European Intellectual History Syllabus
42.346 Spring 2002
Study
Questions on The Portable Karl Marx.
Please note that there is a Reader's Guide at the back of the book, which helps explain terms.
Kamenka's
Introduction (pp. xi-xiv):
Why
does Kamenka think that studying Marx is important?
Trace
the major turning points in Marx's life and be
prepared to "chart" them on the blackboard.
Kamenka
says that Marx combined German philosophy, French
politics, and English economics. Explain
what this means.
Explain
Marx's criticism of capitalism--according to
Marx the Man: Documents, Letters, Reminiscences (pp. 5-71):
What
were Marx's main personality traits? What
sort of person was he, and what did he seem to value? (Think about how his
personality compares to that of J. S. Mill.)
Be prepared to explain in detail your reaction
to this "biographical" material.
The
Formation of a Young Radical: Early Writings, 1841-44 (pp. 75-124):
In
the
"Correspondence of 1843" (pp.
92-95), what was Marx's criticism
of German intellectual life in 1843?
In
the Introduction to "Contribution to
the Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Right
Hegel had argued that the Prussian was the greatest achievement of human history (the end of history). What was the main point of Marx's criticism of Hegel?
What
was Marx's main criticism of German
philosophy in 1844?
What
did Marx say Germany had to do to "join" the modern
nations? Explain.
Why
for Marx was the proletariat the only class that could bring "human
emancipation"?
Beyond
Philosophy to Communism, Political Economu, and the Materialist Conception of
History: Transitional Writings, 1844-47 (pp. 125-195)
Consider the manuscript fragment "Alienated Labour" (from Economico-Philosphical Manuscripts of 1844, pp. 131-146). What did Marx say was wrong with "political economy"?
According
to Marx, why
is labor a commodity? Why is the
product of a worker's labor an
"alien object"?
What
did Marx mean by "the relationship of the worker to
According
to Marx, why is the "fact" that man is alienated in the process of
labor and from labor's products both dehumanizing and socially
alienating?
According
to Marx, what is the relationship of "the capitalist" to labor,
and how is this relationship connected to
alienation?
According
to Marx, if
private property is based on
From The
German Ideology, vol. 1 (pp. 162-195)
Consider
the section "The Materialist Conception of History"
(163-171). What does Marx
mean by "mode of production"?
How does the division of labor "determine" the nature of society?
Explain
the "mode of production" in tribal society; ancient
(slave) society; and feudal society.
How
does Marx link the mode of production in a given
historical epoch to the system of political power in that
epoch?
How
does Marx explain the relationship between culture (law,
religion, philosophy, etc.--what he often refers to in later work as
"superstructure") and the "mode of production"?
Why
is his view "materialist"?
Consider
the section "On History"
(pp. 171-173) What does Marx
say that we must take as our starting
point in studying history and why?
What does he call "the first historical act" and why?
What
is the "third aspect" of historical/social
activity? Explain.
So
for Marx, what do we look at to understand human history?
Consider
the section "Consciousness and the Division of
Labour"
(173-183). Why does Marx say
173-74 that consciousness is a
"social product"?
What
does this section tell us about Marx's understanding of
the nature of history and historical change?
Consider
the section "Law and the Materialist Conception of
History"
(pp. 183-186). How does Marx
explain the purpose and the nature of the
state in capitalist society?
How
does Marx relate law to the development of private
property? What for Marx is
the purpose of Law?
Consider
the section "The Role of Violence in History" (pp. 186-188).
Does Marx consider violence
and war the driving force of history?
Explain.
Consider
the section "Communism as the End of History" (pp. 189-195).
What did Marx mean by communism, and why would it be "the
end of history"?
Why
did Marx consider abolition of classes necessary for
real human freedom?
Revolution
and Counter-Revolution: Political Writings, 1848-1852(pp.. 197-323).
The Manifesto of the Communist Party (pp. 293-241).
Explain
what Marx and Engels meant by the
statement that "the history of all hitherto existing
society is the history of class struggles."
According
to Marx and Engels, what are the classes of capitalist society and why do they
"struggle"?
Why
do Marx and Engels say that previously the bourgeoisie had played "a most
revolutionary part" in history?
Why
do Marx and Engels call the bourgeoisie "its own grave digger"?
According
to Marx and Engels, how
had industrialization "created" a proletariat, and why
was the working class a revolutionary force?
According
to the Manifesto, what were the Communists'
aims in 1848? Why did they
want to abolish "bourgeois" private property?
Liberals
considered the right to personal property
as critical to the protection of all individual liberties--did Marx and Engels
agree?
What
did Marx and Engels say was necessary to have real freedom?
What
does the Manifesto say about the nature of the "bourgeois" family, marriage, and nationality?
Explain
the "platform" points on pp. 227-28.
What was Marx and Engels' main criticism of the utopian socialists, and what did they consider useful in utopian ideas?
______________
OK, now let's connect this to our earlier readings and discussions:
1) What elements in Marx's methodology and in his basic ideas are clearly rooted in the traditions and ideas of the Enlightenment?
2) What aspects of Marx's ideas appear to be rooted in (or at least resonate with) Romanticism?
3) In what ways were Marx's views a response to the internal political contradictions in European society highlighted by the French revolution?
4) In what sense were Marx's views a response to the internal social contradictions in European society highlighted by the industrial revolution?
5) Compare and contrast Marx's analytical methods and conclusions to those of Mill.
_________
Note--Although
we do not have time to discuss it in class, for an outstanding example of Marx
as "contemporary historian," read the selections from The
Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte (pp. 287-323.
Note--The
works that we have discussed represent the approach that is sometimes described
as the "Young Marx." In his "mature"
(later) work, Marx focused brilliantly on the history and political economy of
capitalism, most famously in a three volume work entitled Capital.
For representative excerpts of "Late Marx" see
pp. 325-328, 369-374, 394-432, 465-493, 505-507.