THE HUMAN KARL MARA N March 4, 1883, Karl Marx died. Describing his death in a letter to a friend, Fredrich Engles states: “Man- kind is shorter by a head, and the greatest head of our time at that. The proletarian movement goes on, but gone is its central figure. . . The final victory is certain, but the circuitous paths, temporary and local errors will become more common than ever. Well we must see it through. What else are we here for? And we are not near losing courage yet.” What kind of a man was Karl Marx? Just what was the scope and content of his philosophy? What was his contribution to the social sciences? Was he, as the impression is often given, the moody old grouch with car- buncles who wrote torturous ruminations based upon musty and abstract notions long since proven invalid? The English philosopher, John Lewis, in his work The Life and Teaching of Karl Marx draws a different portrait of the man, his ideas and the temper of the time in which both were fashioned. It is good that such a book is available, a well documented and researched sympathetic treatment of a complex man and a complex system of ideas. It is good because Marx and Marx- ism have been victimized by many biographies and analysis, which has ascribed to him every alien concept imaginable and as a person he has been described as everything, from an _anti- semite to a paranoic. He has suf- fered every crude villification and every learned scholastic dis- tortion. It was always thus and remains today. Lewis tells of Marx’s delight in 1880 in seeing an article de- voted to him in English as part of a series entitled: “Leaders of Modern Thought”. “In spite of the fact that a good deal of the biographical material was inac- curate and- the account of his economic theories extremely confused, Marx valued it as the first English publication of its kind. He wrote enthusiastically to Sorge in America to tell him about it. He was at that time watching by the bedside of his dying wife and he tells Sorge that this first recognition of the significance of Marx for modern ‘Marx’s Capital, the Marx Memorial Library has organized a weekend international Discussion Conference on Sept. 23-24th. There will be opening lectures by well-known Marxist scholars from Britain, Italy, USA, Soviet Union, France and the GDR. Also attending will be Marxists from West Germany and additional visitors from the Soviet “Union and other countries. oo | __ deint chairmen — themselves making contributions to | the discussion—are Maurice Dobb, M.A. and Prof. Eric _ Hobsbawm. Supporting sponsors include Professor J. D. Bernal, W. W. Craik, Henry Collins, Prof's H. Hilton and E. dobsbawm, G. Houston, Dr. 8. Milliband, J. Mortimer, Wm. Paynter, A. Rothstein, J. Saville, Prof's B. Simon and G. Thomson. The late |. Deutscher had also agreed to be a sponsor before his sudden death. it was also appropriate that during this year the on 28 Dean St. in London's Soho district, where Marx and his family lived from 1851 to 1856. During these years he Class Struggles in France, — attention to the conditions of acute poverty endured by the joel = po » to Marx would be welcomed in both the Socialist and jal Library, to unveil the plaque. Over 150 on under the title “The Theory | October Revolution in Russia. nit. Enlarged photos of the various houses in Marx had lived were ali shown, fal Library and various activ- ) splendid Exhibition Floor of the newly built ided over by the Mayoress, Mrs. M. Miller, the entire ih Council was invited, as were the top staff of the leaders, Labor and Communist party leaders from the ited the exhibition. During this Centenary year of the publication of Greater London Council finally agreed to place a plaque wrote the greater part of Capital; the 18th Brumaire and © The GLC asked Andrew Rothstein, chairman of the in the street at the ceremony. He called | when they lived at Dean St. and said this tri- | commemoration was by the Camden Borough of the largest in London. They organized ¢ _ : and Practice | ig the centenary of Capital and the © pital’ and the other works of Marx family, his tomb at Highgate — s concem ming the Russian Re- _ { Library provided many of the ry. At the official opening ceremony, | City librories, the Marx Memorial Library, trade union | CP General Secretary J. Gollan, who | . Andrew Rothstein — also a resident of the —opened the exhibition and was thanked by both | sss and Library Committee Chairman Councillor ng the two week run of the exhibition there _ res a 4. Taylor and Dr. R. Milli- — September 22, 1967—PACIFIC TRIBUNE—Page 10 | thought greatly cheered her last hours.” Erich Fromm describes the times in which we live as the “Marxian Era,” and as the re- lentless march of history goes forward so does Marx emerge as the titan of our time. Even in the bowels of the asphalt jungle of darkest America, a pro- fessor like Sidney Hook comes forward in the New York Times with an article entitled, “Karl Marx’s Second Coming” which takes note of the resurgence of Marx among American intellec- tuals, and then proceeds to dis- tort from a new angle the es- sence of Marxism. “It would seem logical that those who were interested in Marxism would read Marx, or at least a development of his sys- tem of ideas from a person who MARX'S BOOKS Capital (Four Volumes) (including Vol. 4 Part | Theories of Surplus Value) Pre-Capitalist Economic Formations The Civil War In France Class Struggle In France Critique Of The Gotha Program Economic And Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844 18th Brumaire Of Louis Bonaparte The Poverty Of Philosophy Notes On. Indian History Wage, Labour And Capital Wages, Prices And Profits Selected Correspondence (by Marx-Engels) The German Ideology Available from Progress Books or your favorite bookstore. was sympathetic towards them. That this is not often the case here is attested to by the wide- spread misunderstanding of the man and his ideas and the plague of introductions and ex- planatory notes on Marx which place in most cases the subject and the reader on their ears. Thus does Mr. Lewis fill a great need in placing before the reader an exposition of Marx and an insight into Marx’s think- ing on the whole range of con- tentious issues embodied in the philosophy, as well as personal portrait of the man. Marx develops as a warm hu- man being, attached to his family with whom throughout his life he had a close relation- ship. As an old man he writes to one of his daughters: “It is dull since you went away—with- out you and Johnny and Harra and ‘Mr. Tea.’ I often run to the window when I hear children’s voices, forgetting for a moment that the little chaps are across the channel.” Of his wife, he writes a letter to a friend about a visit to his birthplace. “I have been making a daily pilgrimage to the old Westphalen house, because it re- minds me of my happy youth, and used to shelter my sweet- heart. And every day people ask me right and left about the ‘most beautiful girl’ in Tier, the ‘Queen of the Ball’. It’s damned agree- able for a man to find that his wife lives on as an ‘enchanted princess’ in the imagination of the whole town.” Lewis portrays Marx as a complete human being, not only is his titanic intellect expressed but also the political activist na- ture of the man and the move- ment he inspired dealt with in the book. The concept that nothing hu- man is alien from Marx is ex- pressed on every page of Lewis’ biography. In an important sense one feels that no human could also be alien to Marx. R.M. On the 100th anniversary of its appearance PROGRESS BOOKS offers the new authoritative Moscow edition of Capital KARL MARX The world outlook embodied in Marx’s major work continues to inspire social movements that are transforming the world Vor. I: A Critical Analysis of Political Economy $3.50 Voit: The Process of Circulation of Capital $3.00 Vor. III: The Process of Capitalist Production as a Whole $3.50 (set of three only $9.00) AVAILABLE FROM: PROGRESS BOOKS 487 Adelaide St. W. ‘rest of the Toronto 2B, Ont. Bete ee ne ko ee Tia A be dance? 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