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Marx and Kant on Capitalist Exploitation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 November 2017

Allen Wood
Allen Wood*
Affiliation:
Indiana University Bloomington
*
Email: awwood@indiana.edu
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Abstract

Marx holds that capitalism is exploitative, but not unjust. Kant crafted a theory of right that explains why human beings are treated unjustly when the social system deprives them of the conditions of a free life. This essay attempts to relate Kant’s and Marx’s views to one another and to the capitalist social system, which these two thinkers studied at different stages of development. The economic and social theories of Fichte and Hegel are also employed to help make sense of the points of agreement and of disagreement between Kant and Marx concerning the ways modern capitalism deprives workers of freedom and whether this deprivation should be condemned as unjust.

Keywords

KantMarxexploitationfreedomjusticegeneral injustice
Type
Articles
Information
Kantian Review , Volume 22 , Special Issue 4: Special Issue on Kant and Marx , December 2017 , pp. 641 - 659
Copyright
© Kantian Review 2017 

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