Karl Marx and the Birth of Modern Society: The Life of Marx and the Development of His Work (Volume I: 1818-1841) 1

A new, comprehensive biography of the life and work of Karl Marx For over a century, Karl Marx’s critique of capitalism has been a crucial resource for social movements. Now, recent economic crises have made it imperative for us to comprehend and actualize Marx’s ideas. But without a knowledge of Karl Marx’s life as he lived it, neither Marx nor his works can be fully understood. There are more than twenty-five comprehensive biographies of Marx, but none of them consider his life and work in equal, corresponding measure. This biography, planned for three volumes, aims to include what most biographies have reduced to mere background: the contemporary conflicts, struggles, and disputes that engaged Marx at the time of his writings, alongside his complex relationships with a varied assortment of friends and opponents. This first volume will deal extensively with Marx’s youth in Trier and his studies in Bonn and Berlin. It will also examine the function of poetry in his intellectual development and his first occupation with Hegelian philosophy and with the so-called “young Hegelians” in his 1841 Dissertation. Already during this period, there were crises as well as breaks in Marx’s intellectual development that prompted Marx to give up projects and re-conceptualize his critical enterprise. This volume is the beginning of an astoundingly dimensional look at Karl Marx – a study of a complex life and body of work through the neglected issues, events, and people that helped comprise both. It is destined to become a classic. Karl Marx & the Birth of Modern Society: The Life of Marx & the Development of His Work, Volume 1: 1818-1841 Contents Preface On Citation Introduction. Why Marx? A Journey by Sea & a Book “Marx” as Cipher What Is It All About? Chapter 1: Forgotten Youth What We Know for Sure Trier between Idyll & Pauperism Trier’s History & Cultural Life Social Relations Karl Marx’s Parents The Position of Jews in the Eighteenth & at the Beginning of the Nineteenth Century The Family & Education of Heinrich Marx Henriette Presburg, the Mother Heinrich Marx’s Memoranda Baptism Professional Success & Social Recognition From the Promise of a Constitution through the July Revolution to the Storming of the Main Police Station in Frankfurt: Political Conditions in Germany The Trier Casino Affair of 1834 & Heinrich Marx’s Political Views The Fatherly Friend; Johann Ludwig von Westphalen Family Background Profession & Political Attitudes Karl Marx at Gymnasium The Prussian Education Reform The Trier Gymnasium & Its Teachers The Abitur Examination Papers: First Glimpses of the Young Marx’s Intellectual Development Bonds & Impetuses Family Life Judaism Friends from Youth Writing Poetry, Fencing, Dancing Experiences & Views of a Gymnasium Graduate Chapter 2: Awakenking & First Crisis Interlude in Bonn Student Life in the Early Nineteenth Century The University & Studies in Bonn The Literature Circle Tavern Life & an Alleged Duel Jenny von Westphalen Childhood & Youth Engagement to Karl The First Year in Berlin The City & the Young Karl’s Rounds Hegel & the University of Berlin Savigny & Gans Juridical & Non-Juridical Studies of Young Marx Literary Attempts The First Intellectual Crisis: The Turn Away from Poetry & Transition to Hegel’s Philosophy Why Did Marx Give Up His Attempts at Poetry? Hegel’s Critique of the Romantics & Marx’s Transition to Hegel’s Philosophy Conflicts with Jenny & Marx’s Father Chapter 3: The Philosopht of Religion, the Beginnings of Young Hegelianism, & Marx's Dissertation Projects, 1838–1841 Marx's Life in Berlin, 1838–41 Edgar von Westphalen & Werner von Veltheim Marx’s Relationship with Jenny & with His Mother Financial Problems Friends from the “Doctorklubb”: Rutenberg, Köppen, Bauer Political Developments in Prussia The Critique of Religion in the Eighteenth & Early Nineteenth Century “Natural Theology” & the Critique of Faith in Revelation Reimarus, Lessing, & the “Fragments Controversy” Kant’s Separation of Belief & Knowledge Supernaturalism, Theological Rationalism, & Schleiermacher’s Theology of Feeling Hegel’s Philosophy of Religion & the Debates of the 1830s The Relation between Religion & Philosophy in Hegel’s Work David Friedrich Strauß & the Split of the Hegelian School The Beginnings of Young Hegelianism Arnold Ruge & the Founding of the Hallische Jahrbücher The Dispute between Leo & Ruge The Expansion of the Combat Zone: Ludwig Feuerbach’s First Critiques of Hegel, the Manifesto Against Romanticism, & the First Open Critique of Prussia Interim Consideration: Is the Juxtaposition of Old Hegelianism & Young Hegelianism Merely a Construct in the History of Philosophy? Bauer & Marx Bruno Bauer’s Speculative Theology (1834–1839) Atheism & Critique of the Gospels (1839–1841) The Religious Development & Studies in the Philosophy of Religion of the Young Marx Marx’s Friendship with Bauer Marx’s Dissertation Projects Marx’s Studies in the History of Philosophy & His First Dissertation Project (1839–1840) The Dissertation Manuscript Atoms & Self-Consciousness God & Immortality Political-Philosophical Determination of Position Why Jena? Appendix. How Is Biographical Writing Possible Today? On the Methodology of a Marx Biography Critique of Traditional Biography The Debate Concerning “New Biography" Consequences for a Biography of Marx Person & Society Life & Work, Meanings, & Scopes of Action Form of Presentation, Ruptures, & Contingencies of the Life Story Historical Exactness & the Perspectivist Character of Every Biography Notes Glossary of Names Index "For over a century, Karl Marx's critique of capitalism has been a crucial resource for social movements. Now, recent economic crises have made it imperative for us to comprehend and actualise Marx's ideas. But without a knowledge of Karl Marx's life as he lived it, neither Marx nor his works can be fully understood. There are more than twenty-five comprehensive biographies of Marx, but none of them consider his life and work in equal, corresponding measure. This biography, planned for three volumes, aims to include what most biographies have reduced to mere background: the contemporary conflicts, struggles, and disputes that engaged Marx at the time of his writings, alongside his complex relationships with a varied assortment of friends and opponents. This first volume will deal extensively with Marx's youth in Trier and his studies in Bonn and Berlin. It will also examine the function of poetry in his intellectual development and his first occupation with Hegelian philosophy and with the so-called "young Hegelians" in his 1841 Dissertation. Already during this period, there were crises as well as breaks in Marx's intellectual development that prompted Marx to give up projects and re-conceptualise his critical enterprise. This volume is the beginning of an astoundingly dimensional look at Karl Marx - a study of a complex life and body of work through the neglected issues, events, and people that helped comprise both. It is destined to become a classic."--Provided by publisher