Abstract

Available from UMI in association with The British Library. ;This thesis examines the nature of the relationship between Marxism and ethics, with the aim of answering the question: can a Marxist ethical theory be formulated, and, if so, what form will it take? Marxism is not presented as a settled doctrine. It is argued that the question of the relationship between Marxism and ethics is at the centre of the debate between conflicting interpretations of Marxism which has dominated Twentieth Century Marxist theory. ;A version of historical materialism is presented which, it is argued, allows for the possibility of developing a Marxist ethic. Two familiar objections to such a possibility are refuted: that ethics must be rejected as a form of ideology, and that it must be rejected as an example of Utopian thinking. ;The form of a Marxist ethic is outlined. A defensible and fruitful Marxist ethic is to be found within the tradition of ethical naturalism. Marx's theory of human nature is presented, with particular emphasis upon the categories 'social individual' and 'labour'. These categories provide the starting point for a Marxist understanding of human history, and in turn the starting point for a Marxist ethic. The question of human needs and their development is discussed. On the basis of the discussion of human nature and needs it is argued that the central value of a Marxist ethic is freedom. ;Freedom is distinguished from the liberal understanding of the concept as the absence of constraints, and is identified with an increase in the capacity of human beings to realize themselves. It is concluded that the Marxist ethic outlined provides the basis for developing both a critique of existing social relations and a discussion of alternative modes of social organisation which would extend the possibilities for human self-realization