Chris Doss
I think this depends on how you define "science." Cosmology, paleontology, and many forms of geology are all really varieties of history and all normally considered sciences. Unless one wants to say that "history" only refers to that story of the development of human beings, and that for some reason human beings, unlike everything else, cannot be described by such a science. ^^^^ CB: There are roughly two branches of science-history: Natural history ( Darwinism, cosmology) and human history ( Marxism). Or we can say it's all natural history,with human history a branch of natural history of special interest to we humans. By the way, in the Soviet Union all degrees were in history for this reason, I believe. Does Angelus have trouble conceiving of natural history as science ? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_history The point I think Marx and Engels make when they say " there is only one science, the science of history" is that science must be conceived of dialectically, that is in terms of development, change. _Everything_ changes, develops, has a history. Even the physical universe ( "physics") changes. Engels notes ( in _Anti-Duhring_) that Kant initiated a dialectical understanding of the solar system in saying that it has a history. --- Angelus Novus > > Charles, how on earth is a "science" of history even > possible? Please do not take this as a rhetorical > question. I think one can do useful analytical, > scholarly historical work, but there are no "laws" > of > history. Using the word "science" makes exaggerated > claims for scholarly historical analysis. > CB: In a way Angelus is thinking of this backwards. Marx and Engels are saying all "science" must be conceived of in terms of the history of its subject matter, that is dialectically. I'm gonna go with Marx and Engels over Angel as to whether there are scientific laws of history. As Engels says at Marx's graveside. http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1883/death/burial.htm Just as Darwin discovered the law of development or organic nature, so Marx discovered the law of development of human history: the simple fact, hitherto concealed by an overgrowth of ideology, that mankind must first of all eat, drink, have shelter and clothing, before it can pursue politics, science, art, religion, etc.; that therefore the production of the immediate material means, and consequently the degree of economic development attained by a given people or during a given epoch, form the foundation upon which the state institutions, the legal conceptions, art, and even the ideas on religion, of the people concerned have been evolved, and in the light of which they must, therefore, be explained, instead of vice versa, as had hitherto been the case. But that is not all. Marx also discovered the special law of motion governing the present-day capitalist mode of production, and the bourgeois society that this mode of production has created. The discovery of surplus value suddenly threw light on the problem, in trying to solve which all previous investigations, of both bourgeois economists and socialist critics, had been groping in the dark ^^^^ Angelus Novus Carrol is absolutely 100% correct here. While it may be difficult to distinguish between Marx the scientist and Marx the revolutionary at the level of personality, I think it is entirely possible to distinguish between the scientifically meaningful parts of Marx's analysis versus historical-philosophical prophesies that are an expression of revolutionary hope. The prospect for communist revolution has no bearing upon the validity of Marx's analysis of capitalism. Some would even argue that Marx's analysis of the fetishistic relations of bourgeois society demonstrates the impossibility of revolution. I don't share this perspective, but I do not think it is nonsense. ^^^^^ CB: This gives new meaning to "Marx was not a Maxist" . Fortunately, we have Carrol and Angel who understand Marx better than he understood himself. _______________________________________________ Marxism-Thaxis mailing list Marxism-Thaxis@lists.econ.utah.edu To change your options or unsubscribe go to: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/marxism-thaxis
