Karl Marx: Philosophy and Revolution

by Shlomo Avineri

Overview

From the prizewinning Jewish Lives series, a new exploration of Karl Marx's life through his intellectual contributions to modern thought

"A perceptive and fair-minded corrective to superficial treatments of the man."—Jonathan Rose, Wall Street Journal

Karl Marx (1818–1883)—philosopher, historian, sociologist, economist, current affairs journalist, and editor—was one of the most influential and revolutionary thinkers of modern history, but he is rarely thought of as a Jewish thinker, and his Jewish background is either overlooked or misrepresented. Here, distinguished scholar Shlomo Avineri argues that Marx’s Jewish origins did leave a significant impression on his work. Marx was born in Trier, then part of Prussia, and his family had enjoyed equal rights and emancipation under earlier French control of the area. But then its annexation to Prussia deprived the Jewish population of its equal rights. These developments led to the reluctant conversion of Marx’s father, and similar tribulations radicalized many young intellectuals of that time who came from a Jewish background.

Avineri puts Marx’s Jewish background in its proper and balanced perspective, and traces Marx’s intellectual development in light of the historical, intellectual, and political contexts in which he lived.

About Jewish Lives:

Jewish Lives is a prizewinning series of interpretative biography designed to explore the many facets of Jewish identity. Individual volumes illuminate the imprint of Jewish figures upon literature, religion, philosophy, politics, cultural and economic life, and the arts and sciences. Subjects are paired with authors to elicit lively, deeply informed books that explore the range and depth of the Jewish experience from antiquity to the present.

In 2014, the Jewish Book Council named Jewish Lives the winner of its Jewish Book of the Year Award, the first series ever to receive this award.

More praise for Jewish Lives:

“Excellent.” – New York times

“Exemplary.” – Wall St. Journal

“Distinguished.” – New Yorker

“Superb.” – The Guardian

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780300211702
Publisher:	Yale University Press
Publication date:	08/06/2019
Series:	Jewish Lives
Pages:	240
Sales rank:	651,025
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 8.30(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Shlomo Avineri is professor emeritus of political science at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a member of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities. A leading Israeli political scientist, he is the author of The Socialand Political Thought ofKarl Marx and The Making of Modern Zionism.

Table of Contents

Preface ix

1 Jew? Of Jewish Origin? A Converted Jew? 1

A Daughter's Testimony

Paradise Lost

The Father: Tribulations of a Jewish Advocate

Beginnings: From Law Student to Philosophical Radical

2 Transcending Hegel 18

Eduard Gans and the Young Hegelians

The Rheinische Zeitung and the Beginnings of Social Critique

A Hegelian Retrospective

The Proletariat-The New Universal Class

Religion and Opium

3 "Zur Judenfrage" 41

Support for Jewish Emancipation and Critique of Judaism

Another Defense of Jewish Emancipation

4 Paris and Brussels: Formative Years 55

Homo Faber and Alienation: The Foundations of Philosophical Anthropology

Visions of Communism

Against One-Dimensional Materialism

Toward The Communist Manifesto

5 The Communist Manifesto and the Revolutions of 1848 84

Historical Analysis and Revolutionary Program

The Ten Regulations: A Program for Revolutionary Transformation

1848 and the Neue Rheinische Zeitung

6 London: From Abject Penury to Middle-Class Existence 101

Private Travails and Public Setbacks

Rethinking the Revolution

Shifting Views on Nationalism

On India and the "Asiatic Mode of Production"

7 The First International and Das Kapital 122

Between Family Concerns and Lassalle

On Political Economy

The International Workingmen's Association

Das Kapital, Volume 1

Darwin-and Promoting Das Kapital

8 The Paris Commune and the Gotha Program: Debacle and Hope 149

"The Most Vilified Man in London"

A Nascent Social Democrat?

An Incongruous Encounter: Marx and Graetz

9 Toward the Sunset 174

On Russia: Against Historical Inevitability

The Last Years

A Historical Perspective: Impact and Legacy 186

Epilogue: Distant Echoes? 194

A Note on Sources and Further Reading 199

Acknowledgments 203

Index 205

Editorial Reviews

…Avineri treats Marx not as a "figure of the past," but as a "prophet of the present"…Approachably succinct…Avineri's humane biography capably makes the case for taking Marx seriously today as a pragmatic realist, as well as a messianic visionary who "never lost his belief in a redemptive future."

The New York Times Book Review - James Miller

"Besides being approachably succinct, Avineri’s sympathetic account is distinguished by its appearance in the highly regarded Jewish Lives series."—James Miller, New York Times

"Mr. Avineri’s treatment of Marx is a perceptive and fair-minded corrective to superficial treatments of the man. . . . [H]ere lies the central strength of this short biography: It tells us what Marx actually wrote."—Jonathan Rose, Wall Street Journal

“The biographer cuts through his subject’s [prose], distilling its underlying theory of man’s alienation from the work of his hands by the commercialization of labor in far simpler terms than the writer himself.”—Sara Jo Ben Zvi, Segula 

“In his brisk, approachable book, Avineri, . . . former director-general of Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, paints a nuanced picture of the development of Marx’s ideas.”—The Forward

"Superb."—Rabbi A. James Rudin, Reform Judaism 

"Avineri’s ability to show the reader a changing, learning, Marx while contextualizing him and his work within the 19th century, his peers, as well as our current perceptions about him cannot be captured in snippets here, but also cannot be overstated. This is the greatest strength of the book, especially when he applies it to passages and works of Marx you thought you knew, and makes for a great reading experience."—David Murphy, Open Letters Review

"Avineri’s Marx: Philosophy and Revolution distinguishes itself by approaching Marx from a less familiar angle: Marx’s Jewish heritage and its implications for the development of his philosophical outlook. . . . [A] refreshingly concise biography."—Igor Shoikhedbrod, Marx and Philosophy Review of Books

"Sympathetic and highly readable."—Maron L. Waxman, Jewish Book Council

"Shlomo Avineri . . . a world authority on Marxism, presents a beautifully clear introduction to Marx’s thought and its Hegelian origins. . . . The originality of his book lies in Avineri’s belief that Marx’s Jewish background left large fingerprints on his work."—Vernon Bogdanor, Jewish Chronicle

"A valuable and unique contribution to a growing collection of literature examining the contemporary campus."—Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly

"It is Avineri’s concern for the complex question of Marx’s identity as a Jew that makes his new biography truly distinctive."—Peter E. Gordon, New Republic

“Shlomo Avineri has written a wonderfully perceptive and nuanced biography of Karl Marx—paying all due attention (but no more than that) to Jewish interests, Marx's and ours. His book is both intellectually and politically engaging—and a pleasure to read.”—Michael Walzer, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, NJ
 

From the Publisher