Sobre "as raízes sociais e econômicas dos 'Principia' de Newton"

Abstract

The 2nd Intemational Congress of History of Science, held in London, 1931, had lhe presence of delegation .from USSR, which was lhe first one since October 's revolution. Among the JXlpers presented by this delegation one had repercussion that spread beyond baunds of that event. It was a JXlper entided The Social and Economics Roots of Newton's 'Principia' by Boris Mikhailovich Hessen. Hessen de.fined his work as: "Our task will consist in appl)'ng the melhod of dialectical materialism and the conception of lhis historical process which Marx created, to an analysis of the genesis and development of Newton 's work in connection wilh lhe period in which he /ived and worked". So we will analyze this worl. in its proposition of a Marxist conception ofhistoryof science. Inasmuch as this conception was imputed to it by severa/ commentators we do not risk to consider lhe author's intention as rea/ity. We did a brief summary ofthis JXlper and reviewed some ofits commentators. Next we analysed the context - the Saviet Marxism at 20 's decade - in which the paper was written. We concluded identifying Hessen 's JXlper as exemplar, by its pioneering in history of science, of an interpretation of Marx 's thoughts with a positivist and mechanistic bias.