Marx's Social Critique of Culture

By Louis Dupré

Book Overview

This study sheds new light on Marx's achievement by presenting a critical reading of his interpretation of culture. Dupr discusses the relation of Marx to previous philosophers, especially Hegel; the stages of development and contradictions within Marx's conception of culture; and the contributions of the various Marxists who followed Marx.
"An intelligent, discerning, and carefully nuanced reading of Marx. . . . Dupr presents a fluidity and diversity that is lacking in many other interpretations of Marx."
-- Peter Stillman, The American Political Science Review
"What makes the book notable is that it handles its subject more clearly, thoroughly, and indeed elegantly than most of its predecessors."
-- Michael J. Kerlin, Theological Studies
"Dupr is undoubtedly one of the most knowledgeable scholars of Marxism. . . . His study counts among the best ones written on the modern Prometheus."
-- Max Wildiers, De Standard
"A major work on Marx, displaying familiarity with the vast scope of his work and characterized by thoughtful and insightful analysis."
-- Carol Gould
"This book is very learned, well-written and readable. . . . Its value lies in its attempt to subordinate the basic tenets of Marx's thought to the question of how man's cultural activity is to be understood within the general framework of Marxism and how some of Marx's ideas concerning culture can be adapted apart from the dogmas of 'historical materialism.'"
-- Leszek Kolakowski

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0073TCLRQ
• ISBN13: 9780300035179
• Release Date: December 1959
• Publisher: Yale University Press
• Length: 302 Pages
• Weight: 1.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.5" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Brilliant Overview and Analysis

Louis Dupre's engagement with Marx and Marxism over the decades has culminated in this in-depth yet accessible study of what forms Marx's understanding of human society and its subsequent critique of culture. What adds to this work, however, is the background of Dupre's understanding of the history of Western thinking (e.g., his Passage to Modernity and The Intellectual Foundations of the Enlightenment). Because of this he is able to situate the underpinnings of Marx's philosophy within a larger analysis and critique, making the various domains of his philosophy both acessible and interconnected--e.g., from philosophical anthropology to the economic transformation of the theory of value. Finally, Dupre engages with many of the main commentators on Marx,ranging from Anglo-American to Contintental thinkers.