Ted Winslow wrote:
This and the rest of the text confirm the interpretive hypothesis that Marx's [sic -- the passage is not from Marx] account of historical development appropriates Hegel's idea of the "passions." Marx makes the "passion" invoked here - avarice as "the thirst for gold" - a defining characteristic of the "character mask" of capitalist relations in their initial historical form at the point of transition from feudalism to capitalism.<
I think the passage from Engels reflects the fact that he and Marx learned their economic history at first from Hegel. They "turned old GWF on his head," to emphasize material forces, but the basic content came from Hegel. Later, they studied matters much more. For example, Engels and Marx's theory of the rise of capitalism in the GERMAN IDEOLOGY is quite different from that of Marx's CAPITAL. They continued to study economic history after that, as with Marx's studies of Russian or Engels' study of Morgan's anthropology. Like any intelligent people, they changed their minds on various matters. -- Jim Devine / "Segui il tuo corso, e lascia dir le genti." (Go your own way and let people talk.) -- Karl, paraphrasing Dante.
