Bourgeois philosophers often claim that their philosophy is non-partisan and expresses the interests of all peoples regardless of their class affiliations. But why is it that their conceptions are always on the side of the capitalists, defend private property and justify exploitation and war? It turns out that the assertions of bourgeois philosophers that they are independent of classes and parties are not true and that they use the mask of “non-partisanship” to conceal the class, partisan nature of their philosophy and its utter dedication to the rich.

As distinct from the bourgeois ideologists who hide the class nature of their conceptions, the founders of Marxism-Leninism openly proclaimed the principle of partisanship in philosophy. This principle characterizes philosophy’s inviolable connection with politics and the interests of definite social classes and parties. Since philosophy is a product of a definite epoch and classes, it always reflects the demands of that epoch and upholds the interests of those classes. Partisanship in philosophy does in fact consist of service of definite classes.

Marxist philosophy arose as the spiritual weapon of the working class in its struggle against the bourgeoisie. Its proletarian party spirit consists above all in its selfless dedication to the working class, to the working people, and irreconcilability towards the policy of the reactionary bourgeoisie. The principle of partisanship in philosophy demands, as Lenin wrote, “to pursue your own line and to combat the whole line of forces and classes hostile to us” (1).

Partisanship in philosophy is displayed by the adoption of a definite stand in the struggle between materialism and idealism that has been in progress for more than two millennia already. Far from abating, this struggle has intensified many times over in the present epoch and finds its expression in the struggle between the scientific and the idealistic world outlook of the reactionary bourgeoisie. Partisanship in Marxist philosophy means firm adherence in this struggle to consistent materialist positions, defence and development of dialectical and historical materialism and determined resistance against any ideology that is hostile to Marxism. This demand has become particularly urgent in our day when a bitter struggle between the two ideologies – socialist and bourgeois – is going on in the world, and when the bourgeoisie resorts to the most refined forms of idealism against Marxist philosophy. Integrity and vigilance in ideological issues has never been more important than they are today.

Following in the wake of bourgeois ideologists, modern revisionists distort the Marxist-Leninist principal of partisanship in philosophy and allege that partisanship and scientific objectivity are incompatible. They even say that bourgeois ideology is above class and, therefore, the only scientific philosophy in the world. They demand an end to struggle against this ideology because it allegedly embraces general human knowledge which is beneficial and necessary to all social classes.

In reality, however, the bourgeoisie continuously falsifies the laws of social development in the hope of perpetuating capitalism which history has doomed to extinction. As regards the proletariat, it is remaking the world and has to know the real laws. It is all for science because a scientific world outlook is the only reliable guide to action.

The proletariat’s ultimate goal is the victory of communism. At the same time, the movement towards communism is the objective content of contemporary social development. It follows then that the objective course of history  and the class interests of the proletariat fully coincide. That is why the coincidence between the consistent defence of the proletariat’s interests and scientific objectivity is a key feature of partisanship in Marxist-Leninist philosophy.

Cited: 1) V.I. Lenin, “Materialism and Empirio-Criticism”, Collected Works, Vol. 14, p. 343, Print.

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