On the Problem of the History and Theory of Scientific Thought

Abstract

The entire history of scientific and philosophical knowledge testifies that the significant difference between idealism and materialism does not lie in the alleged fact that materialism denies and idealism recognizes the significance of reason, i.e., the utilization in cognition of abstract (concepts, categories, laws of logic, etc.). Democritus' atoms, with all their geometrical and other attributes, are so small that they cannot be perceived either with the help, or by means, of an apparatus of hearing or organs of touch. Democritus arrived at the idea of his atoms by the very same way in which Plato and Aristotle arrived at their ideas and which they contrasted to matter taken as nonbeing or pure possibility. It is no accident that his work is titled Of Ideas. Democritus' atoms, Plato's ideas, Aristotle's forms, and later Leibniz' monads, Kant's consciousness in general, and Hegel's world spirit are universal concepts, categories, or logical constructs. And, consequently, t...