The manuscript Brussels 1845 on List, by Karl Marx; the meaning of the unknown manuscript in the formation of Marx's thought: study of reconstitution of the criticism of idealism, of politics and of political economy in the texts from 1843 to 1845

• Grant number: 13/15263-7
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: October 01, 2013
• End date: October 31, 2017
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Sociology - Fundamentals of Sociology
• Principal Investigator: Ricardo Musse
• Grantee: Diego Augusto Maia Baptista
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas (FFLCH). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated scholarship(s): 14/07746-0 - The manuscript Brussels 1845 on List, by Karl Marx; the meaning of the manuscript in the formation of Marx's thought: study of reconstitution of the criticism of idealism, of politics and of political economy in the texts from 1843 to 1845 (BEPE), BE.EP.PD

Abstract

The central object of the research is a manuscript written by Marx in the middle of the second half of 1845, shortly after his return from the economic studies trip with Engels to England, during the Brussels stay. The text only came to the public much later, in 1971; therefore, among the many marxians records published posthumously, we are facing one of the most recently published materials. Forty years after the appearance of the text, however, it remains virtually ignored in studies on the theoretical work of Marx, Marxism and confluent lines; even in the German specialized literature this text is rarely mentioned, and in Brazil there is no news about its existence - the present research deals, therefore, with a unique, poorly explored work in the international ambit and totally unprecedented on a national scale.The only reference to the text among Brazilian studies lies in our doctoral thesis (2013), in which we carry out the preliminary work of text translation, directly from the German and on the basis of the original facsimile examination, with the MEGA (Marx-Engels Gesamtausgabe) in BBAW (Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften) - work which this project constitutes the necessary unfolding and deepening. In this way, we intend to fill up an incontestable and unjustified gap in theoretical studies on Marx, especially regarded to the important problem of reconstitution of his thoughts formation.To start the work on the unfinished focused manuscript, Marx had in mind a publication against the eminent German Economist Friedrich List (1789-1846), more precisely, a systematic critique of his main work, the National System of political economy, book that had obtained great success and wide acceptance in Germany since its publication in 1841. It is, therefore, a controversial text, hallmark of Marxian mid-late 1840 production; likewise, it is distinctive that Marx is also not limited to the mere attack here: through the debate the author exercises and develops positively your own thought, to highly complex text and an interest beyond the polemics fought. In more general terms, it appears that the text is structured conceptually around three axes, the criticism of speculative philosophy, politics and political economy. This structure is not arbitrary, but included in the object itself, which Marx takes for mote.List is an economist, and in his book he debates with other economists - it leads Marx to enter this ground and discuss several specific problems, like value, land income, productive forces etc., as well as allows us know the appreciation of Marx on authors such as Smith, Ricardo and Sismondi.But besides Economist, List is also German, and this condition determines the specifically nationalistic character of his economic thought, that is, the role of the State as the promoter of a delayed German bourgeoisie (which List is the theoretical representative). Thus, the discussion is immediately directed to the political field, in which Marx reaffirms its view of human emancipation through the workers ' social revolution, opposing any redemptive role of the state.At the same time, List's national-German condition determines also the necessary fundamental idealism of his theory, idealism to which Marx contrasts the social determination of thought as a prism for understanding the evolution of economical theories in connection with the development of private property. From the analysis of the three axes listed above it will establish a comparison between the Brussels manuscript of 1845 and the texts previously written by the author, so this manuscript in the perspective of the formation of Marx's thought. (AU)