Political Economy and the Question of Freedom: Notes on Hegel and Marx

Abstract

The reception of classical political economy played a prominent role in the development of Hegel’s and Marx's political thought. The purpose of this paper is twofold: firstly, to present the general outlines of the reception of classical political economy in Hegel and Marx; secondly, to evaluate the implications of the reception of classical political economy in the concept of freedom in both philosophers. I argue that the reception of classical political economy, due to different philosophical standpoints, leads Hegel and Marx to develop a different conceptualization of freedom. My main concern was to provide not an exhaustive analysis of the topic but a brief sketch of the implications which different interpretations of political economy have on the question of freedom, indicating, if that should be the case, works that may shed more light on some of the issues addressed throughout the contribution.