A Review Of Karl Kautsky 's

Karl Kautsky(1854-1938) is the main theorist of German Social Democratic Partyand the "Second International", has the very profound influence in the history of thedevelopment of Marxism and the history of international communist movement. Hemines the fields of philosophy, economics, politics and etc. For Kautsky’s life and ideas,academia has been highly controversial, there are several different tendencies. At thesame time, influenced by political factors, the academic treatment of the problem hasnot completely faded traces of the old political criticism. Therefore, based on absorbingand drawing on previous research results, combined with the historical background andthe characteristics of the times, this paper adopts scientific research methods, and strivesto accurately and truthfully describe the basic thought of Karl Kautsky, gives thethought of Kautsky in an objective and fair evaluation.This paper includes an introduction and five chapters.The introduction summarizes International(Western and Soviet Union), thedomestic research academic achievements of the thought of Kautsky, comprehensivelydemonstrates the basic status of the research of the thought of Kautsky. Overall,previous research has the following defects: political criticism too much, lack ofacademic analysis; part study too much, the overall lack of research; the differencestoo much, lack of consensus; blank more, lack of comparative study. Therefore, usingscientific research methods, the accurate expounds the basic thought of Kautsky, andon the basis of its ideological objective and fair evaluation is very necessary. In theory,this helps to deepen the study of basic theory of Marxism, to deepen the study of the "Second International", to deepen the study of contemporary social thought. In practice,this contributes to the international communist movement and the great practice ofsocialism with Chinese characteristics.The first chapter outlines the life of Kautsky and the evolution of the thought ofKautsky. The thinking track of Kautsky shows the stage characteristic, according to thetime sequence can be divided into “former Marxism”, “the formation and developmentof Marxism”, “departure from Marxism” three periods. After the two periods areimportant periods of the life of Kautsky thought. In “the formation and development ofMarxism” period, Kautsky made outstanding contributions to promoting thepopularization of Marxism, established his position within the party by writing “ErfurtProgramme interpretation”, paid attention to and studied land issues, criticizedBernsteinism, and explained his views based on revolutionary practice revolution. In“departure from Marxism” period, Kautsky’s thought has great change, he put forwardthe "super imperialism theory" and "defend the country" slogan, and harshly critical ofbolshevism.The second chapter and the third chapter, the fourth chapter discusses Kautsky’sphilosophy, economics and social and political thought. The second chapter discussesthe evolution and the characteristics of the philosophy of Kautsky. Before becomingthe Marxist, Kautsky was deeply influenced by Darwinism. From Darwinism to Marxphilosophy, however, he never overcomes Darwinism. In his later years, Kautsky wrote "historical materialism", he tried to systematically explain the basic ideas of historicalmaterialism. Moreover, Kautsky pioneered the application of historical materialism inthe study of ethics and religion. But these achievements are exposed many defectsthoughts. In general, Kautsky did not pay attention to philosophy, even rejectedphilosophy. The characteristics of Kautsky’s philosophy are: Marxism is not aphilosophy, Marxism is simply a method, the strong color of Darwinism, and insteaddialectics with eclecticism.The third chapter discusses the contribution and the limitation of his thought ofeconomics. In the process of promoting Marxism Popularization, Kautsky paid moreattention to the popularization of Marx’s economic theory. At the end of 19 th Centuryand early 20 th Century, In the face of all kinds of fallacies from Bernstein et al.Distortion of Marx’s Political Economics, Kautsky had made a resolute counterattack,defend Marx’s theory of labor value and surplus value theory, capital accumulationtheory and the theory of crisis, criticized the so-called "proletarian pauperization" theory. After the outbreak of the First World War, Kautsky put forward the "superimperialism theory". During this period, many theories of imperialism are constantlyemerging, the "super imperialism theory" caused a great controversy, was panned byLenin et al. Lenin’s criticism is hit the mark. Even from today’s point of view, Lenin’sargument can withstand the test of practice; however, this does not mean that t the "super imperialism theory" completely lost the theory value.The fourth chapter expounds the evolution of Kautsky’s political thoughts and theideological debate. After the rise of Bernsteinism, Kautsky participated and play animportant role in the criticism of this trend. Kautsky expounded his basicunderstanding of scientific socialism and the basic theory of the proletarian struggletactics. Kautsky’s critique of the Bernsteinism is not completely. On the mass strikes,Kautsky advocates the strategy of "fatigue", Caused him and Rosa Luxemburg,Pannekoek left thinkers debate. After the outbreak of the First World War, based on the "Super imperialism theory" and the situation analysis, Kautsky advocated "internalunity" and "to defend the motherland". After the October revolution, he criticized theBolshevik revolution and revolutionary regime. Around the "democracy" and "dictatorship" problem, Kautsky and Lenin debated, Intensified Bolshevism and socialdemocratic split. At the time, Kautsky above viewpoint will undoubtedly have anegative effect on the revolution, however, from today’s point of view, still has acertain value.The fifth chapter evaluated the status and influence of the thought of Kautsky. InMarx’s ideological history macro lineages, Kautsky occupies a critical position. Hefollowed Marx and Engels thought, influenced the Western Marxism, and became oneof the important bridges of communication between two times of thought. The positionof Kautsky in the history of the German Social Democratic Party has a process ofgradual transformation; his ideas have a certain effect on the European DemocraticSocialism, In addition, Kautsky’s legacy was inherited by European Communism.Kautsky thought not only affected the Western Europe, but also affects the Chinese,The fate of Kautsky and the thought in the Chinese are changing.The "Conclusion" describes the scientific method of the evaluation on historicalfigures about Marxism, Overall, affirms Lenin’s evaluation of the thought of Kautskyin his first two periods. The specific point of view about Kautsky, especially inthe“departure from Marxism” period, this paper holds that the practice of openpositions, considers the practice did not stop, we cannot rush underground conclusive.