tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post6254143588945193997..comments2024-03-28T20:47:48.468-04:00Comments on The Philosopher's Stone: THE THOUGHT OF KARL MARX PART TWORobert Paul Wolffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11970360952872431856noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post-62367718265686914932011-01-17T14:11:16.340-05:002011-01-17T14:11:16.340-05:00The thing I like best about this blog is that the ...The thing I like best about this blog is that the collective wisdom of the readership is vastly superior to that of the blogger. Keeps me on my toes.Robert Paul Wolffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11970360952872431856noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post-62205718547714101192011-01-17T14:05:18.314-05:002011-01-17T14:05:18.314-05:00Hegel also remained very influential in Italy well...Hegel also remained very influential in Italy well into the 20th century. In fact there was a lot of dialogue between British and Italian idealists in the early 20th century (Collingwood translating Croce, etc.). This just goes to show how philosophically provincial both Italy and the UK were. Then Russell came along, and we know the rest of the story.<br /><br />Apologies for the digression.enzo rossihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06743937670761144450noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post-34344486912634960372011-01-17T11:55:36.106-05:002011-01-17T11:55:36.106-05:00Regarding Professor Leiter's comment, it's...Regarding Professor Leiter's comment, it's worth noting that Hegel maintained his influence on Danish thought for quite a while. <br /><br />For instance, Hans Lassen Martensen, one of the more significant Danish theologians (and eventually the primate of the Danish state church) was extremely influenced by Hegel. This is philosophically significant because a lot of Kierkegaard's works are best understood in the background of this Danish Hegelianism. (For example, Kierkegaard's late polemical journal "The Moment" is targeted explicitly at Martensen.)<br /><br />It's certainly the case, though, that philosophers in Germany were done with Hegel pretty quickly -- well before the Danes did.Mhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11411530873269401673noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post-63793752032273709572011-01-17T08:26:31.190-05:002011-01-17T08:26:31.190-05:00As we shall see [in the next post] Marx's real...As we shall see [in the next post] Marx's real view is that unalienated labor is labor performed not for a wage or to create profits for the capitalist but collectively, to fulfill human needs, and in human fashion, according to the rhythms and human forms of productive labor. One can do this while spending one's entire working day crafting furniture, or raising crops -- or even teaching university classes. There is nothing especially unalienated about hopping from one task to another. Just as a household servant!Robert Paul Wolffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11970360952872431856noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post-15197187211977929172011-01-17T08:23:34.782-05:002011-01-17T08:23:34.782-05:00Re "if one does not think too deeply about it...Re "if one does not think too deeply about it, it [division of labor] seems to be a unidimensional measure with natural endpoints."<br /><br />It may be worth noting here a useful distinction by Alec Nove, who identifies three kinds of division of labor: <br /><br />(1) specialization between productive units, i.e. different factories or offices, producing for other enterprises or households rather than own-use; <br /><br />(2)horizontal specialization between different jobs, such as accountants, salespeople, machinists;<br /><br />(3) vertical specialization or hierarchy, between managers and managed.wallyverrhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18358344785499490511noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post-7206965012352474442011-01-17T07:59:19.979-05:002011-01-17T07:59:19.979-05:00I'm intrigued by the suggestion that the Germa...I'm intrigued by the suggestion that the German Ideology text on "a hunter, a fisherman, a shepherd, or a critical critic" was meant as a joke, i.e. the quoted section as a whole not merely the term "critical critic".<br /> <br />The passage as usually read triggers objections by economists and sociologists : think of specialization and learning-by-doing for the former, stability of roles for the latter.wallyverrhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18358344785499490511noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post-52289016961803084242011-01-17T00:11:47.591-05:002011-01-17T00:11:47.591-05:00Can't wait to read your commentary about the 1...Can't wait to read your commentary about the 1844 manuscripts...Professor not sure if you remember but my bdic thesis, for which your were my advisor, was a comparison of Hegel's and Marx' theory of alienation. I look forward to re-visiting Hegel and Marx after all these years.<br /><br />You can't have Marx without Hegel; would it be a fair analogy to say Hume had a similar effect on Kant?akapitalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17207685564945469664noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post-71949263795099348952011-01-16T14:17:49.301-05:002011-01-16T14:17:49.301-05:00Was the "Materialist reaction" not condu...Was the "Materialist reaction" not conducted largely on Hegel's terms -- especially style-wise?David Pilavinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05936888349199350870noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post-84925461988661758702011-01-16T13:43:13.986-05:002011-01-16T13:43:13.986-05:00Brian, I bow to your vastly superior knowledge of ...Brian, I bow to your vastly superior knowledge of the literature and the period. Thank you for taking the time to nod in [as Christopher Fry says in THE LADY'S NOT FOR BURNING.]Robert Paul Wolffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11970360952872431856noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post-7167408239850175652011-01-16T12:38:40.800-05:002011-01-16T12:38:40.800-05:00It's not correct that, "there is no denyi...It's not correct that, "there is no denying [Hegel's] profound influence on every branch of intellectual activity in the nineteenth century." His influence was substantial for the decade or so after his death, but the Materialist reaction that began in the 1840s (exemplified by Feuerbach, as you note, but then also by Buchner, Moleschott, and others now largely forgotten) and the growing popularity of Schopenhauer, whose anti-Hegelian polemics were second-to-none, did significant damage to Hegel's reputation. By the 1850s and 1860s the anti-Hegelian materialist turn was joined by a "back to Kant" movement, one that bypassed Hegel almost entirely (Friedrich Lange is the great mid-century exemplar). Hegel was such a minor presence on the intellectual scene by the 1860s, that it's not clear Nietzsche ever read him--there was no need to. By 1900, if you wanted to find Hegelians you had to go to England! The story is well-told in Schnadelbach's "Philosophy in Germany, 1831-1933." None of this conflicts with your point about Hegel's importance for Marx, just with the claim that Hegel was a dominant force of the 19th-century.Brian Leiterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08749548844483929392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post-36699266422998188892011-01-16T12:25:45.288-05:002011-01-16T12:25:45.288-05:00I had a political theory who I really admired, but...I had a political theory who I really admired, but was very queasy with Hegel. When explaining the process of how Reason finally came to know itself, he focused mostly on Hegel's vague writings about the metaphysics of it. When I asked what actually provoked Reason to finally know itself, I expected him to say something about the Prussian state. I love the way he answered it: "I guess Hegel made it happen when he wrote that it did."<br /><br />I'm loving this series, and I like the way you're starting by placing Marx in context.Gordonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14872440262177854795noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post-38791796190069906772011-01-16T11:38:08.693-05:002011-01-16T11:38:08.693-05:00Professor, I had a slightly Marx related question....Professor, I had a slightly Marx related question.<br /><br />Are you familiar with the philosopher George Novack? I've been reading a lot of his work lately - he's brilliant at breaking down complex and abstruse philosophy, like Hegel, for the lay man - and I was wondering what "happened" to him? I see he was alive until 1992, but I can't find anything published by him after 1969. In all the literature I'm reading by him, he seems like a deeply committed communist. Do you know what happened to him between in 1969-1992? He couldn't of just fallen off the face of the earth...Chrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08250295324149056708noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post-6346962634437215162011-01-16T09:28:09.391-05:002011-01-16T09:28:09.391-05:00Indeed. In tomorrow's episode, I shall be tal...Indeed. In tomorrow's episode, I shall be talking about Marx's theory of alienation. That needs a good deal of space all by itself.Robert Paul Wolffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11970360952872431856noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post-56115830823013114462011-01-16T09:01:28.536-05:002011-01-16T09:01:28.536-05:00I hope you dont mind my brief adding: there is a s...I hope you dont mind my brief adding: there is a striking moment - that I'm sure Marx picked up on - of Man's alienation from himself, and spiritual fullfilment, in the Christian faith. That is, if man created God in his imagine, and fails to live up to their own godly standards.Chrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08250295324149056708noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post-68308030969645405432011-01-16T08:31:46.258-05:002011-01-16T08:31:46.258-05:00How wonderful to hear from a STPEC graduate. I ha...How wonderful to hear from a STPEC graduate. I have always been extremely proud of that program, and especially thrilled by what Sara Lennox did with it after I moved for a while to Boston. If you had paid three times as much for your education, you could have gone to Harvard and majored in Social Studies there, another program I started, except that STPEC was and is better than Social Studies, for all their money.Robert Paul Wolffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11970360952872431856noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5687347459208158501.post-85738999716927297202011-01-16T07:56:05.605-05:002011-01-16T07:56:05.605-05:00Delicious, heady stuff! Is is a coincidence I cam...Delicious, heady stuff! Is is a coincidence I came to 'google' you on the same day I 'googled' Lewis Carroll's 'The Hunting of the Snark' in answer to a third grader's question 'What's a snark?' I replied it was a both a noun and a verb and I would find said poem and pass it on to their teacher the next day (I actually wanted to ask her to take a leave of absence and let me take her class for the rest of the year, so engaging were they all...but i digress!).<br /><br />So, on that same day, wanting to share with a friend my previous knowledge of you as a Professor of Philosophy (STPEC graduate, 1980).... I also 'googled' you and was delighted to find your blog...thrilled....as is my friend. And to come upon your blog exactly when you are doing your tutorial ... excellent...I have been transported back to the classrooms of UMass Amherst and am reminded why I chose to do my studies within the STPEC program...the high bar set by the professors in the program made for the very best academic experience. Thank you! So grateful for the technology that keeps us all connected.Debbyleehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11291955888272627397noreply@blogger.com