Marx's Critique of Hegel's "Rechtsphilosophie"

Abstract

Shlomo Avineri has recently argued that the main contribution of Hegel to political theory 'is his concept of the state.[1] Anglo-American philosophers, however, have generally found an intimation of German fascism in this theoretical innovation; yet the first serious challenge to the merit of Hegel's concept of the state can be found within the history of German philosophy itself and dates from as early as 1843. For it was in that year that the young Karl Marx wrote the manuscript now generally referred to as the Kritik des HegeIschen Staatsrechts.[21 Moreover, Marx's critique, although not actually published until 1927, is generally considered to be devastating.(3] Even so, as Avineri and the editors of the English translation of the work emphasize, Marx remained indebted to Hegel despite the trenchant criticism of this work. Avineri, in fact, goes so far as to suggest that the entire Marxist program can be interpreted as an attempt to realize the Hegelian idea of the state through revolutionary praxis rather than the mystification of speculative philosophy. Thus, according to Avineri, as a consequence of his criticism of Hegel Marx came to appreciate the role of the economic order in the development of the state structure much more fully than Hegel and also that the analysis of economic conditions was a life-long task necessary to bring about the true Aufhebung des Staates.[41 But, the tendency of most contemporary commentators, following Engels and Lenin, has been to think that subsequent to his criticism of Hegel, Marx was unalterably critical of the concept of the state and believed not in its abolition and transcendence but simply in its destruction and withering away (Absterben des Staates).[51 I am not so much concerned with simply recounting Marx's cri-