Marxism And The Open Mind

In Marxism and the Open Mind, John Lewis seeks to explain Marxism as a system of thought. In doing so, he addresses the studied neglect or grotesque misrepresentation that he feels characterizes Western attitudes toward Marxism. Lewis also aims to stimulate what he believes to be a long overdue re-evaluation of Marxism in the light of what was contemporary thought in 1957, the year of the book's original publication and the height of the Cold War era. The essays include chapters on human rights and a discussion on Marxism and liberty. Marxist ethics, a much-neglected theme, is the subject of an essay that deals with some of the most deeply felt criticisms of Marxism in the 1950s. The ethical aspects of Marxism are examined once again in a contribution to the debate on Marxism and religion. The volume concludes with essays on Berdyaev and Sartre, which strike a note on the Marxist estimation of these thinkers, and with an essay on Marxist humanism. The essays cover a wide field of thought, uniting a close and sympathetic study of Marxism with a critical judgment rooted in academic training at three universities and experience in the Christian ministry.

In Marxism and the Open Mind, John Lewis seeks to explain Marxism as a system of thought. In doing so, he addresses the studied neglect or grotesque misrepresentation that he feels characterizes Western attitudes toward Marxism. Lewis also aims to stimulate what he believes to be a long overdue re-evaluation of Marxism in the light of what was contemporary thought in 1957, the year of the book’s original publication and the height of the Cold War era. The essays include chapters on human rights and a discussion on Marxism and liberty. Marxist ethics, a much-neglected theme, is the subject of an essay that deals with some of the most deeply felt criticisms of Marxism in the 1950s. The ethical aspects of Marxism are examined once again in a contribution to the debate on Marxism and religion. The volume concludes with essays on Berdyaev and Sartre, which strike a note on the Marxist estimation of these thinkers, and with an essay on Marxist humanism. The essays cover a wide field of thought, uniting a close and sympathetic study of Marxism with a critical judgment rooted in academic training at three universities and experience in the Christian ministry.

It has been said that the normal English reaction to uncomfortable facts of life, such as Marxism, is an embarrassed but determined silence. That anyone should experience a desire to enquire into ideas as such, and to probe into the motives influencing them, seems extraordinary. Marxism is, however, subjected to a close study in this book, first published in 1957, and the collected essays attempt the task of combining certain elements in the heritage of modern culture with the insights of Marxism. There can be no vital thinking for our age that does not do justice to both traditions.

It has been said that the normal English reaction to uncomfortable facts of life, such as Marxism, is an embarrassed but determined silence. That anyone should experience a desire to enquire into ideas as such, and to probe into the motives influencing them, seems extraordinary. Marxism is, however, subjected to a close study in this book, first published in 1957, and the collected essays attempt the task of combining certain elements in the heritage of modern culture with the insights of Marxism. There can be no vital thinking for our age that does not do justice to both traditions.

In this book, Edwin Roberts provides a comparative intellectual history of the development of Marxist theory in Great Britian, concentrating on the years between the Great Depression and the Cold War. Roberts argues that during this period there developed among university-educated intellectuals a distinctively Anglicized form of Marxist theory that prefigured the analytical Marxism so prominent in the English-speaking world today. Roberts' important book explores this school_a precursor to contemporary analytical Marxism_examining key figures such as Haldane and Bernal and providing readers with a compelling argument for the significance of Anglo-Marxism in the tradition of Marxist thought.

Citing a lifelong engagement with Marxism, critic and writer Marshall Berman reveals the movement's positive points and suggests a new beginning for Marxism may be on the horizon with its recent 150th anniversary attention.