Karl Marx: The Burden of Reason

by Allan Megill

Why did Karl Marx want to exclude politics and the market from his vision of a future socialism? In Karl Marx: The Burden of Reason, Allan Megill begins with this question. Megill's examination of Marx's formative writings casts new light on Marx's relation to philosophy and reveals a hitherto largely unknown 'rationalist' Marx. In demonstrating how Marx's rationalism permeated his attempts to understand politics, economics, and history generally, Megill forces the reader to rethink Marx's entire intellectual project. While Megill writes as an intellectual historian and historian of philosophy, his highly original redescription of the Marxian enterprise has important implications for how we think about the usability of Marx's work today. Karl Marx: The Burden of Reason will be of interest to those who wish to reflect on the fate of Marxism during the era of Soviet Communism. It will also be of interest to those who wish to discern what is living and what is dead, what is adequate and what requires replacement or supplementation, in the work of a figure who, in spite of everything, remains one of the greatest philosophers and social scientists of the modern world.

Genres: Politics

259 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

Reviews

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Marx gets an A for ingenuity and incite into the human experience but an F for clarity and practical implications. IF you can get through the book without wondering if you retained an ounce of it, you can definitely find appreciation for his work. He speaks powerfully about the human experience-the experience of those forgotten in society because they are the masses, without wealth, means, or property. His passion and intelligence are ever present throughout the book and Megill's commentary saves the reader from needing to be as intelligent as Marx truly was. Unfortunately, the practical implications of this radical economic theory were rather devastating.