Re: "Punctual Equilibrium", or "evolutionary stuff"

["Charles K. MacKay" <ckmackay@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Marx, of course, never said The Revolution would come by next Tuesday.
The closest defense of a teleological view that "...The Revolution gotta
come sometime" is in Bertell Ollman's _Alientation: Marx's View of Man
etc._ in which he argues that Marx had to have thought that the nature
of the proletariat under capitalism was such that *** one *** possible,
and indeed, likely, response, was The Revolution. A "weak" teleological
interpretation would hold that the proletariat has this state at some
point in history which may pass without a revolutionary response; a
"strong" teleological view would hold that the only direction for change
from the current state for the proletariat is a revolutionary one, and
Marx seems to come very close to saying this in the Manifesto, which is,
as has so often been noted on this list, propaganda. Usually the
teleological view are found in "vulgar" Marxist tracts or official
Soviet speeches, but it is _an_ interpreation of Marx that is tempting,
seems to be the obvious one on a superficial reading of some texts, and
is not _obviously_ wrong at first glance.

John R. Ernst wrote:
>
> Charles,
>
> Thanks for your post, reproduced below.  There is
> only one part about which I'd like to know more.
>
> Who are these people who hold telelogical views
> relative to the coming revolution (smile)?  I often
> hear the postition denounced but I have never
> heard anyone defend it.   Let me say that I, too,
> am against it and am in search of the oppostion.
> //snip//




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