Joost Kircz - Reality, knowledge and forecasting
This paper is a "dynamic document" to use a fashionable term in the field of electronic publishing. It is the next step in an attempt to attack the problem of human knowledge from a materialistic and dialectical point of view. A first skeleton was published in the anthology Returns in Marxism. What follows below is more an exercise in stock-taking and in posing the question. What does it mean to say a dialectical and materialistic approach to the understanding of human knowledge? After the dogmatic period of the a Stalinist philosophy of science, we balance on a tightrope, as it is easy to retreat to empty dogmatic notions, whilst the far end of the rope is still not visible. The theory is still in the making and only after a full understanding (or a mature view), can you explain something comprehensively as if it were obvious. Unrolling thoughts and investigations map out a bumpy road. So, what follows below represents a more inductive approach than derived from the so-called hypothetical deductive method, where the author supposedly has a firm idea and consequently tries to prove or disprove it. New ideas largely pop up intuitively.
Dear friends of the IIRE,
The IIRE's upcoming Ecosocialist School this November is looking to become again a truly internationalist activity with participants from five continents. Participants are coming from Haiti, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Colombia, India, Belgium, Netherlands, the Democratic Republic of Congo and other countries.
Participants in the schools have described them as 'very rich and important places' to 'form an internationalist perspective' and as valuable opportunities to learn from 'struggles of the peoples from around the globe'. The international attention for the school shows it fulfills a need of activists to discuss strategy, exchange views and prepare a long term engagement for a more just and sustainable world.
At the same time, this global participation poses another challenge for us. The increase of participants and the wider reach of the school also mean an increase in the money needed. Participating organizations make large contributions to the travel costs but social movements from the Global South need our solidarity to make the most of their participation. That is why we appeal to everyone to contribute to the school with donations large and small. Your money will help to make possible the participation of activists from the Global South who contribute an essential perspective to our social justice movements.
Contributions can be made out to:
SOWS (Stichting voor Onderzoek naar en Vorming in het Wetenschappelijk Socialisme)
Address: Postbus 1962
1000 BZ Amsterdam
Account number: 1039161
IBAN : NL55INGB0001039161
BIC: INGBNL2A
Bank: ING
Postbus 1800
1102 BW
Amsterdam
The Netherlands
(please mark your donations as 'school')
You can find recordings of our previous sessions on iire.org.
Support the IIRE
To make a continued extension of the work of the IIRE possible, we have launched a call for people to support us with a monthly donation. One hundred people donating 25 euro monthly would ensure the long-term financial sustainability of the IIRE, enabling the staff to further develop our effort to renew socialist thought through seminars and schools, educating new generations of activists and continuing and expanding our publication line. As a thank you, everyone who donates at least 25 euro per month will receive a free subscription to all the IIRE publications serie. Donations can be made out to the above account. Please contact us if you want to receive our Notebooks.
The yearly IIRE Youth School ended on 31 August. Around 20 activists gathered for ten days to discuss politics and study issues facing the anti-capitalists today.
The program included topics such as the development of marxist thought, the euro-crisis, the role of imperialism in the Middle-East and beyond, and questions of political organizing.
Each day started with a lecture on a certain topic, followed by discussion among the participants and lecturers. The participants came from eight countries, from Mexico to France, from Denmark to Pakistan, giving a real internationalist content to the debates during the school.
