Chapter 10 Camus, Marxism and Communism

In: Brill's Companion to Camus
Author:
Ronald Aronson
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Ronald Aronson’s chapter examines how Camus was first drawn, then repulsed and ultimately torn apart by his deliberations regarding the Marxist heritage, as well as upon the sociopolitical consequences of its 20th century appropriations. Aronson’s chapter starts chronologically, with Camus’s early, idealistic allegiance to the pcf in pre-war Algeria, before moving towards Camus’s more famous analysis of Marx and Marxism from The Rebel. He also reflects on the different trajectories undertaken by Camus and Marx concerning the historical dimension of political engagement. The second half of Aronson’s chapter then examines Camus’s later political and moral writings, and Camus’s condemnation of Marxism as a potential and real ideological justification for political terror and murder. Aronson explores the intellectual, rather than merely historical reasons for this criticism, investigating sequences from The Rebel wherein Camus denounces Marxist dogmatism and utopianism. In Aronson’s view, Camus omitted in his analysis the very essence of Marxism, focusing on themes Marx developed in his 1840’s manuscripts, rather than those pursued in his major works.

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