Karl, Marx. 1932. “Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts.” Pp. 83-120 in Karl Marx: Selected Writings, edited by David McLellan, Oxford University Press.

• Originally written in 1844
• Notes based on version in 2nd Edition, published in 2000 (original in 1977)

Project: Expanding on the relationship between the worker and the capitalist, Marx elaborates on the idea with his focus on the political economy and its production of needless competition, which, in turn, degrades man and releases him to the control of the bourgeoisie.

OVERVIEW

Marx furthers his existent views of political economy with details of the significant but subliminal interaction between the labourer and the capitalist, emphasizing the role of both in society as a whole. The worker is “miserable” and established in such a way of life that he does not realize it, or awaken to this reality. As the capitalist economy expands, the poorer get poorer, and, you guessed it: the richer get richer. Marx also relays the rent or cost of property is contingent upon what is around it. He bounces around ideas of Hegel and Feuerbach, who he identifies as the only credible theorists of his time. Preeminently, Marx religiously believes in alienation as a product of the labour economy, establishing that it is an inevitable of capitalism. Labour and capital, land and capital, are two duals that have been separated by this economic evolution. Marx goes on to discuss philosophically the improper connection between man and his mind and how opposition to the self is the same as another being in opposition to him, meaning one’s agency over themselves and their cognitive capacity is necessary for the enlightened understanding of society’s condition, and the purpose of Marx’s work is, frankly, to enlighten the citizen of this condition and their role in it [perhaps, so they can escape].

ADDITIONAL NOTES

• Alienated labour is a favorite for Marx, emphasizing the alienation of the working class
• The worker is miserable: “the worker is degraded to the most miserable sort of commodity; that the misery of the worker is in inverse proportion to the power and size of his production” (85)
  • The worker is minimized extensively at the cost of his work, his production, and the one in charge…
• ***Competition is capital in just a few hands! This is an invaluable statement. Beautiful.
  • Competition is this relentless and entirely unnecessary notion that has been co-created and acted upon by the elites and only furthers the degradation of society and its communal richness… and in turn, the working class is pushed to behave in the same manner, in some misconstrued effort to mobilize themselves when, in fact, they are stuck! Competing with those in their immobile setting…
• Distinction between capitalist and landlord and peasant and industrial worker disappears, and people fall into property owners and propertyless workers. This seems EXPONENTIALLY AND UNDENIABLY feasible.
• Humans and their capacity lose value as things increase in price, material things, as the economy and capitalism flourish…
• The worker basically sacrifices his body and mind for labor and is trapped in an endless cycle of misery, not expanding their human capacity or using their powerful mind or developing their intellect, which would allow them potential mobility or an understanding of where they fall in the world of capitalism and society…
• Although Marx is a popular figure in Sociology, he is immensely philosophical in his works and uses metaphysics and epistemology in his analyses. I also heavily respect this form of analysis because he is accepting of what could be and does not objectively pursue his ideals but rather utilizes questions, possibilities, and deep evaluation, which leaves room for users to ponder the truth.
• Science is only real in its sensory experience.
• Consciousness is nothing but self-consciousness; man = consciousness
• Emphasizes that the absence of money for a specific matter is just a pointer that the matter need not be necessary.

 (107)

1. Consciousness
   1. certainty and meaning
2. Self-consciousness
   1. “Dependence and independence of self-consciousness. Mastery and servitute. ***
3. Reason
   1. Observational

SINGULAR QUOTES

• “Political economy does not afford us any explanation of the reason for the separation of labour and capital, of capital and land” (85).
• “The only wheels that political economy sets in motion are greed and war among the greedy, competition” (86).
• “The worker becomes poorer the richer is his production[…]The worker becomes a commodity that is all the cheaper the more commodities he creates” (86).
• “Labour produces works of wonder for the rich, but nakedness for the worker” (88).
• “When man is opposed to himself, it is another man that is opposed to him” (91).
• “My power is as great as the power of money” (118).

QUESTIONS

1. Although there is so much reference to political economy, what does it actually mean? I keep thinking of it more as a social economy or sociological or stratified economy but with little talk about the political aspect, where is it and how does it tie in? What laws or political leaders chime into this capitalistic mess?
2. When he talks about our species, I don’t fully understand the point he is trying to make… He says our eating, drinking, and procreating make us human rather than animal, but animals share these essential actions…