Resurrecting Marx: Analytical Marxists on Exploitation, Freedom and Justice / Edition 1

by David Gordon

Overview

The last two decades have seen Marxism's academic renascence. In fields as diverse as law, literary criticism, history, and philosophy, Marxism once again captivates no small number of scholars. In part, this reassessment is driven by the efforts of a group of philosophers and economists to reconstruct Marx from the ground up on a more rigorous basis. The work of these "Analytical Marxists" — who include G.A. Cohen, Jon Elster, and John Roemer — is given a sustained examination and critique in David Gordon's Resurrecting Marx.

The charge of the Analytical Marxists that capitalism is inherently exploitative and unjust is the primary subject of Gordon's book. Gordon takes issue with that contention; he argues that the Analytical Marxists' withering criticism of classical Marxism is essentially correct, but that they fail to replace it with a superior theoretical edifice. Gordon also analyzes the Analytical Marxists' reformulation of the Marxian notion of exploitation, the implications of their rejection of the labor theory of value, their differences over what rights people have, and their arguments for the compatibility of markets with socialism.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780887388781
Publisher:	Transaction Publishers
Publication date:	01/30/1991
Series:	Studies in Social Philosophy and Policy Series , #14
Pages:	166
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

David Gordon received his Ph.D. in history from the University of California, Los Angeles. He is the author of Critics of Marxism. His articles have appeared in Analysis, British Journal of Political Science, Canadian Journal of Philosophy, Ethics, Journal of Value Inquiry, Mind, Political Studies, Politics, Social Philosophy & Policy, and other journals.

Table of Contents

Introduction; 1: An Introduction to Analytical Marxism; 2: The Classical Marxist Assault on Capitalism; 3: The Analytical Marxist Rejection of Classical Marxism; 4: Analytical Marxism Versus Libertarian Rights; 5: Cohen on Proletarian Unfreedom; 6: The Socialist Alternative; Conclusion