Marx's 'Capital'. Hegelian sources - w. Andy Blunden

27 June 2025, 5:30pm-7pm
William Macmahon Ball Theatre, Old Arts Building, University of Melbourne

Ahead of the Marxist Work Day, Andy Blunden will present a public lecture drawing on the work of his forthcoming book, Marx's Capital. Hegelian sources (Brill, 2025).

Abstract:
Since the publication of the English translation of Marx’s Grundrisse in 1973 it has been broadly agreed that Marx drew on Hegel’s Logic in his political economic work. However, no one has hitherto been able to demonstrate exactly how Hegel’s Logic shaped Marx’s Capital. This lecture will demonstrate that there are three distinct levels of structure in Capital that have their origin in Hegel’s Logic and the Encyclopaedia. Marx claims that modern capitalism combined three distinct moral realms, paralleling Hegel’s Philosophy of Right; that the three Volumes of Capital form a Hegelian syllogism, just as does the Encyclopaedia; and 15 of the 18 Parts of Capital each elaborate one “universal individual” or “germ cell,” the same structure used in the Encyclopaedia and described in the penultimate chapter of the Logic.

Speaker bio:
Andy Blunden is an independent scholar. He organised the Hegel Summer Schools at Melbourne University from 1998 until 2010, and has presented courses for the Melbourne School of Continental Philosophy on Hegel, Marx, Vygotsky and Activity Theory. Andy was an editor for Mind, Culture and Activity for several years and has published 8 books with Brill on Activity Theory, Hegel and Marx. He currently collaborates with scholars active in Cultural Psychology research, and is Secretary of the Marxists Internet Archive (marxists.org). Andy's commitment to Socialism began when, as a student at Melbourne Uni, he burnt his draft card in 1966. Although Andy has never held any academic position, his knowledge of both Hegel and Marx is unparalleled, and his knowledge of Soviet psychology has helped to make further significant insights into the relation between Hegel and Marx.