Why Read Marx Today?

ISBN-13: 9780192805058 / Angielski / Miękka / 2003 / 144 str.

Jonathan Wolff

Opis

The fall of the Berlin Wall had enormous symbolic resonance, marking the collapse of Marxist politics and economics. Indeed, Marxist regimes have failed miserably, and with them, it seems, all reason to take the writings of Karl Marx seriously.
Jonathan Wolff argues that if we detach Marx the critic of current society from Marx the prophet of some never-to-be-realized worker's paradise, he remains the most impressive critic we have of liberal, capitalist, bourgeois society. The author shows how Marx's main ideas still shed light on wider concerns about culture and society and he guides the reader through Marx's notoriously difficult writings. Wolff also argues that the value of a great thinker does not depend on his or her views being true, but on other features such as originality, insight, and systematic vision. From this perspective, Marx still richly deserves to be read.
Why Read Marx Today? reinstates Marx as an important critic of current society, and not just a figure of historical interest.

Recenzje

In splendidly lucid prose, Jonathan Wolff explores the continuing appeal of Marx today. Deftly sifting the living from the dead in Marx's thought, Wolff shows how his criticisms of capitalism and liberalism have lost none of their urgency, even if his communist solutions prove unconvincing.

O autorze

Jonathan Wolff is Professor of Philosophy at University College London. His books include the successful An Introduction to Political Philosophy, OUP.