Marx's dream : from capitalism to communism / Tom Rockmore.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Rockmore, Tom, 1942- author.

Contributor:

Alumni and Friends Memorial Book Fund.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Marx, Karl, 1818-1883.

Marx, Karl.

Philosophy, Modern--19th century.

Philosophy, Modern.

Physical Description:

viii, 285 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Chicago ; London : University of Chicago Press, 2018.

Summary:

Two centuries after his birth, Karl Marx is read almost solely through the lens of Marxism, his works examined for how they fit into the doctrine that was developed from them after his death. With Marx's Dream, Tom Rockmore offers a much-needed alternative view, distinguishing rigorously between Marx and Marxism. Rockmore breaks with the Marxist view of Marx in three key ways. First, he shows that the concern with the relation of theory to practice - reflected in Marx's famous claim that philosophers only interpret the world, while the point is to change it - arose as early as Socrates, and has been central to philosophy in its best moments. Second, he seeks to free Marx from his unsolicited Marxist embrace in order to consider his theory on its own merits. And, crucially, Rockmore relies on the normal standards of philosophical debate, without the special pleading to which Marxist accounts too often resort. Marx's failures as a thinker, Rockmore shows, lie less in his diagnosis of industrial capitalism's problems than in the suggested remedies, which are often unsound. Only a philosopher of Rockmore's stature could tackle a project this substantial, and the results are remarkable: a fresh Marx, unencumbered by doctrine and full of insights that remain salient today.

Contents:

Part 1 On Marx's Theory of Practice p. 7

On Culture and Civilization p. 9

Plato's Republic and Human Flourishing p. 10

Rousseau's Problem p. 12

On Property, Private Property, and Human Flourishing p. 16

Hegel, Recognition, and the Modern State p. 19

Hegel on Human Flourishing in the Modern State p. 21

Hegel and Economic Flourishing p. 24

Marx's Critique of Hegel's Elements of the Philosophy of Right p. 29

Marx on Theory, Practice, and Changing the World p. 39

On the Marxian Subject p. 40

Feuerbach, Fichte, and the Marxian Subject p. 43

On the Marxian Alternative to Modern Political Economy p. 49

Marxian Political Economy as Economic Constructivism p. 52

Marx on Human Flourishing and Communism p. 55

Human Flourishing as Social Freedom p. 62

Part 2 Marx and Marxism on Materialism, Feuerbach, and Hegel p. 73

What Is Materialism? p. 74

Materialism in Marx's Early Writings p. 82

Engels's (Marxist) View of Feuerbach p. 89

Materialism, Idealism, andThe German Ideology p. 96

Marx's (Non-Marxist) View of Feuerbach p. 102

Marx's "Times on Feuerbach" p. 105

Vico, Materialism, and Constructivism in Capital p. 114

Materialism, Dialectic, and the Second Afterword to Capital p. 119

Excursus on the Reflection Theory of Knowledge p. 125

On Hegel's Dialectical Theory of Cognition p. 133

Marx on Hegelian Dialectic p. 139

Part 3 On the Practice of Marx's Theory, or the Transition from Capitalism to Communism p. 147

1 Transition through the Revolutionary Proletariat p. 148

2 Transition through Economic Crisis p. 157

Normal and Abnormal Economic Crises p. 161

Introduction to Marx on "Crisis" in Theories of Surplus Value p. 168

Marx Attacks Ricardo's View of Profit p. 172

The Mature Marxian View of Economic Crisis p. 175

Financial Crisis and the Marxian Model of Economic Crisis p. 177

Economic Crisis and Value Theory p. 178

Limitations to the Falling Rate of Profit p. 183

Croce, Okishio, Piketty, and the Falling Rate of Profit p. 184

Critical Remarks on the Marxian Model of the Final Economic Crisis p. 187

An Excursus on Main and Financial Crisis p. 189

3 Transition through Politics p. 193

On the Dictatorship of the Proletariat p. 194

On the Practice of Proletarian Dictatorship p. 197

On the Withering Away of the State p. 200

Lenin on the Party as the Revolutionary Vanguard p. 201

Lenin on Democracy p. 203

Dictatorship over the Proletariat p. 206

4 Transition through Critical Social Theory p. 209

Hegel, Marx, and Critical Theory p. 211

Critical Theory, or Critical Social Theory p. 213

Excursus on Pollock and Critical Theory p. 217

Pollock, Habermas, and Critical Social Theory p. 220

Habermas on Historical Materialism p. 222.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Alumni and Friends Memorial Book Fund.

ISBN:

9780226554525

022655452X

OCLC:

1001905807