Jonathan Wolff, UCL

2003-4

Marx and Justice

An apparent paradox runs through Marx’s thought about justice. On the one hand, his major works, such as Capital appear to be

written from the standpoint of high moral outrage. Marx uses justice-based concepts - - ‘exploitation’, ‘theft’, ‘robbery’ and ‘unpaid

labour’ - - to condemn capitalism. But on the other hand, Marx is often read as asserting that moral judgements are ‘mere ideology’;

‘obsolete verbal nonsense’. And Marx never says that capitalism is unjust. In fact, he says that it is ‘by no means unjust’.

What should we make of this tension?

Topic 1: The Marxian Critique of Justice (Weeks 1 and 2)

Topic 2: Distribution under Communism

Primary Sources

The pamphlet Critique of the Gotha Programme is the most useful of Marx’s texts in this context. It is here he sets out the position

‘from each according to their ability, to each according to their need’. It is reprinted in the Penguin collection of Marx: The First

International and After: Political Writings Volume 3.It is also available as a cheap pamphlet, and in many other collections,

although the version printed in McLellan is edited in an unhelfpul way. Much of the secondaru literature assumes that the reader

understands the distinction between ‘Utopian’ and ‘Scientific’ Socialism. The best source for this is Engels’ pamphlet Socialism:

Utopian and Scientific. Both primary texts available available from www.marxists.org

Other relevant passages from Marx are widely scattered among his works. But much of the material is cited in the secondary literature.

When reading the Wood/Husami debate, please read Wood 1972 first, then Husami, then Wood 1979. It is better to read these papers before

reading the Geras and Lukes papers.

Secondary Sources

Cohen, G.A., ‘Self-Ownership, communism, and equality; against the Marxist technological fix.’ in his Self-Ownership, Freedom and Equality.

Cohen, M., Nagel, T., and Scanlon, T. ed. Marx Justice and History (MJH)

Geras, N., ‘The Controversy about Marx and Justice’, in Marxist Theory ed. A Callinicos.

Husami, Z., ‘Marx on Distributive Justice’, Philosophy and Public Affairs 1978 and in MJH.

Kolakowski, L. Main Currents of Marxism Vol 1 Ch 10, on Utopian and Scientific Socialism

Lukes, S., ‘Marxism, Morality and Justice’, in Marx and Marxisms ed. G.H.R. Parkinson.

Lukes, S., Marx and Marxism.

Miller, R., ‘Marx and Aristotle: A Kind of Consequentialism’ in Marxist Theory ed. A. Callinicos.

Rosen, M., ‘Marx’ in the Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy.

Wolff, J. Marx Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (online) http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/marx/

Wood, A., The Marxian Critique of Justice, Philosophy and Public Affairs , 1972 and in MJH and in Philosophy Through Its Past ed. Honderich.

Wood, A., Marx on Right and Justice’, Philosophy and Public Affairs 1979, and in MJH.