The interpreter of Marx's writings faces the task of
reconciling, on the one hand, Marx's frequent explicit
condemnations and criticisms of morality and, on the other, the
obvious way in which his world-view reflects substantive moral
judgments. In this book R. G. Peffer tackles the challenges of
finding in Marx's work an implicit moral theory, of answering
claims that Marxism is incompatible with morality, and of
developing the outlines of an adequate Marxist moral and social
theory. Peffer analyzes the moral components of Marx's thought and
considers all the major interpretations of his moral perspective;
he concludes that Marx is a mixed deontologist who is most
committed to a maximum system of equal freedoms, both positive and
negative. He then utilizes contemporary metaethical theory to show
that Marxism is compatible with morality in general and with the
concepts of justice and rights in particular. Peffer proposes a
radically egalitarian theory of social justice (which subsumes
Marx's own moral theory) and a minimal set of Marxist empirical
theses, which together entail the Marxist's basic normative
political positions. This book demonstrates that contemporary
analytic political philosophy is invaluable for coming to terms
with Marxism and that it is only Marx's less abstract empirical
theories about classes and class struggle, the dysfunctions of
capitalism, and the possibility of creating democratic,
self-managing postcapitalist societies that are needed for the
development of an adequate Marxist moral and social theory.
Originally published in 1990.
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