From: gerald_a_levy (gerald_a_levy@MSN.COM)
Date: Fri May 16 2003 - 09:10:23 EDT
On the Marxist theory of history (dialectical but EuroRe Rakesh's post Thursday, May 15: Rakesh -- I found your post to be difficult reading. If I read it correctly, I understand your main claims to be that the 'Marxist theory of history' is Eurocentric, supremacist and teleological and this has rendered it incapable of comprehending the specific structural characteristics of non-capitalist social formations and their diversity. This position needs to be drawn out more by you, I think. A couple of brief comments: 1) The Darwinian influence on Marx's conception of history can be seen in his statement in the "Introduction" to the _Grundrisse_ that "the anatomy of man is the key to the anatomy of the ape." This is objectionable for a variety of reasons. Not only is it a misleading analogy, but I think it is both bad anatomy and bad history. History can not be simply "read backwards" in a kind of reverse Darwinian sequence. If you mean more specifically that one can't comprehend the characteristics of individual ancient and/or non- European societies only by way of reference to "modern society" as it historically developed as capitalism in Europe, then I agree with you. 2) You suggest that there is a "suspect teleology" in the Marxist philosophy of history to the extent that there are assertions of an "inner drive for freedom" on the part of humanity. I think I agree with this as a criticism. The concept of freedom, like history itself, can not be "read backwards." That is, "freedom" as a concept historically developed in particular societies and it can not be legitimately be claimed that all human societies historically have been "driven" by this (relatively modern, culturally specific) goal. In solidarity, Jerry
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Sat May 17 2003 - 00:00:00 EDT