Re: Marx and Proudhon

[glevy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

I dusted off my copy of Rosdolsky's _The Making of Marx's
'Capital'_(Pluto, 1977) to re-read what he had written on Proudhon. I
find it curious that Steve did not refer to this work in his post on
Proudhon since he has referred to Rosdolsky recently in other contexts.

I refer you to Rosdolsky's work itself, but want to make the following
comments:

1) Rosdolsky (R) refers to a "large pamphlet" on Proudhon (P) written by
Marx (M) which was "lost."  R says that M wanted to publish the text as
articles in a series to be called _Newest Revolutions of Socialism or the
General Idea of Revolution in the Nineteenth Century by P.J. Proudhon. A
Critique by Karl Marx_ in _Revolution_, a NY-based periodical. (p. 5-6)
The above is in keeping with my idea that M's writings on P were
primarily directed against P's political theories.

2) Also, see the footnote on p.8 where M in 1859 letters to Weydemeyer
and Engels, M indicates that he viewed Proudhon as a "false brother"
and that he wanted to "destroy the foundation of the Proudhonist socialism."
He emphasized to Engels *firstly* that if Engels were to write anything
about the _Critique of Political Economy_ it should be that "Proudhonism
is destroyed in it...."

3)R's Ch. 4 is entitled "Critique of the Labour-Money Theory."  R
indicates (p. 99) that Marx's theory of money was developed initially as
a critique of P's labour-money theory. This critique of P's labour-money
theory was developed, it would seem, largely because M viewed P's theory
as utopian (as well as being confused).

4) See also p. 210 and p. 263  which concern P's ideas on the possibility
of abolishing capitalists but not capital and the abolition of capitalist
property.

So ... was M's critique of P based primarily on P's political theories
or P's understanding of the relationship between use-value and exchange
value?  I believe that the evidence best supports the former hypothesis.

Jerry


     --- from list marxism@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ---

     ------------------