Marx's Social Ontology, his Critical Method and Contemporary Social Economics

Abstract

A recent literature has emerged largely, although not exclusively, in this Review which addresses the question of whether or not Karl Marx was a social economist. [See e.g., Rooth 1978, Hunt 1978, Stanfield 1978, and December 1979 edition of this Review] The purpose of this essay is to support Marx's status as a social economist by presenting a critical interpretation of his position on the relation of production to distribution. The intent is to show that this crucial analytical relation embodies both an ontological perspective and a scientific method which are well-suited to the set of characteristics described below as the major methodological tenets of contemporary social economics.1 The method employed will be to begin with a brief discussion of the major methodological tenets of contemporary social economics. Next, the logical compatability between these tenets and Marx's political economy will be established through the development of a critical interpretation of Marx's position on the relation of production to distri? bution. In order to simplify the discussion, the development of this interpretation will proceed in a series of steps. It begins with a brief examination of Marx's social ontology, wherein the logical connections which exist between his notion of labor and his (i) theory of alienation; (ii) scientific method, and (iii) position on the relation in question are established. Next, the complexity of his dialectical, synthetic method is outlined. This philosophical groundwork complete, the internalization of both his social ontology and scientific method into the specification of