The basic question of philosophy
pp. 1-4
in: Thomas J. Blakeley (ed), Themes in Soviet Marxist philosophy, Berlin, Springer, 1975Abstract
The basic question of philosophy is the question about the relationship of thought to being. "Philosophers fall into two large camps depending on how they answer this question" (Marx & Engels, Soč. 2, t. 21, s. 283) — the camp of materialism and the camp of idealism. Lenin developed the materialist answer to the basic question relative to history as follows: "Since materialism in general explains consciousness as the outcome of being, and not conversely, then materialism as applied to the social life of mankind has to explain social consciousness as the outcome of social being." (Soč. 4, vol. 1, p. 12).
