The Problem of Morality in Historical Materialism of the First Half of the Twentieth Century

Abstract

The article analyzes the elements of the sociology of morality in the historical materialism of the first half of the twentieth century. The author believes that since the end of the XIX century. in the Russian Empire, and in the 1920s in the USSR the original school of Marxist sociology was formed. This process was interrupted in the 1930s. Representatives of this school considered historical materialism to be the sociology of Marxism and proposed to develop it accordingly. This point of view was presented most consistently by N. I. Bukharin. Among the common themes of the theorists of historical materialism of that time were the normative ways of regulating social life, primarily morality. Elements of the sociology of morality in historical materialism appeared in connection with the contradictions in revolutionary practice. Among the Bolshevik leaders were ascetics and people who tried to take everything from life. Contradictions in moral practice divided the Bolshevik Party from top to bottom. The article analyzes the texts of A. A. Bogdanov, V. I. Lenin, N. I. Bukharin, E. A. Preobrazhensky, and L. D. Trotsky. It is shown that the Bolshevik theorists formed different vectors of movement of the sociological theory of morality. A. A. Bogdanov and N. I. Bukharin moved in the direction of substantiating socialist humanism. V. I. Lenin, L. D. Trotsky, and E. A. Preobrazhensky viewed morality as a system of utilitarian class norms. In the Trotskyist version of historical materialism, the theory of morality was brought to openly inhuman conclusions.