Marx's Philosophy of Freedom: A Critical Reconstruction

In this thoughtful study, Mehmet Tabak expounds upon Karl Marx's philosophy of freedom. He argues that a humanist ethic grounds Marx's philosophy. This ethic treats freedom, defined as self-realization and flourishing, as a fundamental human value. To attribute to Marx an ethically grounded philosophy is to assume that his works express an essentially consistent body of normative judgments - critical and prescriptive - and that these judgments are both interconnected and derived from a common normative foundation. Put schematically, Marx's philosophy of freedom condemns capitalism for being essentially a system of alienation (unfreedom and dehumanization); justifies political revolution as a necessary act to abolish this system; envisions and prescribes a future society (communism), based on thoroughly democratic institutions of self-government, as well as on arrangements that support human flourishing - the antithesis of alienation.

Memet Tabak is an independent scholar. He is the author of numerous books.