
Marxism began with the repudiation of philosophy, yet Marxists have often resorted to distinctively philosophical modes of reasoning. In recent years, Western Marxism has been more concerned with philosophy than with research or political activity, and in this book Callinicos explores the ambivalent relationship between Marxism and philosophy. Beginning with Marx and the legacy of Hegelianism, he surveys the schools of Marxist philosophy from Engels and the Second International through the revolutionary Hegelianism, of the 1920s, the Frankfurt School, and the anti-Hegelian Marxism of Adorno and Althusser.
This book investigates the inherent tension between the foundational Marxist rejection of traditional philosophy and the subsequent reliance on philosophical reasoning within various Marxist traditions. Alex Callinicos, a prominent political theorist and academic, examines how Marxist thinkers have navigated this contradiction throughout the twentieth century. He argues that the shift toward philosophical abstraction in Western Marxism often distanced the movement from empirical research and direct political engagement.
What You Will Find
Scope Limits
Scholars and students of political theory frequently cite this work as a clear, concise overview of the complex relationship between Marxist theory and philosophical inquiry. Readers often note the academic density of the prose, which assumes a foundational knowledge of 20th-century European intellectual history.
Page Count:
180
Publication Date:
1985-10-10
Publisher:
Oxford University Press
ISBN-10:
0192851519
ISBN-13:
9780192851512
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