Introduction to the Brazilian edition of The History of Philosophy

Marxist Theory · 2026-05-13

Core Argument¶

The central thesis of this introduction is that the study of Marxist theory — and specifically the history of philosophy — is not a luxury or a distraction from "practical politics" but an indispensable precondition for building a revolutionary movement capable of overthrowing capitalism. Alan Woods argues that the neglect of theory, the contempt for ideas, and the worship of mindless activism are not merely errors of judgement but expressions of a petty-bourgeois prejudice that slanders the working class's genuine thirst for understanding. The article claims that the Revolutionary Communist International's survival and growth after the collapse of Stalinism was secured not by organisational manoeuvres or resources but by the power of correct ideas — above all, the defence of dialectical materialism. The history of philosophy is presented not as an academic curiosity but as the necessary preparation for grasping the dialectical method, which is itself the "algebra of revolution."

Theoretical Grounding¶

The analysis draws on several foundational Marxist positions:

Lenin's theory of the three forms of struggle (economic, political, ideological) and the insistence that without revolutionary theory there can be no revolutionary movement. The article explicitly invokes Lenin's What Is To Be Done? and the 1909 split with Bogdanov over philosophy as evidence that the ideological struggle is not secondary but primary.
Engels' dialectics of nature and the tradition of dialectical materialism as a scientific world outlook. The article positions Reason in Revolt and The History of Philosophy as continuations of Engels' project in Anti-Dühring and Dialectics of Nature — defending the materialist dialectic against both positivist dismissal and idealist distortion.
Hegel's conception of the history of philosophy as a single, organic process of development in which each stage negates and preserves what came before. This is the methodological backbone of the book: the history of philosophy is not a random collection of opinions but the progressive self-development of thought, culminating in Marx's materialist inversion of Hegel.
Trotsky's warnings against dogmatic schematism, specifically his insistence that political predictions are working hypotheses, not perfect blueprints. The article uses Trotsky's 1938 Transitional Programme and his 1921 intervention at the Third Congress to argue that turning conditional propositions into absolute dogmas — as sectarians do with the claim that capitalism cannot develop the productive forces — destroys Marxism as a scientific method.

Conjunctural Relevance¶

The article was written in October 2025 and is addressed to the Brazilian section of the RCI. Its conjunctural relevance operates on several levels:

The ideological offensive of the bourgeoisie following the collapse of Stalinism has not abated. The article treats postmodernism and the "poisonous cesspool of postmodern gibberish" as the dominant ideological expression of a decaying bourgeois philosophy that has abandoned any serious engagement with the real world. This is presented as the philosophical counterpart to capitalism's senile decay.
The sectarian deformation of Marxism is addressed concretely through the example of those who deny that China has developed the productive forces. This is a live political dispute within the Marxist tradition, and the article uses it to illustrate how a dogmatic method — treating a conditional observation from 1938 as an eternal law — leads to conclusions that contradict observable reality and render Marxism ridiculous.
The Brazilian context is significant: the publication of a substantial theoretical work in Portuguese, and the fact that the Brazilian section is "being built on sound foundations," signals that the RCI sees Brazil as a key theatre of the class struggle where theoretical preparation is urgent. The article is a direct intervention against the anti-intellectual currents that have historically plagued the Latin American left.

Where the Argument Continues¶

This introduction is a gateway text. The argument it opens continues in several directions:

The book itself, The History of Philosophy, is the obvious continuation — a systematic treatment of philosophical development from the pre-Socratics through Hegel and Marx, designed to equip cadres with the dialectical method.
Reason in Revolt (Ted Grant and Alan Woods) is the companion volume on the dialectics of nature and the relationship between Marxism and modern science. The article explicitly presents both books as part of the same project.
The broader corpus of In Defence of Marxism contains extensive treatments of the China question, the theory of the productive forces under imperialism, and the critique of sectarian method. The article references these as arguments "already done comprehensively elsewhere."
Against the Stream episodes and IDOM articles on the history of philosophy, the critique of postmodernism, and the defence of dialectical materialism form a continuous theoretical output that this introduction summarises and points toward.

Connections¶

Lenin, What Is To Be Done? — the foundational text on the relationship between theory and the workers' movement, directly quoted and defended.
Lenin, Materialism and Empirio-Criticism — the philosophical work that emerged from the 1909 split with Bogdanov, referenced implicitly through the discussion of Lenin's willingness to break with the Bolshevik leadership over philosophy.
Engels, Anti-Dühring and Dialectics of Nature — the classical texts on dialectical materialism that Reason in Revolt and The History of Philosophy are designed to defend and extend.
Hegel, Lectures on the History of Philosophy — the source of the method that treats philosophical development as an organic, dialectical process.
Trotsky, The Transitional Programme (1938) — the text from which sectarians extract the proposition that the productive forces have ceased to grow, and which the article argues must be understood as a conditional, conjunctural analysis.
Trotsky, Writings, 1930 — the source of the warning against "finished schemata."
Pavel Annenkov, Reminiscences of Marx and Engels — the source of the anecdote about Marx's confrontation with Weitling and the line "Ignorance never yet helped anybody."

Key Quotes¶

"Without revolutionary theory there can be no revolutionary movement. This idea cannot be insisted upon too strongly at a time when the fashionable preaching of opportunism goes hand in hand with an infatuation for the narrowest forms of practical activity."
"The abandonment or neglect of theory, the search for a shortcut to the masses, leads inevitably either to the swamp of opportunism or the dead end of ultra-leftism."
"By turning what was a conditional prognosis into an absolute assertion, valid for all time and applicable in all circumstances, the sectarians have turned Trotsky's scientific analysis into complete nonsense."
"The rock on which we build our organisation is the granite rock of Marxist theory."
"Hegel treated the history of philosophy, not as a senseless sequence of disconnected ideas by individual thinkers, but as an organic whole, in which each stage negates the previous stage, but at the same time preserves all that is necessary and valid in its real content, raising it to a higher level."
"Just as we pay careful attention to the lessons afforded by the great class struggles of the past, so we have a duty to study the great battle of ideas that constitutes the essential meaning of the history of philosophy."