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Marx: An Introduction
According to Michel Henry, no thinker has been more influential than Marx, and no one has been more misunderstood. With his characteristic clarity and elegance, Henry seeks to pull out the philosophical heart of Marx's work and the reasons this complex philosophy has so often been simplified, distorted and obscured.
An Introduction is not just a recovery of the theoretical centre of Marx's thinking, but also a brilliant introduction to the work of Marx in general; concise and punchy without glossing over the difficult material, it provides a totally fresh reading of Marx's corpus.
Michel Henry shares with Marx a concern for the living work and the living individual and this shared preoccupation is brilliantly conveyed throughout the book. An essential read for those wrestling with Marx for the first time, and those looking for a new way to approach well-trodden territory.
An Introduction is not just a recovery of the theoretical centre of Marx's thinking, but also a brilliant introduction to the work of Marx in general; concise and punchy without glossing over the difficult material, it provides a totally fresh reading of Marx's corpus.
Michel Henry shares with Marx a concern for the living work and the living individual and this shared preoccupation is brilliantly conveyed throughout the book. An essential read for those wrestling with Marx for the first time, and those looking for a new way to approach well-trodden territory.
- GenresPhilosophy
136 pages, Hardcover
Published February 21, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
May 2, 2022
I really like Henry's interpretation of Marx, and find that it helps with some of the matters on which I've been thinking.
According to Henry, Marx is foremost a philosopher of life, not a political economist. This is because, as distinguished from Marxism—an (in)voluntary perversion of Marx's thought—he wanted to critique the idea of economy as such; in other words, Marx's mission was to uncover the origin of economics in day-to-day life and how, once it was conceived, especially as capitalism, it came to totally dominate human existence. The presupposition, then, is that economics is unnatural and foreign to our essence as living beings. This reading is incredibly pertinent in the 21st-century, when homo economicus reigns, and when we are raised with the expectation that our purpose is to enter the "workforce" in order to survive and "serve the economy," as if it were some transcendent deity—when, in reality, it is but an abstraction.
As much as I liked Henry's analysis, one has to remember that this is not really "An Introduction," as the subtitle states, but rather "Henry's introduction." This is not a "definitive, master guide to Marx"; it is Henry's particular interpretation, so it is obviously slanted toward his phenomenology of life. This is why, despite my preference for Henry's reading, I can't help but feel a bit uneasy about it, which is either a case of (1) Henry deliberate misreading Marx or (2) translation differences, either by Henry himself, or the translator of this book. For instance, when I went to verify a citation Henry uses from Marx's "A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy," the actual quote was worded quite differently, in a way that seemed to contradict Henry. As such, one must, as with any interpretation, read it critically, with the original sources for comparison.
According to Henry, Marx is foremost a philosopher of life, not a political economist. This is because, as distinguished from Marxism—an (in)voluntary perversion of Marx's thought—he wanted to critique the idea of economy as such; in other words, Marx's mission was to uncover the origin of economics in day-to-day life and how, once it was conceived, especially as capitalism, it came to totally dominate human existence. The presupposition, then, is that economics is unnatural and foreign to our essence as living beings. This reading is incredibly pertinent in the 21st-century, when homo economicus reigns, and when we are raised with the expectation that our purpose is to enter the "workforce" in order to survive and "serve the economy," as if it were some transcendent deity—when, in reality, it is but an abstraction.
As much as I liked Henry's analysis, one has to remember that this is not really "An Introduction," as the subtitle states, but rather "Henry's introduction." This is not a "definitive, master guide to Marx"; it is Henry's particular interpretation, so it is obviously slanted toward his phenomenology of life. This is why, despite my preference for Henry's reading, I can't help but feel a bit uneasy about it, which is either a case of (1) Henry deliberate misreading Marx or (2) translation differences, either by Henry himself, or the translator of this book. For instance, when I went to verify a citation Henry uses from Marx's "A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy," the actual quote was worded quite differently, in a way that seemed to contradict Henry. As such, one must, as with any interpretation, read it critically, with the original sources for comparison.
September 24, 2022
Three essays, the third much more difficult than the first two, interpreting Marx as a ‘philosopher of life,’ for him the entire economic realm is, however it may be interpreted, already one more facet of alienated human being.
I found the book very stimulating. Read Charles’ review on goodreads for a more substantial assessment. He did a great job.
I found the book very stimulating. Read Charles’ review on goodreads for a more substantial assessment. He did a great job.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews