Analyzing Marx: Morality, Power and History

In this book Marx is revealed as a powerful contributorto the debates that now dominate philosophyand political theory. Using the techniques of analyticphilosophy to unite Marx's general statements withhis practice as historian and activist, Richard W. Millerderives important arguments about the rational basisof morality, the nature of power, and the logic of testingand explanation. The book also makes Marx's theoryof change useful for current social science, by replacingeconomic determinist readings with a newinterpretation in which systems of power relations arethe basis of change.Part One discusses Marx's criticisms of the moralpoint of view as a basis for social choice. The outlookthat emerges is humane but antimoral. Part Two arguesthat Marx's concept of the ruling class is a means, of measuring political power that is ignored yet urgentlyneeded by present-day social science. PartThree bases Marx's theory of history on thedynamics of power, challenging both the standard, economic determinist readings of thetheory and standard conceptions of science.