Towards a New Socialism
A selection of original essays by over 30 contributors reflecting about different aspects of socialism. Topics are, for instance, socialism and religion, prisons under socialism, socialism and sexuality. The book tries to initiate a discussion about the nature of socialism and raise very detailed questions about it. (Lexington Books, 2006) Alienation and Freedom
In our society is it very difficult to make sense of one's life; individuals have a hard time telling a coherent story about their history and experience and are, therefore, alienated. This condition enfeebles their freedom. Free men and women require not only political and social rights but also the lively will to nurture and perfect free institutions. Lacking that will, the alienated are barely free. (Boulder: Westview, 2002) Introduction to Marx and Engels: A Critical Reconstruction
The doctrines of Marx and Engels are written down in widely dispersed passages throughout their work. This books collects them into a coherent whole and provides explanations and critical appraisals. Second Edition. (Boulder: Westview, 1997) Beyond Separateness: The Social Nature of Human Beings --Their Autonomy, Knowledge and Power.
The dominant view of human beings insists on their separateness from one another. Each is seen as owner of him or herself. This book recommends that we see ourselves, instead, as achieving our unique individuality in relations to many other persons. (Boulder: Westview Press, 1995) |
 Richard Schmitt I have been a philosopher for many years trying to understand what a good life is for human beings. Early on, as an Existentialist, I wrote a book entitled MARTIN HEIDEGGER ON BEING HUMAN (1969) [a reprint of that book is now available from iuniverse.com] and a number of articles about Kierkegaard. Here I was looking for a clear sense of what a good life consisted of: Heidegger promised important insights with his talk about "authenticity" and Kierkegaard with his insistence that we must be vigilant about our motivations and be always on guard against self-deception. But the good life is life in society and thus issues of the good society came to the fore that yielded a book ALIENATION AND CLASS(1983) and two different editions of AN INTRODUCTION TO MARX AND ENGELS. (1987; 1997) Together with Tom Moody, I edited a volume of articles, entitled ALIENATION AND SOCIAL CRITICISM. (1994) Among the many important criticisms of Marxism provided by Feminist theorists, one struck me as very weighty, namely that the Marxian conception of the social life is very masculine--society is understood from the perspective of men's very separate relations to one another. Reflecting about that and the very different pattern of sociality that women's relations often exemplify I wrote BEYOND SEPARATENESS. (1995) Not completely satisfied with my previous work about alienation, I have returned to the topic in recent years. I have just completed a book called ALIENATION AND FREEDOM. Here the task is to extend to institutions and social structures the insights which BEYOND SEPARATENESS discussed primarily in the context of face-to-face relationships. Separateness is not merely a mode of face-to-face relations but is embodied in institutions such as the market place. Here alienation flourishes and saps our energy for leading good lives and being free citizens. All of this work was done against the background of a serious commitment to radical politics. I was one of the founders of the Radical Philosophy Association. Many of us profess to be socialist. But it is becoming progressively clearer that we do not have a very clear idea of what that is. To begin to remedy this, Anatole Anton and I edited TOWARDS A NEW SOCIALISM (Lexington Books: 2006) My work in the last twenty years has had the support of my partner, Lucy Candib. We have written books at adjacent computers and discussed progress and difficulties over lunch. As our children grow up, they too contribute invaluably to my thinking and writing by talking to me about my thoughts and writing and, even more importantly, by giving my life depth. |
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