(67) Volume 3 of "Capitalism," which Engels managed to complete while also making significant changes.

Learning from the Lives and Ideological Backgrounds of Marx and Engels" (67), the third volume of "Capitalism," which I managed to complete while also making significant changes.

In the above article, we have provided a brief chronological overview of the lives of Marx and Engels, but in this series, "Learning from the Life and Thought Background of Marx and Engels," we will look at the lives and thought of Marx and Engels in more detail.

I will now refer to the book by Tristram Hunt.Engels, The Man Marx Called General.This is a biography of Engels called.

What makes this book excellent is that it explains in an easy-to-understand manner which ideas influenced Engels and how his writings were produced from them.

It is very easy to understand the flow of history because you can learn along with the historical background of the time and the ideas that were popular at the time. It is easy to understand how the ideas of Engels and Marx were developed. The book also gives me a road map of what to read next to learn more about Marx and Engels. I appreciated this.

And this book made me realize how much Engels had influenced Marx's writings. It is quite amazing.

Although this book is a biography of Engels, it also goes into great detail about Marx. It was such a great biography that I thought I could learn more about Marx by reading this book than by reading a biography or commentary on Marx.

We may use other Marx biographies to supplement some of Marx's life and interesting episodes, but basically we will focus on this book and take a closer look at the lives of Marx and Engels.

For other reference books, see the following articles"List of 12 recommended Marx biographies--to learn more about the life and thought of Marx Engels."Please refer to this page for a summary.

So let's get started.

Editing of the third volume of Capital by Engels

Even when the third and final part of Capitalism, "The Total Process of Capitalist Production," was published in 1894, the issue remained unresolved.

Engels was not terribly worried. He regarded the final part of Marx's masterpiece as even more influential and important than the first part.

Our theory is thus for the first time given an undeniable basis, while we ourselves can be successfully debunked on all sides," he wrote confidently to August Böbel.

As soon as this [Part III] is published, the snobs in the party will take another hit and think something."

But the manuscript was in even more dismal shape than the previous two parts ("the sections on banking and credit are considerably more difficult"), a dizzying pile of paper, a jumble of notes, drafts, paraphrases, and equations.

But there was one aspect of Marx's absence that was a relief. Engels was finally free to formulate his sentences as he saw fit, to smooth out his explanations, and to remove the distractions in his writing.

The third and final part is so brilliant and irrefutable that I think it must be presented in a way that brings the whole debate into clear and unambiguous relief," he told Nikolai Danielissohn.
Some line breaks have been made.

Chikuma Shobo, Tristram Hunt, translated by Erika Togo, Engels: The Man Called General by Marx, p. 393-394

This part is also quite intense.

It appears that the third volume of Marx's Capital was in even worse shape than the previous ones. Even the first volume, which Marx actually finished writing, was disastrous, and Engels edited it considerably, see previous articleEngels, who had already edited a vast manuscript at the stage of the first volume of Capital, "Learning from the Life and Thought Background of Marx and Engels" (51)We also stated in

andPrevious ArticleThe second volume, which I mentioned in the previous section, was so bad that it caused Engels to suffer from an eye disease.

If the condition of the first volume was even more disastrous than the first and second volumes, it would clearly no longer be a work of art. It was just a pile of notes...

However, as will be discussed above, it seems that Engels took a great deal of liberty in making his edits because Marx was no longer around. The following passage talks about Engels' modifications.

Engels' Modification of Capital, Vol. 3

The publication of Marx's original Part III manuscript in 1993 reveals how freely the editing of [Engels'] work was carried out under his initiative.

To clarify the "line of argument," Engels incorporated footnotes into the text, combining clauses, subdividing them, and inserting his own thoughts.

In some cases, Marx's intentions were changed, most notably in the controversial third volume, "The Law of Tendentious Decline of the Rate of Profit.

Marx outlined here how profit tends to decrease under capitalism.

This is because industrial technology, which saves labor, gradually reduces the room for extracting surplus value from living labor. Marx linked this declining trend in profitability to the fragility of capitalism itself.

But whereas Marx's original manuscript spoke of an "upheaval" of capitalist production, Engels spoke more definitively of the "collapse" of capitalism. A slight change, but one that had far-reaching implications for twentieth-century Marxists, who repeatedly sought to usher in the dawn of communism by pursuing the "crisis" or "collapse" of the capitalist system in general.

Marx's bulldog seemed to slip from the string for a brief moment, but it was all for the greater good of the cause.

As one scholar of recent years describes it, "Engels wanted to be not just an editor, but a custodian and editor of Marx's legacy all in one."

Engels produced an edition of Marx's manuscript that made it easier to read for the audience it was intended for. A group that spanned workers who knew the theory and even scholars interested in the bibliography".

And with the publication of Part III, he felt that he had at least done his job and that Marx's memory had been honored.

I am delighted that your long voyage with Marx's Capital is nearly over," Engels' old Chartist movement colleague Julian Harney wrote him in 1893. 'I do not think I have seen anywhere else, at least in modern times, a more faithful and devoted friend and defender than Marx found in you.'
Some line breaks have been made.

Chikuma Shobo, Tristram Hunt, translated by Erika Togo, Engels: The Man Called General by Marx, P394-395

After Marx's death, Engels struggled to spread his ideas.

Engels then added to Marx's manuscript and the third volume of Capital was completed.

However, I think that it is a bit of a stretch to say that this is really the work and thought of Marx. I am sure that everyone who has read my previous articles will agree with me.

Can we really call a collection of notes pieced together a person's work or thought?

Moreover, the notes themselves were merely the random accumulation of Marx, who had read a vast amount of literature. It is doubtful whether they were systematically written down as an idea.

As I am not an expert, I cannot say more, but this is how the third volume of Capital was completed by Engels.

Next Article.

Click here to read the previous article.

Related Articles