Lenin and Philosophy: The Historical Context

The article follows the development of Lenin's philosophical conceptions and the historical context in which they emerged. It examines how Plekhanov's interpretation of Marxist philosophy was assimilated by Lenin. In the dispute between Plekhanov and Alexander Bogdanov Lenin took Plekhanov's side and in defence of Plekhanov wrote Materialism and Empiriocriticism. A major influence on Lenin was the correspondence between Marx and Engels published in 1913, which prompted him to study Hegel and other writers mentioned in the correspondence. Although Lenin's commentaries on Hegel and other philosophers were published as 'Philosophical Notebooks', the notes Lenin made on the Marx-Engels correspondence were not, owing to Stalin's peculiar requirements of the Lenin cult.