CRITICAL MARXISM in MEXICO Adolfo Sanchez Vazquez Fale ste) ihecs tga sch tsa AE) ve Stefan Gandler ~~Critical Marxism in MexicoHistorical Materialism Book Series the radical left. The capitalist crisis of the twenty-first century hasbeen met by a resurgence of interest in critical Marxist theory. At the same time, the publishing institutions committed to Marxism have contracted markedly since the high point of the 1970s. The Historical Materialism Book Series is dedicated to addressing this situation by making available important works of Marxist theory. The aim of the series is to publish important theoretical contributions as the basis for vigorous intellectual debate and exchange on the left. The peer-reviewed series publishes original monographs, translated texts, and reprints of classics across the bounds of academic disciplinary agendas and across the divisions of the left. The series is particularly concerned to encourage the internationalization of Marxist debate and aims to translate significant studies from beyond the English-speaking world. Ts Historical Materialism Book Series is a major publishing initiative of For a full list of titles in the Historical Materialism Book Series available in paperback from Haymarket Books, visit: wwwhaymarketbooks.org /category /hm-series Critical Marxism in Mexico Adolfo Sanchez Vazquez and Bolivar Echeverria by Stefan Gandler Haymarket Books Chicago, ILFirst published in 2015 by Brill Academic Publishers, The Netherlands © 2015 Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands Published in paperback in 2016 by Haymarket Books P.O. Box 180165 Chicago, IL 60618 773-583-7884 www.haymarketbooks.org, ISBN: 978-1-60846-633-7 Trade distribution: In the US, Consortium Book Sales, www.cbsd.com In Canada, Publishers Group Canada, www.pgcbooks.ca In the UK, Turnaround Publisher Services, www.turnaround-uk.com Inall other countries, Publishers Group Worldwide, www.pgw.com Cover design by Jamie Kerry of Belle Etoile Studios and Ragina Johnson. This book was published with the generous support of Lannan Foundation and the Wallace Global Fund. Printed in Canada by union labor. 10987654321 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication data is available. Dedicated to our unforgettable friend and tireless protagonist in the struggle against racism and anti-Semitism Elisabeth Link born on 16 November 1955, died in Frankfurt on 29 January 1997Contents Prologue to Critical Marxism in Mexico xiii Michael Léwy Preface to the English-Language Edition xv Preface to the Original Edition in German xvii Preface to the Spanish-Language Edition xix Introduction: From Eurocentric to Peripheral Marxism PARTI Historical and Theoretical Context 1 The Life and Work of Adolfo Sanchez Vazquez 15 Beginning of the Biography 16 The Spanish Civil War 19 The First Period in Mexico, Exile 26 The ‘New Theoretical and Practical Posture’ 34 2 The Life and Work of Bolivar Echeverria 42 The Period in West Germany and West Berlin 50 From the Divided City to the Mexican Capital 64 Collaboration on the Journal Cuadernos Politicos 67 Back to Philosophy 77 3. The ‘State of Art’ 84 cUERFos x11 a. On Social Philosophy in Latin America 84 b. On Adolfo Sanchez Vazquez and Bolivar Echeverria 85 PART 2 Adolfo Sanchez Vazquez: Praxis and Knowledge 4 The Conceptof Praxis 93 a. The Term ‘Praxis’ in Various European Languages 93 b. The Terms ‘Praxis’ and ‘Practica’ and the Problem of Their Translation —_ 96 c. General Introduction to the Concept 98vu 10 CONTENTS Everyday Consciousness of Praxis. 101 : a. The Critique of the Everyday Consciousness of Praxis, or, What Is a Theoretical Knowledge of Praxis Good For? 101 b. Revolutionary Praxis and Everyday Consciousness Practical Politicism and Practical Apoliticism 12 c. Artistic Praxis and Everyday Consciousness 3 d. Concluding the Critique of Everyday Consciousness 108 u n3 ‘The Relationship between Philosophy and Praxis in History a. Antiquity 7 b. The Philosophy of Praxis ué 125, The Theses on Feuerbach 127 a. The Position of the Theses on Feuerbach in Marx's Work b. Interpretation of the Theses on Feuerbach 132. Praxis as the Basis for Knowledge (Thesis 1) 134 Praxis as a Criterion of Truth (Thesis!) 138 ra Revolutionary Praxis as the Unity of the Transformation in Human Beings and in Circumstances (Thesis 111) 143, From the Interpretation of the World to its Transformation (Thesisxt) 147 Epilogue to the Theses on Feuerbach 127 152 Critique of Some Marxist Conceptions of Knowledge a. Critique of Certain Conceptions of Marxism in General b. Critique of Certain Marxist Conceptions of Knowledge Knowledge as the Direct Result of World-Transformative Praxis 156 Knowledge as Something Achieved Exclusively in Theory 153 154 156 160 Once Again on the Problem of Knowledge and Praxis a. Materialism and Idealism 168 b. Political and Productive Praxis 167 176 The Philosophy of Praxis: Two Versions 183 CONTENTS: 1x PART 3 Bolivar Echeverria: Use-Value and Ethos Praxis and Use-Value 195, a. Theory of Use-Value and Critique of the Abstract Concept of Praxis 195 b, Differences vis-a-vis the Concept of Praxis in Sanchez. Vazquez 199 Historical Limitations of the Marxian Concept of Use-Value + |. The Aristotelian Concept of Use-Value as Interpreted by Marx 210 . Marx as the Founder of the Critical Concept of Use-Value ‘The Marxian Concept of Natural Form and the Theory of Ethos 223 g. The Critique of Political Economy as a Critique of Modernity 206 ae e 215 226 Concretisation of the Concept of Praxis a. Reproduction and Communication b. Use-Value and Signs 238 c. Marx's Theory of Tools 242 d. Concept of Concrete Universalism 229 229 249 Modernity and Capitalism 257 a. The Critique of Actually-Existing Modernity and the Critique of Actually-Existing Postmodern Thought 257 b. The Term ‘Actually-Existing Modemity’ 259 c. Actually-Existing Modernities as Basis for a Non-Capitalist Modernity 264 The Concept of Historical Ethos 268 a. OntheTerm Ethos 269 Translation Problems 270 b. Determination of the Concept of ‘Historical Ethos’ c. Concept of Modernity 278 d. The Terms ‘Realist, ‘Romantic; ‘Classic, and ‘Baroque Ethos’ e. The Concept of the Four Ethe of Capitalist Modernity as a Contribution to a Materialist History of Culture 281 f. The Theoretical Positioning and Explosive Force of the Concept of Ethos 282 Form of Civilisation Versus Mode of Production ( for Martin Heidegger) 286 271 28016 vy CONTENTS The Finite of the Dominant Modernity and of All Capitalist Modernities (for Karl Marx) 286 Christianity and Capitalism (for Max Weber) 288, Excursus: Marx on ‘Political Economy and Christianity’ 290 Puritanism and Realism 293 The Four Ethe of Capitalist Modernity 295 a. The Realist Ethos 295, b. The Romantic Ethos 297 c. The Classic Ethos 299 d. The Baroque Ethos 300 e. Non-existence of Historical the in Pure Form 306 £. Textual Variations of the Concept of Ethos 307 Ethos and Ideology gu a. Limitations of the Concept of Ethos 3u b. Contribution to the Reconstruction of the Concept of Ideology in the Critique of Political Economy 313 1859 Preface to the Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy 313 The Text: ‘The Fetishism of the Commodity and Its Secret’ 315 The Fetishism of the Commodity 316 The Historical Dimension of the Fetishism of the Commodity, or Knowledge as a Political-practical Process 320 On the Relation Between ‘Necessity’ and ‘Interest’ in the Formation or Perpetuation of Ideologies 324 Capital as a Critique of Fetishisms 325 c. The Concept of Ethos as a Toned Down Critique of Ideology 328 d. An Example of the Limitations of the Concept of Ethos 331 Utopia: A Non-Capitalist Society of Commodity Producers 335 PART 4 On the Relationship between Praxis and Ethos 18 Affirmation or Critique of Praxis? 343, 1g The Conceptual Determination of Culture and Nature 350 CONTENTS xI 20 The Philosophical Critique of Eurocentrism 355, a. On the Problem of Focusing on European Authors 355 b. Critical Concept of Praxis Versus Abstract Universalism, Namely Eurocentrism 357 Bibliographical Appendix 361 A Bibliography of Adolfo Sanchez Vazquez 363, B Bibliography of Bolivar Echeverria 409 C Selected Bibliography on Marxist Philosophy in Latin America 427 D Sources for the Bibliography 432 References 435 Index of Titles 447 Index of Concepts 451 Index of Names 462Tn Critical Marxism in Mexico, Stefan Gandler, coming from the tradition of the Frankfurt School, reveals the contributions that Adolfo Sanchez Vazquez and Bolivar Echeverria have made to universal thought. While in recent years Latin America has distanced itself politically and economically from global power centers, in the realm of philosophy it has remained under the dominance of conventional western thinking. Despite having studied in Europe, where philosophical Eurocentrism yemains virulent, Gandler opens his eyes to another tradition of modernity and offers an account of the lives and philosophies of Adolfo Sancher Vazquez and Bolivar Echeverria, former senior faculty members at the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de México (UNAM). Through its attempt to popularize the major works of these two great Mezican philosophers, Critical Marcism in Mexico is ant invaluable resource for all those trying to place Critical Theory at the center of international philosophical i RE eC am me te Rae med and Latin-American Studies at Goethe University Frankfurt, with Alfred eR eR Sean eee eR Ua eee ered Ds RN ease noymertet TT www, haymarketbooks.org