The Theory of Knowledge by Maurice Cornforth

Twice I’ve tried to read this book. The first time I attempted it, I set it aside because my first year of university started and I had no time to devote any time to extra reading. The second attempt, which I’ve made recently, has come to an end because I find the subject no longer interests me. Seventy pages in, I feel as though I have the main idea of the text and feel no great desire to finish it. I think it’s time to pass this dusty book on and let someone have a go at it.

The book in question is a 1983 printing of a work first published in 1955 titled, The Theory of Knowledge. It literally deals with knowledge and ideas, specifically where ideas come from. The writer relies on a materialist perspective, explaining that nothing can exist outside of the material. Without the physical trappings of the mind, there is no mind, Cornforth says, before going on to deny the existence of both the soul and of God. From my religious perspective, I find this view problematic.

Along with materialism, the main lens through which Cornforth views the subject of knowledge is Marxism. Marx, Engels and Lenin are frequently quoted. Also, great emphasis is put on the role of labour in the development of ideas. To throw a few key subjects out there, Cornforth touches on abstract ideas, ideologies, science, truth and human freedom.

Make no mistake, despite being only about two-hundred pages, there is nothing light about this read. Although it is designed for the average reader, written in “non-technical terms,” it is by no means an easy read. If you wish to understand the concepts, you cannot rush through it.  

I should probably note that it is the third volume of a three book set on Dialectical Materialism, but it is designed to be able to stand with or without the first two books. I have never seen, or read the first two volumes.

 I congratulate anyone who can make it through this volume without skimming even just a little.