Feyerabend and Marx

In this chapter we explore Feyerabend’s relationship to Karl Marx, with a focus on their respective views on politics. Throughout Feyerabend’s writings, there are references to Marx and his written work, to the historical Marxist tradition and to later scholars of Marxist philosophy. After a brief discussion of the intellectual-historical, disciplinary and personal contexts behind these engagements with Marxism, we develop a comparison of their views on politics. We identify two points of major divergence in their views, namely those regarding the dynamics of political change and those regarding the ultimate end of politics. We conclude by offering several themes for ‘dialogue’ between Marx and Feyerabend, suggesting the possibility of future work.