For the entire thrust of Marxs position, the very reason that he eschewed the abstract moralizing of the Left Hegelians and utopian socialists, has to do with his commitment to the idea of immanent critique. Put simply, Marx transformed Hegels claim that philosophy is its own time apprehended in thought into the view that a profound and comprehensive critique of society must disavow abstract speculation and flights of fancy by grounding itself in the actual social and historical forces pressing towards a societal transformation. The forces of socialist transformation must develop within capitalist society; otherwise socialism is a purely abstract (hence unreal) utopia. And in terms of the human beings who constitute those forces - the working class - this can only mean they develop needs whose satisfaction requires overthrow of the existing mode of production. Marx does not require an abstract and ahistorical theory of natural needs to underpin his critique of capitalism; that critique stands or falls on the evidence of workers pushing for the satisfaction of historically created needs which conflict with the imperatives of the present system (accumulation of capital). - David McNally, in Against The Market: Political Economy, Market Socialism and the Marxist Critique
Posted on: Sat, 18 Oct 2014 03:58:59 +0000
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