Marx, a radical critique /

Carter begins this analysis by saying that the basic conflict existed originally between Marxists and non-Marxists; now it exists among Marxist factions. The inconsistencies and vagueness of Marxism and the failure to clarify and unify Marxist theory have resulted in many competing splinter groups, almost to the extent, Carter implies, of destroying Marxism. The author suggests that the best solution to the whole dilemma of solving social problems is to abandon Marxist ideas altogether and develop a truly coherent system. Carter also argues that Marx cannot be fully understood unless one understands the relation of his thought to the philosophy of Hegel. Carter contends that Marx's view of the world is based on modes of production; Hegel's is based on cultural and political factors. Carter also provides a rather long critique of Marx's theory of history that in many ways becomes a critique of Marxism. As alternative solution to Marxist social planning, Carter proposes communal forms of social planning, in which all members of the community should have equal say in the way the commune will be run. This view strongly suggests the influence of Sir Thomas More's Utopia (1551), and also the process on which the first Kibbutz in Israel was founded. Upper-division undergraduates and above. -R. V. Gardner, University of Rhode Island