From: "Karl Carlile" <joseph-AT-indigo.ie>
Date: Fri, 6 Jun 1997 16:34:35 +0000
Subject: Re: M-TH: Popper's critique of Marxism (fwd)


CHRIS: And to a certain degree, I would agree with Elster that those
aspects of Marxism which project historical changes into the future
as if from a synoptic vantage point, are indeed, problematic.  I
would suggest that this is what is most UNdialectical in Marxist
analysis, because it dispenses with contextuality and vantage point,
and takes on a god-like omniscience in the examination of history.

KARL: There is no problem about projecting "historical changes into the 
future ". It is quite legitimate to suggest that historical change is 
continuously taking place. There is nothing invalid in the claim that 
there has been change over the last twenty years and that there 
will be furthter change over the next twenty years. Indeed at the 
very heart of marxism is the view that currently the forces of 
production have outgrown the relations of production. Consequently 
these forms or relations of production are fetters on the further 
development of the forces of production. It is this contradictiory 
relation that is the dialectical dynamic that powers the future. On 
the basis of this it is not logically invalid to make perpspectival 
forecasts. However this is not to argue that such forecasts are 
completely inevitable. The point is that projections into the future 
are possible on the basis of the conflict between forces and 
relations of production.

Indeed exitentialism claims that as indiviviuals we are always
projecting into the future. For existentialism we choose out future.
This necessarily entails projecting into the future. Even if the
projection of specific change into the future does not mean that 
projections are correct it certiainly does mean that such
projections influence the character of the specific future. Indeed
it is we who naturally project change into the future. We would not be
human if we did not do this. 

In short you are plain wrong.
                                      




                          Yours etc.,
                                     Karl   


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