Karl Marx

on the subject before him. On this point, his ignorance Professor Hegel, to the standpoint of Aristotle. He isof modern mathematical science and his disregard for persuaded that the human intellect can gradually disthewritings of the leading economists become unde- cover what he believes to be the objective laws of theniable, universe, and that man can act on such knowledge. HeHe begins with what he indicates to be the "indi- accepts irrationalist hedonism only as the starting placevidual material interest." At first glimpse, this "mate- for his systematic doctrine. He attempts to demonrialinterest" is indistinguishable from the hedonistic strate thereafter that the interactions among atomicprinciple which has governed British empiricism since individuals produce improvements in knowledge, as aSir Francis Bacon. Indeed, Dr. Marx represents himself epiphenomenon of such collective, atomic interaction.as a successor to those forms of materialism encoun- He begins with the assumption that individualstered among that faction in Britain and France during discern what they beleive to be their material intereststhe seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. This variety as individuals "subjectively," but that atomic interacofmaterialism he argues to be the highest development tion introduces corrections to subjective belief. Heof philosophy until the appearance of Professor Hegel, does not go as far as to assume that members of socialwhose proper successor Dr. Marx indicates himself to classes secrete knowledge only in this way, but he doesbe. He accepts British hedonism as his starting point, imply, to the degree we must regard this as intended,and thereafter works to surpass it "dialectically." that the experience a social class undergoes throughDr. Marx's most significant point of difference atomic interactions among individuals in society, dewithBritish empiricism is that he rejects the argument termines the class's spontaneous ability to adopt, or toof Mr. David Hume, that a lawful order of the reject knowledge supplied by means other than such"objective" world is not verifiable knowledge for man experience. His profession of atheism is a consistent,"subjectively." In opposition to empiricism, he re- perhaps necessary symptom of such an atomic-interturns,as did the Professor Kant, and as did the action doctrine. 2sThe Romantic salons have served as recruiting grounds to political Jacobinism.CAMPAIGNER / October 1983 13