Further Investigations. I have suggested that the timely nature of re-examining the theme of subjectivity within key texts of classical Marxism arises from contemporary debates on this topic. Whilst this provides a justification for adopting the concept of subjectivity as the organising theme, it is also important to note other potential focuses, such as the notions of consciousness or agency. Whilst these topics do not play a central role, it will become evident that they are not necessarily mutually exclusive, and appear as elements throughout the thesis. The breadth of possible discussions on the theme of subjectivity has necessitated the focus of this thesis on a particular aspect of this question. Thus it deals with the issue of political class subjectivity in selected works from the classical Marxist tradition. As I have indicated, any selection necessarily entails certain exclusions and the bracketing of the object of study. For example, Xxxx Xxxxxx’x Marxism and Philosophy could have been studied as a different example of the trend identified here in Xxxxxx and Xxxxxxx. Similarly, an evaluation of the issues raised by Xxxxx Xxxxxx with respect to the structural relationship between Xxxx’x Capital and Xxxxx’x Logic would require a close reading of Xxxxx’x later work. As has been suggested by Xxxxxx, an interest in the young Xxxxx, particularly his Phenomenology of Spirit, can be found amongst those with affinities for Xxxx’x earlier writings, including the Manuscripts.38 In both cases, a detailed study of major works by Xxxxx has not been possible in this project. The attempt to bracket the focus of this thesis on the issue of class subjectivity is of course not always effective. This is demonstrated by the discussion of the individual subjectivity of the factory inspectors in Capital. Thus Xxxx-Xxxx Xxxxxx’x valorisation of individual subjectivity could have 38 Xxxxxx Xxxxx, p.72, fn.1 – most obviously Xxxxxx, who wrote an in-depth study, entitled The Young Xxxxx (Xxxxxx, G The Young Hegel (London: Merlin, 1975)). provided a sharp contrast to the subordinate position of the individual in Xxxxxx’x framework, who intransigently declares: “No path leads from the individual to the totality”.39 Xxxxxx’x Critique of Dialectical Reason (1960) and his attempts to examine the relationship between biography and history, between singularity and totalisation present another angle from which to address Xxxx’x conception of personalisation. His later project to fuse Marxism and psycho-...
Further Investigations. Where, as a result of preliminary findings, a resolution cannot be reasonably proposed or achieved, a full, official, investigation will be conducted.
