A Marxian Ethic?

[Oneironaut]

I have been debating with myself for some time over the presence of a Marxian ethic, or an ethic that is most logical for Marxists to adhere to. I haven't really been able to come to any sufficient conclusion and would like to hear your opinions on the issue. I tend to adhere to a utilitarian ethic but it still seems to fall short on certain accounts.

[Dean]

I have been debating with myself for some time over the presence of a Marxian ethic, or an ethic that is most logical for Marxists to adhere to. I haven't really been able to come to any sufficient conclusion and would like to hear your opinions on the issue. I tend to adhere to a utilitarian ethic but it still seems to fall short on certain accounts.

Utilitarianism is not marxist. Marxism seeks, as a revolutionary goal, to end the usage of and subjugation of mankind for the benefit of capital or otherwise alienated labor and goods. Communism is in effect a total application of the humanist ideal, because it is an orientation seeking to lift up and free mankind, and to make man the end user and benefactor of all labour.

The application of this to its logical conclusion can be considered an ethic, which is that all goods and tools which serve to demean the human are bad, and subsequently it can be said that a marxist orientation is universally positive and universally equal. As a goal, all human beings should be considered morally as equals, and so the oppressive master / slave relations must be eliminated, the master and slave made equal. It is a common mistake to think that Marxism is about fighting the master - it is contrarily about fighting the conditions which create masters. Communism, as it is specifically about uplifting all humans from these archaic, destructive relationships, finds in mankind no enemies.

[trivas7]

There are socialist values like class solidarity, political and economic freedom, a humanistic naturalism and a scientific ethos. But whether or not these constitute an ethics I couldn't say. For the Marxist ethics is derivative of her understanding of the class struggle grounded in history, not posited as something above it.

Here (http://www.marxists.org/subject/ethics/index.htm) are some essays on ethics in Marxism.

[KrazyRabidSheep]

The problem with different "ethics" is they all have flaws; then subcategories of the ethics are developed to address this, but even they have flaws (examples of subcategories for utilitarianism, for example, include act, rule, average, total, motive, 2 level, negative, etc.; many of these can be included in conjunction with others, but some are conflicting.)

Personally, I like utilitarianism for the most part, but it has it's share of flaws (the biggest one I have a problem with is that the "goodness" or "badness" of an act is judged by the net result, but I feel motives and acts should also play important roles.)

Whether you apply a particular ethic to Marxism (or anything else), or create your own, you have to take it with a grain of salt; it won't be all-encompassing and flawless. You must at one point or another think for yourself, and say "this is right/good" or "this is wrong/bad", but my preferred ethics cannot explain why it is.

The ability to do that is what separates human thought from any machine, computer, AI, etc. (if you think of the ethic as a program, a person's thoughts can "go against the programming", as it were.)

Of course, you can try to apply more then one ethic at once to attempt to "fill the gaps" a single ethic possesses, to varying degrees (for a random example; you might chose to subscribe to both the stoic and the moral nihilism ethical theories.) However, this presents new problems, such as ethical conflicts between the different schools of thought, and which ethic presides over the other(s) and when/why (or if they cancel each other out, and what to do then.)

I think the best way to go is pick an ethic you are comfortable with, and you feel conforms with Marxism fairly well (it doesn't need to be perfect!), and run with it. As a thinking, living human, you can chose to veto whatever decision you have a problem with concerning that ethic whenever it comes up.

(Sorry if this is jabberwocky, but it's been a long day for me. I tried my best to be clear and concise.)

[Luís Henrique]

Utilitarianism is totally incompatible with Marxism; indeed it is the ethical complement of bourgeois vulgar economics.

To Marxists, ethics is subordinate to politics; our goals are political, and we measure our actions regarding whether they are conducive to such goals (and no, it doesn't mean that ends justify the means; our goals are libertarian, and oppressive means do not serve to attain libertarian ends).

If some ethics is compatible with Marxism, I would say it is some variant of Kantian or stoic ethics. But only as long as they do not stand above politics.

Luís Henrique

[Lamanov]

I believe the foundations of (libertarian) Marxist ethics can be found in Paris Manuscripts (http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1844/manuscripts/preface.htm) (1844), in Marx's original humanist perspective.

[Oneironaut]

Thank you for all of your posts. I have a long way to go when it comes to philosophy. Thank you trivas for the recommended reading!