Re: [Marxism] absolute truth and marxisms: a few points

[Carrol Cox <cbcox@xxxxxxxxx>]

In so far as a theory is true it is incomplete.

In so far as a theory is complete it is false.

And this is one of the reasons marxism is to be regarded more as a
method than as a collection of truths belief in which is good in itself.
A belief which is good in itself is a religious belief.

Marxism, either as it comes from Marx or as developed and expanded by
other marxists is an incomplete explanation of the workings of the
capitalist mode of production. I would also argue that it is an
incompletable explanation -- and that this is no defect because the
struggle against capitalism does not depend on a complete theory.

Like some others on the list, I don't think much is gained (and quite a
bit can be lost) by labelling marxism a science; that understood,
analogies with the natural sciences can be useful if handled carefully.
Physcists, chemists, engineers did pretty damn well in the two hundred
years between Newton and Einstein. Yet they were working within a set of
theories which were not only partial and incomplete but in some ways
seriously false.

Social systems are not only wondrously complex but contingency plays a
large role in social relations, and while the rough dynamic of the
social order may be grasped, thereby giving a partial grasp on the
constraints on contingency, there will always remain a good deal of
iffyness in the process.

Carrol

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