Dear all,
The next seminar in this semester's Agora series will be: Dr. Michael Lazarus (Deakin University) Ethics and Karl Marx’s Critique of Capitalism Thursday, August 14, 3:30 pm - 5:00 pm Building 20, Room 3, University of Wollongong (Keiraville) Abstract Karl Marx is often thought of as having very little to offer moral philosophy. For decades, Anglo-American philosophers have debated if Marx’s thought is “amoral” and if his discussion of “exploitation” is normative or descriptive. Against these typical views, I argue that Marx is best understood in a tradition of ethics originating in Aristotle and Hegel that envisions the human good in the life-well lived of the political community. In Absolute Ethical Life (2025), I suggest that Marx’s early alienation critique is not only preserved in Capital, but the concept of abstract labour further develops his appraisal of domination and estrangement. Capital not only sets out to understand capitalism in thought, but at the same time looks to grasp why social life is impoverished by relations of abstract sociality. The limitlessness accumulation of capital acts as a barrier to mutual recognition between interdependent social agents and the form of life conducive to our flourishing. Drawing out the ethics of Marx’s critique of “value” pays rich dividends to grasping the role of human action in his thinking. Bio Michael Lazarus is a post-doctoral research fellow at the Alfred Deakin Institute. Until recently, he was a visiting postdoctoral fellow at Yale University. He works across political theory, moral philosophy and political theory. His writing has appeared in Constellations, Philosophy and Social Criticism, Thesis Eleven, Historical Materialism and critical theory publications. He has an article on Smith and Hegel on poverty forthcoming in the Cambridge Journal of Economics. His popular writing has been published in places including Jacobin and The Conversation. His next book focuses on Smith and Hegel. This is an in-person event and there is no need to register. All welcome. -- *Dr. Elena Walsh* Lecturer School of Liberal Arts Faculty of the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities | 94.19 University of Wollongong NSW 2522 Australia *T *+61 2 4220 5692 *W *elenawalsh.squarespace.com
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