Their Morals and Ours

The Marxist View of Morality

Marxists are often attacked for being “amoral”, if not immoral, by defenders of the established social order. This collection of writings, centred on two essays written in the late 1930s by exiled Russian revolutionist Leon Trotsky, gives the lie to such claims.

Trotsky explains that Marxist socialists reject the idea of eternal moral truths, arguing instead that morality arises from the interests of particular social classes. Capitalist morality defends the interests of the wealthy and privileged.

Socialists have a different moral code. They do not pretend that it comes from outside of human society; rather it is derived from the needs of the struggle of the working class and the oppressed to put an end to capitalism and create a new society — one which will be democratic, egalitarian, collectivist and solidaristic.

Included here is a criticism of Trotsky’s views by noted US educationalist and philosopher John Dewey; he is answered by Marxist scholar George Novack. Two appendices by Frederick Engels and V.I. Lenin round out this illuminating selection.