Abstract
Knowledge is an indicator of human development, and to contribute further knowledge to the interpretation of the legacy of Marx and Engels is the objective of this article. The relevant question in this theme is: Is the Marxian message alive in the twenty-first century? This article in the fields of the history of economic thought and methodology outlines the vision of Marx-Engels in its economic, sociological and philosophical elements—chiefly the first of these. For that purpose, a description of their Scientific Research Program (SRP), a Lakatosian concept is outlined in the first section as a test of their theoretical soundness. Specifically the hard core of Marx and Engels' SRP is outlined in the second section along with a brief literature review of conceptions about the legacy of Marx and Engels' work. Marx's theory is thus systematically organized in terms of scientific research programs. In addition, both the positive heuristic and protective belt of Marx and Engels' SRP are outlined in the third section. Since a research program is an indicator of progress in science based on the empirical success of the theory in question, some fulfilled (and previously discredited) predictions of Marx and Engels' SRP are briefly mentioned in the fourth section. These interrelated methodological tasks test the argument of the qualitative aliveness of the interdisciplinary message of Marx and Engels for all time, since the identification of theoretical soundness is the first step to test scientific progressiveness in a SRP. During the process some key concepts of Marx and Engels' SRP such as exploitation, alienation and surplus are reinterpreted under this perspective, proving their relevance in modern life. It is concluded from this exercise in the fifth section that Marx and Engels' SRP is sound and progressive in qualitative terms, although it was previously rejected on the basis of ideological, theoretical and practical misinterpretations. Finally, the complex system of Marx is discussed in the Appendix to undertake a further test of the former arguments. References and further reading are listed at the end of the article.
Highlights
The German Ideology of 1845 and the Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844 contain the essence of the philosophical legacy of Marx and Engels, which is complemented by the economic analysis made by them after 1849, which is synthesized in A Critique of Political Economy, the Grundrisse and Das Capital
The purpose of this article is to show that the Marxian message is still alive in the 21st century in the fields of economic thought and methodology
General conclusions could be seen by using a holistic view of the objectives of the intellectual bequeaths of Marx and Engels
Summary
Objective, rational, real, systematic and communicable knowledge about a field, which must be empirically tested vis-à-vis reality, and possesses a dynamic character. The abstraction of processes is the most relevant constituent of knowledge According to ultraempiricism, both hypotheses and problem identification depart from observation. Methodology is the “study of logical principles useful for determining if certain proposals are accepted or rejected as valid constituents of the structure of scientific knowledge” (Machlup 1978: 490). The first constituent of SRPs is the hard core, which is not subject to falsificationism by methodological principle. The second constituent is positive or negative heuristics or guidelines for the implementation of theories to be used throughout the research They are written in terms of suggestions about the use of theories. The external history of science is the description of empirical facts within a field of research Both consistency and refutation are the main criteria for accepting a SRP (Blaug 1980). Bearing these concepts in mind, the structure of the SRP of the economics of Marx is identified
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