Kantian Ethics and Socialism (review)

318 JOURNAL OF THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY 29:9 APRIL 199i Harry van der Linden. Kantian Ethics and Socialism. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Co., Inc., 1988. Pp. xiv + 37o. Paper, $t4.5 o. The author intended this book as an argument toward the "critical-constructive conclusion that Marxism can greatly gain from making Kantian (socialist) ethics its moral foundation" (64-65). His argument can be seen to proceed in three steps. The first step is taken in the first, and major, part of the book (1--194). It offers van der Linden's case for a "Kantian socialism," or his "critical reconstruction of the central role in Kant's work of the duty to promote the highest good as a social duty." More specifically , van der Linden argues in this part that the Kantian duty to promote the highest good must be understood "as comprising the moral requirement that we seek the republican state and international peace," thus attempting to "place politics, history, social conflict, and the moral commitment to change society at the core of Kant's practical philosophy, [and] undercut[ting] the view of his ethics as primarily concerned with the struggle between individual duty and inclination" (vii). The second step of the argument consists of the first chapter of Part a of the book 097-a39). It moves us from Kant's "social ethics" to Hermann Cohen's "socialist ethics," presenting two basic "logical" links between Kant's social ethics and socialism. The "first basic logical link" that emerges, according to van der Linden, is that "socialist economic institutions are more harmonious with the republican ideal [of Kant] than capitalist ones"; the "second , and more important, such link is that (properly defined) socialist economic institutions instantiate the moral ideal of the community of colegislators" (340). In establishing these links, van der Linden consciously follows the lead of Hermann Cohen and the Marburg school. The third and final step is taken in the second chapter of Part 2 (24o-29o), where we find "A Kantian Analysis and Critique" of Marx's view of morals. In it the author tries to show that "Marxist thought can greatly profit from making Kantian ethics its moral foundation" (viii). Arguing that "Marx's failure to explore praxis as moral praxis is rooted in his materialist conception of history" and ultimately in Hegel's view of history, he goes on to claim that this acceptance of a Hegelian theory of history led Marx to accept uncritically "revolutionary violence" as a legitimate stage in the progress of history, and that this "lends itself to repressive ideological purposes, justifying past and future crimes against humanity." In his final argument, van der Linden is again guided by Cohen's critique of Marxism. By trying to show that there are in Marx's theory of history more Kantian elements, he means to show that it is not only possible for socialism to take Kantian socialism seriously, but "that the socialist cause is served by taking seriously the moral program of Kantian socialist ethics" of the kind advocated by Cohen (a41). The book concludes with an interesting appendix (~91-3o7), containing "A Historical Note on Kantian Ethical Socialism" that sheds light on the political and social background of Cohen's socialism. The book can also be read as primarily a discussion of Cohen's Neo-Kantian socialism . As van der Linden himself points out, he wants to show that "Cohen's social and moral thought has been unjustly neglected" (viii). The "Historical Note" and the discussion of Cohen and Marx in Part 2 would then form the center of the discussion, and Part a could be seen as an attempt to uncover the Kantian roots of Cohen's socialism. BOOK REVIEWS 319 Indeed, I think this is the way it should be read, and I believe that if van der Linden had more consciously followed this course, his book would be still more useful than it is. In any case, it is in the second part that he is at his best. His representation of Cohen's view provides a most welcome supplement to Thomas E. Willey's account in Back to Kant (Wayne State University Press, 1978), and...