Writings Of The Young Marx On Philosophy And Society

The most comprehensive one-volume collection in English of Marx's writings from 1835 to 1847, Writings of the Young Marx on Philosophy and Society ranges broadly in subject - from the nature of religion to freedom of the press and to the relation of the state to democracy, from the humanistic critique of philosophical idealism to the "alienation" of humanity and to the relation of communism to historical praxis. It features Easton and Guddat's own highly regarded translations (based on the best German editions as well as on the original manuscripts and first editions) and reveals differences as well as continuities between the "young" and the "old" Marx. A substantial introduction and detailed analytical headnotes indicate the significance and historical setting of each selection, as well as its relationship to Marx's other writings. With one exception ("Defense of the Moselle Correspondent") each article, chapter, or book section is presented in its entirety, without internal deletions.

The Young Karl Marx is an innovative and important study of Marx's early writings. These writings provide the fascinating spectacle of a powerful and imaginative intellect wrestling with complex and significant issues, but they also present formidable interpretative obstacles to modern readers. David Leopold shows how an understanding of their intellectual and cultural context can illuminate the political dimension of these works. An erudite yet accessible discussion of Marx's influences and targets frames the author's critical engagement with Marx's account of the emergence, character, and (future) replacement of the modern state. This combination of historical and analytical approaches results in a sympathetic, but not uncritical, exploration of such fundamental themes as alienation, citizenship, community, anti-semitism, and utopianism. The Young Karl Marx is a scholarly and original work which provides a radical and persuasive reinterpretation of Marx's complex and often misunderstood views of German philosophy, modern politics, and human flourishing.

The central theoretical argument of this book is that Marx's philosophy of praxis - first formulated in the Thesis on Feuerbach - is at the same time the founding stone of a new world view, and the methodological basis for his theory of (proletarian) revolutionary self-emancipation.

Written in 1833-4, when Marx was barely twenty-five, this astonishingly rich body of works formed the cornerstone for his later political philosophy. In the Critique of Hegel's Doctrine of the State, he dissects Hegel's thought and develops his own views on civil society, while his Letters reveal a furious intellect struggling to develop the egalitarian theory of state. Equally challenging are his controversial essay On the Jewish Question and the Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts, where Marx first made clear his views on alienation, the state, democracy and human nature. Brilliantly insightful, Marx's Early Writings reveal a mind on the brink of one of the most revolutionary ideas in human history - the theory of Communism. This translation fully conveys the vigour of the original works. The introduction, by Lucio Colletti, considers the beliefs of the young Marx and explores these writings in the light of the later development of Marxism.