a phenomenon which we have not created ourselves...

a phenomenon which we have not created ourselves, or made it occur by means of fulfilling its conditions in themselves; and further still, if we can employ this phenomenon in achieving our goals; then this would be a decisive blow to the Kantian notion of the thing in itself which is inaccessible to knowledge.[^2] These declarations show clearly that Marxist philosophy was not satisfied with taking the side of sophistry and the schools of denial or skepticism that declared their bankruptcy in the philosophical field.

This is because the edifice that Marxism wished to erect must be based on absolute philosophical principles and decisive rules of thought. Unless the principles are certain, then the intellectual edifice that is based on them, cannot be solid and firm. Now, we would like to try to know whether it is appropriate for this kind of philosophy to claim for itself philosophical certainty, and to claim further that decisive knowledge is possible.

In other words, can Marxist philosophy, whose method of thought is along dialectical lines, assert a true knowledge of the world and its laws, and free itself from the grip of skepticism and sophistry? Put differently, is the philosophy in which the Marxist philosopher rejoices of a higher value and a superior character than knowledge in the philosophy of Kant, (p.

In order for us to understand the problem, to find out whether it is possible to solve it on the basis of Marxist philosophy, and to understand the point of view of Islamic philosophy concerning it, we must mention briefly the most important philosophical doctrines that dealt with it, in order that the following will be clearly determined: the position of Marxism regarding this problem, the kind of view that Marxism must adopt in accordance with its main principles, and the analysis and scrutiny that this problem merits.

The Views of the Greeks In the fifth century B.C., a wave of sophistry pervaded Greek thought at a time in which the method of disputation spread in the fields of rhetoric and law, and philosophical views and non-empirical assumptions strongly clashed. Philosophical thought had not yet crystallized, nor had it reached a high degree of intellectual maturity.