• WHY REVOLUTIONARIES NEED MARXISM

Revolutionaries regard themselves first and foremost as practical people dedicated to changing the world. They are rightly suspicious of those who merely talk about the injustices of apartheid and the evils of capitalism and never seem to translate their words into action. “By their deeds ye shall know them” is an old saying which admirably echoes the emphasis which Marxists themselves place upon the importance of putting things into practice: of constantly testing everything we say and do according to the standards of real life itself. Why then should we bother ourselves with the study of philosophy?

Philosophy raises questions about the nature of the world, the concept of truth, the basis of morality, and above all, the relationship which exists between our ideas and objective reality: how can all this possibly help us in waging class struggle? After all, it was Marx himself who declared that “the philosophers have only interpreted the world in various ways; the point, however, is to change it”[1], and there are those who claim that this supports the argument that since revolutionaries are concerned with changing the world, they can and should do away with philosophy altogether.

To show why philosophy is important and why we need to make a thorough study of Marxist philosophy, dialectical materialism, in particular, we must first tackle the question of [...click "Next"]