Description
Book SynopsisIn this excellent study of Karl Marx''s thought, Cyril Smith takes a long and winding route that starts with classical world thought. When he arrives at the door to Marx''s pantheon we see that, with the significant yet largely overlooked example of Spinoza, most thinkersand especially Western onesare opposed to essential aspects of democracy. In Marx and the Future of the Human Cyril Smith explains that Karl Marx, more than any other thinker, is misrepresented by what has come to be understood as ''Marxism.'' Marxism has developed into, among other things, a method for analyzing capitalism, a way of looking at history, and a way to theorize the role of the working class in a future society. Marx, however, speaks about a conception of human life that was absent during his lifetime and remains absent today. Marx sought ''the alteration of humans on a mass scale:'' economics, politics, daily lived-life, and spiritual life. In discussing Marx and spirituality, Cyril Smith relates Marx to
Trade ReviewA novel approach that connects the effects of labour and capital to a notion of humanity from William Blake…written with exuberance for the subject matter. * Political Studies Review *
This work represents an important addition to the growing number of works which seek to clarify the difference between Marx’s critique of capitalist society and the approach adopted by traditional or orthodox Marxists. . . . The manuscript contains important insights that will contribute to the process of further clarifying the nature of Marx’s relation to previous schools of thought, especially Hegel’s. -- Peter Hudis, Co-editor of The Power of Negativity: Selected Writings on the Dialectic in Hegel and Marx by Raya Dunayevskaya
Table of ContentsChapter 1 'The Prospects for Socialism' Chapter 2 Marx Versus Historical Materialism Chapter 3 The Communist Manifesto after 150 Years Chapter 4 Marx's Critical Science Chapter 5 Democracy and Property in Athens Chapter 6 Towards the Modern State Chapter 7 Hegel's Contradictory Summary of the Tradition Chapter 8 Karl Marx's Critique of Politics Chapter 9 Marx, Communism and Revolution Chapter 10 Marx and Human Self-Creation Chapter 11 Marx and the Fourfold Vision of William Blake Chapter 12 Hegel Chapter 13 Marx Chapter 14 An Inconclusive Conclusion
