Analyzing Marx: Morality, Power and History

In this book Marx is revealed as a powerful contributor

to the debates that now dominate philosophy

and political theory. Using the techniques of analytic

philosophy to unite Marx's general statements with

his practice as historian and activist, Richard W. Miller

derives important arguments about the rational basis

of morality, the nature of power, and the logic of testing

and explanation. The book also makes Marx's theory

of change useful for current social science, by replacing

economic determinist readings with a new

interpretation in which systems of power relations are

the basis of change.

Part One discusses Marx's criticisms of the moral

point of view as a basis for social choice. The outlook

that emerges is humane but antimoral. Part Two argues

that Marx's concept of the ruling class is a means,

of measuring political power that is ignored yet urgently

needed by present-day social science. Part

Three bases Marx's theory of history on the

dynamics of power, challenging both the standard,

economic determinist readings of the

theory and standard conceptions of science.