Collected Works of V. I. Lenin - Vol. 13 - From Marx to Mao

447STATEMENT OF THE EDITORSOF PROLETARYIn Neue Zeit, No. 20, in the foreword by an unknowntranslator of A. Bogdanov’s article on Ernst Mach, weread the following: “Russian Social-Democracy, unfortunately,reveals a strong tendency to making this or thatattitude towards Mach a question of factional divisionwithin the party. Grave tactical differences of opinionbetween the Bolsheviks and the Mensheviks are aggravatedby a controversy on a question, which, in our opinion, hasno bearing whatever on these differences, namely, whetherMarxism, from the point of view of theory, is compatiblewith the teaching of Spinoza and Holbach, or of Mach andAvenarius.”In this connection the Editorial Board of Proletary,as the ideological spokesman of the Bolshevik trend, deemsit necessary to state the following. Actually, this philosophicalcontroversy is not a factional one and, in theopinion of the Editorial Board, should not be so; any attemptto represent these differences of opinion as factionalis radically erroneous. Both factions contain adherents ofthe two philosophical trends.Proletary, No. 21,February 26 (13), 1908Published accordingto the text in Proletary