The Failure of Marxist Scholarship

It would seem at first that the Sixtieth Anniversary of the Marxist state, just celebrated, proves the viability of Communism as a regime, and that the continuing existence of a phalanx of Marxist intellectuals outside the Communist state confirms that viability. And yet—in philosophy, in sociology, in science—has Marxism in the past six decades influenced the world of serious scholarship?

Sartre once wrote that Communism, not the two world wars, was the outstanding event of our time. He described Marxist philosophy as an all- embracing master doctrine outside of which “no serious thinking can be done in our age.” As if to confirm this view, he called his own Existentialist philosophy a purifying sub-class of Marxism. Can Sartre’s view that Marx has been an overwhelming influence on twentieth century scholarship be substantiated?

TM

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Thomas Molnar

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It would seem at first that the Sixtieth Anniversary of the Marxist state, just celebrated, proves the viability of Communism as a regime, and that the continuing existence of a phalanx of Marxist intellectuals outside the Communist state confirms that viability. And yet—in philosophy, in sociology, in science—has Marxism in the past six decades influenced the world of serious scholarship?

Sartre once wrote that Communism, not the two world wars, was the outstanding event of our time. He described Marxist philosophy as an all- embracing master doctrine outside of which “no serious thinking can be done in our age.” As if to confirm this view, he called his own Existentialist philosophy a purifying sub-class of Marxism. Can Sartre’s view that Marx has been an overwhelming influence on twentieth century scholarship be substantiated?