Reason in Revolt - Marxist Philosophy and Modern Science

AI Thread Summary
The discussion centers around the book "Reason in Revolt," which explores the relationship between modern science and dialectical materialism, emphasizing how nature operates dialectically. The book is praised for its accessible explanation of dialectical materialism, making it understandable even for children. It covers various topics including philosophy, religion, physics, and the origins of life, while challenging idealistic interpretations in science. The text is presented as a modern counterpart to Engels' "Dialectics of Nature," aiming to demonstrate the dialectical nature of scientific phenomena. The conversation also touches on the relevance of Marxist philosophy today, with some participants suggesting that it remains significant despite perceptions of it being outdated. The book is available for free online, encouraging readers to engage with its content to address philosophical inquiries related to mathematics and science.
turnoviseous
Messages
2
Reaction score
0
http://www.marxist.com/rircontents.asp

This book analyses how modern science and dialectics are interconnected, why nature works dialectically etc. When I first read the book, I was really astonished by dialecticalm materialism. If you never heard anything about dialectical materialism, it doesn´t matter, the book explains it so a six years old child understands it.

I´m a new membmer here, but I´ve seen there were some long debates on time travel, logic, mathematics and other stuff on the boards. This is exactly what book deals with. So maybe you would be intereted to read it. You can read it for free on the link posted above, or buy it (also on the link posted above :D)...


Contents:

In Memory of Hannes Alfven

Part One: Reason and Unreason

Introduction

Philosophy and Religion

Dialectical Materialism

Formal Logic and Dialectics

Part Two: Time, Space and Motion

Revolution in Physics

Uncertainty and Idealism

Relativity Theory

The Arrow of Time

The Big Bang

Part Three: Life, Mind and Matter

The Dialectics of Geology

How Life Arose

The Revolutionary Birth of Man

The Genisis of Mind

Marxism and Darwinism

The Selfish Gene?

Part Four: Order Out of Chaos

Does Mathematics Reflect Reality?

Chaos Theory

The Theory of Knowledge

Alienation and the Future of Humanity


yours faithfully,
 
Physics news on Phys.org
Marxist Philosophy is a littel passe' now isn't it? :)

When he died, Engels was working on an application of "Dialectal Materialism" to science and mathematics. He published some of it in a paper title "Anti-Duhring" (essentially an attempted rebuttal of another author).

The quality of his science and mathematics can be seen in his criticism that much of mathematics depends on "accidental" properties of the numeration system: That "8" is even in base 10 but odd in base 5! (Apparently just because in base 5 it is written "13". That's NOT the definition of "even" that mathematicians use!)
 
Hey HallsofIvy,

I wouldn´t say he tried to apply Dialectical materialism to science, he rather tried to show how nature is dialectical, but in anti-duhring we don´t have a lot of it, he wrote more about that in Dialectics of Nature.

Reason in Revolt is some kind of modern version of Dialectics of Nature, it tries to explain how nature is dialectical with modern science and its modern achivements, while also arguing against idealistic interpretations in science and creationism.

Its not political, so you can´t be brainwashed :D. My friend studies mathematics and he was being told on university that "mathematics has nothing to do with nature" among other modern positivist illusions, then I gave him this book and he was really grateful after he read it...you might want to check it out if you want, a lot of questions you pose in this philosophy forum are answered there, so maybe it would be interesting even for you...

Marxist Philosophy is a littel passe' now isn't it? :)

Well, what can I say, read the book and see it for yourself. :D In any case, after dialectical materialism no new, really genuine philosophy appeared.

yours,
 
Thread 'RIP Chen Ning Yang (1922-2025)'
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yang_Chen-Ning ( photo from http://insti.physics.sunysb.edu/~yang/ ) https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/18/science/chen-ning-yang-dead.html https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cdxrzzk02plo https://www.cpr.cuhk.edu.hk/en/press/mourning-professor-yang-chen-ning/ https://www.stonybrook.edu/commcms/physics/about/awards_and_prizes/_nobel_and_breakthrough_prizes/_profiles/yangc https://www.stonybrook.edu/commcms/physics/people/_profiles/yangc...
"In 2013, after a series of hospitalizations due to magnets, New Zealand government officials permanently banned the sale of those made from neodymium-iron-boron (NIB)." https://www.sciencealert.com/new-zealand-teen-loses-part-of-his-bowel-after-swallowing-nearly-200-magnets "A 13-year-old boy in New Zealand has had part of his bowel surgically removed after he ingested nearly 200 high-powered magnets. (2025)" OK, this teen was a fool, but it is not always a teen, it is not always...
Back
Top