On the Importance of Philosophy

The question has been asked: what is the use of philosophy? Where is its role in the struggle for socialism, in our organising and practical work as communists? This brief article attempts to answer these questions from the perspective of materialism.

To start, let us define the nature of philosophy. In a word, philosophy is the discipline of abstraction. It is the tool which allows us to bring all other areas of science and knowledge together and to make sense of them by means of organising their findings in a cohesive and rational way. Philosophy, thus, finds its own unique character in acting as the connector of human thought. The aim of philosophy is to understand the universal laws, patterns and movement that underpin all of reality, as well as the human cognitive process itself. This is why it must find its basis among the more specialised disciplines, such as chemistry for example, in order to collate the most broadly evident findings of such a discipline with the rest of human intellectual activity, such as history, or psychology.

Consequently, philosophy is the mortar holding the distinct bricks of knowledge together, but it also must, by necessity, stand above any specific field of investigation, unifying them into something more than their sum. Hence it is the most general form of thought. This means that it is the key determinant in creating an integral world-outlook. Indeed, philosophy is the nucleus or core of any worldview, its gravitational centre.

But what does it mean to subscribe to an integral world-outlook? It means to have a structurally complete understanding of the material world. An integral world-outlook encompasses questions of values, ideals, socio-political views, theoretical standpoints, aesthetic principles, judgements, convictions, class position, the nature or meaning of life, and more. It is the comprehensive system or framework of thought of any given person in a definite sociohistorical epoch. If you imagine a diagram consisting of manifold circles, each representing one of the aforesaid subjects, the point where every single circle must necessarily intersect is the realm of philosophy, hence why we call it the nucleus.

The feat of establishing a fully integral world-outlook was achieved for the first and only time in history by Marxism, which embodies a fully open, critical and scientific understanding of the universe. The doctrine developed by Marx and Engels broke away from the idealism of the bourgeois philosophers who preceded them, creating something truly epoch-making: a philosophy both objective and partisan. As the worldview of the proletariat, it has no class interest in deception or dishonesty, as every exploitative, ruling class ideology has had going back through the centuries. Each advancement of science is an advancement of the working-class as the harbinger of the new society, and ever-intensifies the contradiction of private property with modern social production.

So, philosophy is crucial in building our conception of the surrounding world, but by what means does it accomplish this? Here we arrive at the importance of methodology – the vital and symbiotic counterpart of worldview. Method is the region of procedure and investigation, concerning the process of discovering the truth as well as the rules and devices thereof. Method is the cutting edge of worldview; it brings forth new insights which are then evaluated, organised and positioned relative to the existing historically conditioned frame of thought. As Marx wrote, “All science would be superfluous if the outward appearance and the essence of things directly coincided”. Method fulfils this scientific role on the most universal scale.

Everyone, then, has their own philosophy, whether they consciously adhere by it or not. It is inescapable. Every perception, opinion, assessment of any phenomena or object in the material world comes back to one’s implicit, pre-existing worldview, which determines the way that such things will be understood, in what context they will be positioned. If I say “I don’t care about philosophy”, I am suddenly making a cascade of inherent judgements about the nature of life, what is important and what isn’t, trusting certain means of obtaining knowledge rather than others, etc.

So, the measure in which we can become conscious of our own philosophical belief system is the measure in which we can think critically by examining every assumption we have about the universe, the truthfulness of every judgement we make, the meaning of truth itself, contradictions, limitations of our own thought, and so on and so forth. It is the measure in which, by force of will; of creative labour, we can retake ownership of ourselves, truly recognise our responsibilities to others and our place in the world. Hence it is the task of any revolutionary to transform their implicit worldview into an integral one, forged by the ruthless criticism of everything existing. When we have accomplished this task – although there is no set point where the task is “complete” – we can contribute to the maturation of our class struggle by determining the best ways to organise ourselves along the most effective principles. Since organisation is the sole weapon of the proletariat, it is successful only insofar as it is focused, incisive, and unwavering in its dynamic representation of the objective interests of the workers. The root of all errors in the advancement of the labour movement has always been idealism of one form or another. Hence it is the duty of all class-conscious individuals to be militant in their ideological-theoretical struggle, study, and work.

In sum, philosophy represents the highest and most central stage of our thinking, as Marxists and as humans. It allows us to solve problems of the most pressing nature to our time and conditions. Further, it is indispensable in coming to the correct political, strategic and tactical conclusions in our revolutionary praxis. Therefore, it is the rightful domain of all people who are sensitive to the advancement of their class, nation, and humanity entirely.