The Development of the Monist View of History

The Development of the Monist View of History

47. In essence this is the very psychological process which the proletariat of Europe is now going through: its psychology is already adapting itself to the new, future relations of production.

48. “Quand’essa cominciava appena a nascerc net diciassettesimo secolo, alcune nazioni avevano già da più secoli florito colla loro sola esperienza, da cui poscia la scienza ricavo i suoi dettami.” Storia della Economia pubblica in Italia, ecc. , Lugano 1829, p.11. [“Even before it (political economy) began to take shape in the seventeenth century, some nations had been flourishing for several centuries relying solely on their practical experience. That experience was later used by this science for its propositions.” – Ed. ]

John Stuart Mill repeats: “In every department of human affairs, Practice long precedes Science ... The conception, accordingly, of Political Economy as a branch of Science is extremely modern; but the subject with which its enquiries are conversant has in all ages necessarily constituted one of the chief practical interests of mankind.” Principles of Political Economy , London 1843, Vol.I, p.1.

49. Rechtsstaat and Sozialismus , Innsbruck 1881, pp.124-25.

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Editorial Notes

13*. K. Marx and F. Engels, Selected Works , Vol.I, Moscow 1955, pp. 362-63.

14*. K. Marx, Capital , Vol.1, Moscow 1958, p.177.

15*. K. Marx and F. Engels, Selected Works , Vol.I, Moscow 1955, p.363.

16*. Ibid. , p.368.

17*. Plekhanov here refers to L.I. Mechnikov’s book La civilisation et les grands fleuves historiques , avec une préface de M. Elisée Reclus, Paris 1889.

18*. Plekhanov refers to Paul Barth’s objections to Marx in Die Geschichtsphilosophie Hegels und der Hegelianer bis auf Marx und Hartmann , Leipzig 1890, pp.49-50.

19*. “Slovo i delo” gosudarevo (the word and deed of the sovereign) – the conventional name for the Tsarist political police method in the Russian Empire in the 18th century. To say “word and deed” meant to report state crimes.

20*. Quotation from N.I.Kareyev’s Economic Materialism in History , Vestnik Yevropy , July 1894, p.7.

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Last updated on 23.12.2004

Modern Materialism. Part Three

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G.V. Plekhanov

The Development of the Monist View of History