Philosophical Arabesques

Bukharin’s Philosophical Arabesques was written while he was imprisoned in the Lubyanka Prison in Moscow, facing trial on charges of treason, and later awaiting execution after he was found guilty. After the death of Lenin, Bukharin cooperated with Stalin for a time. Once Stalin's supremacy was assured he began eliminating all potential rivals. For Bukharin, the process was to end with his confession before the Soviet court, facing the threat that his young family would be killed along with him if he did not. While awaiting his death, Bukharin wrote prolifically. He considered Philosophical Arabesques as the most important of his prison writings. In its pages, he covers the full range of issues in Marxist philosophy-the sources of knowledge, the nature of truth, freedom and necessity, the relationship of Hegelian and Marxist dialectic. The project constitutes a defense of the genuine legacy of Lenin's Marxism against the use of his memory to legitimate totalitarian power. Consigned to the Kremlin archives for a half-century after Bukharin’s execution, this work is now being published for the first time in English. It will be an essential reference work for scholars of Marxism and the Russian revolution and a landmark in the history of prison writing. Introduction: A Voice from the Dead by HELENA SHEEHAN ••••• •••••• ••••• 7 Editorial Note by MONTHLY REVIEW PRESS ................... ........ . .... . 31 Author's Foreword .. •.•..•.....•....•.........•.•.•..••.•.......................... 34 Author's Introduction ............... .................. ...... ....... ................ 35 I - The Reality of the World and the Intrigues of Solipsism ......... '37 2 -Acceptance and Nonacceptance of the World ............. ........... 47 3 - Things in Themselves and Their Cognizability .. .............. .... 67 4 - Space and Time .............................................. . ..... . ..... 68 5 - Mediated Knowledge ..................................................... 8i 6 - The Abstract and the Concrete . .... ....... .... . ...... .... ... .. ... ..... . 83 7 - Perception, Image, Concept .... ............ ................ .. ......... .. 92 8 - Living Nature and the Artistic Attitude toward It ... ........ .. .. .... 98 9 - Rational Thought, Dialectical Thought, ... .. ............ ... .. .... ....... . and Direct Contemplation .... .. ......... ... .......... ........ . ..... .. .. 104 10 - Practice in General and the Place of Practice ............................... in the Theory of Knowledge ........... ........ ....... ..................... 113 11 - Practical, Theoretical and Aesthetic Attitudes ........................... toward the World, and Their Unity ..................... .... ...... .... 124 12 -The Fundamental Positions of Materialism and Idealism ........ 131 13 - Hylozoism and Panpsychism ................. ......... ............ ..... 139 - Hindu Mysticism and Western European Philosophy ................ 46 ~ - The So-called Philosophy ofldentity ................................... 154 5 . M "ali ........... i63 i6-The Sins of Mechanistic Materialism .. .. · ...... · .. · .... · .. · .. 1 - The General Laws and Relations ofBeing ..................... ......... i70 7 ................ .. ............................... 177 i8 - Teleology · ...... · · ·.......... i86 1 - Freedom and Necessity .................... ............................... . 9 . . ................................... 193 20 - The Organism ........ ... ............... . S · d Dialectical Materialism · · · · · .. · .... · .... · · · · .. · " 200 21 _Modem c1ence an . 1 fTh ght· Labor and Thought.· ........ · .. ··· .. · .. ·· .... 22 - The Socio ogy o ou · . .. ........... 207 as Social-Historical Categones ....... ................... ... .. . l fTh ght· Mode of Producnon .... · ............... ...... · 23 _The Socio ogy o ou . · ....... ... .............. 214 and Mode of Representanon .... · · .. · · .. · .. · · .... · 'al Th ht .................... 224 _On So-called Rac1 oug .. ............ .... · · .. · · 24 E . ,, .. '22 'al P . · Th ght, and " xpenence .. · · · .... · .... · · · · · · · · .. · -v 25 - Soc1 os1tJ.on, ou ................ 241 2 5 _The Object of Philosophy ........... · .... · .. · · · ...... · ·· .. . h ... ................. 248 27 _The Subject of Philosop Y ............................ 28 - The Interaction of Subject and Object .. .. .. .. . . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 25 5 . h Ob' t d Subiect of Mastering · .. · ...... · .. · .... · · · .. 262 29 - Socrety as t e ~ec an " . . o - Truth: The Concept of Truth and the Cntenon ......... ................... . 3 of the nuthful .................................. ......... .. . ................. 269 d 31 - Truth: Absolute an nnr..1ld.t i· ve 'T1I. rut h . ...... .... ........ .. . .... .. ......... 275 ............. 282 32-TheGood ............................... .. ..................... . d .i:. S tern ............ · 292 33 - Hegel ' s Diale cu ·c al I eawsm as a ys ................ .. . 8 'al · fH 1 and the Dialectics of Marx .................. 3o 34 - The Di ectlcs o ege 1 35 - Dialectics as Science and Dialectics as Art ............ . ................. 33 36 - Science and philo soph y .................. .. ............................... 339 .. ....... ................ 345 '37 - Evolution ......... · ...... · .. ....................... .. 2 38 - Theory and History .................... . .. ................................. '35 . deal ................................ 359 39 - The Social I ... · ...... · ·· .. · · .......... · 6g . h ......................... 3 40 _Lenin as a Philosoper ......... · ........ .. ... .. .. Notes ....... ........ ...... .. ...................... ............ . .............. ......... 377 Index .................. .................... . ..... ............. . ....................... 395 Bukharins Philosophical Arabesques was written while he was imprisoned in the Lubyanka Prison in Moscow, facing trial on charges of treason, and later awaiting execution after he was found guilty. After the death of Lenin, Bukharin cooperated with Stalin for a time. Once Stalin's supremacy was assured he began eliminating all potential rivals. For Bukharin, the process was to end with his confession before the Soviet court, facing the threat that his young family would be killed along with him if he did not. While awaiting his death, Bukharin wrote prolifically. He considered Philosophical Arabesques as the most important of his prison writings. In its pages, he covers the full range of issues in Marxist philosophythe sources of knowledge, the nature of truth, freedom and necessity, the relationship of Hegelian and Marxist dialectic. The project constitutes a defense of the genuine legacy of Lenin's Marxism against the use of his memory to legitimate totalitarian power. Consigned to the Kremlin archives for a half-century after Bukharins execution, this work is now being published for the first time in English. It will be an essential reference work for scholars of Marxism and the Russian revolution and a landmark in the history of prison writing.