[lbo-talk] Marx's Rejection of a Moral Critique of Capital

Michael Smith mjs at smithbowen.net
Sat Apr 14 12:50:39 PDT 2012


On Sat, 14 Apr 2012 15:17:22 -0400 shag carpet bomb <shag at cleandraws.com> wrote:


> I was trying to think of examples of the advantage moral condemnation.
> couldn't think of any.
>
> is there any advantage\?

Philip Roth writes, I think in Portnoy, that 'indignation' is his favorite word in the English language.

There's a lot to be said for indignation. It's very human and it can be very constructive, and it's closely linked with moral intuition. People's response to something they think shouldn't be happening is indignation.

Surely indignation is a suitable response to the situation we find ourselves in?

Carroll is right, of course, that Marxism is not about morality; it's a theory of history and society, not a theory of right and wrong.

But even Marxists are also human beings, in their spare time, and discerning right from wrong is rooted deeply in our nature. Is it something we want to stop doing? If so, why?

People often think of the institutions of their society as flawed but fundamentally good. Convince them that instead those institutions are highly effective and fundamentally evil, according to their own inner sense of right and wrong, and you've achieved something.

-- --

Michael J. Smith mjs at smithbowen.net

http://stopmebeforeivoteagain.org http://fakesprogress.blogspot.com http://cars-suck.org



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