This page lists the most current online version of the thesis chapters, and notes plans for revision. Since I’m revising heavily at the moment, there is a fair gap between what is posted here, and the current versions of these chapters. The “genealogy” of past versions of the chapters won’t be included on this page, but can be tracked via the “Scratchpad” category, which includes all the sketches and draft material prepared while thinking through the thesis.
Chapters 1 & 2
The Greatest Difficulty - programmatic introduction to the thesis concept, and discussion of reading Capital in light of Marx’s relationship to Hegel
Revisions underway:
Since the version posted to the blog, this chapter has been split in two, with the opening programmatic material separated off into its own chapter, and contextualised against a discussion of the rise of interest in “materialisms” of various kinds. The current second chapter now contains solely the argument about Marx’s relationship with Hegel. This material is currently being revised to merge it with the contents of this conference paper: HSS08 Paper. Specifically, the conference paper: corrects some errors in the original presentation of Hegel’s argument in “With What Must the Science Begin?”; provides a clearer presentation of the argument about appearance/essence and Hegel’s argument about the “inverted world”; explains better how this relates to Marx’s conception of critical standpoint; and incorporates some of the material from the present chapter 3 in order to illustrate how all of this plays out in Marx’s text.
Chapter 3
From Something, Nothing Comes - on the concept of real abstraction and the problem of apparently transhistorical categories in Marx’s work
Revisions underway:
Because a portion of this chapter has now been pulled into chapter 2, this chapter is now being revised to centre on the question of how Marx’s method differs from Hegel’s - specifically in relation to the question of the enactment of real abstractions. This revision will incorporate material from the following blog posts in particular: “A Way of Conceptualising Abstract Labour and Value” and “What Is the ‘Social Character of Labour’ in Capitalism?”