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15Marxism in Latin America: A DefenseJournal of Social Philosophy 17 (2): 20-35. 1986.Indeed the people are no longer what they were ten years ago. Some have been awakened by the revoluFionXy ferment. All have matured in blood and fire and become acutely conscious of their daily interests …… They have a strong belief in their historical mission, a salvation mission …… They are attracted by an extremely fascinating theory, Marxism, which is endowed with an immense power and is capable of turning the common people into fighters ready for all sacrifices
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255What are we to make of the "Parecon" phenomenon? Michael Albert 's book made it to number thirteen on Amazon.com a few days after some on-line promotion.1 Eight of the twelve Amazon.com reviewers had given the book five stars. It has been, or is being, translated into Arabic, Bengali, Telagu, Croatian, Czech, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, Swedish and Turkish.2 The book has been endorsed by Noam Chomsky, who says it "merits close attention, debate and action,…Read more
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3Friendly Critics, Critical Issues (review)Radical Philosophy Review of Books 11 (11): 54-67. 1995.
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93I T I S S T A R T L I N G T O realize that the concept of economic exploitation, which has been the focus of intense philosophical debate for what seems like decades now, was barely touched on in John Rawls's 1971 masterwork, A Theory o f Justice, the book that ushered in the present era of Anglo - American social and political philosophy. The subject was broached just once by Rawls, and only to be dismissed as being of such secondary importance as to be "out of place here."1 The concept, howeve…Read more
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42Property‐Owning Democracy or Economic Democracy?In Martin O'Neill & Thad Williamson (eds.), Property-Owning Democracy: Rawls and Beyond, Wiley-blackwell. pp. 201--222. 2012.
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234As we all know, Marx's powerful and compelling critique of capitalism provided no explicit model for a viable alternative to capitalism, no "recipes for cookshops of the future," in his disdainful phrase.1 Marx shouldn’t be faulted for this omission. He was a "scientific" socialist. Although there were sufficient data available to him to ground his critique of capitalism, there was little upon which to draw regarding alternative economic institutions. No "experiments" had been performed. We no l…Read more
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26Understanding Marx: A Reconstruction and Critique of Capital by Robert Paul Wolff (review)Journal of Philosophy 83 (12): 729-732. 1986.
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192Successor-System Theory as an Orienting Device: Trying to Understand ChinaNature, Society, and Thought 17 (4): 389-412. 2004.My interest in China was rekindled several years ago by an invitation to a conference, "Modernization, Globalization and China's Path to Economic Development," to he held in Hangzhou, July, 2002. The conference was organized by Cao Tian Yu, a philosopher of science at Boston University and his wife Lin Chun of the London School of Economics--both deeply concerned about the future of China. It was attended by a number of Western Leftists (Samir Amin, Perry Anderson, Robin Blackburn and myself), b…Read more
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Money, Markets, Morality: No Dogs or Philosophers AllowedDVD. forthcoming.How should we evaluate the economic environment we live in? Does anyone really believe in capitalism? How good are the philosophical judgments that inform the structures and habits of our economic lives? With David Schweickart , David Haslett , and Ronald Duska.
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32On Robert Paul Wolff's Transcendental Interpretation of Marx's Labor Theory of ValueCanadian Journal of Philosophy 14 (3). 1984.In a recent article Robert Paul Wolff has argued that Marx's theory of capitalist exploitation is incorrect, in that its ground is the premiss that labor is the source of all value.1 This, of course, is a well-rehearsed objection to Marx, but Wolff gives it a novel twist. He notes that the defense of this premise in the opening pages of Capital is inadequate, but he is not troubled by this ‘bad argument,’ for he sees Marx's real argument as something else: the claim that unless labor is the sour…Read more
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102Global poverty: Alternative perspectives on what we should do—and whyJournal of Social Philosophy 39 (4): 471-491. 2008.No Abstract
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37Dr. Pangloss goes to marketCritical Review: A Journal of Politics and Society 10 (3): 333-352. 1996.Abstract David Ramsay Steele's From Marx to Mises argues correctly that the standard account of the economic calculation debate is a misrepresentation. Mises and Hayek were not bested by Lange and Taylor. However, it is not true, as Steele claims, that socialists have yet to face the Misesian challenge, nor that the debate over socialist calculation sheds much light on the recent collapse of communism. Steele's critiques of market socialism and worker self?management and his treatment of Marx ar…Read more
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19A Marxist Perspective on the Human PersonProceedings and Addresses of the American Philosophical Association 55 (N/A): 99-107. 1981.A Marxist Perspective on the Human Person
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30A Reply to Arnold's ReplyEconomics and Philosophy 3 (2): 331. 1987.Professor Arnold's reply to my reply seems not to have touched the substance of my argument. Perhaps I have been unclear. Arnold contends that any form of market socialism, if unchecked by central authorities, would revert to a system essentially undistinguishable from capitalism. Against this contention I have argued that a democratic, worker-controlled, market socialism that generates its investment fund by taxation exhibits no such tendency. Specifically, I argued that in such a society 1. th…Read more
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55Marx's Democratic Critique of Capitalism and Its Implications for a Viable SocialismThe Owl of Minerva 46 (1/2): 67-77. 2014.This paper argues that Marx’s critique of capitalism is not, as commonly believed, a critique of the “free market.” I argue that the “market” under capitalism should be understood as a three-fold market—for goods and services, for labor and for capital. I argue that Marx’s critique is essentially a critique of the latter two markets, and not the first. Hence theoretical space opens up for “market socialism.” I proceed to elaborate briefly what specific institutions might comprise an economically…Read more
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7Tired of Capitalism? How about Something Better?Philosophic Exchange 43 (1). 2013.Capitalism causes staggering inequality, rising unemployment, growing poverty, and the degradation of democracy. But is there any viable alternative? Is there a form of socialism that would preserve the strengths of competitive capitalism, yet mitigate its worst evils? This paper argues that there is such an alternative -- economic democracy. An economic democracy keeps competitive markets for goods and services, but dispenses with labor markets and capital markets. It replaces labor markets wit…Read more
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20Against CapitalismCambridge University Press. 1993.This book is a completely rewritten version of the author's earlier Capitalism or Worker Control?. Its central thesis is that, despite the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe and the break-up of the Soviet Union, capitalism cannot be justified on either economic or ethical grounds. There is in fact an alternative to capitalism that promises greater efficiency, and equality, and more rational growth, democracy and meaningful work. This alternative, Economic Democracy, is market socialism with…Read more
Ohio State University
PhD, 1977
Chicago, Illinois, United States of America
Areas of Specialization
Social and Political Philosophy |
19th Century Philosophy |