Lenin and Meillassoux: Is Speculative Materialism Possible?

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This article is focused on the compatibility of materialism and speculativism. The dialectical-materialistic philosophy of V.I. Lenin, presented in his work «Materialism and Empiriocriticism», is taken as the starting point of the study. Lenin’s position is compared with the philosophy of speculative materialism, presented by modern French philosopher Quentin Meillassoux, presented in the work «After Finitude: An Essay on the necessity of contingency». The author emphasizes that the programs of Meillassoux and Lenin are united by a common task – the fight against fideism in philosophy and science. According to the Soviet and French philosopher, the only means of combating fideism in science can only be materialism. To solve this problem, they both focus on criticizing correlationism (coordination) in its «strong» and «weak» forms. Despite certain similarities in solving this problem, there are significant differences between the views of Lenin and Meillassoux. They consist, firstly, in a different understanding of the essence of matter (objective reality), secondly, in a different attitude to the cognitive status of «thing-in-itself», and finally, thirdly, in a different attitude to objective truth. These differences call into question the popular point of view expressed by the statement «Meillassoux is a modern Lenin». The study notes that the program of speculative materialism has much in common with the empiriocriticism of A. Bogdanov and A. Poincare. Meillassoux shares with the first the denial of the existence of objective truth, and with the second – the commitment to the so called «mathematical fideism». In conclusion, the author notes that, despite its failure, the project, presented by Meillassoux, is a clear evidence of the renaissance of materialism, currently happening in philosophy (albeit in a very «specific» form).

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