Marx's critique of Hegel's philosophy of right: Marx vs. Hegel

Abstract

This PhD closely examines Marx's Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Right (1843) in the light of the recently published Students' Notebooks: Vorlesungen Oben Naturrecht und Staatswissenshaft (0. Pöggeler: 1983), Die Philosophie des Rechts (K.-H. llfing: 1983), Philoso phie des Rechts (D. Henrich: 1983), together with the published version of Hegel's Rechtsphilosophie. The thesis demonstrates that Marx mistakenly took Hegel's project to be the defence of the reactionary' Prussian monarchy while in truth it was the philosophical reconstruction of the meaning of the French Revolution as a means of calling for revolution in Germany. Further, the thesis argues that the most important contribution of Hegel's Political Philosophy is his discovery of multidimentionality of "imaginality" of the modern world and of modern mankind. • The first chapter examines Marx's ambivalence and ambiguity toward Hegel. • The second chapter examines Marx's motive and method applied in Critique. • The third chapter examines Marx's criticism of the inversion of the subjectpredicate in Hegel's Philosophy of Right. • The fourth chapter examines Hegel's theory of the Diversion of Political Power and of the constitutionary monarchy and Marx's theory of Democracy. • The fifth chapter examines Marx's criticism of Hegel's theory of Bureaucracy. • The sixth chapter examines Hegel's theory of Parliament and Marx's criticism. • The seventh chapter includes concluding remarks and practical implications of Heglianism.