ABSTRACT

There have, of course, been efforts by Marxists of many schools to discuss possible solutions to problems to which Marx paid little attention. I can well imagine a number of individuals, who would regard themselves as non-dogmatic Marxists, being dissatisfied with the treatment accorded to the Master’s doctrine in the earlier part of this book. They could well say that the essentials of Marxism consist of a method of analysis (as Lukács argued seventy years ago), though of course a method which is integrally linked with the aim of human emancipation through the achievement of (feasible!) socialism. It does not mean that his various statements with regard to socialism (or anything else) must be accepted by his followers. It can reasonably he held that Marx, were he alive, would most certainly have modified his doctrines in the light of experience. Just as his views on war would hardly have remained uninfluenced by the emergence of nuclear weapons of mass destruction, so we can imagine him studying with care the experience of those countries which have tried to plan their economies.