My speculative hypothesis is that there is a relation between the lumpenization that takes on the hue of a total bourgeois order and the motif of the double or the doppelgänger in art that emerges in such conditions.
On Kołakowski and the Neoplatonist Pre-History of Marxism
With increasing interest in new forms of Marxism, the philosophical origins of Marx’s thought have been a topic of important debate with many studies locating Marx’s early thought in Christian theology. The early Marx often reads like a quasi-theologian when he discusses ideas of universality and the emancipation of the proletariat. But does Marx’s early … Continue reading On Kołakowski and the Neoplatonist Pre-History of Marxism
Sohn-Rethel’s Necessary False Consciousness and Marxist Epistemology
In the closing chapter of Alfred Sohn-Rethel’s masterpiece, Intellectual and Manual Labor, he invokes the concept of “necessary false consciousness.” This is a type of false consciousness that is not merely faulty consciousness, rather, necessary false consciousness is a type of false consciousness that is logically correct. It is what he calls, “inherently corrigible consciousness.” … Continue reading Sohn-Rethel’s Necessary False Consciousness and Marxist Epistemology
