3 Comments

No, Marx was not an anti-Semite. Ferdinand Bardamu (link below) writes:

Did Marx promote anti-Jewish views? First, those who call Marx an anti-Semite avant la letter (i.e., before the term had originated) commit the logical fallacy of anachronism. According to Hal Draper, historians who accuse Marx of anti-Semitism are “project[ing] themselves back into history as undercover agents of the Anti-Defamation league.” He continues:

“Mainly, the allegation is supported by reading the attitudes of the second half of the twentieth century back into the language of the 1840s. More than that, it is supported only if the whole course of German and European anti-Jewish sentiment is whitewashed so as to make Marx’s essay stand out as a black spot.”

https://www.theoccidentalobserver.net/2020/01/03/karl-marxs-jewish-identity/

Expand full comment
author

This requires serious motivated reasoning. This is like saying slave owners weren't racist because the concept didn't exist yet. He compared the Jewish people to lice advocated for the erasure of their cultural and religious identity. Its just semantics to say he was not antisemitic.

Expand full comment

Thanks for your reply. I enjoy your podcasts. Assuming you read the article (I am doubtful), it appears you may have missed some nuance. Marx certainly did not have the contempt for Jews that slaveholders had for slaves; quite the contrary: he was willing to defend and aid Jews and wanted their full emancipation.

Expand full comment