Philosophy and Revolution

Few thought systems have been as distorted and sometimes misconstrued as those of Marx and Hegel. 'Philosophy and Revolution', presented here in a new edition, attempts to save Marx from interpretations which restrict the revolutionary significance of the philosophy behind his theory. Developing her breakthrough on Hegel's Absolute Idea, Raya Dunayevskaya, who died in the June of 1987, aims at a total liberation of the human person – not only from the ills of a capitalist society, but also from the equally oppressive state capitalism of established communist governments. She assumes within her theory of class struggle issues as diverse as feminism, black liberation, and even the new nationalism of third world countries. Moreover, Dunayevskaya combines within herself an incorruptible objectivity with a passionate political attitude, making this work a vibrant and concrete discussion of the vicissitudes of society, justice, equality, and existence.

Raya Dunayevskaya, who died in June 1987, was the founder of Marxist Humanism in the United States. 'Philosophy and Revolution' is the second work of what the author called her "trilogy of revolution". These works represent the development of her 1953 breakthrough on Hegel's Absolute Idea, when she saw within the Absolute Idea a movement from practice as a well as a movement from theory. She perceived this unity as a vision of a new human society.