"If Engels had not been the constant companion in arms of Marx in the revolutionary struggles of the 19th century, there is no doubt that he would be remembered chiefly as one of the foremost scientist-philosophers of the century. It was an ironical tribute paid to the correctness of his views as to the relations between politics and ideology that he suffered complete neglect from the scientists of the Victorian age. But time now has taken its revenge, and Engels’ contemporary views on 19th century science seem to us now in the 20th far more fresh and filled with understanding than those of the professional philosophers of science of his day, who for the most part are completely forgotten, while the few that linger on, such as Lange and Herbert Spencer, are only quoted as examples of the limitations of their times."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
"Labour Monthly Pamphlets", No. 6 (c. 1930s). Online (here) on Marxists Internet Archive (2008)
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Desmond_Bernal
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
John Desmond Bernal
John Desmond Bernal (May 10, 1901 – September 15, 1971) was an Irish-born scientist known for pioneering X-ray crystallography in molecular biology, and considered one of the United Kingdom's most well-known and controversial scientists.
35 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by John Desmond Bernal →
Related Quotes
"[T]radition links us with the revolutionary science of the Renaissance... we can distinguish... four major periods of…"
"The extent of his faith in science can best be described as religious devotion. He comments himself: 'The same type o…"
"The theme which constantly recurs is the complex interaction between techniques, science, and philosophy. Science sta…"
"The progress in science has been anything but uniform in time and place. ...In the course of time the centres of scie…"
"Never had Frederick Engels' famous notion of 'scientific socialism' been treated so literally."
"For Bernal the humanistic and the scientific dimensions were one. His vision of the sort of future that science could…"
"[S]cience has so changed its nature over... human history that no definition could be made to fit."
"[T]he centre of interest... lies in natural science and technology because... the sciences of society were first embo…"
"Science, in one aspect, is ordered technique; in another, it is rationalized mythology. Because it started as a hardl…"
"He idealized science not just as knowledge but in a political sense too, believing that the management of human affai…"