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Marx and Proudhon: A Reappraisal of their Relationship

1967; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 29; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1111/j.1540-6563.1967.tb01785.x

1540-6563

Robert Hoffman,

Economic Theory and Institutions

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Notes1. The most sustained argument for this claim is by Arthur Mülberger, Zur Kenntnis des Marxismus (Stuttgart, 1894), 19–34.2. Ibid.; Jeanne Duprat, Proudhon – Sociologue et moraliste (Paris, 1929), 288–96; Karl Diehl, P.‐J. Proudhon – Seine Lehre und sein Leben (Halle and Jena, 1888–1896), I, 63, II, 301–07; Édouard Droz, P.‐J. Proudhon (Paris, 1909), 15–19, 88–89; David Koigen, Zur Vorgeschichte des modernen philosophischen Sozialismus in Deutschland (Bern, 1901), 256; Arthur Desjardins, P.‐J. Proudhon (Paris, 1896), I, iv‐v.3. George Adler, Die Grundlagen der Karl Marx'schen Kritid der bestehenden Volkswirtschaft (Tübingen, 1887), 169–201; W. Pickles, “Marx and Proudhon,” Politica, III (1938), 247–48; Pierre Haubtmann, Marx et Proudhon: Leurs rapports personnels, 1844–1847 (Paris, 1947), 39. Haubtmann's is the best published account of the relationship.4. Pickles, 241 et passim; George Adler, “Der Anfang der Marxschen Sozialtheorie,”Festgabe für Adolf Wagner (Leipzig, 1905), 10; Emil Hamacher, Das Philosophisch‐ökonomische System des Marxismus (Leipzig, 1909), 62–63, 79–86, et passim..5. Karl Marx, “Uber P.‐J. Proudhon. Brief and J. B. von Schweitzer,” Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, Werke (Berlin: Dietz, 1958‐), XVI, 27.6. Some non‐Marxists have also taken Marx at his word. Droz, 139.7. Haubtmann, 24, 44–45; Pickles, 250.8. Pickles, 260.9. Édouard Dolléans, “Le rencontre de Proudhon et de Marx (1843–1847),”Revue d'histoire moderne, XI (January-February, 1936), 15–26.10. Maurice Bourguin, “Des rapports entre Proudhon et Karl Marx,”Revue d'Èconomie politique, March, 1893, reprinted in Le contrat social, IX, nr.2 (March‐April, 1965), 105; Armand Cuvillier, “Marx et Proudhon,”Hommes et idéologies de 1840 (Paris, 1956), 163–226.11. Georges Sorel, “ExegÈses proudhoniennes,”MatÈriaux d'une thÈorie du prolÈtariat (Paris, 1921), 415–49; Édouard Berth, “Proudhon, Marx, Georges Sorel,”Guerre des états ou Guerres des classes (Paris, 1924), 154–196; and “Proudhon et Marx,”Du “Capital” aux “Reflexions sur la violence” (Paris, 1932), 69–168.12. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, Die Heilige Familie, in Marx and Engels, Werke, II, 23–36, 39–56, 165, 166. E. g., p. 33, [Proudhon's Qu'est‐ce que la propriété?] revolutionizes political economy and makes a real science of political economy possible for the first time.13. Friedrich Engels, “Vorwort zur ersten deutschen Ausgabe Das Elend der Philosophie,” in Marx and Engels, Werke, IV, 558.14. Proudhon kept these notebooks from 1843 to 1860. Eleven in number, they were unavailable to most of those writing about Proudhon, but after the death of his daughter in 1947 they were deposited in the BibliothÈque Nationale (nouv. acq. franç., 14265–14275). Carnets de Proudhon, 2 vols. (Paris, 1960), includes all of the carnets through February, 1848. There are a few undated pages which may have been written at any time between June, 1844, and February, 1845. None have anything to do with Marx.15. Marx, “Uber P. J. Proudhon. …” 25–32, first published in Der Social‐Demokrat, Nrs. 16–18 (February 1, 3, and 5, 1865).16. Pickles, 240–41.17. Droz, 139–41, suggests all three. Henri du Lubac discusses the matter of Grün's supposed Hegelian influence and cites many who have alleged it. The Un‐Marxian Socialist, trans. R. E. Scantlebury (London, 1948), 133–35.18. Proudhon, letter to Bergmann, January 19, 1845, Correspondance de P.‐J. Proudhon (Paris, 1875), II, 176.19. Conversation with Proudhon reported by J.‐A. Langlois, “P.‐J. Proudhon: Sa vie et son oeuvre,” in Proudhon, Correspondance …, I, xxii.20. Saint‐Réné Taillandier, “L'athéisme allemand et le socialisme fraçais: M. Charles Grün et M. Proudhon,”Revue des deux mondes, XXIV (October 15, 1848), 301.21. Karl Grün, Die sociale Bewegung in Frankreich und Belgien (Darmstadt, 1845), 404, quoted in C.‐A. Sainte‐Beuve, P.‐J. Proudhon, sa vie et sa correspondance, 1838–1848 (Paris, 1872), 209–11. Sainte‐Beuve's correction of Taillandier's mistake was ignored by a number of later writers.22. Proudhon, Carnets, IV, 162. Volume and page numbers of the Carnets are given here according to those of the original MSS.23. Proudhon to Marx, May 17, 1846, Correspondance …, II, 201.24. For example, see his SystÈme des contradictions économiques (Paris, 1923), I, 388–98.25. Alexander Herzen, My Past and Thoughts, trans. Constance Garnett (London, 1924), III, 219.26. Qu'est‐ce que la propriété? (Paris, 1926), 324–25; Correspondance …, I, 248, and II, 47. A letter to Tissot in Correspondance …, II, 230–32, dated December 13, 1839 and discussing Hegel, is cited by several writers to indicate a still earlier acquaintance. This date is clearly an error: it should be 1846.27. For these sources, see Armand Cuvillier's introduction to Proudhon's De la création de l'ordre dans l'humanité (Paris, 1927), 19–20, and Cuvillier's “Marx et Proudhon,” 165–66.28. While developing his dialectic method, Proudhon stated that he had constructed this system at a time when he had scarcely heard of Hegel. De la création de l'ordre …, 212. Although the evidence does not permit accepting this disclaimer at its face value, Proudhon's method must have been devised when he knew virtually nothing of Hegel.29. Proudhon to Bergmann, January 19, 1845, Correspondance…, II, 176.30. Marx's letter and Proudhon's reply are reproduced in an appendix to Proudhon's Les confessions d'un révolutionnaire (Paris, 1929), 432–37. The letter signed by Marx is written in another hand, possibly Gigot's. It was probably copied from Marx's original because his writing was difficult to read.31. This postscript was signed by Gigot and has been taken to be his composition but is more likely to be Marx's. For a discussion see the editor's introduction to Marx's La misÈre de la philosophie (Paris, 1950), xxii n.32. Proudhon, SystÈme des contradictions économiques, ou philosophie de la misÈre, 2nd (Paris, 1845).33. Apparently Proudhon wrote Marx a long letter shortly before the book's issue, announcing its forthcoming publication and asking for his criticism, but the letter seems not to have been preserved. Marx, “Uber P.‐J. Proudhon …,” 27.34. Daniel Halévy, “Proudhon d'aprÈs ses carnets inédits,”Hier et demain, Nr. 9 (1944), 40–42.35. Karl Marx, “Lettre à Annenkof sur Proudhon,” Mouvement socialiste, XXXIII (1913), 141–54. In German translation in Marx and Engels Werke, IV, 547–57.36. Karl Marx, La misÈre de la philosophie (Paris, 1950), 25.37. The letter to von Schweitzer quoted above.38. E. E. Fribourg, L'association international des travailleurs (Paris, 1871), 46. The oddities of expression in this passage are in the original French. Das Kapital had not yet been published at the time of this alleged incident.39. These notes are printed with the corresponding portions of Marx's text in Proudhon's SystÈme des contradictions économiques (Paris, 1923), II, 415–23. They are inserted integrally in Marx's text in La misÈre de la philosophie (Paris, 1950).40. Proudhon to Guillamin, September 19, 1847, Correspondance …, II, 267–68.41. Proudhon to Edmund, August 28, 1851, Correspondance …, IV, 92–93.42. Proudhon, Carnets, V, 109.43. Ibid., VI, 110.44. Ibid., VI, 178.45. Ibid., VI, 316.46. Georges Gurvitch, Dialectique et sociologie (Paris: Flammarion, 1962), 73–156; Pour le centenaire de la mort de Pierre‐Joseph Proudhon, mimeographed Cours Public, 1963–64 (Paris: Centre de Documentaion Universitaire [1964], 8 et passim; Proudhon (Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 1965), 15–70; Les fondateurs français de la sociologie contemporaine: II. Proudhon, mimeographed Cours Public, 1952–53 (Paris: Centre de Documentation Universitaire [1955], 30–48; L'idée du droit social (Paris: 1929), 327–406.47. Supra, note 7. Proudhon to Bergmann, October 15, 1844, Correspondance …, II, 166.Additional informationNotes on contributorsRobert HoffmanThe author is Instructor in the Department of History and Political Science at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.