Book Description
A brief, clear, and faithful exposition of Marx's major premises, with particular attention to historical context.

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Book Description
Since its first publication in 1981, Karl Marx has become one of the most respected books on Marx's philosophical thought. Allen Wood explains Marx's views from a philosophical standpoint and defends Marx against common misunderstandings and criticisms of his views. All the major philosophical topics in Marx's work are considered: alienation, historical materialism, morality, philosophical materialism, and the dialectical method.

The second edition has been revised to include a new chapter on capitalist exploitation and new suggestions for further reading. Wood has also added a substantial new preface which looks at the fall of the Soviet Union and ambivalence towards capitalism, and explores Marx's relevance and place in the twenty-first century. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Not for the faint hearted!
Wood delves deep into Marxist thought in an effort to find the truth of Marx's thought. Marx is defended by Wood from many common, and more commonly erroneous, interpretations of Marxist thought that has surfaced in the many years since Marx's thoughts became influential.
"Karl Marx" is a very well structured book, with the structure revolving around five major topics of Marx's work; alienation, historical materialism, Marx's thought on morality, philosophical materialism and the dialectical method.
As one of the most respected works on Marx's philosophical thought, you expect an in-depth, concise and authoritative book, and this is exactly what you get.
This book is very heavy in the philosophical content, if you haven't read much of Marx, then you will probably get bogged down in this advanced work, so there are probably easier-to-follow books out there to start on.

Overall this is a remarkable book, advanced and authoritative, it should be a prerequisite for anyone interested in a proper understanding of Marx.

Philosopher or Not
Wood's review of Marx's theories is best summed up by the question of whether the German philosopher was just that. Certainly he obtained a doctorate in the field, but Wood contends that Marx was a commentator on the settings of the society in which he lived. Though the text is verbose at times, it is a good review of Marx's material in light of this unusual thesis. It examines in detail the early theory of alienation, though it considers the idea too vague to be of much use as it was originally composed. Commenting on Marx's other theories, Wood introduces once again his idea that Marx had no moral compuncture, contrary to commonly-held opinion. The difference between moral and non-moral lies in its ability to be quantified, nothing else. Ideas such as these pervade the text, cauing the reader to address his own perceptions of Marx. Not for the unitiated or shallow of mind. ... Read more

Book Description
Virtually everything Marx and Engels ever wrote on labor strikes and trade unions has been collected in this volume for the first time. It includes vivid, often eyewitness accounts of many of the greatest strikes and labor struggles of the last century.
This original and valuable collection challenges the prevailing assumption that Marx and Engels cared little for trade unions and their role in the transition to socialism or that they had little practical involvement with unions. Lapides illuminates the immense part personally played by Marx and Engels in helping to establish the modern labor movement. Covering the period 1844-1894, the book features graphic and moving portrayals of contemporary labor stuggles, candid personal views of various labor leaders, biting polemics against socialist rivals, and eloquent passages. Lapides provides an introduction that places the excerpts in historical and theoretical context. ... Read more

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POL005000 ... Read more

Book Description
A concise and comprehensive introduction to Marx's social, political and economic thought for the beginning student. Jon Elster surveys in turn each of the main themes of marxist thought: methodology, alienation, economics, exploitation, historical materialism, classes, politics, and ideology; in a final chapter he assesses 'what is living and what is dead in the philosophy of Marx'. The emphasis throughout is on the analytical structure of Marx's arguments and the approach is at once sympathetic, undogmatic, and rigorous. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Truth in Packaging
An introduction should be just that, an introduction. At the very least, this means that exposition should predominate over commentary. When a work reverses those roles, the result is commentary, not introduction, regardless of title or pretensions to the contrary.This is basic to the genre, and has nothing to do with allegiance on part of writer, reader, or reviewer. The axiom that areader cannot judge intelligently without first understanding what is being judged (in this case Marx) underlies the significance of exposition to an introduction, and speaks to an elementary point that apparently eludes the overzealous reviewer below. Properly understood, Elster's work is commentary, with its own agenda, and scant if any attention to theneeds ofintroduction, let alone a good one. (Notice how Elster's preferredmethodology is given priority of placeand then used to critique what little is presented of Marx's.) I would have no quarrel were the book titled *Elster on Marx* or *Making Sense of Marx*. Nor do I necessarily have a quarrel with those who criticize or revise Marx. But to title a work Introduction and then bury a smattering ofexposition inside a running critique - no matter how worthy or not the commentary - is to do reader and purchaser a disservice. Unfortunately, the book is about Elster, not Marx, and while there are many other introductions that do the job properly, this is not one of them. And, no, Mr. Ver Sluys, this is not about that tiresome chestnut of subservience to Marx - for that, I suggest you check your own effusions on Elster. What it is about is truth in packaging for readers who wish to make up their own minds.

Excellent and worth the dive
Apparently the gentleman below and I have read different books with the same title, because the book I read, "An Introduction to Karl Marx" by Jon Elster, was absolutely nothing like the bookmr. Doepke reviewed.

The book, as far as I can tell with my level of marxian scholarship, is a complete introductoin, and it suffered from none of the failings attributed by it below. Descriptions flowed easily and succintly and I had no trouble understanding them at all. Perhaps this is because I am more of an advanced marx scholar than our other reviewer friend.

But I suspect that the reason mr. Doepke is not happy with this book is because it is a disspasionate consideration of Marxian ideas from a supremely educated man who holds no special religious-kind of attraction to Marx, as so many Marx scholars do.

Let there be no doubt- the disspasionate nature of mr. Elster's analysis of Marx and his contributions is what makes him a rare find. Most all Marx scholars have some kind of agenda in approaching marx, and are colored accordingly (Tom Sowell and Edward Herman, for example).

To his undying credit, Mr. Elster is a leftist who seems to have no agenda in speaking about Marx. Stunningly, he without exception atomizes Marx's main theses and considers them both seperately and as a whole. The result is incisive and dead-on commentary that no other scholar alive has ever even approached, to my knowledge.

What George Orwell did for concretly existing communist governments Jon Elster has done for Marxian theory- a deadly accurate eye methodically slashing through to the real core. I have never found a single scholar that I was not hard pressed to disagree violently with, but Elster manages to leave me without complaint and wondering how I am able to critique the bad points of his books. I am simply unequal to the task of disagreeing with any of Elster's main notions. This is an amazing fact considering we have no ideological common ground. That's how good this man is.

And a last point- unlike most Marx scholars, Elster has a wide range in a vast array of subjects, which makes him interesting to philosophers and economists such as myself in addition to nearly the entire sweep of the social sciences from psychology and sociology on outward.

Buy this book. Elster has no equal.

An introduction to Elster more than Marx
Elster's book serves as a poor introduction to Marx's thought for severalreasons. First, Elster doesn't lay out Marx's specific doctrines in muchdetail, leaving the reader with a mere impression instead of anunderstanding of the theories involved.Much lack of clarity and detailresults from Elster's eagerness to refute specific theories at the sametime he presents them. Moreover his interpretations are consistentlyuncharitable. Combined with little effort at elaborating Marx's theories tomeet the objections, we're left with a pretty partisan result, and one madeparadoxical by Elster's own self-described Marxism.

The impressionthroughout is of superficiality. I suspect much of this superficialityresults from Elster's "methodological individualism" andfashionable reliance on game theory, the current paradigm of rationablebehavior. Small wonder that Elster finds sympathy only in certain Marxianthemes rather than specific results, given Marx's general allegiance toholistic forms of explanation.The book's unsatisfactory nature is almostredeemed by an outstanding chapter on self-realization as Marx's chiefsocial value.The rest of the chapters pale in comparison to this littlegem among the castoffs. ... Read more

Book Description
First published in 1936 ... Read more

Book Description
Marx was a highly original and polymathic thinker, unhampered by disciplinary boundaries, whose intellectual influence has been enormous.Yet in the wake of the collapse of Marxism-Leninism in Eastern Europe the question arises as to how important his work really is for us now.An important dimension of this volume is to place Marx's writings in their historical context and to separate what he actually said from what others (in particular, Engels) interpreted him as saying.Informed by current debates and new perspectives, the volume provides a comprehensive coverage of all the major areas to which Marx made significant contributions. ... Read more

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Book Description
Karl Marx's writings contain, besides economic analysis and the political theory of revolutionary communism, an influential sociology of ideas, explaining how social life shapes and distorts people's ideas and beliefs. This book presents a fresh critical study of this theory, establishing what Marx did and did not say, and distinguishing the more scientific parts of his thought from those that were overly influenced by his revolutionary aims. The author argues that Marx's own theory of ideas can play an important role in explaining the subsequent degeneration of Marxist thought itself. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Another Look At Marx
Another look into the mind of Karl Marx.His communist views of economics and revolution show in what in written, and what is to be inferred.It shows the essence of Marx's ideas and gives a generalization of histhoughts.Another thing you can see is the relationship Marx has had onthe mindset of other authors.Included in this could Howard Zinn'sPeople's History of the United States.A good read and well worth the timeto get to know Marx. ... Read more

Book Description

In this brilliant work, first published in 1936, Sydney Hook seeks to resolve one of the classic problems of European intellectual history: how the political radicalism and philosophical materialism of Karl Marx issued from the mystical and conservative intellectual system of G.W.F. Hegel. This edition contains a forward by Christopher Phelps discussing Hook's career and the significance ofFrom Hegel to Marx in the history of ideas.

Customer Reviews (2)

The world of the Young Hegelians
This is still one of the most interesting treatments of the development of German classical philosophy from Hegel to Marx via the world of the Young Hegelians in the generation after the death of Hegel up to the revolutions of 1848. The string of remarkable figures, Strauss, Bauer, Ruge, Stirner, Hess, and Feuerbach, with whom Marx interacted needs a careful account from someone like Hook, although there have been a number of more recent accounts.

From Hegel to Marx-
Sidney Hook analyzes the two philosophers utilizing opposition among Hegelian and Marxist theory: ethical idealism, dialectics, and continuity. This allows the reader to adopt the differences between the two influentialauthors,thereby introducing major theories written by Marx and Hegel. Theremaining chapters interject comparisons between Karl Marx and esteemedGerman philosophers who studied Hegel, contributed or correlated withMarxist philosophy. Overall, the text forms an essential basis to theunderstanding and development of Marxist philosophy, and the struggles of ayoung-Hegelian in the nineteenth century. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Draper is the expert
It's difficult to understand Marx's politics today. Not because there's anything so complicated about them. To the contrary, Marx's political views are remarkably straightforward and sensible, once stripped of 150 years of obfuscation. Draper's project is exigetical, restoring Marx's writings and practice to their original historical and political contexts, explaining them clearly and consistently. In the process he skewers any number of academic or ideological obscurantists, inventing the term "falsifiction" for the worst of them. This volume makes clear that the origins of Stalinism lie in the pre-Marxist ideologies of social revolution which Marx and Engels themselves opposed through their entire lives, particularly those of Lassalle and Bakunin. Not an easy read: detailed and small-printed. But fascinating and often very funny. ... Read more

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A distillation of many of the main and ambiguous ideas of Karl Marx
Of all the people who have provided the intellectual justification for mass movements over history, Karl Marx is one of the most misunderstood. His ideas have been co-opted by people such as V. I. Lenin and Mao Zedong, where they used his ideas to justify a violent revolution and the oppression of millions of people. Both men led movements where millions of people were killed in order to sustain them. As a consequence of the decades-long ideological struggle between the communist and capitalist blocks, people in the capitalist block have been conditioned to consider the Marxist philosophy evil.
However, Karl Marx himself was somewhat ambiguous in his writings and there is little doubt that he would not have condoned many of the brutal actions performed in the name of his philosophy. He was a powerful thinker and his writings must also be interpreted in the climate of the times.
This short book describes many of the ideas of Marx, giving them a balanced hearing and explanation. In only 93 pages, McLellan distills down the essence of Marx and his thought, pointing out some of the best and worst aspects of his ideas. From this book, it is possible to gain a bit of a balanced perspective of Marx's ideas devoid of much of the cloud of history. This is a book that should be widely read by people in the west who automatically link Karl Marx with those who usurped his ideas as a justification for their brutal desire to gain and maintain political power.
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Book Description
An introduction to Karl Marx, “father of communism,” examining his background and his times, the ideas and doctrines that led to world revolution, and the place of Marxism after Marx. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

complex subject made easy
I used this book for college studies.It was a great help,and explainedcomplex ideas simply and cogently. If you are interested in philosophy butdaunted by large volumes of obtuse writing try this little book. You reallywill enjoy reading it. ... Read more

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A Classicof American Marxism Returns
Here after decades of supression we have an updated edition of a classic work of American Marxism. This was the book that gave Hook his reputation as this countries most original Marxist thinker in the 1930's. Rejected by the Communist Party USA as revisionist for his pragamatist/Marxist co-mixing, Hook eventually became a dedicated Cold Warrior and refused to allow this book to be reprinted. (He even tried to have it taken out of libraries!) Now his son had authorized this new addition that contains enough supplemental material to satisfy nearly all sides regarding Hook's contentious legacy.
In this new edition we find Hook's son giving us a full scale apolagia for his fathers political drift from revolutionary to cold war polemicist; C. Phelps providing an excellent historical introduction that finds merit with the young Hook's democratic Marxism for todays generation of radicals; a reprint of a 1968 essay by L. Feuer giving the standard cold war-liberal (soon to be neoconservative) view of Hook's relation to Marxian scholarship; and P. Berman's very interesting remake of one of Hook's own essays, in which he, Berman, interviews a dead Hook (as Hook himself did in 1955 when he interviewed Marx in Heaven).
As to the Text itself, what Hook essentially did was introduce English speaking readers to the praxis orinted tradition of western Marxist intellectuals such as G. Lukacs and K. Korsh, years before they became better known through translations of their works. This I have argued elsewere was more profound than the famous notion that TOWARDS THE UNDERSTANDING OF KARL MARX should be seen as a work of Deweyian-Marxism. Most impressive of the book's assets are Hook's explantions of Marx's dialectical method and his defence of the democratic nature of the Marxian revolutionary ideal. These stand heads above his later attempts to repudiate them, which is likley why he did not want this work reprinted.
Those interested in a more detailed look at my views on this subject can read my article "Praxis American Style" in HISTORICAL MATERIALISM No. 4 1999. Also one should read Alan Wald's THE NEW YORK INTELLECTUALS and C. Phelps excellent YOUNG SIDNEY HOOK. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (2)

Standard biography of Marx
This well-written account of Marx's life stands above the rest. It is a sympathetic but not uncritical recounting of Marx's life. McCellan's book Karl Marx: Selected Writings is a good companion to his biography.

Lacking in the book, however, is much discussion of the ideas of Marx.

For beginners, a clear presentation of the philosophical background of Marx's work can be found in Isaih Berlin's biography of Marx. A variety of opinions about Marx's political, social, and historical theory can be found in the Cambridge Companion to Marx. Ernst Fischer's How to Read Karl Marx clearly discusses some of the foundational notions in Marx's economic theory.

Highly entertaining
David McLellan's biography of the great man is perhaps the best of of them all. He describes with much wit and feeling Marx' life, from his upbringing in Trier to his final death in London. But not just this: included are also shorter overviews of various other people who played a significant role in the life of Karl Marx, starting of course with Jenny von Westphalen and Friedrich Engels, but also less well-known people such as Herwegh and Kugelmann. McLellan never introduces anyone without telling you what kind of person he was and what role he played in the politics of the time, making the era truly come alive, with all its grandeur and all its silly infighting.

For this biography is certainly not a hagiography. McLellan shows Marx in all his brilliance and his wit, and as the greatest thinker of the age, but he also shows his bad sides: his vindictiveness, his pettiness, his rudeness, his incompetence at managing his financial and personal affairs, and of course the infamous bastard son. All the childish infighting between the socialist émigrés in London, Bruxelles and Paris is revealed, where Marx certainly does not get off scot-free. But there is also room for showing Marx as a family man, as loyal to his few close friends, and as a visionary thinker.

McLellan focuses primarily on Marx' life in a "human interest" manner, rather than concentrating on the development of his theories, although those are of course mentioned. Because of this, many amusing and sometimes surprising anecdotes and oddities turn up to keep this book a page-turner. Before our eye passes a carpet belonging to Leibniz, a drunken outing which ends in vandalism and a police chase, Marx on the run for his creditors, yelling at the Prussian censor, Engels making a wine-tasting tour, a chance meeting with Bismarck's niece, French pornographic verse, carbuncles, and many more things.

There are some minor problems with the book, as can be expected. Occasionally a strange spelling is used ("Carlsbad", "Vera Sassoulitch"), although this may have been fixed in the new edition. The final chapter, an epilogue concerning Marx' legacy, is very superficial and includes all sorts of nonsense about Marxist theory being outdated, and could best have been left out altogether. There is also the tendency to denigrate Engels undeservedly; but this is unsettlingly common among secondary authors on Marx, and is partially reinforced by Engels' personal modesty about his contributions. In any case these are all small issues, and any reader interested in the life of Marx as opposed to 'merely' his theories can do no better but to read this book. ... Read more