Shawgi, economic determinism argues or implies that productive forces and
class relations (but particularly productive forces) are THE "essential"
element or cause or explanation of social reality. It is much more
consistent with Marx's project to say that social relations of production
(particularly) and productive forces are "DOMINANT". Ajit Sinha, a couple
of days ago, posted on the issue of dominance in a very nice way.
Paul
On Sat, 10 Aug 1996, SHAWGI TELL wrote:
>
> I'm sorry Paul, I don't understand: what is "economic determinism?"
>
>
> Shawgi Tell
> > Are you proposing economic determinism or what? What about Engels
> > comment that he and Marx are partly to blame for over-emphasizing the
> > economic at the expense of other factors? Also, where do Marx and Engels
> > take the position you are ascribing to them? (I don't care about
> > Stalin's opinion.)
> >
> > Paul
> >
> >
> > On Fri, 9 Aug 1996, SHAWGI TELL wrote:
> >
> > >
> > >
> > > According to V.I. Lenin:
> > >
> > > Hitherto, sociologists had found it difficult
> > > to distinguish in the complex network of social
> > > phenomena which phenomena were important and which
> > > unimportant (that is the root of subjectivism in
> > > sociology) and had been unable to offer any
> > > objective criterion for such a distinction.
> > > ("What the 'Friends of the People' Are and How
> > > they Fight the Social-Democrats," April 1894, in
> > > THE ESSENTIALS OF LENIN, Vol I, London: Lawrence
> > > & Wishart, 1947, 82-83)
> > >
> > > In my estimation, Marx, Engels, Lenin and Stalin went to great lengths to
> > > expose the anti-scientific character of pluralism, a petty-bourgeois trend.
> > > They revealed the irrationalism and subjectivism inherent in
> > > "multiple-factor 'theories'," always arguing for the scientific
> > > reflection of the key, determinig influence. They gave all-sided
> > > analyses a scientific character.
> > >
> > >
> > > Shawgi Tell
