I do not send forth this little book with any ambitious hope that it will be widely read, or even that it will convert any one to Socialism. My hope is far more modest. It is that this book may be of some real service, as a labor-saving device, to the thinking men and women who have felt the lure of Socialism, and are trying to discover just what is meant by the oft-used words 'Marxian Socialism,' Should it prove of material aid to even _one_ such man or woman, I would feel that I had been repaid a hundred-fold for my labor in writing it. ROBERT RIVES LA MONTE. Feb. 7, 1907. TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE SCIENCE AND SOCIALISM 15 I. THE MATERIALISTIC CONCEPTION OF HISTORY 25 II. THE LAW OF SURPLUS-VALUE 34 III. THE CLASS STRUGGLE 46 MARXISM AND ETHICS 57 INSTEAD OF A FOOTNOTE 75 THE NIHILISM OF SOCIALISM 81 THE BIOGENETIC LAW 131 KISMET 143 SCIENCE AND SOCIALISM[1] (International Socialist Review, September, 1900.) Until the middle of this (the nineteenth) century the favorite theory with those who attempted to explain the phenomena of History was the Great-Man-Theory. This theory was that once in a while through infinite mercy a great man was sent to the earth who yanked humanity up a notch or two higher, and then we went along in a humdrum way on that level, or even sank back till another great man was vouchsafed to us. Possibly the finest flower of this school of thought is Carlyle's Heroes and Hero Worship. Unscientific as this theory was, it had its beneficent effects, for those heroes or great men served as ideals, and the human mind requires an unattainable ideal. No man can be or do the best he is capable of unless he is ever reaching out toward an ideal that lies beyond his grasp. Tennyson put this truth in the mouth of the ancient sage who tells the youthful and ambitious Gareth who is eager to enter into the service of King Arthur of the Table Round: "-----------the King Will bind thee by such vows as is a shame A man should not be bound by, yet the which No man can keep."