Fallibilism and Givenness in Marx's Critique of Stirner
Marx is a fallibilist. He holds that no commitment is immune to revision under pressure of rational scrutiny. His criticisms of rival thinkers often turn not just on their getting things wrong, but on their being too little observant of this precept. I examine one such episode: Marx’s critique of St...
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2024-03-01
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| author | Lawrence Dallman |
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| description | Marx is a fallibilist. He holds that no commitment is immune to revision under pressure of rational scrutiny. His criticisms of rival thinkers often turn not just on their getting things wrong, but on their being too little observant of this precept. I examine one such episode: Marx’s critique of Stirner in The German Ideology. Stirner is himself a fallibilist and understands his philosophy as a correction against earlier, less successful attempts to pursue a consistently fallibilistic program in philosophy. Marx argues, however, that Stirner is himself inconsistent in his fallibilism. Stirner treats one concept in particular—his central concept—as indefeasible, ostensibly because it stands in a privileged relationship to non-conceptual reality. Marx understands Stirner’s inconsistency to result from his making covert recourse to a given element in knowledge. Marx holds that there is no given element in knowledge, and that confused appeals to the given serve to cover over assumptions and insulate commitments from scrutiny, all of which falls afoul of thoroughgoing fallibilism. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-ffdd80101ac847f8895aee3e21936149 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2644-0652 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-03-01 |
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| spelling | doaj-art-ffdd80101ac847f8895aee3e219361492025-01-31T16:09:07ZengAperioJournal of Modern Philosophy2644-06522024-03-016010.25894/jmp.1908Fallibilism and Givenness in Marx's Critique of StirnerLawrence Dallman0Philosophy, Bryn Mawr CollegeMarx is a fallibilist. He holds that no commitment is immune to revision under pressure of rational scrutiny. His criticisms of rival thinkers often turn not just on their getting things wrong, but on their being too little observant of this precept. I examine one such episode: Marx’s critique of Stirner in The German Ideology. Stirner is himself a fallibilist and understands his philosophy as a correction against earlier, less successful attempts to pursue a consistently fallibilistic program in philosophy. Marx argues, however, that Stirner is himself inconsistent in his fallibilism. Stirner treats one concept in particular—his central concept—as indefeasible, ostensibly because it stands in a privileged relationship to non-conceptual reality. Marx understands Stirner’s inconsistency to result from his making covert recourse to a given element in knowledge. Marx holds that there is no given element in knowledge, and that confused appeals to the given serve to cover over assumptions and insulate commitments from scrutiny, all of which falls afoul of thoroughgoing fallibilism.https://jmphil.org/article/id/1908/MarxfallibilismgivennessStirnercriticism19th Century Philosophy |
| spellingShingle | Lawrence Dallman Fallibilism and Givenness in Marx's Critique of Stirner Journal of Modern Philosophy Marx fallibilism givenness Stirner criticism 19th Century Philosophy |
| title | Fallibilism and Givenness in Marx's Critique of Stirner |
| title_full | Fallibilism and Givenness in Marx's Critique of Stirner |
| title_fullStr | Fallibilism and Givenness in Marx's Critique of Stirner |
| title_full_unstemmed | Fallibilism and Givenness in Marx's Critique of Stirner |
| title_short | Fallibilism and Givenness in Marx's Critique of Stirner |
| title_sort | fallibilism and givenness in marx s critique of stirner |
| topic | Marx fallibilism givenness Stirner criticism 19th Century Philosophy |
| url | https://jmphil.org/article/id/1908/ |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT lawrencedallman fallibilismandgivennessinmarxscritiqueofstirner |