“The entire so-called history of the world is nothing but the begetting of man through human labor.” – Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts

As a follow-up to our discussion on Lukács, we will be hosting a series of discussions focusing on the development and growth of Marx’s thought.

Spanning the fields of politics, sociology, economics, philosophy, history, etc…, Marx’s thought can be roughly divided into three periods:

• Early (pre 1845) – critique of religion philosophically
• Mature (1846-1856) – critique of religion and philosophy politically
• Late (1857-1883) – critique of religion, philosophy, politics – and all other ideologies – economically

In general terms, the central problem of Marx’s early period – which perhaps we could call humanist, as it was more philosophical and less scientific – was to explain human alienation and open up a “reform of consciousness.”

We will approach a work from the first period – “Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844” (aka Paris Manuscripts, not published until 1932).  For our first meeting, we will discuss the Preface and the first half of the first manuscript.

Join Us

Monday March 20th 6 – 8pm

Harold Washington Library

6th Floor South Study Room

Please read the preface and first half of the first manuscript of “Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844“.