The “problem of the ideal” is the problem of the status of nonmaterial properties in the material world. The importance IIyenkov attributes to this issue requires little explanation: A materialist position is defined by its account of the nonmaterial, and stands or falls by the plausibility of that account. Thus, the nature and possibility of dialectical materialism turns on its solution to the problem of the ideal.

Ilyenkov first presented his account of the ideal (ideal'noe), or “ideality” (ideal'nost'), in a long entry in the Soviet philosophical encyclopedia in 1962, an article that represents his most impressive contribution to the renaissance of Soviet philosophy after Stalin (Ilyenkov 1962b). Ilyenkov never lost faith in the validity of the theory he outlined there, and when he returned to the problem of the ideal in a late article (1979a), he did so not to question his earlier views but to reaffirm them.

Ilyenkov's theory of ideality continues to provoke controversy among Soviet philosophers. While some consider it brilliant, others hold it to be confused and contradictory. This controversy is exacerbated by the abstruse way in which Ilyenkov presents his position. The problems he addresses are so massive and multidimensional that his answers often seem too quick, condensed to the point of unintelligibility. The primary task of this chapter is therefore simply to explain Ilyenkov's theory. I shall begin with a specific, well-defined issue and gradually extend the discussion to encompass the full scope of his position. Finally, I shall consider how Ilyenkov may be defended from a charge frequently made against him during his life: that his theory of the ideal commits him to idealism.