Reviews
What kind of Marxism does materialism—the most hard-nosed focus on reality—produce when Marx is studied in an ivory tower?!
I get the impression that the book defines existentialism and structuralism too narrowly as targets of its critique. Its representative criticisms are that existentialism's teleological awareness of existence remains confined to the individual and never moves from imagination to reality, and that a structural understanding of capitalism's contradictions neglects micro-level experience within a schematic imagination. Yet existentialism already contains practical thought about social solidarity
Raymond Arong: Imaginary Marxisms
This is Raymond Aron's critical work, which poured cold water on France's overheated intellectual world with its lofty, cool rationality during a twentieth century in France brimming with Marx. Marxism emerged in the nineteenth century—a time rife with violence and oppression, yet, ironically, filled with more optimism and hope for the future than ever—and built a theoretical foundation so vast that it could serve as an alternative for its age. Its standing remains immense to this day. The French intellectual world embraced a philosophy that called for restoring humanity in the face of anti-reason and the contradictions of the age, and struggled more than any other country to carry on the most essential aspects of Marxism. In this book, however, Aron sharply criticizes how the French inheritance of Marxism became seriously distorted alongside two major schools of thought. Aron says he has a deep understanding of Marxism. From that standpoint, his critiques of Jean-Paul Sartre and Louis Althusser, two leading figures in French Marxist thought, are highly specialized and offer in-depth criticism and sharp insight. Drawing on history, politics, and Marx's original intentions, he analyzes how the French intellectual world has misrepresented Marxism. At the same time, he explains the positions he criticizes so clearly that the book can almost feel like a friendly introduction to understanding Sartre and Althusser. Its careful writing is impressive. The book's main argument is not a criticism of Marxism itself; if anything, it even gives the impression that Aron respects Marx more than anyone.
Korean title: 상상적 마르크스주의들
Korean author: 레몽 아롱
Korean publisher: 세창출판사
ISBN-13: 9791166843280
Reviews
What kind of Marxism does materialism—the most hard-nosed focus on reality—produce when Marx is studied in an ivory tower?!
I get the impression that the book defines existentialism and structuralism too narrowly as targets of its critique. Its representative criticisms are that existentialism's teleological awareness of existence remains confined to the individual and never moves from imagination to reality, and that a structural understanding of capitalism's contradictions neglects micro-level experience within a schematic imagination. Yet existentialism already contains practical thought about social solidarity
