6. What single great idea occurred to both Darwin and Wallace
independently?

Ans.: The theory of "Natural Selection" which showed that the closely
allied ante-type was the parent stock from which the new form had been
derived by variation.

7. What single great idea occurred to both Marx and Engels
independently?

Ans.: The "Materialistic Conception of History."

8. Name the three great ideas developed by Marx and Engels which now
form the bed-rock basis for the socialist philosophy.

Ans.: (1) the Materialistic Conception of History, or, the law of
economic determinism, (2) the Law of Surplus Value, and (3) the Class
Struggle.

9. Explain, briefly, the "materialistic conception of history."

Ans.: "In every historical epoch, the prevailing mode of economic
production and exchange and the social organization necessarily
following from it forms the basis upon which is built up and from which
alone can be explained, the political and intellectual history of that
epoch." The laws, customs, education, religion, public opinion and
morals are in the long run controlled and shaped by economic conditions;
or, in other words, by the dominant ruling class which the economic
system of any given period forces to the front.

10. What is the most important question in life?

Ans.: The problem of securing food and shelter.

11. What bearing does this have on the materialistic conception of
history?

Ans.: It gives us the only key by which we can understand the history of
the past, and within limits, predict the course of future development.

12. What effect does the prevailing mode of production and exchange in
any particular epoch, have on the social organization and political and
intellectual history of that epoch?

Ans.: "Anything that goes to the roots of the economic structure and
modifies it (the food and shelter question in life) will inevitably
modify every other branch and department of human life, political,
ethical, religious and moral. This makes the social question primarily
an economic one and all our thought and effort should be concentrated on
it."

13. Do the ideas of the ruling class, in any given epoch, correspond
with the prevailing mode of economic production?

Ans.: They correspond exactly, as all connective institutions, civil,
religious, legal, educational, political and domestic have been moulded
in the interest of the economically dominant class who control these
institutions in a manner