Engels and the End of Philosophy

Abstract

This chapter offers a systematic explanation of Engels’s thought on “the end of philosophy.” His philosophical thought consists of two theoretical layers: metatheory, based on the end of philosophy; and object theory, based on the paramount questions of philosophy. Engels believes that the philosophy which generates the system of natural and historical laws in a speculative way has already come to an end in Hegel, while empirical science, including natural science and historical science, has developed enough to provide a general picture of world relations and movements. Therefore, it is inevitable that empirical science should replace philosophy for understanding the laws of the external world, thus heralding the end of philosophy. Nevertheless, this end to philosophy is limited in form, and the sphere of thinking remains active.