As Free and As Just As Possible : The Theory of Marxian Liberalism

Grafting the Marxian idea that private property is coercive onto the liberal imperative of individual liberty, this new thesis from one of America's foremost intellectuals conceives a revised definition of justice that recognizes the harm inflicted by capitalism's hidden coercive structures.* Maps a new frontier in moral philosophy and political theory * Distills a new concept of justice that recognizes the iniquities of capitalism * Synthesis of elements of Marxism and Liberalism will interest readers in both camps * Direct and jargon-free style opens these complex ideas to a wide readership Content: Chapter 1 Overview of the Argument for Marxian Liberalism (pages 1–28): Chapter 2 Marx and Rawls and Justice (pages 29–66): Chapter 3 The Natural Right to Liberty and the Need for a Social Contract (pages 67–93): Chapter 4 The Ambivalence of Property: Expression of Liberty and Threat to Liberty (pages 94–121): Chapter 5 The Labor Theory of the Difference Principle (pages 122–157): Chapter 6 The Marxian?Liberal Original Position (pages 158–189): Chapter 7 As Free and as Just as Possible: Capitalism for Marxists, Communism for Liberals (pages 190–209): Grafting the Marxian idea that private property is coercive onto the liberal imperative of individual liberty, this new thesis from one of America's foremost intellectuals conceives a revised definition of justice that recognizes the harm inflicted by capitalism's hidden coercive structures. Grafting the Marxian idea that private property is coercive onto the liberal imperative of individual liberty, this new thesis from one of America's foremost intellectuals conceives a revised definition of justice that recognizes the harm inflicted by capitalism's hidden coercive structures. Maps a new frontier in moral philosophy and political theory Distills a new concept of justice that recognizes the iniquities of capitalism Synthesis of elements of Marxism and Liberalism will interest readers in both camps Direct and jargon-free style opens these complex ideas to a wide readership As Free and as Just as Possible presents and defends Marxian Liberalism, a theory of justice that results from combining certain liberal beliefs, chiefly that people have a natural right to liberty understood as a right to be free from unwanted coercion, with certain Marxian beliefs, chiefly that private property is coercive. This combination implies that on liberal grounds, to be justified, private property must be consented to by everyone. A Lockean defense of the right to liberty is presented and, to determine what sort of private property would be consented to by everyone, a decision procedure modeled on Rawls's "original position" is deployed, with this difference: the knowledge that parties in this original position possess certain Marxian beliefs, among them that capitalism is the most powerful engine in history for increasing productivity, and thus for providing people with the material conditions of real freedom. Parties in this Marxian-Liberal original position will agree to private property limited by an egalitarian requirement: namely, a version of Rawls's difference principle . Marxian Liberalism takes justice to have a timeless form, but historically changing content, and calls for a highly egalitarian capitalism that is as free and as just as historically possible. This major new work performs a genuine philosophical service. While some may deem the combination of Marxism and liberalism to be either exotic or impossible, many others will be glad to see liberalism's devotion to individual freedom leavened with structures that redress the economic and political inequalities of capitalism, and to see Marx's insights combined with a commitment to liberty List of Abbreviations ix Preface xi 1 Overview of the Argument for Marxian Liberalism 1 2 Marx and Rawls and Justice 29 2.1 Marx s Theory of Capitalism and Its Ideology 30 2.2 Rawls s Theory of Justice as Fairness 39 2.3 Rawls on Marx 52 2.4 Marx and Justice 57 2.5 Marxian Liberalism s Historical Conception of Justice 61 3 The Natural Right to Liberty and the Need for a Social Contract 67 3.1 A Lockean Argument for the Right to Liberty 70 3.2 Our Rational Moral Competence 78 3.3 From Liberty to Lockean Contractarianism 88 4 The Ambivalence of Property: Expression of Liberty and Threat to Liberty 94 4.1 Locke, Nozick, and the Ambivalence of Property 96 4.2 Kant, Narveson, and the Ambivalence of Property 102 4.3 Marx and the Structural Coerciveness of Property 111 5 The Labor Theory of the Difference Principle 122 5.1 The Moral Version of the Labor Theory of Value 123 5.2 The Labor Theory of the Difference Principle 128 5.3 Finding a Just Distribution 133 5.4 Is the Difference Principle Biased? 141 5.5 Answering Narveson and Cohen on Incentives 147 6 The Marxian-Liberal Original Position 158 6.1 Property and Subjugation 160 6.2 The Limits of Property 163 6.3 The Marxian Theory of the Conditions of Liberty 168 6.4 Inside the Marxian-Liberal Original Position 172 6.5 The Difference Principle as a Historical Principle of Justice 183 7 As Free and as Just as Possible: Capitalism for Marxists, Communism for Liberals 190 7.1 The Just State 191 7.2 Capitalism for Marxists 195 7.3 The Marxian-Liberal Ideal: Property-Owning Democracy 197 7.4 Communism for Liberals 204 Conclusion: Marx s Liberalism, Rawls s Labor Theory of Justice 210 Index 221

Grafting the Marxian idea that private property is coercive onto the liberal imperative of individual liberty, this new thesis from one of America's foremost intellectuals conceives a revised definition of justice that recognizes the harm inflicted by capitalism's hidden coercive structures.

• Maps a new frontier in moral philosophy and political theory
• Distills a new concept of justice that recognizes the iniquities of capitalism
• Synthesis of elements of Marxism and Liberalism will interest readers in both camps
• Direct and jargon-free style opens these complex ideas to a wide readership