Contemporary debates on the ethical basis of Marx's social theory

Abstract

The central aim of this thesis is to present contemporary debates on the relation of Marx's social theory and morality. In the introduction part, two major parties involved in the controversy are exposed. Allen Wood is taken to be the representative of the party which holds that Marx did not have a place for moral considerations in his theory, and Norman Geras is taken to be the representative of the opposing party which holds that Marx's social theory is basedon a moral foundation which incorporates certain transhistorical principles of morality. The immanent critique advocated by Sean Sayers is suggested as a way out of the seemingly paradoxical situation ascribed to Marx's theory. Carrying the issue in question to a specific dimension, the second and third chapters aim to discuss the subject within the axis of Marx's critique of capitalism. The second chapter focuses on whether Marx's critique of capitalism is based on a notion of justice. After examining different approaches regarding the issue, it is argued that Marx's critique is not primarily based on the idea of distributive justice, which calls for a fair distribution in the first place. Sharing the contention that Mam's condemnation of capitalism primordially stems fkom some values other than justice, focus of the third chapter is determined as Marx's understanding of fkeedom. Thus, the third chapter examines the status of the idea of fieedom upon which, as it is argued in this work, Marx's critique of capitalism is fundamentally based. Contrary to the conviction of those thinkers, who conceive fieedom as the primary value appreciated by Marx, but render it a non-moral good, it is argued that the notion of fkeedom can be best understood fkom an ethical perspective incorporated in Marx's social theory.