Friedrich Engels, Scientific Socialism and Scientific Development: A Review of Herr Eugen Dühring’s Revolution in Science (Anti Dühring)

Friedrich Engels, Scientific Socialism and  Scientific Development

A Review of Herr Eugen Dühring’s Revolution in Science (Anti Dühring)

By Jan Freidun Taravosh the 10th of December 2009

“Freedom of science is taken to mean that people write on every subject they have not studied and proclaim this as the only strictly scientific method. Herr Dühring is one of the most characteristic types of this bumptious pseudo-science which is nowadays forcing its way to the front everywhere in Germany and is drowning everything with its resounding -- sublime nonsense. Sublime nonsense in poetry, in philosophy, in politics, in economics, in historiography, sublime nonsense in the lecture-room and on the platform, sublime nonsense everywhere; sublime nonsense which lays claim to a superiority and depth of thought distinguishing it from the simple, commonplace nonsense of other nations; sublime nonsense, the most characteristic mass product of Germany's intellectual industry -- cheap but bad -- just like other German-made goods. [...] Particularly since Herr Dühring's good example, even German socialism has lately gone in for a considerable amount of sublime nonsense,”  

 - Friedrich Ebgels

Introduction:

For those readers who are not acquainted with this title the most apt description of it is one of the landmark efforts in the cannon of Scientific Socialism . It seems that no one at the time had such an ambition that could match Engels  as to write a thorough analysis of the Metaphysical world outlook and bring the reader so much clarity on the concept of dialectical materialism.

Part I:

Materialism, Dialectics and Modern Science

Most people who set out to read this title are not aware of who Herr Dühring is, yet this is not important in the context how ever odd this may seem. The important thing this title brings to the reader is that it fully demonstrates the full scope of the progressive Scientific Socialism as a complete world outlook while at the same time it reveals the limitations of old fashioned metaphysical, mystical and abstract  world outlooks.

Part II:

Socialism and the Progressive side of Modern Science

While Karl Marx focused all his powers on economics Engels spent most of his years  on clarifiying the correlation between Socialism and Modern Science. 

Those in the Western Establishment who claim that Socialism has gone out of fashion, really are only trying to create a Faux perception of the basic concept of Scientific Socialism which is development and progress, which stands in direct opposition to the conservatism of the establishment. There are those who claim that socialism is nothing more than a complex economic system, yet everyone who reads Anti Dühring will have a different understanding of Scientific Socialism which deals of course with the basic foundations of economy but also goes beyond that. Scientific Socialism is Dynamic not dogmatic.

Anti Dühring provides and understanding to the reader of the true dynamics of Scientific Socialism and theory that unlike previous schools of thought fully corresponds with the progressive side of Modern Science.

The Author explains:

  “Nature is the test of dialectics, and it must be said for modern science that it has furnished this test with very rich and daily increasing materials, and thus has shown that in the last resort nature works dialectically and not metaphysically; [that she does not move in an eternally uniform and perpetually recurring circle, but goes through a genuine historical evolution. In this connection Darwin must be named before all others. He dealt the metaphysical conception of nature the heaviest blow by his proof that the organic world of today -- plants, animals, and consequently man too -- is the product of a process of evolution going on through millions of years]. But since the natural scientists who have learned to think dialectically are still few and far between, this conflict of the results of discovery with traditional modes of thinking explains the endless confusion now reigning in theoretical natural science, the despair of teachers as well as students, of authors and readers alike.”

 Part III 

A well made analysis of the old world outlook and a clear outline of the new outlook

The first part of deals with Philosophy and such concepts as nature time and space

The second part deals with concepts mainly based around the idea of political economy 

the third parts main theme is Socialism. This book is like a journey that takes you through the development of Human Thinking of the enlightenment epoch of the bourgeoisie with thinkers such as Locke, Bacon Rousseau and others. What is great with Engels is that he deals sincerely with all philosophers of the old days, but also brings up the limitations and vagueness of many of their ideas. 

Herr Eugen Dühring’s concept of thought comes of as vague and a hotch potch of different ideas both old and “new”. But where the concept of thought of Dühring remains nothing more than an historical curiosity today the concept of Scientific Socialism as presented by Friedrich Engels remains as relevant as ever. With Anti Dühring Engels did not only win the battle against abstract old fashioned world outlooks of the time, he also makes a clear outline of the new world outlook. It’s some what amusing to see that after reading this book, you will realised that all faux claims concerning scientific socialism as a fading, or old fashioned concept is in fact only heard from the conservative establishment who themselves base their authority on old fashioned ideas and trying desperately to justified them in face of a global capitalist crisis.

The Author stands up for a more dynamic view on world development  he explains the narrow-mindedness that to this day still  fogs up the conservatives minds: “  To the metaphysician, things and their mental images, ideas, are isolated, to be considered one after the other and apart from each other, fixed, rigid objects of investigation given once for all. He thinks in absolutely unmediated antitheses. "His communication is 'yea, yea; nay, nay'; for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil." For him a thing either exists or does not exist; a thing cannot at the same time be itself and something else. Positive and negative absolutely exclude one another; cause and effect stand in a rigid antithesis one to the other.

It makes you think doesn’t it!

 Thus the book Herr Eugens Dühring in Science deals a definite blow to faux scientists and pretentious academics, and  as such the book is a landmark effort. 

I read in my days of upper secondary school, Anti Dühring was one of the first complete book I read on Scientific Socialism after hearing about this book in Stalin’s pamphlet dialectical and historical materialism - a pamphlet which explained the basic concept of the communist world outlook, which I will be delighted to review at a different time.

For some reason Engles contribution to the people’s movement and the world of philosophy is vastly underrated If you ask me personally - Anti Dühring is one of the best books I ever read. When I came to read it,

 I too saw economy as a somewhat abstract concept. therefore science and philosophy was much easier to relate to. thus when the chapter on economy came. the previous chapters had already provided a context to relate this matter to. 

I am saying this to prove that the Capital by Karl Marx or the manifesto is not the only title that you can read to apprehend knowledge about Scientific Socialism. Anti Dühring by Engels deals thoroughly with concepts and themes which is only briefly mentioned in these classics and it goes to show that there is more to scientific socialism and communism than economy and theories on the surplus value. Anti Dühring is availible in many languages, is full of wit and is an essential read for anyone interested in Scientific Socialism or Philosophy or Scienience in general