labor, Nature, and the Evolution of Humanity: The Long View of HistoryLabor, Nature, and the Evolution of Humanity: The Long View of History.
Incidentally, contrary to what the biography above, which didn't come from the publisher, says, Novack left Harvard after five years without a degree. I got a BA, and never used it for anything.
Novack returned to ancient Greece for his book Democracy and Revolution.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews