SCIENCE AND REVOLUTION 



mankind, and a sound basis for the solution of 

 all the riddles of the universe. 



I speak as a proletarian and a socialist. I 

 make no pretense to be a scientist without class 

 affiliation. There has never been any science 

 which was not made possible, and which was not 

 influenced, by the economic and class environ- 

 ment of the various scientists. I am, indeed, 

 aware of the fact, that there are certain general 

 facts in all sciences which apply to all mankind 

 regardless of classes. But I am also aware of 

 the other fact, that the concrete application of 

 any general scientific truth to different historical 

 conditions and men varies considerably, because 

 abstract truths have a general applicability only 

 under abstract conditions, but are more or less 

 modified in the contact with concrete environ- 

 ments. I make this statement in order to antici- 

 pate the criticism that there can be no special 

 science for the proletariat different from any 

 other science. Of course, a proposition in Eu- 

 clid is true, whether demonstrated by a prole- 

 tarian or by a capitalist. But it is true in 

 theory and in practice only so long as the prac- 

 tical application of the general conclusion of any 

 Euclid proposition does not interfere with the 

 interests of the ruling class. If it did and a 



