A masterful survey of the history of Marxist philosophy of science Sheehan retraces the development of a Marxist philosophy of science through detailed and highly readable accounts of the debates that shaped it. Skilfully deploying a large cast of characters, Sheehan shows how Marx and Engel’s ideas on the development and structure of natural science had a crucial impact on the work of early twentieth-century natural philosophers, historians of science, and natural scientists. With a new afterword by the author.

This book, first published in 1938, is based upon the Muirhead lectures on political philosophy delivered in the University of Birmingham in January and February of 1938. This title was intended to be of interest to students and scientific workers in the belief that Marxism will prove valuable to them in their scientific work, as well as to a wider audience.

The achievements of science and technology during the past century are unparalleled in history. They provide the potential for the solution to all the problems faced by the planet, and equally for its total destruction. Allegedly scientific theories are being used to "prove" that criminality is caused, not by social conditions, but by a "criminal gene". Black people are alleged to be disadvantaged, not because of discrimination, but because of their genetic make-up. Of course, such "science" is highly convenient to right-wing politicians intent on ruthlessly cutting welfare. In the field of theoretical physics and cosmology there is a growing tendency towards mysticism. The "Big Bang" theory of the origin of the universe is being used to justify the existence of a Creator, as in the book of Genesis . For the first time in centuries, science appears to lend credence to religious obscurantism. Yet this is only one side of the story.

Marx and Whitehead boldly asks us to reconsider capitalism, not merely as an "economic system" but as a fundamentally self-destructive mode that, by its very nature and operation, undermines the cohesive fabric of human existence. Author Anne Fairchild Pomeroy asserts that it is impossible to appreciate fully the impact of Marx's critique of capitalism without understanding the philosophical system that underlies it. Alfred North Whitehead's work is used to forge a systematic link between process philosophy and dialectical materialism via the category of production. Whitehead's process thought brings Marx's philosophical vision into sharper focus. This union provides the grounds for Pomeroy's claim that the heart of Marx's critique of capitalism is fundamentally ontological, and that therefore the necessary condition for genuine human flourishing lies in overcoming the capitalist form of social relations.

To define the subject-matter of Marxist philosophy we must examine the range of questions it studies and find out what sets it apart from other sciences.Throughout the many centuries of the development of philosophy its subject-matter has changed constantly. At first it embraced all the knowledge accumulated at the time - knowledge of the world as a whole, of its separate objects and phenomena, the Earth, man, animals, minerals, etc. Then as production developed and scientific knowledge was accumulated, the particular sciences separated into such individual branches of knowledge as mechanics, physics, chemistry, geology, and history. The dozens of branches of sciences in existence today study the most diverse spheres of reality.The main subject-matter of Marxist philosophy is the solution of the fundamental philosophical question, the relation of consciousness to being. As we already know, all philosophical systems must answer this question, but the only completely scientific, correct , and consistent answer is furnished by Marxist philosophy.The philosophy of Marxism is called dialectical materialism. It materialist because in solving the fundamental question of philosophy it proceeds from the premise that matte and being are primary and consciousness is secondary. It recognizes the materiality and knowability of the world, and studies the world as it really is. Marxist philosophy is dialectical, because it examines the material world in constant motion, development and regeneration.

First published in 1941, Marxism: Is it Science? was written to present the author’s criticisms of Marxism and, in doing so, to further exemplify his ‘Method of Instruction’ first proposed in an earlier work. The book is divided into six parts to provide six complete presentations of Marxism and why the author considers it unscientific. The six different approaches, varying in focus and complexity, work together to give the reader a detailed overview of Marxism and the authors critique of it.

"The focus here is on Soviet Marxist philosophy of natural science, as it developed in its first phase, from 1917 to 1932." -- Preface.