Preface ix

Acknowledgements xi

List of Abbreviations xix

Introduction 1

1. A Cultural Marxism: Economy and Dialectics 2
2. B The Genealogy of the Texts 5
3. C Critical Theory 7
4. D Critique of Capitalism and Political Economy 9
5. E The Project 11
6. F Presenting the Texts 11

Presentation: Dialectics, Deontology and Democracy 18

1. i Dialectics 18
2. ii Deontology 19
3. iii Democracy 19
4. i Capitalism, Alienation and Critique. Studies in Economy and Dialectics 20
5. ii Discourse, Value and Practice. Studies in Ethics and Morality 21
6. iii Justice, Peace and Formation. Studies in Politics and Education 22

Interlude: Arguing for Classical Critical Theory: Horkheimer, Marcuse et al. 24

1. A Classical Critical Theory 28
   1. i Science and Knowledge 28
   2. ii Traditional Theory 31
   3. iii History and the Struggle for Justice 34
   4. iv The Necessity of Theory 35
2. B Philosophical Social Research 37
   1. i Reason, Freedom and Imagination 38
   2. ii Truth 40
3. C The Grandeur and Decline of Dialectics 42
   1. i Scepticism and Determinate Negation 43
   2. ii Radicalizing Hegel’s Dialectics 45
   3. iii The Eclipse of Enlightenment 47
4. D Rethinking Critical Theory 54
   1. i Critique of Positivist Theory of Science 56
   2. ii Knowledge and Interest 59
   3. iii The Communicative Paradigm 61
   4. iv Making a case for Classical Critical Theory 65
5. E Critical Theory as Social Philosophy 67
   1. i From Theory of Science to Cultural Critique 68
   2. ii From Epistemological Anthropology to Social Philosophy 69
   3. iii Endorsing Rousseau and Marx as well as Nietzsche 72
   4. iv Problematizing Social Philosophy 75
6. F Conclusion 79

1. 1 An Alternative Agenda for Political Economy: Durkheim et al. 85
   1. A Economics 86
   2. B Values Today 88
   3. C Creative Collectivity 89
   4. D Accumulation and Expenditure 91
   5. E Towards a Creative Period 93
   6. F Fight Globalization 94
2. 2 From Restricted Economy to General Economy – and Back: Bataille 96
   1. A The Limitations of Economy 99
      1. i A Political Critique of Economy 100
      2. ii A Critique of Neo-classical Economy in terms of Science 103
   2. B Economy in a Broader Sense 105
      1. i The Flow of Energy   106
      2. ii Desire and Inner Experience 111
   3. C An Unpractical Political Economy 115
      1. i The Ontological Necessity of the Gift 116
      2. ii Between Sociology and Ontology 120
      3. iii Post-modern Capitalism and Communism 124
      4. iv In the End: Theoretical Aporias, but also Practical Hope 127

1. 3 On the Contribution of Dialectics: Plato et al. 133
   1. A From the History of Dialectics 133
   2. B Empiricist Displacements 136
   3. C A Reflection on Business 137
2. 4 Totalizing Negativity and Change: Bataille, Hegel et al. 138
   1. A Critique of Dialectics 139
   2. B Experience and Scientific Knowledge 142
   3. C Matter and Life 146
   4. D Desire and Conscious Being 150
   5. E Conclusion 153
3. 5 From Ontology to Epistemology: Tong, Mao and Hegel 157
   1. A Mao’s Idea of Dialectical Materialism is Mainly Practical 160
      1. i The Perspective of a Military Commander Must be Practical in a Pragmatic Sense 160
      2. ii The Idea of Contradiction is Universal, Material and Causal 163
   2. B Tong Could Make Good Use of a Different Idea of Dialectics 165
      1. i Tong is Critical of How the Material Dialectics of Practice Ignores Validity and Formal Logic 166
      2. ii I Emphasize the Distinction within Dialectical Metaphysics between Logic and Causality 168
      3. iii And I argue for a Conception of Dialectics in which Theory Predominates over Practice 170
   3. C This Discussion about Dialectics is Not Primarily about East vs. West – It is about Politics 174
4. 6 Critique Presupposes Alienation: Hegel 179
   1. A The General Argument 184
   2. B Some Details from the Phenomenology Supporting the Argument 186
      1. i Formation is Spirit – and It Does Not Work 186
      2. ii Alienation and Formation are Inescapably Intertwined 192
   3. C Further Details from Nürnberg 199
   4. D Concluding Remarks: Formation Requires Education; Critique Requires Alienation 203
5. 7 On the Way to Liberation: Marcuse 210
   1. A Marcuse, Dialectics and Critical Theory 211
      1. i Dialectics as a Phenomenon 211
      2. ii Marcuse’s Position within Critical Theory 214
      3. iii The Dialectics of Marcuse 217
   2. B One-dimensional Thought 220
      1. i Operationalism in Political Science 220
      2. ii Empiricism as Ideology 222
   3. C Two-dimensional Thought 225
      1. i Essence and Normativity 225
      2. ii Negativity and Critique 226
      3. iii History as a Real Possibility 228
   4. D Imagining Liberation 230

Postscript: Continuing the Critique of Capitalism and Political Economy 235

1. A Introductory Moves 236
   1. i Injustice, Not Justice 237
   2. ii Choosing a Strategy for Criticizing 239
   3. iii Choosing Sources 242
2. B Approaching the Critique of Political Economy 247
   1. i From Economy to Economics 247
   2. ii The Liberal Agenda of Political Economy 250
   3. iii The Theory of Comparative Advantage is Ideological 253
   4. iv Say’s Law is Back, in Spite of the Great Crash 257
3. C Actors or Systems? What is behind the Neo-liberal Offensive? 258
4. D Struggling over the Definition of Political Economy 264
   1. i Economics as both Political and Scientific 264
   2. ii The Mathematics of Economics 267
5. E The Neo-liberal Critique of the Neo-classicists 271
   1. i The Market is for Owners, Not for People 272
   2. ii Market Equilibrium is Unreal 273
   3. iii Remark: Monetarism 277
   4. iv Equilibrium is Totalitarian; the Market Provides Freedom 279
   5. v Economics Provides Tools for the Entrepreneur, Not the Politician 283
   6. vi Crises: Bringing in the Money 287
6. F Wrapping Up 292

Name Index and Bibliography 295

Subject Index 302

Detailed List of Contents 321