Marx's Concept of Man

by Erich Fromm

Book Overview

In publishing Marx's Concept of Man in 1961, Erich Fromm presented to the English-speaking world for the first time Karl Marx's then recently discovered Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts .... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0804461619
• ISBN13: 9780804461610
• Release Date: January 1975
• Publisher: Frederick Ungar
• Length: 275 Pages
• Weight: 0.62 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 4.8" x 7.1"

Customer Reviews

Why Marx Now?

Marx? Communism? Please! That's the gut reaction of most of us. Why is this? Why is the man who's ideas stimulated nearly half the world to revolution automatically rejected without even being seriously looked at by most of us the U.S. today? What's that you say? "History shows us that communism is an impossible system that leads to the greatest tyranny." The fact is Marx is much more than communism. His most famous work is not called Communism but Capital. (The manifesto was a small pamphlet next to the thousands of pages of the planned four volumes of Capital). He is strongest in his analysis of the very history and machinery of this economic system. In fact, it is in his critique of capitalism (not his proposition of communism) that he is most original. Today, we see yet another crisis in global capitalism. Almost all of us who seek understanding of this crisis do so using the very same conceptual tools of the capitalist doctrine itself. But what if there are incorrect assumptions that the governments, universities and media networks of the world continuously overlook? Marx's Concept of Man serves as an introduction to such an analysis. It is a compilation of various manuscripts of the early Marx and is quite digestible--especially after Fromm's preface. Erich Fromm--a significant 20th century philosopher in his own right--introduces us to some of the most timeless aspects of Marx's concept of man in a way that makes his thought significant to this day.

Marx as a humanist philosopher

"Marx's Concept of Man" is essentially a pamphlet establishing the humanist, philosophical side of Marx as against the orthodox, Soviet view of Marx as tyrannical and economistic, and against the degree to which this view has seeped into academic literature in the West also. Famous Freudian Marxist Erich Fromm uses the "Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts" as well as "The German Ideology" to stress the importance of humanist concepts such as alienation, freedom, and creativity for Marx, and in so doing explains what these and similar terms mean in Marx' work. Fromm has clearly paid careful attention to Marx' philosophy, and this part of the book is quite good as a simple overview. The second half of the book covers the English translation of the aforementioned "Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts" by Tom Bottomore, as well as excerpts from various other works by and about Marx meaning to show his humanism, his good nature, and his sensitivity to culture. Of special interest are the excerpts from the memoirs of those who knew Marx, like his daughter Eleanor as well as Paul Lafargue. These works are often quoted, but rarely does one find a larger part in English, not even in McLellan's biography. Fromm goes a bit overboard here and there in stressing Marx' 'spiritual' nature. Although nothing Fromm writes is of itself incorrect, it may unwittingly reinforce the old canard of Marxism 'really' being a religion, and Marx a millennarian prophet, and so on. Fromm obviously rejects this old refrain, but should have made that clearer. In other aspects this collection is an interesting primer on Marx as thinker on human action and human nature, and sheds good light on this side of Marxist thought for those not familiar with it.

about time....

...someone dusted off Marx and took a good psychological look at the wealth in his writings! One needn't be a Marxist (I am not) to appreciate this fine book. My one concern is that Fromm is to Marx as Kaufmann is to Nietzsche: both men either ignore or euphemize the weaknesses in the visionaries they write about (e.g., Kaufmann's remark that Nietzsche's hateful, cynical, and demeaning remarks about women "do him little credit"). Nevertheless, this book provides a good compensation for the Western tendency to demonize a man very much misunderstood by those who turned his writings to political purposes.

A very good read

Fromm's analysis of Marx is incredible, finally someone truly understands Marx's writing. This is an excellent edition for someone looking for a side of Marx not often discussed.

Excellent book concerning an understanding of Marx.

This book is an excellent book for anyone wishing to gain a readable understanding of Marxist thought. The first 92 pages are especially insightful. A must buy for anyone interested in Marxism.