Imbued with the scientific and revolutionary essence of Marxism.

(Baonghean)C. Marx was initially and primarily a scientist. With his scientific stature, practical inclination, and philosophical significance, the scientific scope he aimed for extended beyond simply explaining the world; it was also about transforming it. From a scientist, C. Marx became a revolutionary.

As early as 1927, in his book "The Revolutionary Path," Nguyen Ai Quoc (Ho Chi Minh) wrote:

"Revolution is destroying the old and replacing it with the new, destroying the bad and replacing it with the good. For example: Galileo was a scientific revolution… Stephen Soong was a mechanical revolution… Darwin was a materialist revolution… Karl Marx was an economic revolution…"^(*)

Lenin, in his work "C. Marx and His Doctrine," wrote: "C. Marx is the rightful successor of all the best that humanity created in the 19th century: German philosophy, English political economy, French socialism..." "Marxist doctrine is all-powerful because it is correct. It is complete and harmonious..."^(**)

As a scientist, Marx continued (received - criticized - supplemented...) Feuerbach's materialism and Hegel's dialectics to build dialectical materialism.

Continuing to apply dialectical materialism to the study of human social history led to the construction of historical materialism. From these two foundations, a complete Marxist philosophy was formed.

It was also the scientist Karl Marx, with his philosophy, who most profoundly studied capitalism, continuing with a critical spirit towards the economic and political theories of British scientists to create the Marxist economic and political theory.

After reaching scientific conclusions about the origin, development, nature, and inevitable trends of capitalism, Karl Marx developed the theory of scientific socialism, replacing the utopian socialist theories of French socialist scientists.

Marxist philosophy, Marxist political economy, and scientific socialism are the three origins and three constituent parts of Marxism. From this, we can understand that Marxist doctrine, or Marxism, is first and foremost a scientific doctrine with a scientific nature and a scientific scope. And because it possesses a scientific nature at the pinnacle of human science (at least until the beginning of the 20th century), it is simultaneously a revolutionary doctrine. The scientific nature of Marxist doctrine, of Marxism, lies in its view of history itself as a real part of natural history, of the process of creation from nature to humanity. The scientific nature (or character) determines the revolutionary nature (or character) of a doctrine, whether in natural science, technical science, or social science.

A scientist, Michel Vadec, after spending 15 years reading the works, writings, and everything that Karl Marx left behind in the original text and in the exact language that Marx wrote (without translation), wrote that: "In other words, we would say that the power of Marxist thought stems from the fact that it consistently establishes a consensus between its scientific stature, practical orientation, and philosophical significance... There seem to be three main axes around which each of Marx's proposals revolves."^(***)And Michel Vadéc continues: "That is precisely the scientific dimension of Marxism that very few Marxists have known or been able to preserve by retaining Marx's extensive encyclopedic intellect and continuing his efforts..."^(***)

In the history of human thought, perhaps few doctrines have had such a turbulent and unpredictable fate as Marx's scientific and revolutionary doctrine. Especially after the extremely heavy and immense losses suffered by the global trade union and workers' movement in the late 1990s, bourgeois thinkers and scholars ignited a grand chorus against Marxism with the refrain: Marxism is outdated! Marxism is outdated! The disintegration of the Soviet Union and the collapse of socialism in Eastern Europe were cited as evidence of Marxism's obsolescence. Amidst the crashing waves and uproar of this grand chorus, there were, and always will be, voices attempting to explain the losses suffered by the global communist and workers' movement.

They argue that this loss is the inevitable consequence of those who claim to be disciples of Marx, yet completely fail to understand the scientific nature of Marxism and, especially, fail to practice the construction of a new society as a natural historical process that it must follow. These voices are the result of a re-evaluation of Marxism in the true scientific spirit and at a scientific level. These voices affirm that Marx is the thinker of the 21st century, the thinker of the possible: the objective and inevitable possible. These voices are not those of scientists bearing the name of Communist. They simply identify themselves as those seeking the truth hidden in the depths of Marx's thought—a truth that many either deliberately distort or are mistaken about.

The history of humanity in the last decades of the 20th century and the first decade of the 21st century has proven, and continues to prove, the scientific validity of Marx's arguments on the natural historical process of human society. It demonstrates that the laws governing capitalist modes of production, as well as those governing previous modes of production, are transitional and temporary. It shows that capitalism has, and may continue to, elevate the level of human development to new heights, but this does not mean it is the ultimate pinnacle of human civilization, the most perfect and insurmountable system, or one that will exist forever. Furthermore, it shows that, with the natural historical process, human society will sooner or later ascend to a new stage where humans, as a collective, are the primary agents of history, and they will participate increasingly in that process consciously and voluntarily (and leadingly) in a way that is both significant and meaningful.

The scientific nature of Marxism – of Marxist doctrine – gives it its own immense vitality. Each time someone deliberately distorts it, denies it, or tries to bury it, it gains more life, shines even brighter, and continues to illuminate the inevitable path of human history.

With his wealth of scientific and revolutionary ideas, Marx became the pioneer of an era in which "in place of the old bourgeois society, with its classes and class antagonisms, a 'union' emerged in which the free development of each person is the condition for the free development of all." (Communist Manifesto).

There are people who approach Marx, studying and understanding Marxism with a scientific aspiration, and they may stop there without becoming revolutionaries.
As for revolutionaries, those who approach Marx with revolutionary reason and sentiment must necessarily possess a scientific spirit, a scientific attitude, scientific knowledge, and scientific intellect; otherwise, they cannot be Marxist revolutionaries. Let me reiterate what Lenin said: "...Without knowledge, there is no socialism." This affirmation by Lenin further confirms the scientific and, consequently, the revolutionary nature of Marxism.

Socialism – followed by communism – is not a Marxist invention. From ancient times, humankind has spoken of a "world of universal harmony." Jesus and Buddha envisioned a paradise, a realm of nirvana, in their own way. French thinkers in the early 19th century envisioned and experimented with a communist social model. All of this is encapsulated within the category of "utopian socialism."

Karl Marx, transcending all those ideas about socialism with his scientific stature, put forward the theory of scientific socialism.

The socialism that our Party and our people are striving towards, and are gradually implementing, with these "small bridges" (as Lenin put it), can only be, and only be, scientific socialism – socialism according to Marxist theory – according to Marxist ideology.

The working class – the revolutionaries who want to successfully carry out their historical mission – need not only revolutionary reason, revolutionary will, and revolutionary sentiment, but also a scientific spirit, scientific consciousness, scientific knowledge, and scientific intelligence.

Lenin demanded that communists must grasp all the intellectual essence of humanity; President Ho Chi Minh said, "Our Party is moral and civilized"; the Party's platform clearly states that our Party must strive to raise its intellectual level, political acumen, moral character, and leadership capacity—it is precisely because of this meaning.

Deeply understanding the scientific nature – along with the scientific nature of Marxism – and subsequently acting scientifically (or in accordance with objective laws) is a profound theoretical issue and also a pressing practical issue for every cadre, Party member, and the entire Party today.
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(*) The Revolutionary Path – Ho Chi Minh Complete Works. Volume 2, page 263.
(**) Note from the concluding chapter – Book "Marx - the thinker of the possible". Institute of Social Sciences Information, page 351.
(***) Cited book. Pages 331-332-333.

Truong Cong Anh