> >>> <kenneth.mackendrick at utoronto.ca> 10/19/99 08:04PM >>>
>
> The philosophers have only interpreted Kant, in various
> ways; the point, however, it to change him.
Actually, I've always interpreted the 11th thesis as an epistemological proposition. Expanded: Because philosophers have tried to interpret the world in isolation from practice they have been unable to interpret it (and have moved towards subjective idealism) because they have failed to realize that only the practice of changing the or attempting to change the world can provide a context within which it can be even partially interpreted.
I prefer Marx's brief note to my wordiness, but the wordiness seems worth while to shield Marx from seeming to be writing maxims for Poor Richard's Almanac. This interpretation fits with his emphasis on "revolutionising practice" in the 3rd thesis, for what that practice revolutionizes is among other things our thinking.
Actually, Mao provided a pretty good introductory textbook version of the 11th thesis. If you want to know what a pear tastes like you have to participate in changing the world by eating the pear.
Carrol