On Marxian Utopophobia

Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels hold a surprising view about socialist design. They recommend that socialists refrain from serious and sustained reflection on the institutions and ethos of the ideal (socialist) society that they seek to bring about. Marx and Engels insist on the need for detailed and persuasive accounts of the failings of capitalism, but deny the need for similarly detailed and persuasive accounts of what might replace it. The grounds for this surprising view are not well understood. The present article identifies three different foundational Marxian arguments against utopian blueprints: a normative claim that they are “undemocratic”; an epistemological claim that that they are “impossible”; and an empirical claim that they are “unnecessary.” As foundational arguments against utopianism, none of these three lines of reasoning are judged persuasive. However, reconfigured as non-foundational objections, they might contribute to a more productive dialogue between Marxian socialism and utopianism.