The Theory of Need in Marx

Download or read book The Theory of Need in Marx written by Agnes Heller and published by Verso Books. This book was released on 2018-05-01 with total page 136 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first full presentation of a fundamental aspect of Marx, the concept of need What are needs? While the edifices of economic theory are built upon various mechanisms designed to satisfy “human needs,” not many economists have addressed the idea of need itself. Heller’s highly original work identifies this lacuna, recognizing the concept of needs as playing a “hidden but principal role in Marx’s economic categories.” Her writing lucidly exposes radical needs as bearing the seeds of revolutionary agency in alienated capitalist society, and reasserts our existence as sentient beings beyond the realm of the material, productive spheres.