G. A. Cohen - Against Capitalism - Part 1

Gerald (Jerry) Cohen was a Marxist political philosopher. He was Chichele Professor of Social and Political Theory at Oxford and subsequently Quain Professor of Jurisprudence at University College London.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerald_Cohen

Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oD1YEzd6QzQ

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• Gerald Cohen
• political economy
• marxism
• capitalism
• socialism
• communism

[d0ubtfu]

Cohen was brilliant!

For liberals, his book: "Rescuing justice & equality" is a collection of essays which amount to probably the most sophisticated critical work on Rawl's theory of justice.

For `libertarians': "Self-ownership, freedom and equality" is a collection of essays in which he clarifies Nozick's libertarian philosophy, irons out his inconsistencies, exposes the notion of self-ownership on which it is based, and shows that it cannot deliver the freedom it promises to secure.

[idgafjavi06]

Cohen: "Take this capitalists!! 2:47"

[ignoranttwat]

His voice reminds me of David Byrne.

[WerSeidIhrDenn2]

He spelled corporatism wrong.

[pipem4n]

@pipem4n

mistyped :D ment mises.org of cource.

[pipem4n]

Want some truth and history instead o fairy tales?

tomwoods.com

moses.org

[MrBillcale]

when?



[clockworkscott]

they should just broadcast this video instead of the latest republican presidential debate.

[studentofmises]

One does not need to go further than this point 2:10 "THEY GOT THE GOVERNMENT to tell the people that the shmoo was unamerican...." which proves that capitalists on their own have no power without government intervention. It's this power that the govt holds that free market capitalists want to get rid of. It's the socialist who insist it's necessary and can not see the connection.

[distopiadnb]

@apell711 hehe yes i did, I'm not dismissive in any way of those kind of positions, though i think they are substantially wrong. I've read some Hayek and Mises, quite interesting and coherent view. Some methodological premises are not so far from Marx, you may be surprised from that.

[apell711]

@distopiadnb Well I hope you at least read my points. I'm unwavering.

[distopiadnb]

I could reply to all of this but i think it's enough, we are monopolizing comments^^.

I can just strongly suggest you to read Cohen's "Self-ownership, freedom and equality", because it adresses exactly the kind of arguments you're arguing for. Roughly speaking, the libertarian pursuit of individual fredom and autonomy is the right one. Marxists like Cohen simply accept those prescriptions but claim that capitalism is not the better way to realize them. You might disagree but you will enjoy it.