The Philosophical Foundations of Marxism by Louis Dupré (review)

520 BOOK REVIEWS any selections from Neo-Scholastics. The passage from the writings of Hao Wang does not deal with Buddhist logic, while the discussions of the universal found in the fifth section on Logic and Ontology are in a positivistic context only. This book contains a fine set of texts, but does not exhaust the subject. Nevertheless, a skillful teacher can use the texts that are presented and bring in other texts if he wishes. This is possible because of the truly generous range of logical thought which the authors provide. A final observation remains: the authors have selected passages which are readable. This is no mean feat. Many of the articles written by contemporary logicians, especially in the tradition of symbolic logic, are a hopeless jumble of symbols. Many readers despair of understanding them. Copi and Gould have found texts which are difficult, but which are within the scope of the average reader. Now that the ramifications of symbolic logic are so complex that computers are preferred to the human brain, it is refreshing to see a revival of interest in logical theory. In this area, the college student can be brought to ponder the humanistic dimension of our technological society. A book which accomplishes this is surely to be recommended. EuGENE BoNDI, 0. P. St. Stephen's Priory Dover, Massachusetts The Philosophical Foundations of Marxism. By Louis Dupre. New York/ Chicago/Burlingame: Harcourt, Brace & World, Inc., 1966. Pp. 240. $2.95. Professor Dupre has made in this work a very valuable contribution to the understanding of Marx and Marxism. As he says in his preface, " a book is still needed to introduce the reader directly to the original texts of the major works of Hegel and Marx." Professor Dupre supplies this direct introduction in a form which is as ideally suited to his purpose as it is difficult to carry through. In each chapter he begins by sketching the historical context and ends with critical observations and comparisons. To his credit it must be said that he succeeds admirably in keeping his exposition free of subjective elements. The reader is thus able to acquire an accurate knowledge both of Marxism and of its Hegelian foundations. To our knowledge, this is the first time such a presentation has been accomplished in English. In the first chapter the author follows the development of Hegel's social theory. The second concentrates on Hegel's Philosophy of Right: its BOOK REVIEWS 521 presentation of the Hegelian conception of the dialectic of individual and state is a veritable tour de force. Chapter Three describes the formation of Marx's philosophy in terms of the influence of the left Hegelians on Marx. This is followed by two chapters which carefully analyze Marx's evolution from criticism of Hegel to the development of his own brand of humanism. The sixth chapter isolates The German Ideology as the first clear formulation of Marx's specific contribution to human thought, i. e., historical materialism. In Chapter Seven Professor Dupre discusses Marx's application of historical materialism in The Poverty of Philosophy and The Communist Manifesto. The final chapter is entitled "A Critique of Historical Materialism." It is in this final chapter that we find a key sentence: " By his acceptance of the dialectic as both a real and ideal ultimate, Marx remains faithful to the basic Hegelian thesis that the rational is real, and the real rational." Although much to the point, this statement is ignored in current works-especially Soviet-on latter-day Marxism and MarxismLeninism . A reader versed in contemporary Marxism and Marxism-Leninism would be tempted to fault Professor Dupre for calling into question the use of the term "materialism" to describe Marx's views. "At first sight, certain passages seem to prove Marx's materialism beyond question. . . . Yet, Marx never discusses the nature or origin of the mind itself. . . . Ontological problems are never brought up by Marx, and whenever they appear, as in the discussion of French materialism, they are reinterpreted in the humanistic terms of historical materialism." The fact of the matter is that this is the case and it needs to be stressed in view of the constant distortions found in...