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Karl Kautsky's Materialist Conception of History

Washington Universly, St. Louis, MO, U.S.A.

In his Materialist Conception of History, Kautsky sought to explain development in nature and history as adaptation to a changed environment. Man adapts by changing his environment which then requires further adaptation in a never-ending process. Kautsky tries, but fails, with his technological determinism, to break out of the cycle of interaction between the human mind and the environment, but does offer an explanation of the fact of human history. He sees capitalism, unlike earlier societies, changing the living conditions of the exploited so that social revolutions become possible. Once democracy is achieved, the exploited, through their growing numbers, must eventually come to power and gradually introduce socialism.

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