EP. 645: THE ETHICAL MARX ft. Vanessa Wills

THIS IS REVOLUTION ＞podcast

GET VANESSA WILLS BOOK HERE: https://shorturl.at/BoUGp

Introduction

In her groundbreaking book Marx's Ethical Vision, Vanessa Wills offers a profound exploration of the often-overlooked ethical dimensions of Karl Marx’s work. While Marx is frequently reduced to economic and materialist analysis, Wills demonstrates that Marx’s critique of capitalism is deeply moral, rooted in a vision of human flourishing, social justice, and the development of a fully realized human community. As she writes, "Marx's vision was not simply a denunciation of capitalism’s economic structures, but a call for an emancipatory transformation that would allow humanity to fulfill its potential through collective self-determination and freedom" (Marx's Ethical Vision, p. 48). This framing gives us a fresh lens through which to understand Marx, not merely as a critic of economic systems, but as a moral philosopher concerned with the ethical implications of alienation, exploitation, and human suffering.

In today’s conversation, we will dive deep into Wills’s analysis, discussing how Marx’s ethical commitments underpin his revolutionary politics and what relevance they hold in contemporary struggles for social justice. We’ll explore the intersection of ethics and politics in Marx’s thought, touching on themes like alienation, labor, and human freedom, and consider how Marx's ethical vision might inform today’s movements for social and economic liberation.

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