I feel quite sad to reach the end of this lovely book, though also immensely satisfied with the experience of reading it. A collection of gifted philosophers/writers gather to examine Marxism from a variety of angles. These scholars are not necessarily “Marxist” scholars, so we hear critiques of Marx’s vision as well as agreement with it. But all agree that Marx contributed in profound ways to the history of thought.
I love this approach to reading philosophy. If we examine a thinker’s contributions through various lenses, and expand his/her ideas in new directions, we can reveal many hidden truths about humanity and the world we inhabit. For Marxism, a system which strives to be all-encompassing, to provide answers to all of humanity’s timeless questions and most intractable dilemmas, there are certainly an abundance of angles from which to probe and expand this system of thought. How does moral philosophy challenge Marxist thought, and how does Marxist thought challenge moral philosophy? How did Marx’s theory of history become so mainstream that modern historians who are very far from being Marxist still unwittingly deploy Marx-style materialism when explaining how societies change and adapt over time? Can Marxism go hand-in-hand with feminism, and what are some areas that Marxist feminism can be expanded by future thinkers? Is Marxism a science, and if so then what part of it is scientific: the critique, or the prophesies, or both? Has Marxism been debunked by the events of modern history (such as the fall of the Soviet Union), or does it still have much to offer us? Or perhaps it was only Lenin who was debunked, but Marxism lives on? So much to ponder, if one cares to explore a controversial field of study.
This book is for readers possessing a mind already open, who wish to expand it further. Caution: one must enter with the understanding that this book will not draw the conclusion that Marxism is irrelevant, or that capitalism has ultimately been proven victorious for all time and forever amen. Neither will it turn Marxism into a religion, where Capital becomes the holy scripture, and Marx’s prophesies become mankind’s pre-determined destiny. While these authors don’t slavishly praise Marx (and they certainly don’t treat him as a saint beyond reproach, nor do they respect the sanctity of Marxist orthodoxy as an unchanging and timeless series of truths), they all recognize that the school of thought he founded still has much to offer our sick, sad world.
In fact, while reading this book the thing that struck me most about Marxism was its sheer applicability. Despite the failures of many “Marxist” experiments during the 20th century, the Marxian worldview still holds many keys to understanding what really makes society tick, and why we humans keep finding ourselves in such serious jams (I’m looking at you climate change). But even though Marx helps us understand our jams and how we wind up in them, it does not necessarily follow that Marxism holds to key to solving them. I believe Marx cracked a big part of the code that allows us to understand our world the way it really is. But I remain skeptical that Marxism can rise above being a system of critique, and finally assume the mantle of “problem-solving tool”.
