Peter Singer identifies the central vision that unifies Marx's thought, enabling us to grasp Marx's views as a whole. He sees him as a philosopher primarily concerned with human freedom, rather than as an economist or a social scientist. In plain English, he explains alienation, historical materialism, the economic theory of Capital, and Marx's ideas of communism, and concludes with an assessment of Marx's legacy.
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.0 / 5.0
The Last Prophet?:
Because I like short books, I have tried several of the "Very Short Introduction..." series. I have been unable to finish any of them. But Peter Singer is a world famous thinker. He is probably best known for writing Animal Liberation, a book that jump started the animal rights movement (which I haven't read). I have read Singer's critique of George W Bush (The President of Good and Evil) and liked it well enough. So I felt Singer's study of Marx was worth giving the series another shot. A... more info
Cute.:
Cute little gem. Easy enough. A bit boring, but maybe that's Marx's fault and not Singer's. The last chapter is the best: a great overview of what Marx got right and what he got wrong.
Recycled but good:
The first thing that ought to be noted is that Peter Singer's contribution to the Very Short Introduction series is really a recycling of a volume he wrote way back in 1980 for the old Past Master's series. So far as I can tell, the only revision in the book is a few changes in tense to bring this edition beyond the collapse of the Soviet Union. It was something of a shock--or at least a surprise--to realize that what I thought was a new book was in fact an old one. Notwithstanding, Singer's Marx is a... more info
Publisher Notes::
The Past Masters Series is a concise, lucid , aythoritative introduction to the thought of leading intellectual figures of the past whose ideas still influence the way we think today. ... sees Marx as a philosopher, rather than as an economist or social scientis. ' an admirably balanced portrait of the man and his achievement' says Philip Toynbee, Observer.
