Karl Marx and the tradition of western political thought

Abstract

The following excerpts from Hannah Arendt's manuscripts on Karl Marx are published here for the first time. When Arendt refers to the present - for instance, when she says "now" - it is important to be aware that she refers to the early 1950s, the period during which the excerpts were composed. Arendt always wrote in great haste, but never more so than here. Consequently, these writings have required rather extensive "Englishing," a process to which Arendt always submitted whatever she wrote in English prior to publication. In this case the "Englishing" has consisted primarily in breaking overly long sentences and paragraphs into several shorter ones, and in correcting what are clearly errors in English grammar and syntax. But at the same time every effort has been made to retain the raw, racing quality of Arendt's thought, as well as the immediacy of her voice, both of which are nowhere more abundantly manifest than in her writings on Marx. The reader is referred to the first part of the preceding Introduction for more detailed information. J. K.