The Theory of Need in Marx

The Theory of Need in Marx
Author: Agnes Heller
Publisher: Verso Books
Total Pages: 167
Release: 2018-04-17
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 178663614X

The basic discoveries underlying Marx's critique of political economy - labour power, surplus value, use value - are all in some way built upon the concept of need. From Marx's varying and passing interpretations of a theory of need, Agnes Heller unravels the main tendencies and demonstrates the importance which Marx attached to the "restructuring" of a system of needs going beyond the purely material. She also brings out those aspects, especially the idea of "radical needs" which point to revolutionary activity and to the project which Marx could only foresee but which for us today is of real urgency: the "society of associated producers". Thus Agnes Heller's study is not only the first full presentation of a fundamental aspect of Marx, but the basis for a discussion of the utmost contemporary relevance.

Labour and Value: Rethinking Marx’s Theory of Exploitation

Labour and Value: Rethinking Marx’s Theory of Exploitation
Author: Ernesto Screpanti
Publisher: Open Book Publishers
Total Pages: 124
Release: 2019-10-09
Genre: Education
ISBN: 178374782X

In this book Ernesto Screpanti provides a rigorous examination of Marx’s theory of exploitation, one of the cornerstones of Marxist thought. With precision and clarity, he identifies the holes in traditional readings of Marx’s theory before advancing his own original interpretation, drawing on contemporary philosophy and economic theory to provide a refreshingly interdisciplinary exegesis. Screpanti’s arguments are delivered with perspicuity and verve: this is a book that aims to spark a debate. He exposes ambiguities present in Marx’s exposition of his own theory, especially when dealing with the employment contract and the notions of ‘abstract labor’ and ‘labor value’, and he argues that these ambiguities have given rise to misunderstandings in previous analyses of Marx’s theory of exploitation. Screpanti’s own interpretation is a meticulously argued counterpoint to these traditional interpretations. Labour and Value is a significant contribution to the theory of economics, particularly Marxist economics. It will also be of great interest to scholars in other disciplines including sociology, political science, and moral and political philosophy. Screpanti’s clear and engaging writing style will attract the interested general reader as well as the academic theorist.

The Theory of Need in Marx

The Theory of Need in Marx
Author: Agnes Heller
Publisher: Verso Books
Total Pages: 136
Release: 2018-05-01
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1786636131

The first full presentation of a fundamental aspect of Marx, the concept of need What are needs? While the edifices of economic theory are built upon various mechanisms designed to satisfy “human needs,” not many economists have addressed the idea of need itself. Heller’s highly original work identifies this lacuna, recognizing the concept of needs as playing a “hidden but principal role in Marx’s economic categories.” Her writing lucidly exposes radical needs as bearing the seeds of revolutionary agency in alienated capitalist society, and reasserts our existence as sentient beings beyond the realm of the material, productive spheres.

Hegel and Marx

Hegel and Marx
Author: Ian Fraser
Publisher:
Total Pages: 236
Release: 1998
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN:

This text introduces the concept of need as viewed by Hegel and Marx, and places it within the context of modern need theories and theorists. The book works through key texts, including Hegel's Philosophy of Right and Marx's Capital, and discusses the theory in relation to Soviet Communism and social democracy.* Covers key texts by Hegel and Marx studied by undergraduates on political theory courses* Looks at political implications for modern need theory* Accessible: author makes good use of textual evidence* Need theory is a major element of modern social theory

Understanding Marxism

Understanding Marxism
Author: Geoff Boucher
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 237
Release: 2014-09-03
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1317547462

Marxism as an intellectual movement has been one of the most important and fertile contributions to twentieth-century thought. No social theory or political philosophy today can be taken seriously unless it enters a dialogue, not just with the legacy of Marx, but also with the innovations and questions that spring from the movement that his work sparked, Marxism. Marx provided a revolutionary set of ideas about freedom, politics and society. As social and political conditions changed and new intellectual challenges to Marx's social philosophy arose, the Marxist theorists sought to update his social theory, rectify the sociological positions of historical materialism and respond to philosophical challenges with a Marxist reply. This book provides an accessible introduction to Marxism by explaining each of the key concepts of Marxist politics and social theory. The book is organized into three parts, which explore the successive waves of change within Marxist theory and places these in historical context, while the whole provides a clear and comprehensive account of Marxism as an intellectual system.

The Theory of Revolution in the Young Marx

The Theory of Revolution in the Young Marx
Author: Michael Lowy
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 216
Release: 2020-11-09
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 9004441603

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.

Hegel, Marx, and the Necessity and Freedom Dialectic

Hegel, Marx, and the Necessity and Freedom Dialectic
Author: Russell Rockwell
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 251
Release: 2018-04-26
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 3319756117

This book provides close readings of primary texts to analyze the linkage between G.W.F. Hegel’s philosophy and Karl Marx’s critical social theory of necessity and freedom. This is important for three reasons: first, to understand the significance of the changing relationships of work, society, and critical social theory in the origins of Hegelian-Marxism in the US, as documented in the recently published correspondence between the Marxist-Humanist theoretician Raya Dunayevskaya and the critical theorist Herbert Marcuse; second, to identify the intersections of the Critical Theorists Jurgen Habermas’ and Marcuse’s influential reinterpretations of Marx’s “value theory” of economy and society that enables navigation of the changing relationships of the social and economic spheres in the last century, as developed in Marx’s Grundrisse; and, thirdly, to assess the potential of Moishe Postone’s renewal of Marx’s value theory, largely conceived by the notion of a necessity and freedom dialectic intrinsic to capitalism.

Making Sense of Marx

Making Sense of Marx
Author: Jon Elster
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 584
Release: 1985-05-09
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 9780521297059

A critical examination of the social theories of Karl Marx.

Money and Totality

Money and Totality
Author: Fred Moseley
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 433
Release: 2015-09-29
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 9004301933

This ambitious book presents a comprehensive new 'macro-monetary' interpretation of Marx’s logical method in Capital, based on substantial textual evidence, which emphasises two main points: (1) Marx’s theory is primarily a macroeconomic theory of the total surplus-value produced in the economy as a whole; and (2) Marx’s theory is a monetary theory from beginning to end and the circuit of money capital – M - C - M’ – is the logical framework of Marx’s theory. It follows from this 'macro-monetary' interpretation that, contrary to the prevailing view, there is no 'transformation problem' in Marx’s theory; i.e., Marx did not 'fail to transform the inputs of constant capital and variable capital' in his theory of prices of production in Part 2 of Volume III.