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Book Description
This digital document is an article from The Review of Metaphysics, published by Thomson Gale on September 1, 2005. The length of the article is 877 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Elster, Jon. Closing the Books: Transitional Justice in Historical Perspectives.(Book Review)
Author: Harry Clor
Publication: The Review of Metaphysics (Magazine/Journal)
Date: September 1, 2005
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 59Issue: 1Page: 171(3)

Article Type: Book Review

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Book Description
A systematic, critical examination of Karl Marx's social theories and their philosophical presuppositions. Through extensive discussions of the texts Jon Elster offers a balanced and detailed account of Marx's views that is at once sympathetic, undogmatic and rigorous. Equally importantly he tries to assess 'what is living and what is dead in the philosophy of Marx', using the analytical resources of contemporary social science and philosophy. Professor Elster insists on the need for microfoundations in social science and provides a systematic criticism of functionalism and teleological thinking in Marx. He argues that Marx's economic theories are largely wrong or irrelevant; historical materialism is seen to have only limited plausibility (and is not even consistently applied by Marx); Marx's most lasting achievements are the criticism of capitalism in terms of alienation and exploitation and the theory of class struggle, politics and ideology under capitalism, though in these areas too Elster enters substantial qualifications. The book should take its place as the most comprehensive and sophisticated modern study available. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Not Making Much Sense Of Marx
Elster writes well and clearly and frequently suggests controversial but insightful readings of Marx. That said, there's not of Marx left when he's finished, and I think that is more Elster's fault than Marx's. Elster applies a "methodological" principle called methodological individualism, which he does not explain very well, and which is entirely antithetical to Marx's holistic ("dialectical") manner of analysis.Elster, in the name of wanting to explain the micromechanisms whereby things occur -- alaudable goal and one where Marx often falls down -- insist that social phenomena be explained by reference to individual and their properties individualistically described.It is doubtful that this is coherent, since many of the constitutive properties of individuals -- their class position, to take one example -- are inherently social. In general Elster, in this longish book, almost invariable takes as his target the less plausible and less sympathetic readings of Marx to attack, which makes his job easier but his attempt to make sense of Marx more quetionable.

Analytical Marxism -- the now largly moribund movement of which Elster was a founder -- has a lot to offer the understanding of Marx, but like some its advocates, Elster went overboard in getting rid of too much of Marx that did not fit his preconceptions-- many of which Marx himself criticizes without adequate recognition or response from Elster. Still, the book is important for serious Marx scholars. General readers might start with Elster's shorter version summarizing Elster's main conclusions -- and complement it with a more sympathetic though no less analytical book like Richard Schmitt's Introduction To Marx and Engels. (Schmitt does not think of himself as an Analytical Marxist.)

A far better read than it has any reason to be
Jon Elster has made his name among the best and brightest as one of themost usefull people in the social sciences. This is an excellent thing tobe.

Making Sense of Marx was a beautifully portioned book that is hardto praise adequately. With scholarship five feet thick, Elster displays hisfull range of expertise in this book, bringing into play his vast learningfrom all the social and dismal sciences. Mostly picking apart Marx's maintheories, he deftly displays what I can only call a complete Marxianunderstanding. The truly refreshing part of this book was its approach:Elster spoke using not philosophical or economic language, but the generalsocial sciences language.I was hard pressed to disagree with any of hismain notions, especially his quick and incisive dissections of Marxiannotions of diminishing dynamic efficiency and the theory of history. WhileI am not a strict adherant of rational choice models, he structured therational choice attacks as such to make them accessible to the non-believeras well. All in all, a perfect little book. ... Read more

Book Description
This digital document is an article from Social Research, published by Thomson Gale on June 22, 2006. The length of the article is 4184 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Fairness and norms.(I. Science Looks at Fairness)
Author: Jon Elster
Publication: Social Research (Magazine/Journal)
Date: June 22, 2006
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 73Issue: 2Page: 365(12)

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