Philosophy
The recent financial crisis has affected just about everyone, and the question of why it arose in the first place is one that comes naturally to mind. Answers, of course, abound, and most of them do have some merit, but there is something which most schools of thought tacitly agree on and presuppose: capitalism is an engine for progress, economic and social.
One of the greatest philosophers to question and challenge that presupposition was Karl Marx. And while he did recognize the capitalistic drive toward improved efficiency, he also understood the logical structure of capitalism better than just about anyone ever has, elucidating in the process both why it is so successful and why it cannot succeed indefinitely.
In the following fascinating animated lecture from the RSA, Professor David Harvey provides a quick and penetrating Marxist analysis of the way in which capitalism seems to solve many of the problems it creates, revealing in the process both its genius and its dark side.
If you want to get the full lecture, you can watch it below:
Check out other eye-catching animated lectures from the RSA, or sing along to the Hayek vs. Keynes rap.
.
- Is The Security Council Secure?
This weekend we celebrated United Nations Day. While its lack of speed, lack of teeth, and often lack of fortitude can be frustrating, it is a wonderful thing to have a functional space for international deliberation and cooperation. Right now in The...
- Karl Marx
(1818-1883) ?The writer may very well serve a movement of history as its mouthpiece, but he cannot of course create it,? says Karl Marx, but he was himself such a writer whose ideas have swayed the course of history. Karl Marx was a German philosopher,...
- Democracy, (oligarchy), Tyranny And The Economy
Kyler M. Robinson The tyrannical man in the United States can be found everywhere. It lives in all of us, our desires that drive us past reason and logic, relying on the craving and eros. The desires of the tyrannical man seemingly mix with the...
- Slavoj Zizek - First As Tragedy, Then As Farce
When Marx attempted to analyse world history through the lens of dialectical materialism, it was clear to him that the development of any given economic and social stratification would produce the seeds of its own destruction. Accordingly, he thought...
- Steven Pinker - The Social Role Of Innuendo And Indirect Speech
Would you like to come up to my apartment and see my sketchings? Human social relationships being what they are, I'm sure you've found yourself at some point in the middle of a situation in which you asked yourself why someone else couldn't...
Philosophy
David Harvey - The Crises of Capitalism
The recent financial crisis has affected just about everyone, and the question of why it arose in the first place is one that comes naturally to mind. Answers, of course, abound, and most of them do have some merit, but there is something which most schools of thought tacitly agree on and presuppose: capitalism is an engine for progress, economic and social.One of the greatest philosophers to question and challenge that presupposition was Karl Marx. And while he did recognize the capitalistic drive toward improved efficiency, he also understood the logical structure of capitalism better than just about anyone ever has, elucidating in the process both why it is so successful and why it cannot succeed indefinitely.
In the following fascinating animated lecture from the RSA, Professor David Harvey provides a quick and penetrating Marxist analysis of the way in which capitalism seems to solve many of the problems it creates, revealing in the process both its genius and its dark side.
If you want to get the full lecture, you can watch it below:
Check out other eye-catching animated lectures from the RSA, or sing along to the Hayek vs. Keynes rap.
.
- Is The Security Council Secure?
This weekend we celebrated United Nations Day. While its lack of speed, lack of teeth, and often lack of fortitude can be frustrating, it is a wonderful thing to have a functional space for international deliberation and cooperation. Right now in The...
- Karl Marx
(1818-1883) ?The writer may very well serve a movement of history as its mouthpiece, but he cannot of course create it,? says Karl Marx, but he was himself such a writer whose ideas have swayed the course of history. Karl Marx was a German philosopher,...
- Democracy, (oligarchy), Tyranny And The Economy
Kyler M. Robinson The tyrannical man in the United States can be found everywhere. It lives in all of us, our desires that drive us past reason and logic, relying on the craving and eros. The desires of the tyrannical man seemingly mix with the...
- Slavoj Zizek - First As Tragedy, Then As Farce
When Marx attempted to analyse world history through the lens of dialectical materialism, it was clear to him that the development of any given economic and social stratification would produce the seeds of its own destruction. Accordingly, he thought...
- Steven Pinker - The Social Role Of Innuendo And Indirect Speech
Would you like to come up to my apartment and see my sketchings? Human social relationships being what they are, I'm sure you've found yourself at some point in the middle of a situation in which you asked yourself why someone else couldn't...