This study examines Marx’s political and social theory through radical empiricism, focusing on production, value through labour, and alienation. It explores how appropriation, transformation, and objectification define human activity within capitalism, highlighting the intrinsic relationality of individual existence and the consequences of wage labour that leads to alienation from both self and society.
Karl Marx’s view of human nature reconciles humanity’s corporeal existence with natural processes, highlighting labour as a natural necessity. While he distinguishes human capabilities from non-human life, this leads to unresolved ecological issues. Understanding freedom includes recognising the need for limits on human purposes and acknowledging nature’s independent significance beyond human interests.
István Hont’s Political Economy from Pufendorf to Marx, edited by Lasse S. Andersen and others, collects previously unpublished essays exploring the interplay of culture, needs, and property rights. Hont critiques Marxism by tracing its roots in natural jurisprudence, positing that economic development does not resolve political conflict or human dependence.
Marc-William Palen’s “Pax Economica,” Liaquat Ahamed’s “1873,” and Janek Wasserman’s “The Marginal Revolutionaries” explore the complex relationship between markets, capitalism, and state power. They argue that free trade, intertwined with political movements, challenges conventional beliefs, illustrating how economic privileges can undercut genuine market freedoms and democracy, necessitating ongoing vigilance towards market integrity.
