Marxism, historically speaking, has failed humankind egregiously. Marxism, Leninism, Stalinism, and Maoism have turned out to be a tissue of false promises. In terms of social and economic realities, the tragedies the movement has brought upon the earth have succeeded in making the capitalist beast look good by comparison. Capitalism has proven capable of integrating within itself elements of socialism. In practice, the reverse has revealed itself to be impossible.
In terms of metaphysics and anti-metaphysics,
the magnitude of the movement’s failure is on a scale comparable to that of two
of its “competitors”: Judaism and Christianity. Epistemologically, the latter
no less than the former are characterized by one “final impasse” after another.
Unresolved epistemological paradoxes seem to constitute a constant in all three
frameworks. That being so, neither Judaism nor Christianity nor the atheism of
Marx can be rejected out of hand simply because each is, from a cognitive point
of view, full of loose ends.
Marx is seldom read today. The Marxist
bookstores I enjoyed perusing in Rome and Milan while a student in the 1980s
have long been shuttered. It is no longer possible to visit an embassy of the
Soviet Union anywhere in the world and pick up a free Marxist tract in the vernacular.
Still, Marx bears reading by students of the
Bible, by anyone who thinks of theology as a living discipline rather than a
hermetically sealed deposit to be kept under lock and key. From a standpoint
derived from the biblical tradition, there is much that Marx gets right, even
as he gets much else profoundly wrong.
Below, the opening paragraphs of Marx’s
famous “Zur Kritik der Hegel´schen Rechts-Philosophie. Einleitung,” Deutsch-Französische
Jahrbücher (Paris: Bureau der Jahrbücher, 1844) 71-85; 71-72, in German and
translation. The translation I provide is the standard one, not my own. The
canonical translation is an interesting example of a literal rendering which
bends English over and over again in order to stay close to the wording of the
source text. Not very surprising, since a text of Marx was and is sacred for a
true believer.
Für Deutschland ist die Kritik der
Religion im wesentlichen beendigt, und die Kritik der Religion ist die
Voraussetzung aller Kritik.
For
Germany, the criticism of religion has been essentially completed, and
the criticism of religion is the prerequisite of all criticism.
Die profane Existenz des Irrtums ist
kompromittiert, nachdem seine himmlische oratio pro aris et focis
widerlegt ist. Der Mensch, der in der phantastischen Wirklichkeit des Himmels,
wo er einen Übermenschen suchte, nur den Widerschein seiner selbst
gefunden hat, wird nicht mehr geneigt sein, nur den Schein seiner
selbst, nur den Unmenschen zu finden, wo er seine wahre Wirklichkeit sucht und
suchen muß.
The profane
existence of error is compromised as soon as its heavenly oratio pro
aris et focis [“prayer for altars and hearths,” i.e., for God and country]
has been refuted. Man, who has found only the reflection of himself in
the fantastic reality of heaven, where he sought a superman, will no longer
feel disposed to find the mere appearance of himself, the non-man [Unmensch],
where he seeks and must seek his true reality.
Das Fundament der irreligiösen Kritik ist:
Der Mensch macht die Religion, die Religion macht nicht den Menschen.
Und zwar ist die Religion das Selbstbewußtsein und das Selbstgefühl des
Menschen, der sich selbst entweder noch nicht erworben oder schon wieder
verloren hat. Aber der Mensch, das ist kein abstraktes, außer der Welt
hockendes Wesen. Der Mensch, das ist die Welt des Menschen, Staat,
Sozietät. Dieser Staat, diese Sozietät produzieren die Religion, ein verkehrtes
Weltbewußtsein, weil sie eine verkehrte Welt sind.
The
foundation of irreligious criticism is: Man makes religion, religion
does not make man. Religion is, indeed, the self-consciousness and self-esteem
of man who has either not yet won through to himself, or has already lost
himself again. But man is no abstract being squatting outside the world.
Man is the world of man – state, society. This state and this society
produce religion, which is an inverted consciousness of the world,
because they are an inverted world.
Die Religion ist die allgemeine Theorie
dieser Welt, ihr enzyklopädisches Kompendium, ihre Logik in populärer Form, ihr
spiritualistischer Point-d'honneur, ihr Enthusiasmus, ihre moralische Sanktion,
ihre feierliche Ergänzung, ihr allgemeiner Trost- und Rechtfertigungsgrund. Sie
ist die phantastische Verwirklichung des menschlichen Wesens, weil das menschliche
Wesen keine wahre Wirklichkeit besitzt. Der Kampf gegen die Religion ist
also mittelbar der Kampf gegen jene Welt, deren geistiges Aroma
die Religion ist.
Religion
is the general theory of this world, its encyclopaedic compendium, its logic in
popular form, its spiritual point d’honneur, its enthusiasm, its moral
sanction, its solemn complement, and its universal basis of consolation and
justification. It is the fantastic realization of the human essence
since the human essence has not acquired any true reality. The struggle
against religion is, therefore, indirectly the struggle against that world
whose spiritual aroma is religion.
Das religiöse Elend ist in einem der Ausdruck
des wirklichen Elendes und in einem die Protestation gegen das wirkliche
Elend. Die Religion ist der Seufzer der bedrängten Kreatur, das Gemüth [72] einer
herzlosen Welt, wie sie der Geist geistloser Zustände ist. Sie ist das Opium
des Volks.
Religious suffering is, at
one and the same time, the expression of real suffering and a protest
against real suffering. Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the
heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium
of the people.
Die Aufhebung der Religion als des illusorischen
Glücks des Volkes ist die Forderung seines wirklichen Glücks. Die
Forderung, die Illusionen über seinen Zustand aufzugeben, ist die Forderung,
einen Zustand aufzugeben, der der Illusionen bedarf. Die Kritik der
Religion ist also im Keim die Kritik des Jammertales, dessen Heiligenschein
die Religion ist.
The
abolition of religion as the illusory happiness of the people is the
demand for their real happiness. To call on them to give up their
illusions about their condition is to call on them to give up a condition
that requires illusions. The criticism of religion is, therefore, in
embryo, the criticism of that vale of tears of which religion is the halo.
Die Kritik hat die imaginären Blumen an der
Kette zerpflückt, nicht damit der Mensch die phantasielose, trostlose Kette
trage, sondern damit er die Kette abwerfe und die lebendige Blume breche. Die
Kritik der Religion enttäuscht den Menschen, damit er denke, handle, seine
Wirklichkeit gestalte wie ein enttäuschter, zu Verstand gekommener Mensch,
damit er sich um sich selbst und damit um seine wirkliche Sonne bewege. Die
Religion ist nur die illusorische Sonne, die sich um den Menschen bewegt,
solange er sich nicht um sich selbst bewegt.
Criticism
has plucked the imaginary flowers on the chain not in order that man shall
continue to bear that chain without fantasy or consolation, but so that he
shall throw off the chain and pluck the living flower. The criticism of
religion disillusions man, so that he will think, act, and fashion his reality
like a man who has discarded his illusions and regained his senses, so that he
will move around himself as his own true Sun. Religion is only the illusory Sun
which revolves around man as long as he does not revolve around himself.
Es ist also die Aufgabe der Geschichte,
nachdem das Jenseits der Wahrheit verschwunden ist, die Wahrheit des
Diesseits zu etablieren. Es ist zunächst die Aufgabe der Philosophie,
die im Dienste der Geschichte steht, nachdem die Heiligengestalt der
menschlichen Selbstentfremdung entlarvt ist, die Selbstentfremdung in ihren unheiligen
Gestalten zu entlarven. Die Kritik des Himmels verwandelt sich damit in die
Kritik der Erde, die Kritik der Religion in die Kritik des Rechts,
die Kritik der Theologie in die Kritik der Politik.
It is,
therefore, the task of history, once the other-world of truth has
vanished, to establish the truth of this world. It is the immediate task
of philosophy, which is in the service of history, to unmask
self-estrangement in its unholy forms once the holy form of human
self-estrangement has been unmasked. Thus, the criticism of Heaven turns into
the criticism of Earth, the criticism of religion into the criticism
of law, and the criticism of theology into the criticism of
politics.
NOTE. For criticism of Heaven in the Bible, a great many psalms will do, e.g., Psalm 22 or 88; the book of Job; the intercessions of Abraham, Moses, and the prophets. For criticism of earth, there is the Lord’s prayer, “on earth as it is in heaven,” the prayers of the martyrs in heaven for retribution on earth, in the Apocalypse of John, not to mention, in a very strong sense, Torah (halacha) itself.
"The criticism of religion is, therefore, in embryo, the criticism of that vale of tears of which religion is the halo."
Very interesting.
I wonder if the allusion to the Salve Regina was intentional?
Not knowing much about Marx,
I would guess it was accidental.
Posted by: Patrick | March 28, 2009 at 07:03 PM
Hi Patrick,
The phrase, of course, is from Psalm 83 iuxta LXX, verses 6-7a: Beatus vir, cuius est auxilium abs te! ascensiones in corde suo disposuit in valle lacrimarum, in loco, quem posuit.
Blessed is the man whose help is from Thee: he hath set his heart to ascend in steps in the vale of tears, in the place which he hath set.
BTW, the Latin does not translate the Greek as well as one might like:
μακάριος ἀνήρ, οὗ ἐστιν ἡ ἀντίλημψις αὐτοῦ παρὰ σοῦ, κύριε, ἀναβάσεις ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ αὐτοῦ διέθετο ἐν τῇ κοιλάδι τοῦ κλαυθμῶνος εἰς τόπον, ὃν ἔθετο
Happy the man whose defense is by you, Lord; ascents [to Sion] he disposed in his heart in the vale of weeping, to the place he appointed.
Salve Regina is one important witness among many to an anagogical reading of this text in which "vale of tears" = earth and "steps" or "ascents" = the way to heaven.
NOTE: I believe that v.6b and 7a are to be understood as a unit in LXX and the Old Latin Psalter. Hence the removal of the misleading comma between v.6b and 7a (which corrects to the Hebrew) in NETS and translations of the Vulgate.
Posted by: JohnFH | March 28, 2009 at 08:08 PM
Again, very interesting.
Thank you for pointing out the original source. Considering how great a role the Psalms play in Catholic prayers, I probably should have known that.
As an aside, when I went to check my Bibles, the first three translated the phrase differently.
NAB (numbered as Psalm 84)
Happy are those who find refuge in you, whose hearts are set on pilgrim roads.
3 As they pass through the Baca valley, they find spring water to drink.
[ 3 [7] Baca valley: Hebrew obscure;]
The Older New Catholic Edition
6 Happy the men whose strength you are! Their hearts are set upon the pilgrimage
7 when they pass though the arid valley, they make a spring of it.
The RSV
5 Blessed are the men whose strength is in thee, in whose heart are the highways to Zion.
6 As they go through the valley of Baca they make it a place of springs
Then I looked at Douay Rheims and as you said;
6 Blessed is the man whose help is from thee: in his heart he hath disposed to ascend by steps,
7 In the vale of tears, in the place which be hath set.
Some noticeable differences.
I guess when you don't know the original languages, it's a good idea to have a few translations around. Next on my list will be the NETS.
Thanks again.
Posted by: Patrick | March 29, 2009 at 02:01 PM