Scientific Revolution and Materialist Philosophy¶

Marxist Theory · 2026-05-13

Core Argument¶

The central thesis of this article is that the development of scientific thought cannot be understood in isolation from the class struggles that shape society, and that the philosophical struggle between materialism and idealism is ultimately a reflection of the conflict between rising and declining social classes. Ben Curry argues that genuine science necessarily presupposes a materialist outlook, but that the mechanical materialism of the bourgeois epoch has proven insufficient — both philosophically and politically. The working class requires dialectical materialism, a consistent and revolutionary philosophy that alone can comprehend nature as a web of interconnected, contradictory processes in motion, and which alone can arm the proletariat for its struggle against a decaying capitalist system.

The article claims that the history of science demonstrates the operation of dialectical laws — particularly the transformation of quantity into quality — and that the crisis in modern cosmology, with its proliferation of untestable variables like dark matter and dark energy, mirrors the crisis of the Ptolemaic system on the eve of the Copernican revolution. The bourgeoisie, once the bearer of militant materialism, now supports mysticism and idealism in order to divert the masses from the contradictions of capitalism.

Theoretical Grounding¶

The analysis is firmly rooted in the classical Marxist tradition, drawing principally on Engels's distinction between the "two great camps" in philosophy (idealism and materialism) as elaborated in Ludwig Feuerbach and the End of Classical German Philosophy. The article also relies heavily on Lenin's Materialism and Empirio-Criticism, particularly its defence of the reflection theory of knowledge and its critique of Machist attempts to reduce the world to "complexes of sensations."

The dialectical framework is drawn from Heraclitus, Hegel (via Engels's appropriation), and Trotsky's philosophical notebooks, with the transformation of quantity into quality identified as the "fundamental law" of dialectical materialism. The article situates itself within the Marxist tradition that insists on the applicability of dialectical laws to both nature and society — rejecting any dualism that would confine dialectics to human consciousness alone.

The analysis of scientific revolutions draws on Thomas Kuhn's The Copernican Revolution, but subjects Kuhn to Marxist critique: his failure to connect scientific development to broader social, economic, and political development is identified as the fundamental limitation of his work. The article thus positions itself within the tradition of historical materialism's approach to the history of science, where the development of productive forces and class struggle provide the ultimate motor for scientific advance.

Conjunctural Relevance¶

The article was published in July 2018, and its conjunctural analysis is directed at the state of contemporary cosmology and the ideological function of bourgeois science under conditions of capitalist decline. Curry draws a direct parallel between the Ptolemaic system's proliferation of epicycles and the contemporary Big Bang theory's reliance on arbitrary, untestable variables — dark matter, dark energy, inflation, cosmological constants — to save the theory from contradictory observations. The claim that these theories prove "too accurate" against what normal scientific development would predict is presented as a symptom of crisis.

The article's broader political conjuncture is the terminal decline of capitalism, in which the bourgeoisie has abandoned its revolutionary materialist heritage and now "supports all manifestations of religion and mysticism." The ideological offensive of sociobiology and evolutionary psychology — exemplified by E. O. Wilson — is identified as a contemporary expression of bourgeois class interests, attempting to naturalise capitalist social relations by reducing historically developed social phenomena to biological characteristics.

The article also addresses the revival of idealist philosophy under scientific-sounding names, such as the "information universe" theory, which replaces "sensations" with "information" as the fundamental constituent of reality — a rehash of empirio-criticism in contemporary garb.

Where the Argument Continues¶

This article is explicitly the first part of a series. It establishes the historical and philosophical framework — from the Ancient Greeks through the Copernican revolution to Newton — and promises further development of the argument in subsequent instalments. The argument continues in:

Part Two of the same series (published on marxist.com), which presumably traces the development of dialectical materialism through the 19th and 20th centuries, covering Darwin, the revolution in physics (Einstein, quantum mechanics), and the implications for contemporary science.
Engels's Dialectics of Nature, which provides the foundational Marxist text on the application of dialectics to the natural sciences.
Lenin's Materialism and Empirio-Criticism, which is referenced extensively and provides the definitive Marxist critique of Machist philosophy.
Trotsky's philosophical notebooks (1933-1935), from which the article draws its formulation of the fundamental law of dialectics.
Thomas Kuhn's The Copernican Revolution and The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, which the article uses but subjects to Marxist critique.
Against the Stream episodes on philosophy and science, which may develop the argument in relation to contemporary scientific debates.

The article leaves open the question of how dialectical materialism can be applied to specific contemporary scientific controversies — quantum mechanics, evolutionary theory, neuroscience — and how revolutionaries should intervene in these debates. These are presumably addressed in later parts of the series.

Connections¶

Engels, Ludwig Feuerbach and the End of Classical German Philosophy — the source of the "two great camps" formulation.
Engels, Dialectics of Nature — the foundational text on dialectics in natural science.
Lenin, Materialism and Empirio-Criticism — the defence of the reflection theory of knowledge and critique of Machism.
Marx, Theses on Feuerbach — particularly the first thesis on the active, practical side of materialism.
Trotsky, Notebooks 1933-1935 — the formulation of the transformation of quantity into quality as the fundamental law of dialectics.
Thomas Kuhn, The Copernican Revolution and The Structure of Scientific Revolutions — the analysis of paradigm shifts, subjected to Marxist critique.
Joseph Dietzgen Sr. — the "worker-philosopher" whose phrase about "graduated flunkeys of clericalism" is quoted approvingly via Lenin.
Heraclitus — the ancient source of dialectical thought ("everything both is and is not").
Lucretius, De Rerum Natura — the atomist poetry of ancient Rome.
E. O. Wilson and sociobiology — contemporary bourgeois attempts to naturalise capitalist social relations.

Key Quotes¶

"Science is always rooted in class society, and the lack of a dialectical materialist perspective has led some modern scientists back to the idealism and mysticism that the bourgeoisie railed against in its revolutionary phase."
"In its struggle, the modern proletariat has even more need of a philosophy than the bourgeoisie did in its day. Indeed, it is impossible to imagine the working class clearly understanding its historical role and setting itself the task of seizing power without having first liberated itself from the prejudices, ignorance and mysticism propagated by the capitalist class and having acquired an independent philosophical position."
"The essence of dialectical materialism is to consider things not in a one-sided manner but precisely in their contradictions and considered as processes in motion."
"Anyone familiar with the current state of cosmology will be struck by the similarities that it shares with the Ptolemaic cosmology in its final days. Today too, all manner of arbitrary variables – dark matter, dark energy, inflation, cosmological constants, etc. – have been latched on to the Big Bang theory, without the slightest shred of observational evidence in their support."
"In the words of Engels, 'Copernicus, at the beginning of the period, writes a letter renouncing theology; Newton closes the period with the postulate of a divine first impulse.'"
"The defence of a modern materialist outlook from its detractors then represents not only the class standpoint of the working class in its struggle against the bourgeoisie; it is also the defence of science against all attempts to retreat into the realm of mysticism and idealism."