Hegel -- German philosopher, 1770-1831, who tried to develop a system of all philosophies and modes of thinking that showed how all were partial truths representing moments in a dialectic of the world mind (Zeitgeist). He was the grandfather of "Continental" philosophy, including Marxists, existentialists and others.

dialectic -- a process involving a struggle of opposites

Geist -- Hegel’s term for mind or spirit; usually Zeitgeist, or world mind. It is probably Hegel’s most important term, signifying the primary reality in the world; as such, it is the holistic "Subject" of all historical persons and events.

moment -- a passing stage of the ongoing process of Geist’s historical self revelation

rationalism and empiricism -- epistemologies that emphasize the mind and the senses respectively; in Hegel’s system these represent moments of the dialectic

truth -- for Hegel, the whole; something that’s fully related to everything else, understood in full context. Elsewhere, in more poetic language, Hegel describes the truth as the "bacchanalian whirl" in which all individuals and events are caught up.

Aufgehoben, Aufhebung -- forms of the German word for preserving or saving, but with the added connotations here of negating and surpassing; it is often translated into English as "synthesis" as in "thesis, antithesis, synthesis" -- a somewhat
clumsy way of understanding Hegel’s dialectic. The process of being Aufgehoben is also sometimes called "the negation of the negation," because through it the antithesis, itself a negation of the thesis, is in turn negated.the individual -- for Hegel, the incomplete spirit the world historical individual -- the one who at any time in history most embodies the time’s Geist.

science, Hegel’s concept of -- science for Hegel is an understanding based on the fullest possible context, fully related with all the other parts of the whole revolution, Hegel’s conception of -- for Hegel, it is a revolution primarily of spirit (Geist), i.e. a complete qualitative change to a new way of understanding

Marx -- German philosopher, 1818-1883, who accepted Hegel’s dialectic as brilliant, but pointed out that Hegel had things upsidedown: the dialectic wasn’t the ongoing march of "world spirit" or "world mind," but was the ongoing shaping of world history by progressive people through their collective social action (praxis)

praxis -- Marx’s term for social practice. The term is meant to convey the work we undertake collectively to shape our world and our reality; it represents Marx’s dialectical critique of Hegel’s term Geist.

dialectical materialism (historical materialism) -- Marx’s name for his own philosophical method

super-structure -- the realm of ideas, politics and culture. In Marxism, economic activity provides the basic structure of any society; therefore art, culture, ideas, etc. are the superstructure, dependent on the economic base.

scientific socialism -- what Marx and Engels called their own approach to socialism, to distinguish it from merely dreamy-eyed "utopian" socialism; Marx used the word "science" here in the same way Hegel uses it, to refer to the perspective of the whole.

subjectivism (voluntarism) -- a philosophical position that in a simple-minded way assumes that one’s own free will causes things. A subjectivist does not understand things from the standpoint of structure or process.

moralism -- a philosophical approach that in a simplistic way judges things from the standpoint of right and wrong without really understanding what the process is that makes things happen

positivism -- a philosophical school which models itself on empirical science and shows no grasp of what dialectical philosophers mean by negation or the negative. Positivism rejects trying to understand things in relation to the dialectics of world history, and instead tries to know things bit by bit.

mechanical materialism -- a materialism that understands matter as composed of little solid particles that by moving and colliding produce everything in the world, including thought; Marx tried to enrich the conception of materialism by moving beyond this "mechanical" kind to a "dialectical" kind. (See Marx’s theses on Feuerbach.)  matter, Marx’s conception of -- a dynamic conception, matter for Marx is congealed human activity, not just things out there in the material world; in matter I see what I have shaped and named; e.g., this desk that I type on is the congealed human activity of a workman.

revolution or revolutionary change -- for Marx, the overthrow of one class by another producing a qualitative change in socety; revolutionary change is not to be confused with a coup d’etat (replacement of one leader by another) or with reform (change that does not challenge the position of the class that holds power). Revolutionary change may or may not be violent, depending on how tenaciously the ruling class defends its position.

Mao -- Chinese philosopher and statesman, 1890-1976, who applied Marxism to China’s conditions; he is famous for the original contribution that under certin conditions the peasant class can be a force for revolutionary change. Previously Marxists had analyzed the peasant class as a "backward" force. Mao became leader of the People’s Republic of China, the most populous nation on Earth, in 1949 and held leadership until his death as an old man in 1976.

Fanshen -- William Hinton’s book named after the Chinese word for a complete reversal, a turning upside down: peasants runing society, and landlords humbled! unity, criticism, unity -- Mao’s formula, showing that there is a time for individual critical-thinking, but then a time for unity -- without moving back to unity there can be no revolution, no fist (but only individual fingers)

Paulo Friere -- a Brazilian educator and author of the book Pedagogy of the Oppressed. Freire was much admired by the new Left in the 1970s for his work with peasants in combining literacy training with training to "name one’s world" from the point of view of the poor.

Jean-Paul Sartre -- famous French existentialist who embraced a synthesis between existentialism and Marxism during his later years. He joined the French Communist Party.

Plekhanov -- teacher of Lenin, Marxist theoretician of the Russian revolution; Lenin became the leader of the Soviet Union, and the author of many books applying Marxist dialectics.