Marx's Critique of Capitalism
by Tom Chance
Throughout his work, Marx's primary concern was the intellectual destruction of capitalism. Despite his belief in a progressive history, and in the inevitable downfall of capitalism, Marx thought that in destroying capitalism's intellectual support he could hasten its real demise and usher in a socialist era. Many of his works can be seen as reactions to the growing status of the relatively new field of political economy, pioneered by figures like Adam Smith, David Ricardo and Thomas Malthus, whose increasingly laissez-faire theories promoted an extension of exactly the features of capitalism that Marx thought were most defective. Hence his critique ranges from attacks on the complacent liberal bases of capitalism to complex analyses of the economics of the day and of leading theorists.
Though he certainly didn't tackle these themes in any particular chronological order, I will tackle them thematically and logically, from the liberal foundations, through his theories of alienation, commodification, fetishism, exploitation and immiseration, ending with his empirical economics. In doing this I hope to show that many aspects of his critique of capitalism were extremely successful, and still pose difficult challenges to the economic and political orthodoxy in the western tradition today, but that he also made many false or contradictory statements, and finally that he lacked a viable positive alternative and a "road map" of how we might get their from capitalism.
The most fundamental assumption of Marx's moral system is a kind of moral materialism; he asserts that "the nature of individuals ... depends on the material conditions determining their production" (Marx, 2001c : 176) He thus frames any consideration of individuals in terms of their economic and productive circumstances, a move not foreign to many of his critics, but one that would conflict with many of the more idealistic notions entertained by many liberals. In his early writings, Marx
Throughout his work, Marx's primary concern was the intellectual destruction of capitalism. Despite his belief in a progressive history, and in the inevitable downfall of capitalism, Marx thought that in destroying capitalism's intellectual support he could hasten its real demise and usher in a socialist era. Many of his works can be seen as reactions to the growing status of the relatively new field of political economy, pioneered by figures like Adam Smith, David Ricardo and Thomas Malthus, whose increasingly laissez-faire theories promoted an extension of exactly the features of capitalism that Marx thought were most defective. Hence his critique ranges from attacks on the complacent liberal bases of capitalism to complex analyses of the economics of the day and of leading theorists.
Though he certainly didn't tackle these themes in any particular chronological order, I will tackle them thematically and logically, from the liberal foundations, through his theories of alienation, commodification, fetishism, exploitation and immiseration, ending with his empirical economics. In doing this I hope to show that many aspects of his critique of capitalism were extremely successful, and still pose difficult challenges to the economic and political orthodoxy in the western tradition today, but that he also made many false or contradictory statements, and finally that he lacked a viable positive alternative and a "road map" of how we might get their from capitalism.
The most fundamental assumption of Marx's moral system is a kind of moral materialism; he asserts that "the nature of individuals ... depends on the material conditions determining their production" (Marx, 2001c : 176) He thus frames any consideration of individuals in terms of their economic and productive circumstances, a move not foreign to many of his critics, but one that would conflict with many of the more idealistic notions entertained by many liberals. In his early writings, Marx
Bibliography: Buchanan, A. (1982), Marx and Justice, Methuen Cohen, Nagel, Scanlon (1980), Marx, Justice and History, Princeton Cox, R.W. (1997). Global Perestroika. In Crane, G. & Amawi, A. (eds). The Theoretical Evolution of International Political Economy A reader Houghton, D (1996), Marx and Lenin on Communism. In Bellamy & Ross, A Textual Introduction to Social and Political Theory, Manchester Marx, K. (2001a), Critique of Hegel 's 'Philosophy of Right '. In McLellan, D, Karl Marx Selected Writings 2nd ed., Oxford Marx, K. (2001b), Preface to A Critique of Political Economy. In McLellan, D, Karl Marx Selected Writings 2nd ed., Oxford Marx, K. (2001c), The German Ideology. In McLellan, D, Karl Marx Selected Writings 2nd ed., Oxford