Jonathan Wolff 2007-2008
Term 2
University College London
j.wolff@ucl.ac.uk
Office hours 11.30 to 1.00 Mondays or by appointment
Marxism: Historical Materialism
These lectures will critically assess MarxÕs theory of history:
historical materialism. In addition to the writings of Marx,
the main texts under
consideration will be those of the Ôanalytical MarxistsÕ, most notably G.A.
Cohen. Questions will be
raised about the coherence and plausibility of the view presented by
Cohen, and about its appropriateness as an
interpretation of Marx. Alternative interpretations will also be
briefly examined.
CohenÕs work first appeared in his 1978 book Karl MarxÕs Theory of
History: A Defence
(hereafter KMTH). He
subsequently published a volume of essays called History, Labour and
Freedom (1988) (HLF). That
volume is
now out of print, although the second edition of KMTH (2000) includes
three of the most important essays.
General Readings
The best collection of readings from Marx is David McLennan (ed) Karl
Marx: Selected Writings
(O.U.P). Second
edition. Recommended secondary sources on Marx as a whole are Jon
Elster, Making Sense of Marx and Allen Wood,
Karl Marx. See
also the entry by Michael Rosen on Marx in the Routledge Encyclopedia of
Philosophy.
Primary Sources for Historical Materialism
Marx
1* Preface to A Critique of Political Economy (1859 Preface)
2 Grundrisse
3 The Poverty of Philosophy
4* ÔLetter to AnnenkovÕ
(1846)
5* Capital Vol 1 ch 26-32
Marx and Engels
6* The Communist
Manifesto
7* The German Ideology Part 1
Engels
8* Socialism: Utopian
and Scientific
The starred items are the most helpful. 1 and 4 are in the McLennan
collection, as are useful abridgements of 2,3,6 and 7.
(A fuller, though still
abridged, version of 7 is the ÔstudentsÕ editionÕ, edited by C.J. Arthur.) 8 is
available as a separate pamphlet,
and is included in various editions of selections from Marx and Engels.
All of the texts are now available in
free, electronic, downloadable versions from the amazing Marx/Engels
internet archive www.marxists.org This
is the only way I know of
at present for getting the full version of 8, including the Introduction to the
English edition,
which is left out of some of the edited collections.
Secondary Sources (those marked* especially recommended)
Acton, H.B., The Illusion of the Epoch
Avineri, S., The Social and Political Thought of Karl Marx
Ball, T. and Farr, J. (ed), After Marx
*Buchanan, A., ÔRevolutionary Motivation and RationalityÕ, Philosophy
and Public Affairs 9, 1979
Reprinted in
M. Cohen, T. Nagel and T. Scanlon Marx, Justice and History
Callinicos, A (ed) Marxist Theory
Carver, T., The Cambridge Companion to Marx, papers by R Miller and T Ball
*Cohen, G.A., Karl MarxÕs Theory of History: A Defence
*Cohen, G.A., History, Labour and Freedom essays 1, 4-10
*Cohen, J., Review of Cohen, G.A., Journal of Philosophy 1982
Conway, David, A Farewell to Marx
Elster, J., ÔMarxism, Functionalism, and Game TheoryÕ, Theory and
Society,
1982,
and in Callinicos
Kolakowski, L., Main Currents of Marxism vol 1, esp ch 14
McMurty, J., The Structure of MarxÕs World View
*Miller, R., Analysing Marx
Miller, R., ÔProducing ChangeÕ in Ball and Farr
Neilsen, K., ÔOn Taking Historical Materialism SeriouslyÕ, Dialogue 1983
Plamenatz, J.P., Man and Society volume 2
Plekhanov, G., The Monist View of History
Rosen, M., and Wolff, J.,ÔThe Problem of IdeologyÕ, Proceedings of
the Aristotelian Society:
Supplementary Volume, 1996.
Shaw, W., MarxÕs Theory of History
*Torrance, John ÔReproduction and Development: a Case for a ÔDarwinianÕ
Mechanism in
MarxÕs Theory of HistoryÕ,
Political Studies
1985
Van Parijs, P., ÔMarxismÕs Central PuzzleÕ, in Ball and Farr, reprinted
in Van Parijs,
Marxism Recycled
*Wolff, Jonathan, Why Read Marx Today?
*Wright, E.O., Levine, A., and Sober, E., Reconstructing
Marxism esp. Ch 2
Lecture Outline
Jan 8: The Idea
of a Theory of History, Cohen KMTH
Ch 1
Jan 15: Basic
Concepts of Historical Materialism, Marx 1859 Preface, Cohen KMTH Ch 2
and 3, or Cohen HLF Ch 1
Jan 22: Central
Theses of Historical Materialism, Marx Letter to Annenkov, German
Ideology, Cohen
KMTH Ch 6, 7, 8
Jan 29:
Functional Explanation, Cohen KMTH Ch 9, 10
Feb 5:
Fettering, Cohen KMTH 2nd edition Ch 12 or HLF Ch 6
Feb 12: READING WEEK
Feb 19: Social
Change, Marx Capital
Vol 1, Ch 26-32, Engels Socialism Utopian and
Scientific
Feb 26: Class
and Revolution, Marx and Engels Communist Manifesto, Allen Buchanan, A.,
ÔRevolutionary Motivation and RationalityÕ.
Mar 4:
Dialectical Materialism, Engels, Socialism Utopian and
Scientific esp
Pt II
Mar 11: The
ÔMode of ProductionÕ interpretation: Richard Miler. Analysing Marx Ch 5-7
Mar 18: General
Assessment: Cohen KMTH 2nd Edition Ch 13 , 14, HLF Ch 8,9