professed himself an atheist, but retained a cosmic optimism which only theism could justify.
Broadly speaking, all the elements in Marx's philosophy which are derived from Hegel are
unscientific, in the sense that there is no reason whatever to suppose them true.
Perhaps the philosophic dress that Marx gave to his Socialism had really not much to do with
the basis of his opinions. It is easy to restate the most important part of what he had to say
without any reference to the dialectic. He was impressed by the appalling cruelty of the
industrial system as it existed in England a hundred years ago, which he came to know
thoroughly through Engels and the reports of Royal Commissions. He saw that the system was
likely to develop from free competition towards monopoly, and that its injustice must produce a
movement of revolt in the proletariat. He held that, in a thoroughly industrialized community,
the only alternative to private capitalism is State ownership of land and capital. None of these
propositions are matters for philosophy, and I shall therefore not consider their truth or
falsehood. The point is that, if true, they suffice to establish what is practically important in his
system. The Hegelian trappings might therefore be dropped with advantage.
The history of Marx's reputation has been peculiar. In his own country his doctrines inspired the
programme of the Social Democratic Party, which grew steadily until, in the general election of
1912, it secured one third of all the votes cast. Immediately after the first world war, the Social
Democratic Party was for a time in power, and Ebert, the first president of the Weimar
Republic, was a member of it; but by this time the Party had ceased to adhere to Marxist
orthodoxy. Meanwhile, in Russia, fanatical believers in Marx had acquired the government. In
the West, no large working-class movement has been Marxist; the British Labour Party, at
times, has seemed to move in that direction, but has nevertheless adhered to an empirical type
of Socialism. Large numbers of intellectuals, however, have been profoundly influenced by
him, both in England and in America. In Germany all advocacy of his doctrines has been
forcibly suppressed, but may be expected to revive when the Nazis are overthrown. *
Modern Europe and America have thus been divided, politically
* I am writing in 1943.