This book, first published in 1977, presents for the first time a serious and systematic assessment of Marx primarily as a philosopher. It considers all major aspects of Marx s theory its methodology, its ontological dimensions, its approaches to the descriptions of history and of societies and their economic structures, its alleged predictions and its vision of the future as well as some of its intellectual antecedents and twentieth-century heirs. The presentation of Marx s ideas attempts to be at once faithful to them, as distinguished from their reinterpretations by later Marxists, and...

The project to publish the works of Marx and Engels continues, and this book, published in 1984, puts together a comprehensive bibliography of their works either written in or translated into English, including books, monographs, articles, chapters and doctoral dissertations, together with the works of their interpreters. The inclusion of the secondary literature makes this a particularly valuable bibliography, and contributes greatly to the understanding of the thought of Marx and Engels.

In what is the first sustained analysis of Marx s attitude to the puzzle of the individual in history and society, this book, first published in 1990, challenges received views on the importance of class analysis and the place of a theory of human nature in Marx s thought. The radical possibilities of individual agency in society are explored within a Marxian framework, and without recourse to the current fashions of methodological individualism or rational choice theory. In the context of the apparent antagonism between collectivist and individualist approaches to political explanation...

This book, first published in 1986, presents a radical challenge to socialist orthodoxy, subjecting a key component of that orthodoxy Marxism to sustained criticism. Les Johnston argues that Marxism cannot provide the foundations for a rigorous socialist theory or an effective socialist politics. A fundamental element of this criticism is the suggestion that the problem of reductionism which has preoccupied Marxists is a red herring. Marxism s problem is not its reductionism but its theoretical incoherence. Marxism is not deterministic, for there is invariably an indeterminate relationship...

It has been said that the normal English reaction to uncomfortable facts of life, such as Marxism, is an embarrassed but determined silence. That anyone should experience a desire to enquire into ideas as such, and to probe into the motives influencing them, seems extraordinary. Marxism is, however, subjected to a close study in this book, first published in 1957, and the collected essays attempt the task of combining certain elements in the heritage of modern culture with the insights of Marxism. There can be no vital thinking for our age that does not do justice to both traditions.

Marxism is a theory which originated in the context of nineteenth-century industrialised Europe. Despite its European origins, Marxism has actually found greatest significance as a doctrine for change in the context of the underdeveloped peasant societies of Asia. This paradox has only been resolved through adaptation of Marxism to suit the specific features of particular Asian societies. There has consequently been a differentiation of Marxism along national lines. In this book, first published in 1985, the theoretical and practical implications for this national differentiation of a...

This study, first published in 1983, explores the connections between Marx s philosophy and his empirical analysis of society and state, by showing the different meanings of many of Marx s concepts as their role in his theory changes and the theory itself develops. Beginning with an examination of Marx s search for a sound epistemological basis on which to build a social theory, Dr Barbalet then gives an analysis of the way in which Marx continually modifies the concepts he uses, and continues with an examination of the different functions they are given in different theoretical settings....

This book, first published in 1991, demonstrates that Marx is the legitimate founder of what was to become the critical theory of society. It argues that in order to justify a new conception of humans as collective, cultural and historical beings, Marx undertook a radical critique of the theoretical/analytical method of his predecessors and his contemporaries in political economy, philosophy and the natural sciences. While elements of the methods of some of these thinkers most conspicuously from the work of Aristotle, Kant and Hegel were present in Marx s thought, he achieved a new...

Although Marx s concept of ideology has been a subject of considerable discussion, much of the debate has proved to be rather disappointing. There has been no systematic attempt to examine why Marx "needed" the concept of ideology, why it was an important concept for him and how it related to his views on truth and objectivity. This book, first published in 1982, considers these and other neglected questions. It explains why Marx continued to use the term ideology throughout his life to mean both idealism and apologia and traces the complex ways in which, according to Marx, such talented...