Smith and Marx

Argumentative Essay # 97980

Economics
English > Argument
Political Science
Political Science > Marx / Engels
Sociology

Smith and Marx

This paper discusses the relationship between capitalism and socialism in their protean forms.

2,430 words () | 3 sources | MLA | 2003 Bangladesh

Paper Summary:

This paper attempts to show that the economics of Karl Marx is nothing else than an attempt to bring to a conclusion Adam Smith's argument about the mechanism of free market competition. To make way for the argument, the paper first dissociates each philosophy from the political connotations that have come to surround them. By transcending both capitalism and socialism, Smith and Marx are portrayed finally as true economists, meaning their primary concern was to investigate economic man. In this way it is shown that there is no conflict between their philosophies. Indeed, Marx is shown to be merely taking forward the premise of an argument laid down by Smith and drawing its final and logical conclusion.

From the Paper:

"Adam Smith is acknowledged to have founded capitalist economics, while Marx the socialist version, and as such their philosophies are seen as antagonistic to each other. But the antagonism is only among the followers. If we take capitalism and socialism in the very modern senses they have evolved into, then Smith cannot be called a capitalist, and neither can Marx be classed a socialist. They were, both of them, true economists, meaning that their primary concern was to investigate economic man, and thus they eschewed partisan philosophies. This distinction must be kept in mind, because a true economist is a rarity indeed, and so we must strictly keep each of them apart from the respective crowds. If we lose this distinction we are prone to see things in the light of modern political divisions, and this will subvert reality. The study of economic man is a question separate politics, and the contention of this essay is that both Smith and Marx were focused towards this noble end."

Sample of Sources Used:

Ferguson, Adam. An Essay of the History of Civil Society. New Ed. Fania Oz-Salzberger (Ed.) Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996.
Schumpeter, Joseph A. Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy. New York: George Allen & Unwin, 1976.
Smith, Adam. An Enquiry Into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. Chicago: Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc., 1980.