Marxism is a theory of government and economics developed by the political philosopher Karl Marx.
Questions tagged [marxism]
124 questions
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Does the no true Scotsman fallacy apply to anti Stalinist etc. communism?
The internet is awash with claims that anyone arguing that Stalinist Russia / Maoism wasn't communist is committing the no true Scotsman / ad hoc rescue fallacy. However, I suspect that few of its proponents understand what they are saying.
if…
user34105
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How are workers exploited when they have a choice in working for a boss?
Under Marxist theory, workers are being exploited for their labor and not receiving the full value of their labor. Workers however have a choice in who they work for and how much they earn so how can it be called exploitation? If it because they…
Brad
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Can cruelty and suffering be justified if it might lead to social transformation?
Slavoj Žižek is generally viewed as controversial. But in watching a recent video made by him, he had a good point about us lengthening the pain of others. For example, he argues that "good" slave owners created more of a problem because they did…
Matt
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Do decolonialists have to attack science and modernity?
I’m a professional scientist (mathematician, actually). I’m not a philosopher.
I’ve got a lot of friends well-versed in philosophy, and they all seem to point toward modernity as a byproduct of capitalism, the last one being a byproduct itself of…
Simón Flavio Ibañez
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Is there a philosophical basis for the conflation of the cultural left and the economic/fiscal left?
In the U.S and most of the West, the cultural left (used loosely to include movements like feminism, secularism, being pro-diversity and pro minority-rights, the LGBTQ movement, being pro-immigration, etc....) and the economic left (socialism,…
Alexander S King
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Who are the most prominent post-Marx thinkers within Marxism?
I'm becoming more interested in Marxism, and the ensuing economies that attempted to use Marxist thought. What I wonder is, which post-Marx, modern thinkers have most successfully built on Marxist thought?
mcraenich
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Why did Karl Popper criticize Karl Marx's ideas?
Karl Popper believed that Karl Marx's ideas lead to dictatorship.
Why did Karl Popper believe in this idea?
keramus
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Given Marx's original theory of alienation, why is he interpreted as being anti-individualist?
In a video discussion (starting at 0:59:48), Massimo Pigliucci says that he doesn't like Marx's theory of society because it reduces humans to social insects, devoid of individualism. Similarly, conservatives and libertarians in the US usually claim…
Alexander S King
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What would Marx say about liberal identity politics?
As far as I know the main post-Marxist criticism of identity politics is that it is divisive, and so prevents the association of the proletariat.
This seems to me to not take liberalism seriously enough, though, as a dominant ideology of a…
user6917
6
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6 answers
Whats the difference between fixed and constant capital?
Rosa Luxembourg in The Accumulation of Capital describes & investigates the constant and fixed capital of Marx & Smith respectively.
With Marx, she says Constant capital is the value invested in the means of production.
In Chapter 2, she…
Mozibur Ullah
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What is an example of human labour being the exclusive source of surplus value
Marx's labour theory seems to define surplus value as being produced exclusively from human labour. One discussion of this concept stated:
Machinery, and tools of production do not create surplus value; they
are a product of previous labour…
LaserJesus
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Henry George vs. Karl Marx
I recently came across some of Marx's critique of Georgism, and was wondering where else the theories of these two thinkers conflict. Georgism to me certainly seems to have a slight materialist bent to it, along with the desire to prevent alienation…
october
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Do Deleuze and Baudrillard really advocate extracting capitalism's "subversive energy"?
I'm reading Forget Foucault by Baudrillard, or starting to, anyway. Still in Sylvere Lotringer's introduction. He claims that, after the failure of the '68 revolution in France, thinkers like Deleuze and Baudrillard tried to "extract the subversive…
Canyon
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What's the difference between the "hermeneutics of suspicion" and conspiracy theory?
The term "conspiracy theory" was invented by Karl Popper as a way to describe Marxist theories of history as a collusion of the bourgeoise class against the working class. So, as far as I can tell, someone actually arguing after Popper would say…
Avery
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Why is Marxism (not) historicist?
I have been reading bits and pieces on historicism, mostly from Wikipedia and other online publications. In my understanding, it is an ideological evaluation model which emphasizes the context in which an idea exists and how it relates to other…
amphibient
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