ABSTRACT
Karl Marx transferred his work from Bonn to Berlin University in 1837, at a time when consideration of the Hellenic world was still dominant, though contending in philosophical circles with discussion of I. Kant and Hegel. The publication of the modern edition of Aristotle’s works was begun by Immanuel Bekker at the Berlin Academy in 1831, five years before Marx’s arrival and was continued up to 1870, making it much easier for scholars to determine and to clarify Aristotle’s texts. Marx, writing in an intellectual context, even ferment, of Aristotelianism, could hardly have failed to become well acquainted with the canonical works of the corpus. Marx’s early concern with the question of how it is possible for humans to be free, as well as his grappling with the categories of essence, being or existence, and appearance are expounded in the Doctoral Dissertation which also reflects the controversies in German idealism.
