Karl Marx and the foundations of differential calculus (Q1239144): Difference between revisions

Marx' study of mathematics was mainly carried out during the last decade of his life, from 1873 to 1882, when his interest centered on the problem of the foundation of differential calculus. The result was some 1000 pages of manuscript, most of which were published, or at least described, in the volume: Karl Marx, Matematičeskie Rukopisi (Moscow 1968), which contains the original writings alongside an excellent Russian translation. (The author of this article is in error in pointing out a mistake in the Russian translation.) Although Marx was not aware of the foundational work of Cauchy and others, he nonetheless made original discoveries, such as the concept of the differential as an operational symbol. One year after the first publication of fragments of Marx' mathematical manuscripts in 1933, the mathematician V.~I.~Glivenko pointed out the significance of this concept in a comparison of lt with the concept of the differential as the principal linear part of an increment. (This view was presented by the author of this article in a paper read at the XV International Congress of the History of Science, Edinburgh, 10--19 August 1977.) Marx was dissatisfied with the explanations of the derivative in books at his disposal. By using the dialectical method, he discovered a satisfactory foundation by a simple application of the negation of the negation, thus removing the mysticism he decried in the early treatments of the calculus and at the same time showing the fruitfulness of his consistent philosophical position. This article gives the chronology of Marx' mathematical interests and of the publication of his manuscripts, discusses his view of the derivative and differential, and refers to other treatments of its subject.