Meta-Marxism

Abstract

Examination of any total explanation of all that is faces seemingly insuperable difficulties — multiplied in the present instance by the claim to do so in the context of the interplay of the four principal streams of contemporary thought. The inside examiner can be trapped by the totality of the explanation and by his commitment to the view in question. The outsider can be accused of “dogmatism” for applying something “foreign” to what was to be explained. Even the “detached” or “neutral” observer has to declare a “standard” for comparison — which would be clearly a priori in the most destructive (i.e., uncritical) sense.