Mainlining Marx

by John L. Stanley

Overview

In recent years a host of Western Marxists have tried to emancipate Marx from responsibility for various unsavory doctrines. Political theorists have argued that Marx can avoid the weight of Stalinism and also the various theories, such as positivism, naturalism, Darwinism, technological determinism and the dialectics of nature that support Marxism. In the course of building up their defense of Marx, these modern critics have developed an elaborate but often confusing rationale whose premise consists of attributing many of the nefarious tendencies of Marxism to Engels, particularly the latter's philosophy of nature. In Mainlining Marx, John L. Stanley sets Marx's view of nature back in its proper perspective.

Stanley challenges the "new orthodoxy" of prominent Marxist scholars who see a fundamental dichotomy between Marx and Engels with the latter believing in cosmic superlaws and the former adhering to historically grounded ones. Stanley argues both Marx and Engels used historical and transhistorical laws at various times. He is highly critical of those who abstract theoretical principles out of texts Marx wrote with specific and historical political goals in mind. He takes issue, as well, with critics who posit a Marxian belief in communist as against natural needs, and further challenges the new orthodoxy in his analysis of Marx's dissertation, showing that from the beginning Marx's thought was grounded in materialist determinism.

Supplementing the chapters on Marx and his critics, the volume concludes with an essay on Georges Sorel's approach to textual analysis and interpretation, showing how Sorel, far in advance of his time realized the impossibility of completely objective analysis and the inevitable distortion of the subject under study.

Throughout this volume, Stanley's critical approach utilizes Sorel's illuminating insights to point out the distortions in modern Marxian analysis. Challenging and original, Mainlining Marx is a major contribution to the study of Marxism. It will be read by economists, political scientists, and intellectual historians.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781138511798
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	02/05/2018
Pages:	252
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements, Preface, Francis Carney, 1. Marx, Engels and the Administration of Nature, 2. On the Alleged Differences Between Marx and Engels (with Ernest Zimmermann), 3. Marx’s Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Nature, 4. The Marxism of Marx’s Doctoral Dissertation, 5. The Uncertainties of Politics and Texts: Modem Marxists and the Dialectics of Nature, 6. The Education of the Passions in Marx’s Social Reconstruction of Nature, 7. Hermeneutics and the Sciences, Bibliography, Index

Editorial Reviews

Collects seven essays by the late political scientist Stanley. Heavily influenced by sociologist George Sorel, Stanley examines the works of Karl Marx and counters many of the assumptions made by modern Marxists. With a heavy emphasis on analyzing Marx's views on nature, he dismisses attempts to separate the philosophies of Marx and his collaborator Engels and argues that, from the beginning, Marx's thought was grounded in historical materialism. In the final essay, Marx is abandoned in lieu of a discussion of George Sorel's examination of textual analysis and interpretation. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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