Questions of Method: Fundamental Problems Reading Dialectical Methodologies

Abstract

Marx admittedly could have been more helpful in making clear and precise his methodological foundations. Leaving key issues scattered over his works has forced a slow reconstruction of Marxist epistemology by subsequent students. Grasping both the philosophy of internal relations and methods of abstraction allows analysis to interpret Marx's work in four broad, separate but interrelated moments: the dialectical method, historical materialism, political-economics, and the communist political project. Failing to grasp these relations in conjunction with failing to take seriously Marx's commitment to identifiable and accepted scientific methods has resulted in both over-precision and under-precision in reconstruction of his methodology. Subsequent schools of thought have generally made similar errors that can be identified, as can progress over time in the clarification of theoretical and epistemological questions.