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Title: Old and in the way
Review: This book was written in 1980. I haven't read much Marx, just the "Communist Manifesto," and this is the first book about Marx I've read, but it seems clear enough that there is substance and truth in Marx's thought, and that the subject deserves to be treated with respect. A serious philosophical study of Marx should be free of the prejudices against Marxist thought that an American or British writer will most likely have. I believe this small book covers the basics of Marxist theory (although it skips Marx's thinking about the arts, gender relations, etc.) but the evaluative conclusion is filled with all the typical "Cold War Era" cliched opinions you'd expect, about how the leaders of Communist countries own private cars while the real proletariat walk, etc. Oxford University Press should find a scholar of philosophy to write a new "Very Short Introduction" to Marx which is relevant to this century.
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