Philosophy in the Soviet Union: A Survey of the Mid-Sixties (Sovietica, 25)

Soviet philosophy can no longer be ignored by any serious student of contemporary thought. It is the work of academic philosophers who, on the whole, are neither more nor less competent than their colleagues in the free world. They have, however, inherited a reputation for the dogmatic repetip. on of superannuated doctrines. This reputation, en­ gendered by poor work under political pressure, was justified until about the mid-fifties. However, in the mid-sixties, when declining pressures make for the toleration of a wider scale of qualified opinion, it is no longer that. The present survey of Soviet thought in the mid-sixties, comprising papers by Western specialists in its major domains, gives an up-to-date account of an impressive field of philosophical endeavor which, awakened from dogmap'c slumbers, rapidly gains in interest and encourages hopes of becoming a valuable component in the vast complex of contemporary philosophy. The studies on Soviet logic and atheism have originally appeared in a special issue of Inquiry (Vol. 9,1) devoted to philosophy in Eastern Europe and edited by the present writer on behalf of Professor Arne Naess. The other papers of this volume are reprinted from Studies in Soviet Thought, the only Western philosophical review entirely dedicated to systematic studies in this field. The necessary permissions by editors and publishers have been granted and are gratefully acknowledged. ER VIN LASZLO v CONTENTS INTRODUCTION J. M. Front Matter....Pages I-VIII Why Studies in Soviet Philosophy?....Pages 1-10 Front Matter....Pages 11-11 Open Questions in Contemporary Soviet Philosophy of Law and State....Pages 127-148 Marxist-Leninist Scientific Atheism....Pages 61-78 The Theory of Objective Beauty in Soviet Aesthetics....Pages 149-160 Philosophical Logic in the Soviet Union 1946–1966....Pages 79-93 Soviet Dialectical Methodology....Pages 94-103 On the Theoretical Foundations of Soviet Psychology....Pages 104-114 The Acting Subject in Historical Materialism....Pages 13-29 The Soviet Concept of Truth....Pages 30-48 Open Questions in Contemporary Soviet Theory of Social Law....Pages 115-126 The Foundations of Marxist-Leninist Ethics....Pages 49-60 Front Matter....Pages 161-161 Freedom of Thought and Ideological Coexistence....Pages 163-176 On Philosophical Dialogue....Pages 177-193 The Second Sovietology....Pages 194-203 Back Matter....Pages 204-210