Abstract
The present paper is to offer a reconstruction of Karl Marx’s concept of laws in the social sciences, to list the main characteristics of those laws as interpreted by Marx, and to suggest an explanation of his concept. It may be supposed that the rather few, and certainly not systematized, contexts in which Marx refers to the properties of the laws of science include novel ideas, different from those which underlie the best known concepts current in the present-day philosophy of science. This is the first reason for which it is worth while to undertake the task of a logical reconstruction of the Marxian concept of laws of science. The second reason is that the sketchy formulations of the author of Capital seem to be a good point of departure for methodological analysis of the real function of laws in science.
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References
Marx, K. Wages, Prices and Profits, quoted after the Polish-language edition of the collected works of Marx and Engels, Vol. 16, Warszawa 1968, p. 141.
Marx, K. Capital, Vol. 3, Moscow 1962, p. 186.
L. Nowak, The Foundations of the Marxian Methodology of Sciences (in Polish), Warszawa 1971
L. Nowak, “Idealization: A Reconstruction of Marx’s Ideas”, Poznan Studies in the Philosophy of the Sciences and the Humanities, Vol. I, no 1, 1975.
Marx, K. Theories of Surplus Value, Part II, Moscow 1968, p. 174.
Nowakowa I. “Idealization and the Problem of Correspondence”, Poznan Studies in the Philosophy of the Sciences and the Humanities, Vol. I , no 1, 1975.
Jasińska A. & L. Nowak, ‘Methodological Foundations of Marxian Theory of Classes’ in: D. H. DeGrood (Ed.), East-West Dialogues, Amsterdam, 1973.
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© 1976 D. Reidel Publishing Company, Dordrecht, Holland
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Nowak, L. (1976). Marx’s Concept of Law of Science. In: Przełęcki, M., Szaniawski, K., Wójcicki, R., Malinowski, G. (eds) Formal Methods in the Methodology of Empirical Sciences. Synthese Library, vol 103. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-010-1135-8_30
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-010-1135-8_30
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