Ethical Dimensions Of Marxist Thought

Esteemed American philosopher, Cornel West tackles the ethics of the Marxism agenda In this fresh, original analysis of Marxist thought, Cornel West makes a significant contribution to today's debates about the relevance of Marxism by putting the issue of ethics squarely on the Marxist agenda. West, professor of religion and director of the Afro-American studies program at Princeton University, shows that not only was ethics an integral part of the development of Marx's own thinking throughout his career, but that this crucial concern has been obscured by such leading and influential interpreters as Engels, Kautsky, Luk?cs, and others who diverted Marx's theory into narrow forms of positivism, economism, and Hegelianism.

Does Marxism possess an ethical impulse? Is there a moral foundation that underpins the Marxist critique of capitalism and the vision for social progress? The essays collected in Constructing Marxist Ethics: Critique, Normativity, Praxis argue that there is such an ethical grounding for Marxist theory. The essays, each from different vantage points, construct what a Marxian ethics should look like: what kind of values should be at the heart of the Marxian enterprise. Contributors are: Dan Albanese, Paul Blackledge, Bob Cannon, Tony Burns, Ian Fraser, Ruth Groff, Wadood Hamad, Christoph Henning, Peter Hudis, Lauren Langman, George E. McCarthy, Sean Sayers, Michael J. Thompson, and Lawrence Wilde.

This book reveals Marx’s moral philosophy and analyzes its nature. The author shows that there is an underlying system of ethics which runs the length and breadth of Marx’s thought. The book begins by discussing the methodological side of Marx’s ethics showing how Marx’s criticism of conventional morality and his views on historical materialism, determinism and ideology are compatible with having an ideological system of his own. In the light of contemporary social, moral and political philosophy the insights and defects of Marx’s major ethical themes are discussed.

This book aims to reinvigorate the Marxist project and the role it might play in illuminating the way beyond capitalism. Though political economy and scientific investigation are needed for pure Marxism, Martin’s argument is that the extent to which these elements are needed cannot be determined within the conversations of political economy and other investigations into causal mechanisms. What has not been done, and what this book does, is to argue for the possibility of a rethought Marxism that takes ethics as its core, displacing political economy and "scientific" investigation.

In this fresh, original analysis of Marxist thought, Cornel West makes a significant contribution to today's debates about the relevance of Marxism by putting the issue of ethics squarely on the Marxist agenda. West, professor of religion and director of the Afro-American studies program at Princeton University, shows that not only was ethics an integral part of the development of Marx's own thinking throughout his career, but that this crucial concern has been obscured by such leading and influential interpreters as Engels, Kautsky, Lukcs, and others who diverted Marx's theory into narrow forms of positivism, economism, and Hegelianism.

Not himself a Marxist, Dr Churchich has nevertheless won plaudits for this book from those committed to the philosophy. It is, they acknowledge, thoroughly researched, well reasoned, and balanced in its argument - even if that argument is one with which Marxists are bound to disagree, being based on the premise that 'ethical theories must ultimately rest on metaphysical and psychological preconceptions rather than on some imaginary empirical facts'. The declared aim of this work is to present a full exposition of Marx's and Engels' ideas on morality and ethics, and to indicate some of their errors and weaknesses. Unlike other studies of this subject, Churchich analyses all major aspects of morality, dealing not only with the writings of Marx himself but also with the works of most writers who have commented on Marxist morality and ethics. Marx himself intended to produce a work on social morality, but did not manage to do so. This book will therefore, and without doubt, become the standard work on his view of the subject. Superior to anything else on the topic written by non-Marxists, it is clearer on some aspects of Marx's view than the work of some Marxist writers - Churchich makes obvious for instance, how great was Althusser's mistake in arguing that there is 'not a grain of normative ethics in mature Marx'. Yet the author's objectivity allows him also to find values among the ethical arguments of Marx and Engels, making this a book which both Marxists and concerned Anglicans would find useful as a criticism of some current social trends. It also sounds a cautionary note for those who argue that the collapse of bureaucratic socialism in the former Soviet Union means the end of Marxism too - this is by no means Dr Churchich's view.

Description: This book Marxian Ethics: Some Preliminary Considerations, is an attempt to explore the meaning and significance of some of the basic formulations of Marxian thought and ideology with a view to cull the ethical dimensions implicitly embedded in Marx's theoretical framework. The work is important in view of the fact that there are extreme divergences and contradictions in the interpretations of Marxism leading to a controversy between the exponents of scientific and philosophico-ethical aspects of Marxism. The work presupposes a few basic questions in the context of Marx's concern for ethics and morality. Is Marx advocating a moral principle which must be confronted to or is he seeking a goal realization? Is he concerned with a sociological analysis of factors in the decline or rise of moral values or is he visualizing an ideal state of affairs which ought to come into existence? The language of morality cannot be understood except against the background of certain norms of social existence. Marx, according to the author, is not only confronted with the moral problem but, indeed, forces the moral question on us. The author maintains that Marx's entire social philosophy flows from his radical and revolutionary views on reality as manifested in his state of alienation-a concept which according to her lies at the heart of Marx's social and moral analysis. The author grapples with the question why Marxism is accepted almost as a religion by the countless millions of people. It is because it looks at and tries to solve the riddles of man's existence from a moral point of view? The author discusses the relevance of man's relation to nature, history and society and tries to view it from a valuational standpoint which incorporates within it the absolute supremacy and dignity of man, which have an unconditional priority in the hierarchy of values. She locates the basis of Marxian system of moral values in a metaphysics of human nature.