Marx with Spinoza: Production, Alienation, History

Description

A provocative study of the intersection of Spinoza and Marx that shows how their respective philosophies engage overlapping questions and problems Offers the first translation of Fischbach’s work, and the most important book published in France on Spinoza and Marx, into EnglishPairs these philosophers of production who are both critical philosophers of subjectivityPresents a major study of the points of intersection in the thought of Spinoza and MarxDevelops original approaches to concepts such as alienation, history, and nature Spinoza and Marx would seem to be two very opposed philosophers. Spinoza was interested in contemplating eternal truths of nature while Marx was interested in the history of capital. Franck Fischbach suggests that by reading the two together we may better understand both history and nature, as well as ourselves, making possible a new understanding of human nature. Rather than see history and nature as opposed, history is nothing but the constant transformation of nature. Central to this transformation is a new understanding of alienation not as loss of the self in a world of objects, but as loss of objects in a world that disconnects us from nature and social relations, leaving us isolated as a subject. The isolated individual, the kingdom within a kingdom, as Spinoza put it, is not the condition of our liberation but the basis of our subjection. Contents Reference Conventions Preface to the Second Edition Introduction: Spinoza, Marx and the Politics of Liberation 1. Marxism and Spinozism 2. Pars Naturae 3. Enduring Social Relations 4. The Identity of Nature and History 5. With Respect to Contradiction 6. The Secondary Nature of the Consciousness of Self 7. Subjectivity and Alienation (or the Impotence of the Subject) 8. The Factory of Subjectivity 9. Pure and Impure Activity Conclusion: Metaphysics and Production Appendix: The Question of Alienation: Frédéric Lordon, Marx and Spinoza Bibliography Index