Product Description

Karl Marx explains Marx's views from a philosophical standpoint and defends Marx against common misunderstandings and criticisms of his views. This new edition includes a new chapter on exploitation and a substantial new preface.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #387774 in Books
• Published on: 2004-02-12
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 344 pages

Review
'A highly competent exposition of Marx and Engel's philosophical beliefs, an exposition both philosophically sensitive and grounded in a careful reading of the texts ... quite outstanding.' - David-Hillel Rubens, THES

'Readable, stimulating and often original' - Carl Slevin, TES

From the Back Cover
This is one of the most respected books on Marx's philosophical thought. Wood explains Marx's views from a philosophical standpoint and defends Marx against common misunderstandings and criticisms of his views. All the major philosophical topics in Marx's work are considered: the central concept of alienation; historical materialism and Marx's account of social classes; the nature and social function of morality; philosophical materialism and Marx's atheism; and Marx's use of the Hegelian dialectical method and the Marxian theory of value.
The second edition has been revised to include a new chapter on capitalist exploitation and new suggestions for further reading. Wood has also added a substantial new preface which looks at Marx's thought in light of the fall of the Soviet Union and our continued ambivalence towards capitalism, exploring Marx's continuing relevance in the twenty-first century.

About the Author
Allen Wood is Professor of Philosophy at Stanford University. His previous publications include Kant's Moral Religion (1970), Kant's Rational Theology (1978), Hegel's Ethical Thought (1990), and Kant's Ethical Thought (1999).

Customer Reviews

The best secondary text on Marx...
Especially because so much secondary literature on Marx is terrible (unclear, obscurantist, barely bothering to quote the primary text), this book is a boon - the very opposite of all those flaws. If you're looking for a secondary text, and you need more than Jonathan Wolff's breezy introduction (Why Read Marx Today?) this is the first book to look at. One of the difficulties of reading Marx is that his ideas on any given subject are spread through a large number of books, essays, letters and notes; Wood's thematic arrangement makes this seem much more accesible, by giving you some idea of where Marx makes important statements on key topics.

As an undergraduate, I found that reading the relevant chapter or chapters of this book as my first step before addressing a topic was the most useful thing I could do. The book barely adresses any of the detail of the economics, being a philosophical examination, but chapter 15 'Dialectic in Capital' is nonetheless a very helpful introduction to what Marx is, and is not, trying to do.

His analysis of the topic of morality is perhaps a bit off key; but since, as always, he lays out so much original material, gathered from across the whole lifes' work of Marx and Engels, you can easily make your own mind up.

You can read the preface to this, the second edition, online at Wood's Stanford University homepage. It conveys something of Wood's obvious passionand sympathy for Marx, but also his keen critical sensibility - if he believes something is simply inconsistent, he says so, right out. Since there are no apolitical readings of Marx, let it be said that Wood's is a relatively libertarian, humanist one, and there's little Bolshevik, and no Stalinist inluence.

Lovely book: clear and exciting
I can't say I've read all that much on Marx and picked up this second edition of Wood's Marx mainly due to my admiration of the things of his I've read on Kant.

I found this book wonderful: it is a philosophical Marx that is presented here and I found it very interesting and a delight to read. His analysis of alienation, the capacity of capatalism to adapt and continue to succeed, technology, and globalization are all fantastic and Wood makes Marx seem very relevant. Reading this book inspired me to read more Marx and the secondary literature as well as to go back to my Marcuse, Adorno, and Althusser. Brilliant. Keep the red flag flying.