Reading Assignment:

Marx and Engels “Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts” (66-126), “Theses on
the Feuerbach” and “German Ideology” (146-202), “Manifesto of the Communist
Party” (469-500), “The Eighteenth Brumaire” (594-617)

Questions to ponder:

Based on your readings of the text, how is (are) Marx (and Engels)
differentiating themselves from the German idealist tradition, particularly
Hegel?

What's so "vulgar" about materialism? Why would this view of history upset
classical conservatives so?

Marx's discussion of man as a "species-being" and his take on "alienation" in
the 1844 manuscripts has prompted a great deal of discussion about his
"humanism." Tucker obviously thinks that Marx maintained a humanist perspective
throughout his writings. Others (like Alex Callinicos and Louis Althusser)
disagree. If humanism is the belief that people are somehow different from
animals based upon some shared, universal quality, how would you characterize
Marxian humanism?