Marx and the concept of the political

Abstract

Objective/Context: The objective of this paper is to build a definition of the concept of the political in Marx as a third way between the autonomy and the heteronomy of the political. Methodology: This paper suggests a hermeneutical and philosophical methodology, which consists of interpretation of arguments and concepts of theoretical texts. Primary sources -hereupon: Marx's texts- will be preferred, although they will be connected with other scholars. Conclusions: The paper arrives to a double conclusion. On the one hand, the essential connection (as championed by Marx) between the political and the world of material production does not involve a reductionist, mechanistic or heteronomous understanding of the political, for material production and the political are for him two distinct, albeit jointed, forms of human freedom. On the other hand, the concept of the political in Marx has two souls: the plasticity of the human second nature and the ideal of self-transparency of the philosophy of history. Facing this dilemma, the paper claims for an open and finite Marxism. Originality: Reflections on this topic are not new, but the thesis of the political and the production as two distinct, albeit jointed, forms of human freedom seems to be a relative new contribution to the theoretical and political discussion.