Marx, Spinoza and Darwin

Marx, Spinoza and Darwin presents a common thread in its argument: it shows how these authorscertainly with differences among themselvesconsolidated a field of investigation that does not resort to transcendent or religious premises in approaching the phenomena they analyze. Thus, when Spinoza declared that the will of God is the sanctuary of ignorance, when Marx provocatively maintained that criticism of religion is the premise of all criticism, or when Darwin polemicized against a millennial creationist approach, all were taking a stand that invited us to view our world through a secular and immanent lens. In addition to this common thread, Martins discusses other issues present in the works of these thinkers, for instance the space that exists for human subjectivity from a Marxist perspective (which is not to be confused with philosophical objectivism): men and women are encouraged to act in the world. With this conceptual background, the concluding chapters of the book address the proliferation of some less examined Christian fundamentalisms in contemporary world, presenting an explanatory hypothesis for the phenomenon.

Compares and contrasts the work of Spinoza, Darwin, and Marx Considers the reasons for continued popularity of transcendent religious discourses Explores the relevance of the debate over immanence and transcendence for contemporary life

Autorentext

Mauricio Vieira Martins is a retired Professor at the Universidade Federal Fluminense, Brazil, where he is still active in the Center for Studies and Research on Marx and Marxism (NIEP/Marx).

Klappentext

Marx, Spinoza and Darwin presents a common thread in its argument: it shows how these authors-certainly with differences among themselves-consolidated a field of investigation that does not resort to transcendent or religious premises in approaching the phenomena they analyze. Thus, when Spinoza declared that the "will of God" is the "sanctuary of ignorance," when Marx provocatively maintained that "criticism of religion is the premise of all criticism," or when Darwin polemicized against a millennial creationist approach, all were taking a stand that invited us to view our world through a secular and immanent lens. In addition to this common thread, Martins discusses other issues present in the works of these thinkers, for instance the space that exists for human subjectivity from a Marxist perspective (which is not to be confused with philosophical "objectivism"): men and women are encouraged to act in the world. With this conceptual background, the concluding chapters of the book address the proliferation of some less examined Christian fundamentalisms in contemporary world, presenting an explanatory hypothesis for the phenomenon.

Inhalt
PART I. Spinoza and Marx.- Chapter 1. Spinoza and Marx: thinkers of immanence.- Chapter 2. Marx with Spinoza: in search of an emergence theory.- PART II. Causality, history and subjectivity: a Marxist perspective.- Chapter 3. Marxism is not historicism: hits and limits of an Althusserian thesis.- Chapter 4. Materialism and subjectivity: Marx's position.- Chapter 5. Marxism and subjectivity: a reading of the 1844 Manuscripts.- PART III. Darwin and Marx, yesterday and today: the controversy with transcendent thinking.- Chapter 6. Philosophical consequences of Darwin's controversy with religious thought.- Chapter 7. History and teleology in Darwin and Marx. To understand a debate.- Chapter 8. On Darwin, black boxes and the surprising return of creationism.- Chapter 9. When sociology of science is needed: contemporary aspects of the clash between creationists and evolutionists.