The Poverty of PhilosophyFirst published in French, Marx's The Poverty of Philosophy (1847) was composed during his years in Brussels, when he was developing his economic views and, through confrontations with the chief leaders of the working-class movement, establishing his intellectual standing. In this classic work, which laid the foundation of ideas later developed in Capital, Marx polemicized against then premier French socialist, Pierre-Joseph Proudhon. Proudhon wanted to unite the best features of such contraries as competition and monopoly. He hoped to save the good features of economic institutions while eliminating the bad. Marx, however, declared that no equilibrium was possible between the antagonisms in any given economic system. Social structures were transient historical forms determined by the productive forces: "The handmill gives you society with the feudal lord; the stream mill, society with the industrial capitalist." |
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abstraction according Adam Smith agricultural antagonism of classes bad side become bourgeoisie Bray capital century commerce competition consequence constituted value contradiction corn Corn Laws cost of production determined division of labor duction economic category economic relations economists England English epoch equal eternal exchange-value existing fact factory feudal formula France Free Trade Friedrich Engels give gold and silver Hegel idea individual exchange industrial capitalist KARL MARX land landlord logical machine machinery manufacture Marx measure of value modern modities monopoly natural object organisation philosophy political economy POVERTY OF PHILOSOPHY principle productive forces profit proletariat Prometheus quantity of labor realisation reason relative value rent Ricardo rise Rodbertus saleable value scarcity social genius social relations Socialists society soil speak struggle supply and demand suppose surplus-value theory things tion use-value utility utopia value of labor wages wealth whole workers workman