Marx, Spinoza and Darwin: Materialism, Subjectivity and Critique of Religion (Marx, Engels, and Marxisms)

Marx, Spinoza and Darwin on Philosophy presents a common thread in its argument: it shows how these authors–certainly with differences among themselves–consolidated a field of investigation that does not resort to transcendent or religious premises in approaching the phenomena they analyze. Thus, when Spinoza declared that the “will of God” is the “sanctuary of ignorance,” when Marx provocatively maintained that “criticism of religion is the premise of all criticism,” or when Darwin polemicized against a millennial creationist approach, all were taking a stand that invited us to view our world through a secular and immanent lens. In addition to this common thread, Martins discusses other issues present in the works of these thinkers, for instance the space that exists for human subjectivity from a Marxist perspective (which is not to be confused with philosophical “objectivism”): men and women are encouraged to act in the world. With this conceptual background, the concluding chapters of the book address the proliferation of some less examined Christian fundamentalisms in contemporary world, presenting an explanatory hypothesis for the phenomenon. Titles Published Titles Forthcoming Preface to the English-Language Edition References Acknowledgments Praise for Marx, Spinoza and Darwin Contents About the Author Part I Spinoza and Marx 1 Introduction References 2 Spinoza and Marx: Thinkers of Immanence Spinoza: For Another Conception of Substance Between Philosophy and Theology, “There Is No Relation” Marx: Immanent Critique of Capitalist Society Self-Expanding Value Categories as “Forms of Being, Determinations of Existence” “They Have No Ready-Made Utopias to Introduce par décret du people” A Brief Excursus: How Not to Endorse the “Hegel or Spinoza” Dichotomy References 3 Toward a Theory of Emergence: Marx with Spinoza Spinoza: “We Are a Part of the Whole Nature” Marx: “Nature Does Not Produce Owners of Money” Human Labor: Discontinuity in the Natural World The Concept of Emergence For a Productive Relationship Between Marx and Spinoza More on Teleology Practical Consequences of the Theoretical Debate References Part II History and Subjectivity: A Marxist Perspective 4 “Marxism Is Not a Historicism”: Successes and Limits of an Althusserian Thesis Marx’s Concept of History The Most Productive Aspect of the Historical Method “Marxism Is Not a Historicism” Final Considerations References 5 Materialism and Subjectivity: Marx’s Position Human Activity in the World Human Activity in Knowledge References 6 More on Subjectivity in Marx: A Reading of the Manuscripts of 1844 The 1844 Manuscripts: Not Only an Anthropology “A Non-objective Being Is a Non-being” “[...] for What Is Life but Activity?” Estranged Labor The Genesis of Subjectivity The Contradictoriness of the Capitalist World References Part III Darwin and Marx 7 Philosophical Consequences of Darwin’s Polemic with Religious Thinking “Confessing a Murder”: The Species Change The Religious Rupture: The Darwinian Critique of Creationism The Debate About Teleology in Darwin References 8 History and Teleology in Darwin and Marx: Introducing the Debate References Part IV Religious Growth in the Contemporary World 9 When a Sociology of Science Is Necessary: Contemporary Aspects of the Conflict Between Creationists and Evolutionists Who Do Creationists See as Their Adversaries? The Globalization of Creationism and Intelligent Design Brief Considerations on Creationism in Brazil References 10 “The Spirit of Spiritless Conditions”: Religious Growth in the Contemporary World “I Do Not Give My Children the Best Toys Because I Don't Want to Spoil Them” Giving Human Form to What Is Not Known Back to the Earthly World References Index