Dutch edition of Reason in Revolt out now - Preface

Marxist Theory · 2026-05-13

Core Argument¶

This preface argues that dialectical materialism provides the only coherent philosophical framework for understanding both nature and society, and that the latest scientific discoveries — far from superseding Marxism — vindicate its core principles. The central claim is that the crisis of bourgeois thought, expressed in the resurgence of religious obscurantism (intelligent design) and the mystical implications drawn from the Big Bang theory, is not accidental but flows from the decay of capitalism itself. Against this, Woods insists that matter is infinite, eternal, and self-moving; that consciousness lags behind material reality but is jolted forward by crises; and that the dialectical method — grounded in contradiction, transformation into opposites, and qualitative leaps — is the only adequate tool for grasping a world in permanent flux.

Theoretical Grounding¶

The analysis draws directly on Engels' Dialectics of Nature and Anti-Dühring, extending the project of demonstrating that dialectical laws are not imposed on nature but discovered within it. Woods situates himself within the tradition of Marxist philosophy that rejects any division between a dialectical method for society and a mechanical materialism for nature — a position that distinguishes classical Marxism from both Stalinist diamat and Western Marxism's tendency to abandon natural philosophy to the bourgeoisie. The argument also engages Thomas Kuhn's theory of scientific revolutions, but reads it dialectically: paradigm shifts are not arbitrary social constructions but expressions of the real movement of knowledge through contradiction. The preface implicitly defends the Engelsian inheritance against those who would discard it as outdated, insisting that the materialist conception of history requires a consistent materialist philosophy of nature.

Conjunctural Relevance¶

Written in 2011, the preface connects the philosophical offensive of intelligent design to the political rise of the New Right in the United States and the broader cultural decay of late capitalism. The timing is precise: the Dover school board case (2005) had recently exposed the creationist assault on science education, while the Vatican's embrace of the Big Bang theory illustrated the convergence of religious obscurantism and idealist interpretations of cosmology. Woods draws a direct line from the 18th-century bourgeois revolution fought under the banner of Reason to the 21st-century bourgeoisie abandoning reason for mysticism — a symptom of a class that no longer has a progressive historical mission. The economic crisis of 2008-2011 provides the social backdrop: austerity, unemployment, and falling living standards are the material conditions that will eventually shatter the ideological fog, just as tectonic pressure builds until it must discharge in an earthquake. The Arab Spring (Tunisia, Egypt) and the Greek and Spanish movements are cited as evidence that consciousness can change rapidly when objective conditions force the question.

Where the Argument Continues¶

This preface is a gateway to the full text of Reason in Revolt, which develops the dialectical materialist analysis of modern science in detail — from quantum mechanics and relativity to genetics and cosmology. The argument about the Big Bang is taken up more extensively in the book's cosmology section, and Woods' critique of genetic determinism is elaborated in the chapters on biology and the human genome. Readers should also consult Alan Woods' later writings on the relationship between Marxism and science, particularly his contributions to In Defence of Marxism on the philosophical implications of quantum theory and the ongoing debates around intelligent design. The preface's political conclusion — that the crisis of capitalism will drive workers back to Marxist ideas — connects to the broader corpus of the Revolutionary Communist International on the relationship between economic crisis and revolutionary consciousness, developed in numerous articles and Against the Stream episodes from the same period.

Connections¶

Engels, Dialectics of Nature — the foundational text for the project of demonstrating dialectical laws in natural science.
Engels, Anti-Dühring — the systematic defence of dialectical materialism against mechanical and idealist distortions.
Thomas Kuhn, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions — used here as a dialectical account of scientific development, though Woods would reject Kuhn's relativist implications.
Stephen Jay Gould — cited for his critique of intelligent design from within evolutionary biology; his concept of "punctuated equilibrium" resonates with the dialectical emphasis on leaps.
Neil Turok and Paul Steinhardt, Endless Universe — a contemporary scientific challenge to the Big Bang orthodoxy that Woods sees as moving toward a dialectical view.
Alan Woods and Ted Grant, Reason in Revolt — the full text, of which this is the preface to the Dutch edition.

Key Quotes¶

"Dialectical materialism assumes that the Universe is infinite, eternal, and ever changing. This does not at all preclude the possibility of a big bang. Indeed, we have already argued that there have probably been many big bangs. But what it certainly does preclude is any question of matter (or energy, which is exactly the same thing) can be created out of nothing (as the big bang implies) or destroyed."
"The Big Bang theory was an attempt to explain the history of the Universe on the basis of certain observed phenomena... In the most widely accepted cosmological model, called the inflationary model, the universe was born in an instantaneous creation of matter and energy. It is the modern equivalent of the old religious dogma of the creation of the world from nothing."
"Once we accept that there is a limit to what we can know, we leave the door open to all kinds of religious mysticism and obscurantism. In the past it was religion that argued that there are certain corners of reality that are inaccessible to the human mind. These dark corners should better be left to religion and superstition. But the whole history of science answers this nonsense."
"It is really a monstrous aberration that for the first time in 2,500 years it is the scientists (some of them, anyway) who argued that the Big Bang represented an impassable barrier for science. No wonder the Vatican was so eager to embrace this theory."
"Just as the tectonic plates, having moved too slowly, compensate by a violent earthquake, so the lagging of consciousness behind events is compensated by sudden changes in the psychology of the masses. We have seen this process recently in Tunisia, Egypt, Spain and Greece."
"The method of Marxism provides one with all the basic tools needed to analyse and understand living reality. Dialectical materialism allows us to study reality, not as a series of dry, unconnected, senseless events or 'facts', but as a dynamic process, driven by its internal contradictions, ever changing and with an infinitely rich content."