Re: Re: Re: Marx's life and theory

2000-05-26 Thread Ted Winslow
Louis Proyect wrote: Leibniz and Whitehead are key to Harvey (while obviously having nothing to do with Marx) It's not obvious to me. Leibniz is part of the German idealist tradition sublated by Marx. The dialectical relation of "sublation" is not a relation of identity. That Whitehead's

Re: Re: Marx's life and theory

2000-05-26 Thread Ted Winslow
Louis writes: This sounds like Malthus to me, not Marx. This must be the same hearing problem that led you mistakenly to attribute to Whitehead the Leibnizian theory of the 'best of possible worlds'. "the Malthusian Law, with its sociological consequences, is not an iron necessity. ...

Re: Re: Marx's life and theory

2000-05-26 Thread Ted Winslow
Louis writes: This sounds like Will and Ariel Durant. This sounds like Louis Proyect. Ted -- Ted WinslowE-MAIL: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Division of Social Science VOICE: (416) 736-5054 York UniversityFAX: (416) 736-5615 4700 Keele

Re: Re: Marx's life and theory

2000-05-26 Thread Carrol Cox
Louis Proyect wrote: Whitehead: "Nature is plastic, although to every prevalent state of mind there corresponds iron nature setting its bounds to life. [snip] It is a false dichotomy to think of Nature and Man. Mankind is that factor *in* Nature which exhibits in its most intense

Re: Re: Marx's life and theory

2000-05-26 Thread Louis Proyect
I'm convinced that Ted is wrong in some ways -- but he sure as hell is not wrong in ways that can be thrown off this simply. Carrol The problem with Whitehead (and Leibniz) and Harvey's appropriation of both thinkers is that there is no concept of contradiction, struggle,

Re: Re: Re: Marx's life and theory

2000-05-26 Thread Carrol Cox
Louis Proyect wrote: For example, when Whitehead writes, "Nature is always about the perpetual exploration of novelty," you lose the other side of the equation which is about crisis and destruction. Agreed -- this fits my memory of Whitehead, whom I haven't read in almost 40 years.

Re: Re: Re: Marx's life and theory (fwd)

2000-05-24 Thread Jim Devine
I wrote: actually, there are good reasons to avoid the terms historical materialism and dialectical materialism. They aren't Marx's terms. Mine replies: Really? Marx says in Preface to the French edition of Capital (Tucker ed, p.301) the following: "My DIALECTIC METHOD is not only different

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Marx's life and theory (fwd)

2000-05-24 Thread Jim Devine
Carroll writes" I blow hot and cold on the usefulness of the term "dialectical materialism," but even when I warm to it I don't like to see it posited as *the* philosophical basis for "historical materialism." Right. "a" philosophical basis for Marx's materialist conception of history

Re: Re: Re: Re: Marx's life and theory (fwd)

2000-05-24 Thread WSheasby
Those interested in the issue of Naturdialectik or what has been known since Plekhanov as "Dialectical Materialism' may want to read my paper on 'Marx's Ecology: Synthesizing Dialectics of Praxis and Nature" at http://www.egroups.com/files/red-green/ To read it, you'll have to subscribe to the

Re: Re: Marx's life and theory

2000-05-24 Thread Louis Proyect
Ted: As I mentioned earlier, criticisms of scientific materialism that offer in its place what amounts to a "dialectics of nature" can be found in Whitehead (as an explicit criticism of Darwin's ontological premises, in *The Function of Reason*). It's interesting to compare David Harvey's

Re: Re: Re: Marx's life and theory (fwd)

2000-05-24 Thread Charles Brown
Engels uses "materialist dialectics" in _ Ludwig Feuerbach and the End of Classical German Philosophy_. CB Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED] 05/24/00 10:31AM I wrote: actually, there are good reasons to avoid the terms historical materialism and dialectical materialism. They aren't Marx's

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Marx's life and theory (fwd)

2000-05-24 Thread Charles Brown
Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED] 05/24/00 11:04AM Carroll writes" I blow hot and cold on the usefulness of the term "dialectical materialism," but even when I warm to it I don't like to see it posited as *the* philosophical basis for "historical materialism." Right. "a" philosophical

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Marx's life and theory (fwd)

2000-05-24 Thread WSheasby
In my view, while Marx's work before the mid-1850s focuses on a socio-historical theory of knowledge, which necessarily removes Philosophy from its privileged place in a hierarchy of knowledges, Marx's remarks in later life (see his conversations with Alexei Voden and Liebknecht's reminiscences)

Re: Re: Re: Marx's life and theory (fwd)

2000-05-24 Thread md7148
I wrote: actually, there are good reasons to avoid the terms historical materialism and dialectical materialism. They aren't Marx's terms. Mine replies: Really? Marx says in Preface to the French edition of Capital (Tucker ed, p.301) the following: "My DIALECTIC METHOD is not only different

Re: Re: Re: Marx's life and theory (fwd)

2000-05-24 Thread md7148
and "historical materialism" in letters to Joseph Bloch Mine Engels uses "materialist dialectics" in _ Ludwig Feuerbach and the End of Classical German Philosophy_. CB Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED] 05/24/00 10:31AM I wrote: actually, there are good reasons to avoid the terms

Re: Re: Re: Re: Marx's life and theory (fwd)

2000-05-24 Thread Charles Brown
[EMAIL PROTECTED] 05/23/00 10:34PM In a message dated 5/23/00 9:56:02 PM Eastern Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: I blow hot and cold on the usefulness of the term "dialectical materialism," but even when I warm to it I don't like to see it posited as *the* philosophical basis

Re: RE: Marx's life and theory

2000-05-23 Thread Jim Devine
Generally, we agree, now that I see that you're not emphasizing Marx's psychology as much as it appeared. At 10:10 AM 5/23/00 +0100, you wrote: Jim Devine wrote: do you have any evidence that Marx followed Rousseau in this way? Maybe this seems like a cop-out but I don't want to argue this

Re: Re: Marx's life and theory (fwd)

2000-05-23 Thread Michael Hoover
Jim Devine: Also, the Nicaraguan Sandinistas argued that the active participation and enthusiasm of the people could substitute for the narrowly-defined forces of production. Not true. okay, but what was true? Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://liberalarts.lmu.edu/~jdevine Lou

Re: Re: Marx's life and theory (fwd)

2000-05-23 Thread Louis Proyect
okay, but what was true? Sandinistas were pragmatists. They sought to develop what can be accurately called a "mixed economy" despite the Reaganite charge that they were Communists. The important difference between their attempt and failed attempts such as Arbenz's in Guatemala is that the

Re: RE: Marx's life and theory

2000-05-23 Thread Charles Brown
Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED] 05/23/00 11:53AM I'm following critical-realist methodology, in which paradigm X can only beat paradigm Y by incorporating its valid components (and explaining its short-comings). ___ CB: Marx and Engels call it extracting the rational kernel and

Re: Re: RE: Marx's life and theory

2000-05-23 Thread Jim Devine
At 01:59 PM 5/23/00 -0400, you wrote: Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED] 05/23/00 11:53AM I'm following critical-realist methodology, in which paradigm X can only beat paradigm Y by incorporating its valid components (and explaining its short-comings). ___ CB: Marx and Engels call it

RE: Re: RE: Marx's life and theory

2000-05-23 Thread Mark Jones
-Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] On Behalf Of Jim Devine Sent: 23 May 2000 16:53 To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject:[PEN-L:19455] Re: RE: Marx's life and theory I think the link between Marx and Rousseau would best be found through Hegel

Re: Re: Marx's life and theory (fwd)

2000-05-23 Thread Jim Devine
Mine wrote: in any case, a self-identified Marxist would instead use historial materialism. If this methodology has the same connotations with h.m, then why to substitute h.m with a different name? actually, there are good reasons to avoid the terms historical materialism and dialectical

Re: RE: Re: RE: Marx's life and theory

2000-05-23 Thread Jim Devine
BTW, I'm surprised you should think that we are otherwise in agreement. I have not changed my position, namely that Marx came to reject the leading role of the working class. Did you change yours? no, I just came to understand that our differences weren't as large as I thought and that I

Re: Re: Marx's life and theory (fwd)

2000-05-23 Thread md7148
Mine wrote: in any case, a self-identified Marxist would instead use historial materialism. If this methodology has the same connotations with h.m, then why to substitute h.m with a different name? actually, there are good reasons to avoid the terms historical materialism and dialectical

Re: Re: Re: Marx's life and theory (fwd)

2000-05-23 Thread Carrol Cox
Jim Devine wrote: I made two errors in this thread. (1) it's not "historical materialism" that meshes so well with critical realism; rather, it's "dialectical materialism," which is interpreted as the philosophical basis for "historical materialism." (2) It wasn't Roy Bhaskar who expressed

Re: Re: Re: Re: Marx's life and theory (fwd)

2000-05-23 Thread JKSCHW
In a message dated 5/23/00 9:56:02 PM Eastern Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: I blow hot and cold on the usefulness of the term "dialectical materialism," but even when I warm to it I don't like to see it posited as *the* philosophical basis for "historical materialism." Even