The Concept of Nature in Marx

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The Concept of Nature in Marx
The Concept of Nature in Marx, 1962 German edition.jpg
Cover of the first edition
Author Alfred Schmidt
Original titleDer Begriff der Natur in der Lehre von Marx
LanguageGerman
Subject Karl Marx
Published
  • 1962 (in German)
  • 1971 (in English)
Publication placeGermany
Media typePrint (Hardcover and Paperback)
ISBN 978-1781681473

The Concept of Nature in Marx (German : Der Begriff der Natur in der Lehre von Marx) is a 1962 book by the philosopher Alfred Schmidt. First published in English in 1971, it is a classic account of Karl Marx's ideas about nature. [1]

Contents

Summary

The critic Terry Eagleton summarizes Schmidt as arguing that, according to Marx, "Human beings are part of Nature yet able to stand over against it; and this partial separation from Nature is itself part of their nature." [2]

Reception

The Concept of Nature in Marx has been seen as a classic work. [1] The philosopher Herbert Marcuse offers a discussion of the role of nature in Marxist philosophy informed by Schmidt's work in his Counterrevolution and Revolt (1972). [3] The political scientist David McLellan describes The Concept of Nature in Marx as, "an important and well-documented consideration of the importance of Marx's materialism." [4]

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