1st Edition

Marx and Wittgenstein Knowledge, Morality and Politics

Edited By Gavin Kitching, Nigel Pleasants Copyright 2002
    320 Pages
    by Routledge

    320 Pages
    by Routledge

    At first sight, Karl Marx and Ludwig Wittgenstein may well seem to be as different from each other as it is possible for the ideas of two major intellectuals to be.
    Despite this standard conception, however, a small number of scholars have long suggested that there are deeper philosophical commonalities between Marx and Wittgenstein. They have argued that, once grasped, these commonalities can radically change and enrich understanding both of Marxism and of Wittgensteinian philosophy. This book develops and extends this unorthodox view, emphasising the mutual enrichment that comes from bringing Marx's and Wittgenstein's ideas into dialogue with one another.
    Essential reading for all scholars and philosophers interested in the Marxist philosophy and the philosophy of Wittgenstein, this book will also be of vital interest to those studying and researching in the fields of social philosophy, political philosophy, philosophy of social science and political economy.

    Introduction, Gavin Kitching; Part 1 Conventional wisdoms; Chapter 1 Ernest Gellner's criticisms of Wittgenstein and ordinary language philosophy, T.P. Uschanov; Part 2 Commonalities; Chapter 2 Marx and Wittgenstein as natural historians, Ted Schatzki; Chapter 3 Marx and Wittgenstein, David Rubinstein; Chapter 4 Commodity fetishism as a form of life, David Andrews; Chapter 5 Marx, Wittgenstein and postmodernism, Terrell Carver; Part 3 Wittgenstein and Sraffa; Chapter 6 Sraffa's influence on Wittgenstein, Keiran Sharpe; Chapter 7 A Marxist influence on Wittgenstein via Sraffa, John B. Davis; Part 4 Disjunctions; Chapter 8 Wittgenstein, Winch and Marx, Ted Benton; Chapter 9 Towards a critical use of Marx and Wittgenstein, Nigel Pleasants; Part 5 Forerunners; Chapter 10 Towards a Marxian use of Wittgenstein, Ferruccio Rossi-Landi; Chapter 11 Remarks on Marxism and the philosophy of language, Joachim Israel; Part 6 Knowledge, morality and politics; Chapter 12 Marxism and reflexivity, Gavin Kitching; Chapter 13 Marx and Wittgenstein on vampires and parasites, Rupert Read; Chapter 14 Beyond Marx and Wittgenstein, K.T. Fann;

    Biography

    Gavin Kitching is a Professor of Politics at the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. In addition to Karl Marx and the Philosophy of Praxis (Routledge, 1988) and Marxism and Science: Analysis of an Obsession (Penn State, 1994), he has written books on Africa, Third World development and globalisation. A collection of personal essays, Wittgenstein and Society, will be published in 2003.,
    Nigel Pleasants is Lecturer in Sociology and Philosophy at the University of Exeter, UK. He is the author of Wittgenstein and the Idea of a Critical Social Theory: A Critique of Giddens, Habermas and Bhaskar (Routledge, 1999).