Lecture Description
Exploitation is an important technical--not normative--concept in the theory of Karl Marx. Although we are dealing with voluntary Pareto transactions, under capitalism, exploitation occurs whether or not an individual is better off. Capitalism is destined to fail, says Marx, because of (1) the possibility for liquidity crises, (2) the nature of capitalist competition inducing declining marginal profit on the industry-wide level, (3) the fact that capitalist competition eliminates competitors and promotes monopolies, (4) weak demand, as workers could not pool their money and buy all that they produce, and (5) the fact that "workers will come to realize that they have nothing to lose but their chains." However, communism (that distribution should be "to each according to his needs") can only arise from socialism ("to each according to his work"), which in turn can only arise from superabundance created by capitalism. However, scarcity is very much a reality, which makes superabundance impossible; this, Professor Shapiro points out, is the major weakness in Marx's theory.
Reading assignment:
Tucker, The Marx-Engels Reader, Capital, Vol. I, pp. 361-84, 417-19
Tucker, The Marx-Engels Reader, Critique of the Gotha Program, pp. 525-41
Course Index
- Information and Housekeeping
- Introductory Lecture
- Natural Law Roots of the Social Contract Tradition
- Origins of Classical Utilitarianism
- Classical Utilitarianism and Distributive Justice
- From Classical to Neoclassical Utilitarianism
- The Neoclassical Synthesis of Rights and Utility
- Limits of the Neoclassical Synthesis
- The Marxian Challenge
- Marx's Theory of Capitalism
- Marxian Exploitation and Distributive Justice
- The Marxian Failure and Legacy
- Appropriating Locke Today
- Rights as Side Constraints and the Minimal State
- Compensation versus Redistribution
- The Rawlsian Social Contract
- Distributive Justice and the Welfare State
- The "Political-not-Metaphysical" Legacy
- The Burkean Outlook
- Contemporary Communitarianism (I)
- Contemporary Communitarianism (II)
- Democracy and Majority Rule (I)
- Democracy and Majority Rule (II)
- Democratic Justice: Theory
- Democratic Justice: Applications
Course Description
This course explores main answers to the question, "When do governments deserve our allegiance?" It starts with a survey of major political theories of the Enlightenment—Utilitarianism, Marxism, and the social contract tradition—through classical formulations, historical context, and contemporary debates relating to politics today. It then turns to the rejection of Enlightenment political thinking. Lastly, it deals with the nature of, and justifications for, democratic politics, and their relations to Enlightenment and Anti-Enlightenment political thinking. Practical implications of these arguments are covered through discussion of a variety of concrete problems.
Course Structure:
This Yale College course, taught on campus twice per week for 50 minutes, was recorded for Open Yale Courses in Spring 2010.