Marxist currents widely subordinated theory to practice’s needs

Evidence

The notion of the subservience of theory to practice, neatly summed up in this adaptation of the mediaeval adage philosophia ancilla theologiae (philosophy the handmaid of theology) has been widespread in the Marxist movement, in forms as diverse as Stalin’s formulation “theory must serve practice” (Works, Vol. VI, p. 88) and Rosa Luxemburg’s argument (in Stillstand und Fortschritt im Marxumis ) that theory only develops to the extent that the need for it is created by the practice of the movement. — Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, 2479

Categorization

• DEFINE: Frames the theory-practice relationship Gramsci is writing against, a founding mover of his own philosophy of praxis.
• XREF: The theory-as-handmaid framing connects to Gramsci’s own ‘philosophy of praxis’ which he builds in later notebook passages, and to the broader Marxist debate on the unity of theory and practice. — connects to: Critical Theory arose from Marxism’s failure to explain workers’ passivity — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination: A History…, 389; Horkheimer repeatedly substituted softened formulations for Marxist-Radical demands — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 1901; Recovering theory’s independence serves practice’s own interest — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 2531 (+1 more)

Related

• Gramsci’s philosophy of praxis links theory inseparably to practice and action (similarity 0.82)
• Recovering theory’s independence serves practice’s own interest (similarity 0.81)
• Marxist theory has itself ossified into the popular prejudice it critiqued (similarity 0.81)
• Gramsci’s theory is activist practice within broad Marxism, not orthodoxy. (similarity 0.80)
• The idea that theory serves practice was widespread across the Marxist movement (similarity 0.80)
• Philosophy of praxis shifted from mechanistic fatalism toward activist unity of theory and practice. (similarity 0.80)
• The Institute positioned theory as a tool for society’s progressive forces. (similarity 0.79)
• Critical Theory arose from Marxism’s failure to explain workers’ passivity (similarity 0.78)
• Marxism’s educational mission to the masses absorbed its intellectual strength (similarity 0.78)
• Tracing how Marxism got absorbed into other philosophies requires delicate analysis of hidden connections. (similarity 0.78)
• Marxist theory itself is a product of historical contradictions and will disappear with them (similarity 0.78)