Order from a Major Online Bookstore
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine
Save Your Time And Money
| AnyBook4Less.com | Order from a Major Online Bookstore |
|
| Home | Store List | FAQ | Contact Us | | ||
| Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money |
||
 |
Title: Marxism: For and Against by Robert L. Heilbroner ISBN: 0393951669 Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company Pub. Date: December, 1980 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $16.70 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.5
Rating: 5
Summary: Probably the best introduction that I have read on Marx...
Comment: This is an excellent, concise introduction to the ideas of Karl Marx. Although the book is a bit dated, it still markets itself to people who know very little about Marxism. The book's title is deceiving because although it takes a "for and against" perspective on most Marxist ideas, it is really setting you up for consideration of communism as a political and economic reality and whether or not you would be willing to consider embracing such a society from the ideas explained in the book.
Following a prescient introductory chapter, the book unfolds into four chapters starting with (1) a discussion of dialectics. This is an essential discussion that most critics of Marxist thought often overlook but it is the core of Marx's understanding of reality. The significance of this chapter is it lays the groundwork for a paradigm that Marx uses throughout his analysis of capitalism. From this discussion he moves to (2) historical materialism or the idea that the economy, or more aptly put, the society's mode of production, forms the base that governs the organization of human society. This sets up the key chapter (3) on what Heilbroner dubs the "Socioanalysis of Capitalism." Here we find the familiar topics of alienation, surplus value, and the labor theory of value--the ideas that are probably what Marx is most famous for to the layman. The last chapter that deals explicitly with Marxism is (4) a chapter on the commitment to socialism that discusses among other things the ideology shifts that would have to occur in order for a successful communist state to succeed. Lastly, there is an equally readable conclusion.
Overall the book is fairly impartial and devotes enough patience to Marxist rhetoric to allow it to express itself as fully as it was intended in the scope of such a small book. I would recommend this book especially to students of social science that are taking a course in economic anthropology or something similar on those lines because the author zeroes in on the social implications of Marxist theory more so than on the economic concepts. Because this book is a serious, academic summary of ideas, I would only recommend this to college students or people with a good humanities/social science background who want a fairly broad yet substantive summary of Marxism. If you're cramming for a high school course on civics or history, I'd look to something more simpler like the "Marx in 90 minutes" series. In general, it's a good book.
Rating: 4
Summary: A disection of Marxism
Comment: Heilbroner's Marxism: For and Against is an excellent, unbiased introduction to the scholarship of Karl Marx. Disecting it into four themes ((1) dialectical philosophy, (2)historical materialism, (3) socioanalysis of capitalism, and (4) a commitment to socialism), Heilbroner clearly illustrates the nature and logic of Marxism. In contrast to contemporary, mainstream misconceptions of Marxism, Heilbroner lays out the true underlying philosophy and theories of Marx in six concise, entertaining chapters. The book is a definite reader for anyone who wants to understand Marxism presented in a logically structured manner.
 |
Title: The Nature and Logic of Capitalism by Robert L. Heilbroner, James K. Galbraith ISBN: 039395529X Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company Pub. Date: September, 1986 List Price(USD): $11.75 |
 |
Title: The Worldly Philosophers: The Lives, Times, and Ideas of the Great Economic Thinkers by Robert L. Heilbroner ISBN: 068486214X Publisher: Touchstone Books Pub. Date: August, 1999 List Price(USD): $16.00 |
 |
Title: Essential Adam Smith by Adam Smith, Robert L. Heilbroner, Laurence J. Malone ISBN: 0393955303 Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company Pub. Date: March, 1987 List Price(USD): $16.70 |
 |
Title: Teachings from the Worldly Philosophy by Robert L. Heilbroner ISBN: 0393316076 Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company Pub. Date: August, 1997 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
 |
Title: The Fatal Conceit: The Errors of Socialism (The Collected Works of F.A. Hayek, Vol 1) by W. W. Bartley, Friedrich A. Hayek ISBN: 0226320669 Publisher: University of Chicago Press (Trd) Pub. Date: August, 1991 List Price(USD): $13.41 |
Thank you for visiting www.AnyBook4Less.com and enjoy your savings!
Copyright� 2001-2021 Send your comments
