Critique of Political Economy

This chapter serves two distinct purposes. On the one hand, it introduces the reader to the general situation of economic science when Marx ascended the scene with Volume One of Capital, thus situating him in the history of economic thought. On the other hand, it dwells on the radical difference, despite the obvious continuities, of Marx’s understanding of capitalism in relation to the other schools of economic science, in particular the school known as the Classical Political Economy of Adam Smith and David Ricardo. It insists that the concept of “critique” in this context cannot be reduced to certain disjointed and partial criticisms Marx otherwise levels at the classicals but should be understood as a wholesale criticism of that school, and a fortiori of other more superficial schools, of economic analysis. Starting from the historical nature of the capitalist mode of production, Marx then deals with the categories of capitalist society, left unquestioned by the classicals, but a main focus of attention for Marx himself as the embodiment of the specific relations of production between classes under capitalism. Furthermore, Marx’s concept of “critique” also covers the practice of criticising capitalist society and thus has a practical revolutionary aspect as well.