The Theory of Need in Marx

by Ágnes Heller, Stephen Bodington (Introduction), Ken Coates (Introduction)

The first full presentation of a fundamental aspect of Marx, the concept of need

What are needs? While the edifices of economic theory are built upon various mechanisms designed to satisfy “human needs,” not many economists have addressed the idea of need itself. Heller’s highly original work identifies this lacuna, recognizing the concept of needs as playing a “hidden but principal role in Marx’s economic categories.” Her writing lucidly exposes radical needs as bearing the seeds of revolutionary agency in alienated capitalist society, and reasserts our existence as sentient beings beyond the realm of the material, productive spheres.

Genres: Philosophy, Politics, Nonfiction, Economics

136 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1976

About the author

Ágnes Heller was a Hungarian philosopher and lecturer. She was a core member of the Budapest School philosophical forum in the 1960s and later taught political theory for 25 years at the New School for Social Research in New York City. She lived, wrote and lectured in Budapest.

Reviews

[Patrick Higgins · Rating 5 out of 5]

As someone who has only recently begun reading Marx’s major works and who has an interest in Communism as a political project and Marxism as a theory of history, I greatly appreciated this book. It is written in very clear and simple prose, and at only 130 pages fits in quite a bit and helps introduce certain concepts of Marx’s that appear in all his major writing while also showing how concepts shift in perspective from early writings (“philosophic & economic manuscripts”, “the holy family”) through the “Grundrisse” and culminate in “Capital.” I’m sure there’s plenty that can be dissected and contested in Heller’s text, and those who have already read the Communist canon may find it redundant or simple, but for someone who’s only getting started I found this short book on the very idea of needs refreshing and engaging. It certainly helped me concretize and situate some of the thoughts that had been floating around in my head while reading Marx.

[Philip Mlonyeni · Rating 5 out of 5]

Essensiell bok. Røverkjøp for et par pund fra Verso. Heller går dypt inn i marx’ verker og viser at en essensiell komponent av marxistisk teori er realiseringen av et samfunn basert på tilfredsstillelsen av ‘radikale behov’, og viser hvordan kapitalismens er medskyldig i skapelsen av disse. Ekstremt nyttig i en tid hvor grunnleggende ting som helse, mat på bordet, intellektuell stimuli, etc, blir mer et privilegie for de få, snarere enn noe som kan tas for gitt av allmennheten

[ernst · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nicht gut. Heller war eine Schülerin von Lukács. Leider merkt man davon wenig, abgesehen von der Übernahme gerade der schwächsten Gedanken bei Lukács. Das Buch ist schlecht argumentiert, schwach geschrieben, und nicht gut übersetzt (wenn ich noch einmal "Interpretierung" statt "Interpretation" lesen muss, platzt mir der Kragen). Im Effekt dreht die Heller Marx einfach auf das Niveau des ethischen Sozialismus zurück. Da sie nicht besonders intelligent ist, erwähnt sie auch noch zustimmend Bernstein, so dass es auch weniger aufmerksame Leser begreifen sollten.

In der deutschen Ausgabe von VSA, 2022, sind zudem auch noch alle Seitenangaben in der Inhaltsangabe falsch.

[Ruairí]

Some of the philosophy was a bit heady for me. Useful reflections on the category of use value in its various forms. Thoroughly pulls the various threads with exclusive and deep reference to Marx’s entire body of work. Helpfully dispenses with the category of ‘interests’ which is utterly useless and allows many ‘Marxists’ to weasel out of a variety of difficult arguments.

Thought provoking final chapter on the society of associated producers as establishing a norm by which to compare the inevitable and imminent victory of socialism - any day now!

[Jeff · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's scandalous this isn't more canonical (or at least it seems not to be) to Marxists. An extremely careful, deeply sympathetic reading of all of Marx's writing that takes his theories seriously (above all, the paradox whereby the impoverishment of humans by capital is also what instills in them the radical needs which empower them to overcome it) without minimizing or obscuring their weaknesses (above all, Marx's inability to see that the radical freedom that is the engine of human evolution and enlightenment also enables irrationality and destructiveness on a scale unmatched by any other organism).

[Valdemar Gomes · Rating 2 out of 5]

Imaginem que alguém faz CTRL+F na bibliografia de Marx e pesquisa a palavra "necessidade", e depois analisa em que sentido é aplicado o conceito.
Um bom livro de aprofundamento e serve mais para uma bengala marxista que um livro de interesse por si próprio.
Bem escrito, bem feito, mas bem fora do meu interesse.

[cait barlowe · Rating 4 out of 5]

my brain is tired after speed reading this in three days but very illuminating