Why Read Marx Today?
by Jonathan Wolff
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The fall of the Berlin Wall had enormous symbolic resonance, marking the collapse of Marxist politics and economics. Indeed, Marxist regimes have failed miserably, and with them, it seems, all reason to take the writings of Karl Marx seriously. Jonathan Wolff argues that if we detach Marx the critic of current society from Marx the prophet of some never-to-be-realized worker's paradise, he remains the most impressive critic we have of liberal, capitalist, bourgeois society. The author shows show more how Marx's main ideas still shed light on wider concerns about culture and society and he guides the reader through Marx's notoriously difficult writings. Wolff also argues that the value of a great thinker does not depend on his or her views being true, but on other features such as originality, insight, and systematic vision. From this perspective, Marx still richly deserves to be read. Why Read Marx Today? reinstates Marx as an important critic of current society, and not just a figure of historical interest. show lessTags
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Book Review from the February 2004 issue of the Socialist Standard:
http://socialiststandardmyspace.blogspot.com/2006/02/why-read-marx-today.html
http://socialiststandardmyspace.blogspot.com/2006/02/why-read-marx-today.html
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Author Information
10+ Works 876 Members
Jonathan Wolff is the Blavatnik Chair in Public Policy and Governing Body Fellow at Wolfson College, Oxford, UK. His books include An Introduction to Moral Philosophy (2018), The Human Right to Health (2012), Disadvantage (2007, with Avner de-Shalit), An Introduction to Political Philosophy (third edition 2016), Why Read Marx Today? (2002), and show more Robert Nozick (1991). He has been a member of the Nuffield Council of Bioethics, the Academy of Medical Science working party on Drug Futures, the Gambling Review Body, the Homicide Review Group, an external member of the Board of Science of the British Medical Association, and a Trustee of GambleAware. He writes a regular column on higher education for The Guardian. show less
Classifications
- Genres
- Nonfiction, Philosophy, Economics, Politics and Government, General Nonfiction
- DDC/MDS
- 335.4 — Society, government, & culture Economics Socialism and related systems Marxian systems
- LCC
- B3305 .M74 .W62 — Philosophy, Psychology and Religion Philosophy (General) By period Modern By region or country
- BISAC
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- 137
- Popularity
- 239,320
- Reviews
- 1
- Rating
- (3.29)
- Languages
- English, Swedish
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 5
- ASINs
- 2
