Marx, Engels and the German Ideology

Start date

5 August, 2011

Venue

Madingley Hall

End date

7 August 2011

Madingley
Cambridge
Tutor

Peter Holmes

For further information on

this course, please contact
To book

Course code

1112NRX002

Linda Fisher, Academic Programme Manager on 01223 746218

Sandy Haylock, Administrative Secretary on 01223 746227

See: www.ice.cam.ac.uk or telephone 01223 746262

Tutor biography
Peter Holmes is a lecturer in Philosophy and History. He has a Ph.D. in the history of political ideas
from the University of Cambridge. He has led previous courses at Madingley Hall on Mill, Plato and
Hobbes. He is interested both in the analysis and criticism of philosophical ideas; and also in the
historical study of how these ideas came to be expressed in the past. He has published works on the
political ideas of Catholics in the sixteenth century.

University of Cambridge Institute of Continuing Education, Madingley Hall, Cambridge, CB23 8AQ
www.ice.cam.ac.uk

Course Programme
Friday 5 August 2011
Please plan to arrive between 4:30 and 6:30. You can meet other course members in the bar which
opens at 6:15. Tea and Coffee making facilities are available in the study bedrooms.
7.15 pm

Dinner

8.30 pm 10.00 pm

Introduction to the German Ideology and its authors.

10.00 pm

Terrace bar open for informal discussion

Saturday 6 August 2011

8.00 am

Breakfast

9.00 am 10.30 am

History

10.30 am

Coffee

11.00 am 12.30 pm

Ideology

1.00 pm

Lunch

2.00 pm

Free

4.00 pm

Tea

4.30 pm 6.00 pm

Alienation

7.15 pm

Dinner

8.30 pm 10.00 pm

Discussion of the Magee-Singer conversazione

10.00 pm

Terrace bar open for informal discussion

Sunday 7 August 2011

8.00 am

Breakfast

9.00 am 10.30 am

Practice & Theory

10.30 am

Coffee

11.00 am 12.30 pm

Communism

1.00 pm

Lunch

The course will disperse after lunch

Course syllabus

Aims:
The course aims to introduce students to the German Ideology, its history as a book, and its
contents. The principal ideas of Marx and Engels will be outlined; analysis and criticism of these
ideas will be developed; comments and discussion among participation will be facilitated.

Content:
The life and times of Marx and Engels will be outlined, and the interesting history of the composition
and eventual publication of the German Ideology will be discussed. The central role of a philosophy
of history in the text will be explored, and the materialist nature of Marx and Engels theory dealt
with, in relation to the Hegelian idealism which it sought to replace. The Marxian concepts of
ideology will be studied against this materialist background. A further session will attempt an
examination and critique of the key Marxian concept of alienation. There will be an opportunity to
discuss the famous television debate between Bryan Magee and Peter Singer on the philosophy of
Marx. The course will conclude with an analysis and evaluation of the central Marxian notions of
Practice and Communism.

Presentation of the course:

The course will consist of a series of lectures, which will encourage discussion, questions and
comments from participants. There will some textual criticism. A course booklet will be issued,
outlining the structure of the lectures and containing brief extracts for study and discussion. For one
session there will a discussion of a recording of a famous T.V. discussion of Marxs ideas.

Outcomes:
As a result of the course, within the constraints of the time available, students should be able
to:
Understand the main philosophical ideas expressed by Marx and Engels in the German
Ideology.
Be able to set these ideas in the context of the biography of the authors and history of their
times.
Undertake both an analysis of these ideas and offer some criticisms of them.
Engage in useful discussion on these themes.
Be able to read further in Marxs writings, and those of secondary commentators.

Reading and resources list

Listed below are a number of texts that might be of interest for future reference, but do not need to be
bought (or consulted) for the course.
Author

Title

Publisher and date

K. Marx & F. Engels

The German Ideology

Lawrence, Wishart 1994

David McLellan

Karl Marx, His Life and Thought

Macmillan 1973

G. A. Cohen

Karl Marxs Theory of History: a Defence

OUP 2000

Terrell Carver (ed.)

The Cambridge Companion to Marx

CUP 1991

Jon Elster

Karl Marx: a Reader

CUP 1989

Terrell Carver

Engels

OUP 1981

Francis Wheen

Karl Marx

Fourth Estate 2000

Werner Blumenberg

Karl Marx

Verso 1998

J. OMalley(ed.)

Marx Early Political Writings

CUP 1994

Tom Rockmore

Marx after Marxism

Blackwell 2002

Peter Singer

Marx

OUP 1980

Website Addresses:
http://plato.stanford.edu/ (Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy)

Note Students of the Institute of Continuing Education are entitled to 20% discount on books
published by Cambridge University Press (CUP) which are purchased at the Press bookshop,
1 Trinity Street, Cambridge (Mon-Sat 9am 5:30pm, Sun 11am 5pm). A letter or email
confirming acceptance on to a current Institute course should be taken as evidence of
enrolment.
Information correct as of May 2011