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Summary
"Tony Smith has now written a book that conclusively demonstrates that Marx's commitment to Hegelian dialectic is much more thoroughgoing, fundamental, and central to Marx's thought than anyone had previously seen. He has done a brilliant job in demonstrating the Hegelian dialectical logic that structures Capital. No one had ever worked this out in such detail, with such rigor, and with such convincing arguments. This is thus a scholarly achievement of the highest order: Smith has produced a highly original, extremely well-written and argued, and important work that is sure to be cited and debated for decades to come." -- Douglas Kellner, University of Texas at Austin
Beginning with "value" and "commodity" at the start of Volume I in Marx's major work, and progressing step-by-step to the end of Volume III, Smith establishes in detail that Capital is a systematic theory of socio-economic categories ordered according to dialectical logic. At each stage in his analysis of the theory Smith makes Marx's arguments more accessible. He also considers in depth the objections to Marx's employment of dialectical logic that have been formulated by Hegelians (especially those presented in Klaus Hartmann's Die Marxsche Theorie). Smith presents a persuasive case against this whole range of Marx criticisms, many of which have also been proposed from non-Hegelian standpoints. "I am most impressed by its originality and systematic character. There is nothing in the literature on Marxism that is anything like it, and responding in such detail to Hegelian criticisms proves to be a wonderfully enlightening approach to a lot that has been unclear about Marxism, especially its exposition. For anyone interested in Marxism, especially his dialectical method and economic theories, the book is extremely significant." -- Bertell Ollman, New York University
Tony Smith is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Iowa State University of Science and Technology.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Part One Philosophical Foundations
Chapter I: Hegel: Method and System
A. Hegel's Dialectical Method
B. Dialectical Logic and Materialist Ontology
C. System
Chapter II: Dialectical Logic in Marx's Work
A. Indirect Arguments for Reading "Capital" in Terms of Hegelian Dialectical Logic
B. Direct Arguments for Reading "Capital" in Terms of Dialectical Logic
Postscript: Marx's Materialism and Hegel's Idealism
Chapter III: Hegelian Readings of "Capital"
A. Alternative Readings of "Capital" as a Dialectical Theory
B. The Main Hegelian Objections to "Capital"
Part Two The Systematic Ordering
Chapter IV: The Value Form
A. A Standard Reading of The First Sections of "Capital"
B. Hegelian Objections to The Initial Categories in "Capital"
C. An Alternative Reading
D. Responses to the Hegelian Objections
Chapter V: The Simple Commodity Form and the Money Form
A. The Simple Commodity Form
B. The Dialectic of The Money Form
C. Closing Remarks
Chapter VI: The Initial Determinations of the Capital Form: Labor Power as Commodity, Exploitation
A. The Capital Form, Capital in Production, and Labor Power as Commodity
B. Exploitation
Chapter VII: Categories of the Production Process Proper
A. Simple Cooperation and Capital as Principle of Organization
B. Capital as Principle of Transformation
C. Accumulation
D. Excursus: Capital and Independent Producers
E. Conclusion
Chapter VIII: The Categories of Circulation
A. The Transition to Capital in Difference
B. The Dialectic of Capital in Difference
C. Hegelian Objections and Replies to The Objections
Chapter IX: The Categories of Concretion
A. The Dialectic of Industrial Capital
B. The Dialectic of Supply and Demand
C. The Falling Rate of Profit
D. The Dialectic of Nonindustrial Capital
E. Evaluation of The Final Stages of The Capital Form
