Marx and Morality

Sunday, September 22, 2024

What Is It

Karl Marx famously attempted to explain our social, political, and economic systems in terms of class conflict. While he never explicitly states that capitalism is unjust, some scholars suggest that there is an implicit moral critique of it in his work. So, does Marx reject capitalism for its moral failures, or is his opposition to it purely socioeconomic? Can we get an account of gender and racial justice from Marx? And did he try, and perhaps fail, to abandon philosophy entirely? Josh and Ray share the means of production with Vanessa Wills from George Washington University, author of Marx’s Ethical Vision.

 

Transcript

Transcript

Ray Briggs  
Is morality the opiate of the masses?

Josh Landy  
Or is it the solution to capitalism?

Ray Briggs  
Can Marxist thinking help us solve today's moral problems?

Comments (9)


Daniel's picture

Daniel

Saturday, August 31, 2024 -- 12:15 PM

Because generic predicates

Because generic predicates apply to all members of the human species of primate and thus can be indicated by the term "human nature", regular patterns of behavior which correspond to repeated conditions under which they occur could be said to be the fundamental ground of diversity amongst its members. In this view, only the conditions change, which in turn generate the diverse responses by a minimum number essential characteristics, --free exercise of voluntary labor and peer recognition, for example. So if people are generally products of their conditions, and everyone has their own set, some members of which are shared with others and some not, where does interpretation of the conditions no longer override the deliberate efforts to change them? Or conversely, at what point ought changing existing conditions overshadow the effort to understand them? Specialized fields of knowledge remain within the context of communities of experts, but what about non-specialized, normative fields of knowledge? In international contexts, for example, if some experts continue to furnish reasons which justify some kind of universally repulsive behavior, as has occurred in official state programs of genocide, ought the conditions under which the defended behavior occurs be considered irrelevant to the recommendation from the community of non-specialists that it be changed?

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Chiaramandres's picture

Chiaramandres

Saturday, September 14, 2024 -- 1:30 AM

From Marx's perspective, can

From Marx's perspective, can the arts exist for their own creative sake, to express an emotion or capture a truth? Or can they only be seen in terms of a progressive class struggle?

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Daniel's picture

Daniel

Friday, September 20, 2024 -- 3:12 PM

While the dichotomy between

While the dichotomy between use-independent value and determinative class context is a false one, (i.e. hermeneutic class context-dependency need not preclude voluntary production for exchange markets in use-independent values), and the begged question in the first query (to wit: the value of an object's manufacture being self-compelled need not be limited to its source in the design of emotion-representation or verisimilitude) can safely be disregarded, you seem to be asking about how the fine arts fit into an analysis of class struggle and the economic interpretation of history which accompanies it. Under the model, value is produced by labor. A product's standard value of exchange is equivalent to the labor required for it to be produced, which in turn is measured by time worked and therefore is constant across labor varieties. Surplus labor can be translated into surplus value (or profit) by means of reproducibility of a commodity over what market factors, such as consumer demand, material scarcity, etc. would require for the satisfaction of production costs. Although skill sets of the variety found in fine arts practices may obtain a high level of value in terms of labor hours, any surplus labor their products may contain can not be translated into surplus value because they can not be reproduced. Prices in art markets therefore bear no relation to the labor required to produce the products which are exchanged, and the retailer can therefore drastically inflate prices over production costs, which generates the Speculation Market in prices of manufactured unreproducibles.

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Chiaramandres's picture

Chiaramandres

Saturday, September 14, 2024 -- 2:06 AM

Is art, like religion, an

Is art, like religion, an "opium of the masses," or can it help with our alienation? Can literature and music bring us closer to our human nature, so we feel more at home in an oppressive world?

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CameronMcLean's picture

CameronMcLean

Friday, October 18, 2024 -- 12:10 AM

In the idle clicker game

In the idle clicker game banana game, players gather bananas and improve them over time to raise the output of bananas. You will begin the game by clicking each banana to collect it, then progressively improve automated tools and gadgets to assist in collecting bananas without constant manipulation. Creating the biggest banana empire and streamlining the harvesting process are the objectives. The game's varied upgrade features and ongoing resource development make for a soothing yet captivating experience.

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jfif's picture

jfif

Wednesday, November 20, 2024 -- 8:08 AM

Although Marx attempted to

Although Marx attempted to explain social phenomena from a philosophical perspective, he did not completely abandon philosophy. His ideas were deeply influenced by Hegel's philosophy, while also critically transcending traditional philosophical categories and combining philosophy with social practice. Although Marx may have had some failures in certain aspects, his ideas still had a profound impact on later generations and became an important jfif to jpg theoretical cornerstone for understanding modern society and economic level devil systems.

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shorewalker's picture

shorewalker

Monday, November 11, 2024 -- 2:50 PM

A discussion of ethics in

A discussion of ethics in Marxism might usefully mention its frequent effects when put into practice.
I would expect any discussion of fascist philosopher Giovanni G*entil*e to mention events at the end of the 1930s.

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piglets's picture

piglets

Wednesday, November 20, 2024 -- 8:17 AM

We need to ensure that you

We need to ensure that you are genuinely helping Piglet's Big Game.

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coral's picture

coral

Sunday, December 8, 2024 -- 11:37 AM

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