This work first exposits and analyzes Marx's implicit moral theory and then examines various objections to the thesis that Marxism and morality are genuinely compatible. Chapter 2 ("Marx's Moral Perspective") traces the development of Marx's moral views and argues that his implicit moral theory is based on the values of freedom (as self-determination), human community and self-realization. Chapter 3 ("Morality and Marx's Theory of Exploitation") argues that Marx's concept of exploitation is, in part, evaluative and involves the violation of the freedom of the exploited due to undemocratic social institutions. In Chapters 4 ("Utilitarian Interpretations of Marx") and 5 ("Freedom, Equality, and Human Dignity in Marx") I argue that Marx is not a utilitarian nor, strictly speaking, a consequentialist of any sort: he does not demand the maximization of a nonmoral good but, rather, a maximum system of equal freedoms, both positive and negative. Chapter 6 ("Marxism, Morality, and Self-Interest") argues (1) that Marx's form of practical reasoning is not purely prudential nor, for any other reason, non-moral in nature and (2) that, in reality, Marx sees moral concerns as well as self-interest as part of revolutionary motivation. Chapter 7 ("Marxism and Moral Historicism") argues against the view that Marx is a "moral historicist," as well as against the thesis that morality is irrelevant from a Marxist point of view because socialism is (purportedly) inevitable. Chapter 8 ("Morality and Ideology") analyzes the Marxist concept of ideology and argues that once we become clear about both this concept and that of morality, we see that morality is not, as a whole, ideological. Chapter 9 ("Marxism, Moral Relativism, and Moral Objectivity") argues that Marxism is not committed to any pernicious form of ethical relativism and then brings to bear hypothetical choice theories and the ideal of unanimous intersubjective agreement. Finally, Chapter 10 ("Marx's Critique of Justice and Rights") takes up Marx's objections to these concepts and argues (1) that they either apply only to certain 'bourgeois' theories or are based on misconceptions and (2) an adequate Marxist moral and social theory must be grounded on theories of justice and human rights.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Zhongguo ren min da xue, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.A.) - Carleton University, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 73-75). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

Thesis (M.A.)--Carleton University, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 221-225). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

Doctorat en sciences politiques / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

This study attempts to make a contribution to the critique of contemporary capitalism. This has been conceptualised through a Foucauldian critique of neo-liberalism, that is, Foucault’s concepts of power and governmentality have been used to criticise neo-liberalism. The study argues that neo-liberalism is a hegemonic and oppressive politico-economic social system. This has occurred in two ways; firstly, neo-liberalism came to dominate the global economy and, secondly, neo-liberalism has become the dominant politico-economic discourse. An attempt is made to expose the discourses and institutions that buttress the neo-liberal project by undertaking a Foucauldian critique. According to Foucault, knowledge shapes the social space through its ‘mechanisms’, discourses and institutions. In order to critique neo-liberalism, it is necessary to expose its power-knowledge base, which is what gives it legitimacy. By analysing and exposing neo-liberalism’s power-knowledge base, its oppression becomes clear through an observation of the material effects of neo-liberal ideology and policy. This study also evaluates to what extent Marxism is a viable alternative to neo-liberalism, in order to ascertain what Foucault adds to already existing critiques of capitalism, and neo-liberalism, in particular. It concludes by arguing that even though Marxism provides a useful framework in which to understand neo-liberal domination, its labour based social theory is somewhat outdated in our contemporary age of the information society. Therefore, it is Foucault’s concept of power-knowledge that is most pertinent in providing an effective critical theory of neo-liberalism in the age of the information society, as it focuses on the primacy of power-knowledge in matters of domination.

Orientador: Alvaro Gabriel Bianchi Mendez / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Filosofia e Ciências Humanas / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-22T05:14:08Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 SantaellaGoncalves_Rodrigo_M.pdf: 1412039 bytes, checksum: c557c074c89c0cd969085dc630095304 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013 / Resumo: O neoliberalismo na Bolívia entrou em crise profunda a partir do ano 2000. A partir deste ano, diversas mobilizações sociais transformaram o país andino em um palco aberto de disputa entre diversos projetos de sociedade diferentes. Neste contexto e em relação direta com os principais movimentos sociais em luta no país, o grupo Comuna produziu suas elaborações teóricas e inseriu-se no debate público. O trabalho tem três eixos teóricos interconectados: um debate gramsciano acerca do papel dos intelectuais na disputa de hegemonias na sociedade; a percepção do potencial das crises sociais para a produção de conhecimento em sociedades abigarradas como a boliviana; e, por fim, as condições para o desenvolvimento do marxismo em um contexto nacional específico, através da nacionalização do marxismo. A partir desse caminho teórico, mostra-se como o surgimento do grupo Comuna está profundamente vinculado ao momento de crise da hegemonia neoliberal boliviana, e como as relações estabelecidas pelo grupo cumpriram um papel importante na aglutinação dos sujeitos em luta e na criação de consenso a partir do campo subalterno da sociedade boliviana. Por fim, o trabalho debate as principais elaborações teóricas produzidas pelo grupo neste contexto, e seu potencial como elemento para o desenvolvimento do marxismo. A crise do neoliberalismo gerou condições para que o grupo pudesse produzir conhecimento crítico a partir da sociedade boliviana. Neste processo, o grupo cumpriu um papel central para a conformação de um novo consenso antineoliberal na sociedade boliviana. O processo de produção teórica que embasou esse consenso pode ser caracterizado, principalmente no que diz respeito aos pensamentos de Álvaro García Linera e de Luis Tapia, como uma nacionalização do marxismo / Abstract: Neoliberalism started to go into a deep crisis in Bolivia in the year 2000. From that time, a lot of social demonstrations turned the Andean country into an open stage to the dispute between different projects of society. In this context, and in direct relations with the major social movements in the country, Comuna Group produced their theoretical elaborations and joined in the public debate. This thesis has three major theoretical axes, connected with each other: a gramscian debate about the role played by the intellectuals in hegemony disputes in society; the perception of the social crisis as a potential moment to the production of knowledge in abigarrada societies like the Bolivian; and the Marxism's development in a specific social context, through what's called nationalization of Marxism. Through this theoretical trajectory, it's shown how Comuna's origins are deeply connected to the neoliberal hegemony's crisis in Bolivia and how their relations played an important role on the agglutination of the struggling collectivities and the generation of common sense from the subaltern groups in Bolivian society. Last, this thesis also debates the Comuna's principal theoretical elaborations in this context, and their potential to develop Marxism in Bolivia. The neoliberal crisis created conditions to the production of critical knowledge within Bolivian society. Comuna played a central role on the construction of an antineoliberal consensus in Bolivia. The process of theoretical production which grounded this consensus can be described as a nationalization of Marxism, especially in Alvaro Garcia Linera and Luis Tapia's thoughts / Mestrado / Ciencia Politica / Mestre em Ciência Política

This research is premised on Armstrong's (1990:7) argument that „every interpretive approach reveals something only by disguising something else, which a competing method with a different assumption might disclose.‟ This statement indicates that preference or marginalisation of some literary theories impedes progress in African-language literary criticism because different literary theories tend to focus on one or a few selected aspects of a work art. This flows from the assumption that no literary theory can unearth all aspects and meanings of a literary text. This research comes against rigidity, conservatism and narrow-mindedness of those literary critics and scholars who refuse to open up and embrace literary theories which they are opposed to. The research is an attempt to demonstrate the benefit of flexibility and ability to accommodate even those opposing literary views that can make positive contribution in the field of African-language literary criticism. The research further calls for pragmatism, tolerance and co-existence of opposing literary views for the benefit of progress in the field of African-language literary criticism. This research is an acknowledgement of the fact that no literary theory is infallible because all literary theories have their own strong and weak points. In this research, a survey of literary approaches commonly applied in African-language criticism is conducted. This is followed by an analysis of a Tshivenḓa novel (i.e. A si ene) from different literary angles to prove that every literary theory can help to unmask a particular meaning of a literary text which no any other literary theory can do. For example, the intrinsic literary approaches will, most certainly, unlock the meaning of a literary text differently from the way the extrinsic literary theories do because diverse literary approaches focus on different aspects or elements of a work of art. This research is an endorsement of the argument that through multiple-reading of a literary text, readers‟ understanding of the same literary text is broadened and deepened. / African Languages / D. Litt. et Phil (African Languages)

This research is premised on Armstrong's (1990:7) argument that „every interpretive approach reveals something only by disguising something else, which a competing method with a different assumption might disclose.‟ This statement indicates that preference or marginalisation of some literary theories impedes progress in African-language literary criticism because different literary theories tend to focus on one or a few selected aspects of a work art. This flows from the assumption that no literary theory can unearth all aspects and meanings of a literary text. This research comes against rigidity, conservatism and narrow-mindedness of those literary critics and scholars who refuse to open up and embrace literary theories which they are opposed to. The research is an attempt to demonstrate the benefit of flexibility and ability to accommodate even those opposing literary views that can make positive contribution in the field of African-language literary criticism. The research further calls for pragmatism, tolerance and co-existence of opposing literary views for the benefit of progress in the field of African-language literary criticism. This research is an acknowledgement of the fact that no literary theory is infallible because all literary theories have their own strong and weak points. In this research, a survey of literary approaches commonly applied in African-language criticism is conducted. This is followed by an analysis of a Tshivenḓa novel (i.e. A si ene) from different literary angles to prove that every literary theory can help to unmask a particular meaning of a literary text which no any other literary theory can do. For example, the intrinsic literary approaches will, most certainly, unlock the meaning of a literary text differently from the way the extrinsic literary theories do because diverse literary approaches focus on different aspects or elements of a work of art. This research is an endorsement of the argument that through multiple-reading of a literary text, readers‟ understanding of the same literary text is broadened and deepened. / African Languages / D. Litt. et Phil (African Languages)

The aim of this thesis is to investigate the highly moral ethic of social duty and responsibility which animates the work of Alejo Carpentier. In order to examine this theme, I have studied, in particular, the following six novels: ‘El reino de este mundo', Los pasos perdidos', ‘El acoso', El siglo de las luces', ‘El recurso del método', and ‘La consagración de la primavera'. In the Introduction, I have investigated the various philosophical questions raised by the concept of responsibility : the debate about freewill and determinism has been examined, and the Existentialist philosophy of Jean-Paul Sartre has been chosen as the most helpful in an investigation of Carpentier's theory of responsibility, due to a great coincidence of thought between the two writers. The protagonists of the novels in question have been grouped according to various distinguishing tendencies or characteristics, and have been analysed in the light of the Sartrian concepts of good and bad faith. These groupings are as follows: “the deluded intellectual”, “two tyrants”, “the lesson of experience”, and “the committed individual”. The success, or failure, of these characters, in matching up to the goals of self-transcendence and responsible commitment posed by Carpentier has been charted throughout Chapters One to Four, and deductions have been made about the various forms of bad faith in which the characters indulge. The conclusions that I have drawn from this detailed investigation of characters in good and bad faith are, firstly, that Carpentier sees man's goal in life as the attainment of self-knowledge and the honest acceptance of responsibility for the self : once this state of good faith has been achieved, man is able to commit himself to the never-ending struggle for the improvement of the social situation. Acceptance of responsibility for the self is vital, in Carpentier's canon, for without such acceptance, positive commitment is impossible. Secondly, I have concluded that, according to Carpentier, commitment is an inevitable part of life, and that Carpentier's goal, then, is that we should actively commit ourselves to a positive cause through recognition of our responsibility for ourselves and our society, rather than tacitly accept the status quo through a passive or deterministic attitude.