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{{Short description|Essay by Karl Marx}}
{{for|similar terms|Jewish question (disambiguation)}} {{for|similar terms|Jewish question (disambiguation)}}
{{Marxism}}"'''On the Jewish Question'''" is a response by ] to then-current debates over the ]. Marx wrote the piece in 1843, and it was first published in Paris in 1844 under the German title "'''Zur Judenfrage'''" in the ''].''
{{Marxism}}
'''''On the Jewish Question''''' is a work by ], written in ], and first published in Paris in ] under the ] title '''''Zur Judenfrage''''' in the ''].'' It was one of Marx's first attempts to deal with categories that would later be called the ].


The essay criticizes two studies<ref>Bruno Bauer: ''Die Judenfrage'' (''The Jewish Question'')Braunschweig 1843</ref><sup>,</sup><ref>Bruno Bauer: “Die Fähigkeit der heutigen Juden und Christen, frei zu werden″ (“The Capacity of Present-day Jews and Christians to Become Free″), in: ''Einundzwanzig Bogen aus der Schweiz'', edited by ], Zürich and Winterthur, 1843, pp. 56-71.</ref> on the attempt by the ]s to achieve ] in ] by Marx' fellow ], ]. Bauer argued that Jews can achieve political emancipation only if they relinquish their particular religious consciousness, since political emancipation requires a ], which he assumes does not leave any "space" for social identities such as ]. According to Bauer, such religious demands are incompatible with the idea of the "]." True political emancipation, for Bauer, requires the abolition of religion. The essay criticizes two studies<ref>Bruno Bauer, ''Die Judenfrage'' (''The Jewish Question''), Braunschweig 1843</ref><ref>Bruno Bauer: "Die Fähigkeit der heutigen Juden und Christen, frei zu werden" ("The Capacity of Present-day Jews and Christians to Become Free"), in: ''Einundzwanzig Bogen aus der Schweiz'', edited by ], Zürich and Winterthur, 1843, pp. 56–71.</ref> by Marx's fellow ], ], on the attempt by Jews to achieve ] in ]. Bauer argued that Jews could achieve political emancipation only by relinquishing their particular religious consciousness since political emancipation requires a ]; Bauer assumes that there is not any "space" remaining for social identities such as religion. According to Bauer, such religious demands are incompatible with the idea of the "]". True political emancipation, for Bauer, requires the abolition of religion.


Marx uses Bauer's essay as an occasion for his own analysis of liberal rights. Marx argues that Bauer is mistaken in his assumption that in a "secular state" religion will no longer play a prominent role in social life, and, as an example refers to the pervasiveness of religion in the ], which, unlike Prussia, had no ]. In Marx's analysis, the "secular state" is not opposed to religion, but rather actually presupposes it. The removal of religious or property qualifications for citizens does not mean the abolition of religion or property, but only introduces a way of regarding individuals in abstraction from them.<ref>Marx 1844:<blockquote>he political annulment of private property not only fails to abolish private property but even presupposes it. The state abolishes, in its own way, distinctions of birth, social rank, education, occupation, when it declares that birth, social rank, education, occupation, are non-political distinctions, when it proclaims, without regard to these distinctions, that every member of the nation is an equal participant in national sovereignty, when it treats all elements of the real life of the nation from the standpoint of the state. Nevertheless, the state allows private property, education, occupation, to act in their way – i.e., as private property, as education, as occupation, and to exert the influence of their special nature. Far from abolishing these real distinctions, the state only exists on the presupposition of their existence; it feels itself to be a political state and asserts its universality only in opposition to these elements of its being.</blockquote></ref> Marx uses Bauer's essay as an opportunity for presenting his own analysis of ] rights, arguing that Bauer is mistaken in his assumption that in a "secular state", religion will no longer play a prominent role in social life. Marx gives the pervasiveness of religion in the United States as an example, which, unlike Prussia, had no ]. In Marx's analysis, the "secular state" is not opposed to religion, but rather actually presupposes it. The removal of religious or property qualifications for citizens does not mean the abolition of religion or property, but only introduces a way of regarding individuals in ] from them.<ref>Marx 1844: "he political annulment of private property not only fails to abolish private property but even presupposes it. The state abolishes, in its own way, distinctions of birth, social rank, education, occupation, when it declares that birth, social rank, education, occupation, are non-political distinctions, when it proclaims, without regard to these distinctions, that every member of the nation is an equal participant in ], when it treats all elements of the real life of the nation from the standpoint of the state. Nevertheless, the state allows private property, education, occupation, to act in their way – i.e., as ], as education, as occupation, and to exert the influence of their special nature. Far from abolishing these real distinctions, the state only exists on the presupposition of their existence; it feels itself to be a political state and asserts its universality only in opposition to these elements of its being."</ref>
On this note Marx moves beyond the question of religious freedom to his real concern with Bauer's analysis of "political emancipation." Marx concludes that while individuals can be 'spiritually' and 'politically' free in a secular state, they can still be bound to material constraints on freedom by economic inequality, an assumption that would later form the basis of his critiques of ].


Marx then moves beyond the question of ] to his real concern with Bauer's analysis of "political emancipation". Marx concludes that while individuals can be "spiritually" and "politically" free in a secular state, they can still be bound to material constraints on freedom by ], an assumption that would later form the basis of his ].
==Political and human emancipation==
In Marx' view, Bauer fails to distinguish between political emancipation and human emancipation: as pointed out above, political emancipation in a modern state does ''not'' require the Jews (or, for that matter, the Christians) to renounce religion; only complete human emancipation would involve the disappearance of religion, but that is not yet possible, not "within the hitherto existing world order".


A number of scholars and commentators regard "On the Jewish Question", and in particular its second section, which addresses Bauer's work "The Capacity of Present-day Jews and Christians to Become Free", as ],<ref name="P Johnson 1984 Commentary Mag">{{cite news |last1=Johnson |first1=Paul |date=April 1, 1984 |title=Marxism vs. the Jews |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231113203837/https://www.commentary.org/articles/paul-johnson-3/marxism-vs-the-jews/ |work=Commentary Magazine}}</ref> although others do not.<ref name="McLellan"/><ref name="Brown">{{Cite book | last=Brown | first=Wendy | author-link=Wendy Brown (political scientist) | year=1995 | contribution=Rights and Identity in Late Modernity: Revisiting the 'Jewish Question' | editor-last=Sarat | editor-first=Austin | editor2-last=Kearns | editor2-first=Thomas | title=Identities, Politics, and Rights | publisher=University of Michigan Press | pages=85–130 }}</ref>{{sfn|Nirenberg|2013|p=423–459}}
In the second part of the essay (a part which is significantly shorter, yet the one most frequently discussed and quoted today), Marx disputes Bauer's "theological" analysis of Judaism and its relation to Christianity. Bauer has stated that the renouncing of religion would be especially difficult for Jews, since Judaism is, in his view, a primitive stage in the development of Christianity; hence, to achieve freedom by renouncing religion, the Christians would have to surmount only one stage, whereas the Jews would need to surmount two. In response to this, Marx argues that the Jewish religion need not be attached the significance it has in Bauer's analysis, because it is only a spiritual reflection of Jewish economic life. This is the starting point of a complex and somewhat metaphorical argument which draws on the stereotype of the Jew as a financially apt "huckster" and posits a special connection between Judaism as a religion and the economy of contemporary bourgeois society. Thus, the Jewish religion not only doesn't need to disappear in that society, as Bauer argues, but is actually a natural part of it. Having thus figuratively equated "practical Judaism" and "huckstering", Marx concludes that "the Christians have become Jews"; and, ultimately, it is mankind (both Christians and Jews<ref>Marx 1844:<blockquote>On the other hand, if the Jew recognizes that this practical nature of his is futile and works to abolish it, he extricates himself from his previous development and works for human emancipation as such and turns against the supreme practical expression of human self-estrangement.
</blockquote></ref>) that needs to emancipate itself from ("practical") Judaism.
<ref>Marx 1844:<blockquote>
The Jew has emancipated himself in a Jewish manner, not only because he has acquired financial power, but also because, through him and also apart from him, money has become a world power and the practical Jewish spirit has become the practical spirit of the Christian nations. The Jews have emancipated themselves insofar as the Christians have become Jews.
</blockquote>
...
<blockquote>In the final analysis, the emancipation of the Jews is the emancipation of mankind from Judaism.</blockquote></ref>
] from this part of the essay are frequently cited as proof of Marx' antisemitism. For analyses, see the ] section.


==Synopsis of content==
==Publications by Marx related to the essay==
In Marx's view, Bauer fails to distinguish between ] and ]. As noted above, political emancipation in a modern state does not require Jews (or Christians) to renounce religion; only complete human emancipation would involve the disappearance of religion, but that is not yet possible "within the hitherto existing world order".


In the second part of the essay, Marx disputes Bauer's "theological" analysis of Judaism and its relation to Christianity. Bauer states that the renouncing of religion would be especially difficult for Jews. In Bauer's view, Judaism was a primitive stage in the development of Christianity. Hence, to achieve freedom by renouncing religion, Christians would have to surmount only one stage, whereas Jews would need to surmount two.
''Zur Judenfrage'' was first published by Marx and ] in February 1844 in the ''],'' a ] which ran only one issue. From December 1843 to October 1844, Bruno Bauer published the monthly
''Allgemeine Literatur-Zeitung'' (General Literary Gazette) in ] (now Berlin). In it, he responded to the critique of his own essays on the Jewish question by Marx and others. Then, in 1845, ] and Marx published a polemic critique of the Young Hegelians titled '']''. In parts<ref>Engels, Marx: ''The Holy Family'' 1845, Chapter VI, The Jewish Question
, ,
</ref> of the book, Marx again presented his views dissenting from Bauer's on the Jewish question and on political and human emancipation.
A French translation appeared 1850 in Paris in Hermann Ewerbeck's book ''Qe'est-ce que la bible d'apres la nouvelle philosophie allemand''.


In response to this, Marx argues that the Jewish religion does not have the significance Bauer's analysis attributes, because it is merely a spiritual reflection of Jewish economic life. This is the starting point of a complex and somewhat metaphorical argument that draws on the stereotype of "the Jew" as a financially apt "huckster" and posits a special connection between Judaism as a religion and the economy of contemporary bourgeois society. Thus, the Jewish religion does not need to disappear in society, as Bauer argues, because it is actually a natural part of it. Having thus figuratively equated "practical Judaism" with "huckstering and money", Marx concludes, that "the Christians have become Jews"; and, ultimately, it is mankind (both Christians and Jews) that needs to emancipate itself from ("practical") Judaism.<ref>Marx 1844: "On the other hand, if the Jew recognizes that his practical nature is futile and works to abolish it, he extricates himself from his previous development and works for human emancipation as such and turns against the supreme practical expression of human self-estrangement."</ref>
In 1879, historian ] published an article ''Unsere Aussichten'' (''Our Prospects''), in which he demanded that the Jews should assimilate to German culture, and described Jewish immigrants as a danger for Germany. This article would stir a controversy, to which the newspaper ''Sozialdemokrat'', edited by ], reacted by republishing almost the entire second part of ''Zur Judenfrage'' in June and July 1881.


==History of publication==
The whole essay was republished in October 1890 in the ''Berliner Volksblatt'', then edited by ].<ref name=MEGA>''Marx-Engels Gesammtausgabe (MEGA)'', Volume II, apparatus, pp. 648 ('''German''') Dietz, Berlin 1982</ref>
"Zur Judenfrage" was first published by Marx and ] in February 1844 in the '']'', a ] which ran only one issue.<ref>{{cite book|editor-last1=Ruge|editor-first1=Arnold|editor-last2=Marx|editor-first2=Karl|title=Deutsch–Französische Jahrbücher|location=Leipzig|publisher=Reclam|year=1981}}</ref> From December 1843 to October 1844, Bruno Bauer published the monthly ''Allgemeine Literatur-Zeitung'' (General Literary Gazette) in ] (now part of Berlin). In it, he responded to the critique of his own essays on the Jewish question by Marx and others. Then, in 1845, ] and Marx published a polemic critique of the Young Hegelians titled '']''. In parts of the book, Marx again presented his views dissenting from Bauer's on the Jewish question and on political and human emancipation.<ref>Engels, Marx: ''The Holy Family'' 1845, Chapter VI, The Jewish Question , , </ref>


A French translation appeared 1850 in Paris in Hermann Ewerbeck's book ''Qu'est-ce que la bible d'après la nouvelle philosophie allemande?'' (''What is the Bible according to the new German philosophy?'').
In 1926, a translation by H. J. Stenning into English language with the title ''On the Jewish Question'' appeared in a collection of essays by Marx.<ref>Karl Marx ''Selected Essays'', tanslated by H. J. Stenning (Leonard Parsons, London and New York 1926), p. 40-97</ref>


In 1879, historian ] published an article "Unsere Aussichten" ("Our Prospects"), in which he demanded that the Jews should ] into German culture, and described Jewish immigrants as a danger for Germany. This article stirred up controversy, to which the newspaper ''Sozialdemokrat'', edited by ], reacted by republishing almost the entire second part of "Zur Judenfrage" in June and July 1881.
A translation of ''Zur Judenfrage'' was published together with other articles of Marx in 1959 under the title ''"]"''.<ref>
, review in: '']'', Vol. 27 - No. 212, No. 1, 1960, pages 5-7</ref>
The editor ] intended to show Marx's alleged anti-Semitism.<ref>
, discussion in:
'']'', Vol. 27 - No. 214, No. 3, 1960, pages 11, 19-21</ref>
This edition has been criticized because the reader is not told that its title is not from Marx, and for
distortions in the text.<ref>Draper 1977, Note 1</ref>


The entire essay was re-published yet again in October 1890 in the ''Berliner Volksblatt'', then edited by ].<ref name=MEGA>''Marx-Engels Gesammtausgabe (MEGA)'', Volume II, apparatus, p. 648 ('''German''') Dietz, Berlin 1982</ref>
A manuscript of the essay has not been transmitted.<ref name=MEGA/>


In 1926, an English translation by ], with the title "On the Jewish Question", appeared in a collection of essays by Marx.<ref>Karl Marx ''Selected Essays'', translated by H. J. Stenning (Leonard Parsons, London and New York 1926), pp. 40–97</ref>
==Interpretations==


Another English translation of "Zur Judenfrage" was published (along with other articles written by Marx) in 1959, and titled, ''A World Without Jews''.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Review of A World Without Jews |journal=The Western Socialist |date=1960 |volume=27 |issue=212 |pages=5–7|url=https://www.worldsocialism.org/canada/world.without.jews.1960.v27n212.htm |location=Canada}}</ref> The editor, ], intended to demonstrate Marx's alleged antisemitism.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Discussion: Marx and Anti-Semitism |journal=World Socialist |date=1960 |volume=27 |issue=214 |pages=11, 19–21 |url=https://www.worldsocialism.org/canada/marx.and.antisemitism.1960.v27n214.htm |location=Canada |language=en}}</ref> Runes' text was extensively criticized by Louis Harap for grossly misrepresenting Marx's views.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Harap |first1=Louis |title=Karl Marx and the Jewish Question|journal=]|date=July–August 1959| pages=220–229|url=https://www.marxists.org/subject/jewish/marx-jewish-question.pdf|publisher=via ]}}</ref>
] has argued that "On the Jewish Question" is an example of what he considers to be Marx' "early ]." According to Maccoby, Marx argues in the essay that the modern commercialized world is the triumph of Judaism, a pseudo-religion whose god is money. Maccoby has suggested that Marx was embarrassed by his Jewish background and used the Jews as a "yardstick of evil." Maccoby writes that in later years, Marx limited what he considers to be antipathy towards Jews to private letters and conversations because of strong public identification with anti-Semitism by his political enemies both on the left (] and ]) and on the right (aristocracy and the Church).<ref>Hyam Maccoby. ''Antisemitism and Modernity: Innovation and Continuity.'' Routledge. (2006). ISBN 041531173X p. 64-66</ref> ] has described "On the Jewish Question" as "one of the classics of anti-Semitic propaganda."<ref>Bernard Lewis. ''Semites and Anti-Semites: An Inquiry into Conflict and Prejudice.'' (1999). W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 0393318397 p.112</ref> According to several scholars, for Marx Jews were the embodiment of capitalism and the representation of all its evils.<ref>]. ''The Anguish of the Jews: Twenty-Three Centuries of Antisemitism.'' Paulist Press. (2004). ISBN 0809143240 p. 168, Marvin Perry, Frederick M. Schweitzer. ''Antisemitism: Myth and Hate from Antiquity to the Present''. Palgrave Macmillan. (2005). ISBN 1403968934 p. 154-157</ref>


==Interpretations==
] in his book ''The Jewish Question'' (published 1946)<ref>Leon 1950, , Premises </ref>
===Marx as antisemite===
examines Jewish history from a materialist outlook.
In his 1984 article "Marxism vs. the Jews" for '']'', English journalist ] references the second part of Marx's essay as evidence of Marx's antisemitism:<ref name="P Johnson 1984 Commentary Mag"/><ref name="Marx 1844">Marx 1844</ref>
According to Leon, Marx's essay states that one “must not start with religion in order to explain Jewish history; on the contrary: the preservation of the Jewish religion or nationality can be explained only by the 'real Jew', that is to say, by the Jew in his economic and social role”.


<blockquote>Let us consider the actual, worldly Jew – not the Sabbath Jew, as Bauer does, but the everyday Jew. Let us not look for the secret of the Jew in his religion, but let us look for the secret of his religion in the real Jew.
] (1959)<ref>Isaac Deutscher: in ''American Socialist'' 1958</ref> compares Marx with ], ], ], ], ], and ], all of whom he thinks of as heretics who transcend Jewry, and yet still belong to a Jewish tradition. According to Deutscher, Marx's “idea of socialism and of the classless and stateless society” expressed in the essay is as universal as Spinoza's ethics and God.


What is the secular basis of Judaism? Practical need, self-interest. What is the worldly religion of the Jew? ]ing. What is his worldly God? Money An organization of society which would abolish the preconditions for huckstering, and therefore the possibility of huckstering, would make the Jew impossible The Jew has emancipated himself in a Jewish manner, not only because he has acquired financial power, but also because, through him and also apart from him, money has become a world power and the practical Jewish spirit has become the practical spirit of the Christian nations. The Jews have emancipated themselves insofar as the Christians have become Jews Money is the jealous god of Israel, in face of which no other god may exist. Money degrades all the gods of man – and turns them into commodities The bill of exchange is the real god of the Jew. His god is only an illusory bill of exchange The chimerical nationality of the Jew is the nationality of the merchant, of the man of money in general.</blockquote>
] (1964)<ref name="avineri">{{cite journal
| last = Avineri
| first = Shlomo
| authorlink = Shlomo Avineri
| title = Marx and Jewish Emancipation
| journal = Journal of the History of Ideas
| volume = 25
| issue = 3
| pages = 445-50
| date = 1964
| url = http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0022-5037%28196407%2F09%2925%3A3%3C445%3AMAJE%3E2.0.CO%3B2-1}}</ref>, while regarding Marx' antisemitism as a well-known fact, points out that Marx's philosophical criticism of Judaism has often overshadowed his forceful support for Jewish emancipation as an immediate political goal. Avineri notes that in Bauer's debates with a number of Jewish contemporary polemicists, Marx entirely endorsed the views of the Jewish writers against Bauer.<ref name="avineri"/> In a letter to ], written March 1843, <ref>“(...) I have just been visited by the chief of the Jewish community here, who has asked me for a petition for the Jews to the Provincial Assembly, and I am willing to do it. However much I dislike the Jewish faith, Bauer's view seems to me too abstract. The thing is to make as many breaches as possible in the Christian state and to smuggle in as much as we can of what is rational. At least, it must be attempted--and the embitterment grows with every petition that is rejected with protestations”, ] of a from Marx to Arnold Ruge in Dresden, written: Cologne, March 13 1843 </ref> Marx
writes that he intended to support a petition of the Jews to the ]. He explains that with the fact that while he dislikes Judaism as a religion, he also remains unconvinced by Bauer's view (that the Jews shouldn't be emancipated before they abandon Judaism, see ]).


Antisemitism scholar ] stated "the net result of Marx's essay is to reinforce a traditional anti-Jewish stereotype – the identification of the Jews with money-making – in the sharpest possible manner".<ref name="R. Wistrich in ''Soviet Jewish Affairs'' Journal, 4:1, 1974">R. Wistrich in ''Soviet Jewish Affairs'' Journal, 4:1, 1974</ref> ] described "On the Jewish Question" as "one of the classics of antisemitic propaganda".<ref name="Bernard Lewis 1999 p. 112">Bernard Lewis. ''Semites and Anti-Semites: An Inquiry into Conflict and Prejudice.'' (1999). W.W. Norton & Company. {{ISBN|0-393-31839-7}} p. 112</ref>
In his book ''For Marx'' (1965), ] claims that “in ''On the Jewish Question'', '']'', etc., and even usually in '']'' (...) Marx was merely applying the theory of alienation, that is, ]’s theory of ‘human nature’, to politics and the concrete activity of man, before extending it (in large part) to political economy in the '']''”.<ref>Althusser 1965, Part One: , first published in ''La Nouvelle Critique'', December 1960.</ref> He opposes a tendency according to which “'']'' is no longer read as ''On the Jewish Question'', ''On the Jewish Question'' is read as ''Capital''”.<ref>Althusser 1965, Part Two: , first appeared in ''La Pensée'', March-April 1961</ref> For Althusser, the essay “is a profoundly ‘ideological’ text”, “committed to the struggle for Communism”, but without being Marxist; “so ''it cannot, theoretically, be identified with the later texts which were to define ]''”.<ref>Althusser 1965, Part Five:
, first appeared in La Pensée, February 1963.</ref>


] (1977)<ref>Draper 1977</ref> observed that the language of Part II of "On the Jewish Question" followed the view of the Jews' role given in Jewish socialist ]'s essay "On the Money System". According to ], Marx considered Jews to be enthusiastic capitalists.<ref name="Edward H 2004 p. 168">]. ''The Anguish of the Jews: Twenty-Three Centuries of Antisemitism.'' Paulist Press. (2004). {{ISBN|0-8091-4324-0}} p. 168</ref>
], however, has argued that "On the Jewish Question" must be understood in terms of Marx's debates with Bruno Bauer over the nature of political emancipation in Germany. According to McLellan, Marx used the word "Judentum" in its colloquial sense of "commerce" to argue that that Germans suffer, and must be emancipated from, capitalism. The second half of Marx's essay, McLellan concludes, should be read as "an extended pun at Bauer’s expense."<ref>David McLellan: ''Marx before Marxism'' (1970), pp.141-142</ref>.


] argued that "On the Jewish Question" is an example of what he considers to be Marx's "early ]". According to Maccoby, Marx argues in the essay that the modern commercialized world is the triumph of Judaism, a pseudo-religion whose god is money. Maccoby suggested that Marx was embarrassed by his Jewish background and used Jews as a "yardstick of evil". Maccoby writes that in later years, Marx limited what he considers to be antipathy towards Jews to private letters and conversations because of strong public identification with antisemitism by his political enemies both on the left (] and ]) and on the right (aristocracy and the Church).<ref name="Hyam Maccoby 2006 pp. 64–66">Hyam Maccoby. ''Antisemitism and Modernity: Innovation and Continuity.'' Routledge. (2006). {{ISBN|0-415-31173-X}} pp. 64–66</ref>
] (1977)<ref>Draper 1977</ref> observed that the language of Part II of ''On the Jewish Question'' followed the view of the Jews’ role given in Jewish socialist ]' essay ''On the Money System''.


For sociologist ] (2006) Bauer's essay "echoed the generally prejudicial representation of the Jew as 'merchant' and 'moneyman{{'"}}, whereas "Marx's aim was to defend the right of Jews to full civil and political emancipation (that is, to equal civil and political rights) alongside all other German citizens". Fine argues that " line of attack Marx adopts is not to contrast Bauer's crude stereotype of the Jews to the actual situation of Jews in Germany", but "to reveal that Bauer has no inkling of the nature of modern democracy".<ref>Robert Fine: {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120205162327/http://www.engageonline.org.uk/journal/index.php?journal_id=10&article_id=33 |date=2012-02-05 }} in: ''] Journal'' 2, May 2006</ref> Sociologist Larry Ray in his reply (2006) to Fine acknowledges Fine's reading of the essay as an ironic defense of Jewish emancipation. He points out the ambiguity of Marx's language. Ray translates a sentence of "Zur Judenfrage" and interprets it as an assimilationist position "in which there is no room within emancipated humanity for Jews as a separate ethnic or cultural identity", and which advocates "a society where both cultural as well as economic difference is eliminated". Here Ray sees Marx in a "strand of left thinking that has been unable to address forms of oppression not directly linked to class".<ref>Larry Ray: {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080601090041/http://www.engageonline.org.uk/journal/index.php?journal_id=12&article_id=49 |date=2008-06-01 }} in: ''Engage Journal'' 3, September 2006</ref>
] (1978)<ref>Stephen J. Greenblatt: Marlowe, Marx, and Anti-Semitism, in: ''Critical Inquiry'', Vol. 5, No. 2 (Winter, 1978), pp. 291-307; </ref> compares the essay with ]'s play '']''.
According to Greenblatt, “oth writers hope to focus attention upon activity that is seen as at once alien and yet central to the life of the community and to direct against that activity the anti-Semitic feeling of the audience”.
Greenblatt is attributing Marx a “sharp, even hysterical, denial of his religious background”.


] sees Marx as having used ] as a theoretical framework for making sense of the world and critically engaging with it.<ref>{{cite book |last=Nirenberg |first=David |author-link=David Nirenberg |title=Anti-Judaism: The Western Tradition |title-link=David_Nirenberg#Anti-Judaism:_The_Western_Tradition |publisher=W. W. Norton & Company |year=2013 |isbn=978-0-393-34791-3 |location=New York |pages=423–459}}</ref> He argues that by framing his revolutionary economic and political project as a liberation of the world from Judaism, Marx expressed a "messianic desire" that was itself "]."{{sfn|Nirenberg|2013|p=4}}
Y. Peled (1992)<ref>Y. Peled: From theology to sociology: Bruno Bauer and Karl Marx on the question of Jewish emancipation, in: ''History of Political Thought'', Volume 13, Number 3, 1992, pp. 463-485(23);
</ref> sees Marx shifting the debate over Jewish emancipation from the theological to the sociological plane, thereby circumventing one of Bauer's main arguments. In Peleds view, this was less than a satisfactory response to Bauer, but it enabled Marx to present a case for emancipation while, at the same time, launching his critique of economic alienation. He concludes that Marx's philosophical advances were necessitated by, and integrally related to, his commitment to Jewish emancipation.


===Other interpretations===
Others argue that that ''On the Jewish Question'' is primarily a critique of liberal rights, rather than a criticism of Judaism, and that apparently anti-Semitic passages should be read in that context.<ref>{{Citation
In ]'s 1946 book ''The Jewish Question'', Leon examines Jewish history from a ] perspective. According to Leon, Marx's essay uses the framing that one "must not start with religion in order to explain Jewish history; on the contrary: the preservation of the Jewish religion or nationality can be explained only by the 'real Jew', that is to say, by the Jew in his economic and social role".<ref>Leon 1950, , Premises</ref>
| last=Brown
| first=Wendy
| author-link=Wendy Brown
| year=1995
| contribution=Rights and Identity in Late Modernity: Revisiting the 'Jewish Question'
| editor-last=Sarat
| editor-first=Austin
| editor2-last=Kearns
| editor2-first=Thomas
| title=Identities, Politics, and Rights
| publisher=University of Michigan Press
| pages=85-130}}</ref>


] (1959)<ref>Isaac Deutscher: in ''American Socialist'' 1958</ref> compares Marx with ], ], ], ], ], and ], all of whom he thinks of as ]s who repudiate Jewry, yet still belong to a Jewish tradition. According to Deutscher, Marx's "idea of socialism and of the classless and stateless society" expressed in the essay is as universal as Spinoza's "Ethics and God".
For sociologist Robert Fine (2006)<ref>Robert Fine: in: ''] Journal'' 2, May 2006 </ref> Bauer's essay “echoed the generally prejudicial representation of the Jew as ‘merchant’ and ‘moneyman’”, whereas
“Marx’s aim was to defend the right of Jews to full civil and political emancipation (that is, to equal civil and political rights) alongside all other German citizens”.
Fine argues that “(t)he line of attack Marx adopts is not to contrast Bauer’s crude stereotype of the Jews to the actual situation of Jews in Germany”, but “to reveal that Bauer has no inkling of the nature of modern democracy”.


] (1964), while acknowledging Marx's antisemitism as fact, also argues that Marx's philosophical criticism of Judaism overshadows his support for Jewish emancipation as an immediate political goal.<ref name="avineri">{{cite journal | last = Avineri | first = Shlomo | author-link = Shlomo Avineri | title = Marx and Jewish Emancipation | journal = Journal of the History of Ideas | volume = 25 | issue = 3 | pages = 445–450 | year = 1964 | doi = 10.2307/2707911 | jstor = 2707911 | publisher = University of Pennsylvania Press}}</ref> Avineri notes that in Bauer's debates with a number of Jewish contemporary polemicists, Marx entirely endorsed the views of the Jewish writers against Bauer.<ref name="avineri"/> In a letter to ], written March 1843, Marx writes that he intended to support a petition of the Jews to the ]. He explains that while he dislikes Judaism as a religion, he also remains unconvinced by Bauer's view (that Jews should not be emancipated unless they abandon Judaism). However, he also clarifies in the letter that his support of the petition is merely tactical, to further his efforts at weakening the Christian state.<ref>"I have just been visited by the chief of the Jewish community here, who has asked me for a petition for the Jews to the Provincial Assembly, and I am willing to do it. However much I dislike the Jewish faith, Bauer's view seems to me too abstract. The thing is to make as many breaches as possible in the Christian state and to smuggle in as much as we can of what is rational. At least, it must be attempted—and the embitterment grows with every petition that is rejected with protestations." ] of a from Marx to Arnold Ruge in Dresden, written: Cologne, March 13, 1843</ref>
While sociologist Larry Ray in his reply (2006)<ref>Larry Ray: in: ''Engage Journal'' 3, September 2006 </ref> acknowledges Fine's reading of the essay as an ironic defence of Jewish emancipation, he points out the polyvalence of Marx's language.
Ray translates a sentence of ''Zur Judenfrage'' and interprets it as an assimilationist position “in which there is no room within emancipated humanity for Jews as a separate ethnic or cultural identity”, and which advocates “a society where both cultural as well as economic difference is eliminated”. Here Ray sees Marx in a “strand of left thinking that has been unable to address forms of oppression not directly linked to class”.


In his 1965 book '']'', ] say that "in ''On the Jewish Question'', '']'', etc., and even usually in '']'' that "...&nbsp;Marx was merely applying the theory of alienation, that is, ]'s theory of 'human nature', to politics and the concrete activity of man, before extending it (in large part) to political economy in the '']''".<ref>Althusser 1965, Part One: , first published in ''La Nouvelle Critique'', December 1960.</ref> He opposes a tendency according to which "'']'' is no longer read as 'On the Jewish Question', 'On the Jewish Question' is read as 'Capital{{'"}}.<ref>Althusser 1965, Part Two: , first appeared in ''La Pensée'', March–April 1961</ref> For Althusser, the essay "is a profoundly "ideological text", "committed to the struggle for Communism", but without being Marxist; "so it cannot, theoretically, be identified with the later texts which were to define ]".<ref>Althusser 1965, Part Five: , first published in ''La Pensée'', February 1963.</ref>
==Reference to Müntzer==
In part II of the essay, Marx refers to ]:


] argued that "On the Jewish Question" must be understood in terms of Marx's debates with Bruno Bauer over the nature of political emancipation in Germany. According to McLellan, Marx used the word "Judentum" in its colloquial sense of "commerce" to argue that Germans suffer, and must be emancipated from, capitalism. The second half of Marx's essay, McLellan concludes, should be read as "an extended pun at Bauer's expense".<ref name="McLellan">David McLellan: ''Marx before Marxism'' (1970), pp. 141–142</ref>{{efn|This view that by ''Judentum'' "Jewry ~ Jewishness ~ Judaism" Marx colloquially meant "commerce" is also shared by other Marxists outsides the English-speaking world. For example, this prepositional phrase from Marx's ], in original German ''{{lang|de|in ihrer schmutzig-'''jüdischen''' Erscheinungsform}}'',<ref>{{cite-book|date= 1978|orig-date= 1845|chapter= 1. ad Feuerbach|last= Marx|first= Karl|author-link= Karl Marx|title= Marx-Engels-Werke|volume= 3|page= 5|chapter-url= http://www.mlwerke.de/me/me03/me03_005.htm}}</ref><ref>{{cite-book|date= 1978|orig-date= 1888|last1= Marx|first1= Karl|author-link1= Karl Marx|last2= Engels|first2= Friedrich|author-link2= Friedrich Engels|chapter= Thesen über Feuerbach|title= Marx-Engels-Werke|volume= 3|page= 533|chapter-url= http://www.mlwerke.de/me/me03/me03_533.htm}}</ref> is translated by USSR Marxist translators into Russian as ''{{lang|ru|в грязно-'''торгашеской''' форме ее проявления}}''<ref>{{cite-book|date= 1974|orig-date= 1845|author= Marx, Karl|chapter= Тезисы О Фейербахе – (Текст 1845 Года) – 1) К «фейербаху»|title= К. Маркс и Ф. Энгелс — Cочинения|volume= 42|page= 261|chapter-url= https://marxism-leninism.info/marx_engels/42.htm}}</ref><ref>{{cite-book|date= 1974|orig-date= 1888|author1= Marx, Karl|author2= Engels, Friedrich|chapter= Тезисы О Фейербахе – Маркс О Фейербахе|title= К. Маркс и Ф. Энгелс — Cочинения|volume= 42|page= 264|chapter-url= https://marxism-leninism.info/marx_engels/42.htm}}</ref><ref>{{cite-book|date= 1955|orig-date= 1888|author1= Marx, Karl|author2= Engels, Friedrich|chapter= Тезисы О Фейербахе|title= К. Маркс и Ф. Энгелс — Cочинения|volume= 3|page= 1|chapter-url= https://marxism-leninism.info/marx_engels/03.htm}}</ref> (rough English translation: "in its dirty-'''hucksterish''' form of appearance"). Even so, that view is not universal; for example, some Vietnamese Marxist translators translate that same phrase into Vietnamese as ''{{lang|vi|dưới hình thức biểu hiện '''con buôn''' - bẩn thỉu của nó mà thôi}}''<ref>{{cite book|date= 2000|orig-date= 1845|author= Marx, Karl|chapter= Luận cương về Phoi-ơ-bắc – (Bản thảo năm 1845) – 1) về 'Phoi-ơ-bắc'|title= C.Mác và Ph.Ăng-ghen – Toàn tập|volume= 42}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|date= 2000|orig-date= 1888|author1= Marx, Karl|author2= Engels, Friedrich|chapter= Luận cương về Phoi-ơ-bắc – Mác nói về Phoi-ơ-bắc|title= C.Mác và Ph.Ăng-ghen – Toàn tập|volume= 42}}</ref> (rough English translation: "in its dirty-'''hucksterish''' form of appearance") yet others translate it literally into Vietnamese as ''{{lang|vi|trong hình thức biểu hiện '''Do Thái''' bẩn thỉu của nó mà thôi}}''<ref>{{cite-book|date= 1995|orig-date= 1888|author1= Marx, Karl|author2= Engels, Friedrich|chapter= Luận cương về Phoi-ơ-bắc|title= C.Mác và Ph.Ăng-ghen – Toàn tập|volume= 3|chapter-url= http://triethoc.edu.vn/vi/truong-phai-triet-hoc/chu-nghia-marx/luan-cuong-ve-feuerbach_78.html}}</ref> (English translation: "in its dirty-'''Jewish''' form of appearance").<ref>{{cite-book|date= 1976|orig-date= 1845|author= Marx, Karl|chapter= 1) ad Feuerbach|title= Marx/Engels Collected Works|volume= 5|page= 3}}</ref><ref>{{cite-book|date= 1976|orig-date= 1888|author1= Marx, Karl|author2= Engels, Friedrich|chapter= Theses on Feuerbach – Marx on Feuerbach|title= Marx/Engels Collected Works|volume= 5|page= 6}}</ref>}}
<blockquote>The view of nature attained under the domination of private property and money is a real contempt for, and practical debasement of, nature; in the Jewish religion, nature exists, it is true, but it exists only in imagination.


] (1978)<ref>Stephen J. Greenblatt: Marlowe, Marx, and Anti-Semitism, in: ''Critical Inquiry'', Vol. 5, No. 2 (Winter, 1978), pp. 291–307; {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070812124349/http://criticalinquiry.uchicago.edu/issues/v5/v5n2.greenblatt.html |date=2007-08-12 }}</ref> compares the essay with ]'s play '']''. According to Greenblatt, "oth writers hope to focus attention upon activity that is seen as at once alien and yet central to the life of the community and to direct against that activity the antisemitic feeling of the audience". Greenblatt attributes to Marx a "sharp, even hysterical, denial of his religious background".
It is in this sense that Thomas Münzer declares it intolerable


Feminist ] argues that "On the Jewish Question" is primarily a critique of liberal rights, rather than a criticism of Judaism, and that apparently antisemitic passages such as "Money is the jealous god of Israel, in face of which no other god may exist" should be read in that context.<ref name="Brown">{{Cite book | last=Brown | first=Wendy | author-link=Wendy Brown (political scientist) | year=1995 | contribution=Rights and Identity in Late Modernity: Revisiting the 'Jewish Question' | editor-last=Sarat | editor-first=Austin | editor2-last=Kearns | editor2-first=Thomas | title=Identities, Politics, and Rights | publisher=University of Michigan Press | pages=85–130 }}</ref>
<blockquote>“that all creatures have been turned into property, the fishes in the water, the birds in the air, the plants on the earth; the creatures, too, must become free.”</blockquote><ref>Marx 1844</ref>
</blockquote>
In his ''Apology'', in large parts an attack on ], Müntzer says:
<blockquote><blockquote>
Look ye! Our sovereign and rulers are at the bottom of all usury, thievery, and robbery; they take all created things into possession. The fish in the water, birds in the air, the products of the soil – all must be theirs (Isaiah v.)</blockquote>
<ref>]: ''Hoch verursachte Schutzrede'', or ''Apology'', 1524, Alstedter, English translation cited from
]: ''Communism in Central Europe in the Time of the Reformation'', 1897, Chapter 4, </ref></blockquote>
The appreciation of Müntzer’s position has been interpreted as a sympathetic view of Marx towards (non-human) animals. <ref>In Lawrence Wilde: in: ''Capital & Class'' '''72''', Autumn 2000
</ref>


Yoav Peled (1992)<ref>Y. Peled: From theology to sociology: Bruno Bauer and Karl Marx on the question of Jewish emancipation, in: '']'', Volume 13, Number 3, 1992, pp. 463–485(23); </ref> sees Marx "shifting the debate over Jewish emancipation from the plane of theology... to the plane of sociology", thereby circumventing one of Bauer's main arguments. In Peled's view, "this was less than a satisfactory response to Bauer, but it enabled Marx to present a powerful case for emancipation while, at the same time, launching his critique of economic alienation". He concludes that "the philosophical advances made by Marx in 'On the Jewish Question' were necessitated by, and integrally related to, his commitment to Jewish emancipation".
==See also==
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] says: "Those critics, who see this as a foretaste of 'Mein Kampf', overlook one, essential point: in spite of the clumsy phraseology and crude stereotyping, the essay was actually written as a defense of the Jews. It was a retort to Bruno Bauer, who had argued that Jews should not be granted full civic rights and freedoms unless they were baptised as Christians". Although he claimed to be an atheist, Bruno Bauer viewed Judaism as an inferior religion.<ref>{{cite book |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=3KOyuSakn80C | title = Karl Marx: A Life |page=56 |author= Francis Wheen | publisher = W.W. Norton & Company | year = 2001 | access-date = 10 March 2014| isbn = 978-0393321579 }}</ref>
==Further reading==


The political-scientist Professor Iain Hampsher-Monk wrote in his textbook: "This work has been cited as evidence for Marx's supposed antisemitism, but only the most superficial reading of it could sustain such an interpretation."<ref name="Hampsher-Monk">Iain Hampsher-Monk, ''A History of Modern Political Thought'' (1992), Blackwell Publishing, p. 496</ref>
*Louis Althusser, '''', first published in 1965 as ''Pour Marx'' by François Maspero, S.A., Paris. In English in 1969 by Allen Lane, The Penguin Press


In part II of the essay, Marx refers to ]'s 1524 pamphlet, ''Apology'', attacking Martin Luther.<ref name="Marx 1844"/> Müntzer wrote, "Look ye! Our sovereign and rulers are at the bottom of all usury, thievery, and robbery; they take all created things into possession. The fish in the water, birds in the air, the products of the soil – all must be theirs (Isaiah v.)".<ref>]: ''Hoch verursachte Schutzrede'', or ''Apology'', 1524, Alstedter, English translation cited from ]: ''Communism in Central Europe in the Time of the Reformation'', 1897, Chapter 4, </ref> Marx's appreciation of Müntzer's position has been interpreted as a sympathetic view of Marx towards animals. It is also possible that Müntzer was referring to the temerity of sovereign rulers who would take even that which God had created (for all of mankind and the world) as their own.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Wilde |first1=Lawrence |title='The creatures, too, must become free': Marx and the Animal/Human Distinction |journal=Capital & Class |date=Autumn 2000 |volume=24 |issue=72 |pages=37–53 |doi=10.1177/030981680007200103 |s2cid=144525600 |url=https://marxmyths.org/lawrence-wilde/article.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110319195924/https://marxmyths.org/lawrence-wilde/article.htm |archive-date=March 19, 2011|url-status=dead |via=Marx Myths and Legends}}</ref>
*Karl Marx: , first published in '']'' 1844. English translation used as a reference for quotations in this article:


==See also==
*Andrew Vincent, "Marx and Law", ''Journal of Law and Society'', Vol. 20, No. 4 (Winter, 1993), pp. 371-397.
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==Notes==
{{notelist}}


==References== ==References==
{{reflist|2}} {{reflist}}

;Further reading
* ], '''', first published in 1965 as '']'' by François Maspero, S.A., Paris. In English in 1969 by Allen Lane, The Penguin Press
* Karl Marx: , first published in '']'' 1844. English translation used as a reference for quotations in this article:
* Andrew Vincent, "Marx and Law", ''Journal of Law and Society'', Vol. 20, No. 4 (Winter, 1993), pp.&nbsp;371–397.


==External links== ==External links==
{{wikisource|Selected Essays by Karl Marx/On The Jewish Question}}
*]: (1977)
*Abram Leon: , ''A Marxist Interpretation'' (French 1946, English 1950) * Works of Karl Marx, 1844
* ]: (1977)
*]: Karl Marx, , in '']'' (26 Aug 2003)
* Abram Leon: , ''A Marxist Interpretation'' (French 1946, English 1950)
* ]: Karl Marx, , in '']'' (Winter 2017)


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Latest revision as of 18:28, 5 December 2024

Essay by Karl Marx For similar terms, see Jewish question (disambiguation).
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"On the Jewish Question" is a response by Karl Marx to then-current debates over the Jewish question. Marx wrote the piece in 1843, and it was first published in Paris in 1844 under the German title "Zur Judenfrage" in the Deutsch–Französische Jahrbücher.

The essay criticizes two studies by Marx's fellow Young Hegelian, Bruno Bauer, on the attempt by Jews to achieve political emancipation in Prussia. Bauer argued that Jews could achieve political emancipation only by relinquishing their particular religious consciousness since political emancipation requires a secular state; Bauer assumes that there is not any "space" remaining for social identities such as religion. According to Bauer, such religious demands are incompatible with the idea of the "Rights of Man". True political emancipation, for Bauer, requires the abolition of religion.

Marx uses Bauer's essay as an opportunity for presenting his own analysis of liberal rights, arguing that Bauer is mistaken in his assumption that in a "secular state", religion will no longer play a prominent role in social life. Marx gives the pervasiveness of religion in the United States as an example, which, unlike Prussia, had no state religion. In Marx's analysis, the "secular state" is not opposed to religion, but rather actually presupposes it. The removal of religious or property qualifications for citizens does not mean the abolition of religion or property, but only introduces a way of regarding individuals in abstraction from them.

Marx then moves beyond the question of religious freedom to his real concern with Bauer's analysis of "political emancipation". Marx concludes that while individuals can be "spiritually" and "politically" free in a secular state, they can still be bound to material constraints on freedom by economic inequality, an assumption that would later form the basis of his critiques of capitalism.

A number of scholars and commentators regard "On the Jewish Question", and in particular its second section, which addresses Bauer's work "The Capacity of Present-day Jews and Christians to Become Free", as antisemitic, although others do not.

Synopsis of content

In Marx's view, Bauer fails to distinguish between political emancipation and human emancipation. As noted above, political emancipation in a modern state does not require Jews (or Christians) to renounce religion; only complete human emancipation would involve the disappearance of religion, but that is not yet possible "within the hitherto existing world order".

In the second part of the essay, Marx disputes Bauer's "theological" analysis of Judaism and its relation to Christianity. Bauer states that the renouncing of religion would be especially difficult for Jews. In Bauer's view, Judaism was a primitive stage in the development of Christianity. Hence, to achieve freedom by renouncing religion, Christians would have to surmount only one stage, whereas Jews would need to surmount two.

In response to this, Marx argues that the Jewish religion does not have the significance Bauer's analysis attributes, because it is merely a spiritual reflection of Jewish economic life. This is the starting point of a complex and somewhat metaphorical argument that draws on the stereotype of "the Jew" as a financially apt "huckster" and posits a special connection between Judaism as a religion and the economy of contemporary bourgeois society. Thus, the Jewish religion does not need to disappear in society, as Bauer argues, because it is actually a natural part of it. Having thus figuratively equated "practical Judaism" with "huckstering and money", Marx concludes, that "the Christians have become Jews"; and, ultimately, it is mankind (both Christians and Jews) that needs to emancipate itself from ("practical") Judaism.

History of publication

"Zur Judenfrage" was first published by Marx and Arnold Ruge in February 1844 in the Deutsch–Französische Jahrbücher, a journal which ran only one issue. From December 1843 to October 1844, Bruno Bauer published the monthly Allgemeine Literatur-Zeitung (General Literary Gazette) in Charlottenburg (now part of Berlin). In it, he responded to the critique of his own essays on the Jewish question by Marx and others. Then, in 1845, Friedrich Engels and Marx published a polemic critique of the Young Hegelians titled The Holy Family. In parts of the book, Marx again presented his views dissenting from Bauer's on the Jewish question and on political and human emancipation.

A French translation appeared 1850 in Paris in Hermann Ewerbeck's book Qu'est-ce que la bible d'après la nouvelle philosophie allemande? (What is the Bible according to the new German philosophy?).

In 1879, historian Heinrich von Treitschke published an article "Unsere Aussichten" ("Our Prospects"), in which he demanded that the Jews should assimilate into German culture, and described Jewish immigrants as a danger for Germany. This article stirred up controversy, to which the newspaper Sozialdemokrat, edited by Eduard Bernstein, reacted by republishing almost the entire second part of "Zur Judenfrage" in June and July 1881.

The entire essay was re-published yet again in October 1890 in the Berliner Volksblatt, then edited by Wilhelm Liebknecht.

In 1926, an English translation by H. J. Stenning, with the title "On the Jewish Question", appeared in a collection of essays by Marx.

Another English translation of "Zur Judenfrage" was published (along with other articles written by Marx) in 1959, and titled, A World Without Jews. The editor, Dagobert D. Runes, intended to demonstrate Marx's alleged antisemitism. Runes' text was extensively criticized by Louis Harap for grossly misrepresenting Marx's views.

Interpretations

Marx as antisemite

In his 1984 article "Marxism vs. the Jews" for Commentary, English journalist Paul Johnson references the second part of Marx's essay as evidence of Marx's antisemitism:

Let us consider the actual, worldly Jew – not the Sabbath Jew, as Bauer does, but the everyday Jew. Let us not look for the secret of the Jew in his religion, but let us look for the secret of his religion in the real Jew. What is the secular basis of Judaism? Practical need, self-interest. What is the worldly religion of the Jew? Huckstering. What is his worldly God? Money An organization of society which would abolish the preconditions for huckstering, and therefore the possibility of huckstering, would make the Jew impossible The Jew has emancipated himself in a Jewish manner, not only because he has acquired financial power, but also because, through him and also apart from him, money has become a world power and the practical Jewish spirit has become the practical spirit of the Christian nations. The Jews have emancipated themselves insofar as the Christians have become Jews Money is the jealous god of Israel, in face of which no other god may exist. Money degrades all the gods of man – and turns them into commodities The bill of exchange is the real god of the Jew. His god is only an illusory bill of exchange The chimerical nationality of the Jew is the nationality of the merchant, of the man of money in general.

Antisemitism scholar Robert Wistrich stated "the net result of Marx's essay is to reinforce a traditional anti-Jewish stereotype – the identification of the Jews with money-making – in the sharpest possible manner". Bernard Lewis described "On the Jewish Question" as "one of the classics of antisemitic propaganda".

Hal Draper (1977) observed that the language of Part II of "On the Jewish Question" followed the view of the Jews' role given in Jewish socialist Moses Hess's essay "On the Money System". According to Edward Flannery, Marx considered Jews to be enthusiastic capitalists.

Hyam Maccoby argued that "On the Jewish Question" is an example of what he considers to be Marx's "early antisemitism". According to Maccoby, Marx argues in the essay that the modern commercialized world is the triumph of Judaism, a pseudo-religion whose god is money. Maccoby suggested that Marx was embarrassed by his Jewish background and used Jews as a "yardstick of evil". Maccoby writes that in later years, Marx limited what he considers to be antipathy towards Jews to private letters and conversations because of strong public identification with antisemitism by his political enemies both on the left (Pierre-Joseph Proudhon and Mikhail Bakunin) and on the right (aristocracy and the Church).

For sociologist Robert Fine (2006) Bauer's essay "echoed the generally prejudicial representation of the Jew as 'merchant' and 'moneyman'", whereas "Marx's aim was to defend the right of Jews to full civil and political emancipation (that is, to equal civil and political rights) alongside all other German citizens". Fine argues that " line of attack Marx adopts is not to contrast Bauer's crude stereotype of the Jews to the actual situation of Jews in Germany", but "to reveal that Bauer has no inkling of the nature of modern democracy". Sociologist Larry Ray in his reply (2006) to Fine acknowledges Fine's reading of the essay as an ironic defense of Jewish emancipation. He points out the ambiguity of Marx's language. Ray translates a sentence of "Zur Judenfrage" and interprets it as an assimilationist position "in which there is no room within emancipated humanity for Jews as a separate ethnic or cultural identity", and which advocates "a society where both cultural as well as economic difference is eliminated". Here Ray sees Marx in a "strand of left thinking that has been unable to address forms of oppression not directly linked to class".

David Nirenberg sees Marx as having used antijudaism as a theoretical framework for making sense of the world and critically engaging with it. He argues that by framing his revolutionary economic and political project as a liberation of the world from Judaism, Marx expressed a "messianic desire" that was itself "quite Christian."

Other interpretations

In Abram Leon's 1946 book The Jewish Question, Leon examines Jewish history from a materialist perspective. According to Leon, Marx's essay uses the framing that one "must not start with religion in order to explain Jewish history; on the contrary: the preservation of the Jewish religion or nationality can be explained only by the 'real Jew', that is to say, by the Jew in his economic and social role".

Isaac Deutscher (1959) compares Marx with Elisha ben Abuyah, Baruch Spinoza, Heinrich Heine, Rosa Luxemburg, Leon Trotsky, and Sigmund Freud, all of whom he thinks of as heretics who repudiate Jewry, yet still belong to a Jewish tradition. According to Deutscher, Marx's "idea of socialism and of the classless and stateless society" expressed in the essay is as universal as Spinoza's "Ethics and God".

Shlomo Avineri (1964), while acknowledging Marx's antisemitism as fact, also argues that Marx's philosophical criticism of Judaism overshadows his support for Jewish emancipation as an immediate political goal. Avineri notes that in Bauer's debates with a number of Jewish contemporary polemicists, Marx entirely endorsed the views of the Jewish writers against Bauer. In a letter to Arnold Ruge, written March 1843, Marx writes that he intended to support a petition of the Jews to the Provincial Assembly. He explains that while he dislikes Judaism as a religion, he also remains unconvinced by Bauer's view (that Jews should not be emancipated unless they abandon Judaism). However, he also clarifies in the letter that his support of the petition is merely tactical, to further his efforts at weakening the Christian state.

In his 1965 book For Marx, Louis Althusser say that "in On the Jewish Question, Hegel's Philosophy of the State, etc., and even usually in The Holy Family that "... Marx was merely applying the theory of alienation, that is, Feuerbach's theory of 'human nature', to politics and the concrete activity of man, before extending it (in large part) to political economy in the Manuscripts". He opposes a tendency according to which "Capital is no longer read as 'On the Jewish Question', 'On the Jewish Question' is read as 'Capital'". For Althusser, the essay "is a profoundly "ideological text", "committed to the struggle for Communism", but without being Marxist; "so it cannot, theoretically, be identified with the later texts which were to define historical materialism".

David McLellan argued that "On the Jewish Question" must be understood in terms of Marx's debates with Bruno Bauer over the nature of political emancipation in Germany. According to McLellan, Marx used the word "Judentum" in its colloquial sense of "commerce" to argue that Germans suffer, and must be emancipated from, capitalism. The second half of Marx's essay, McLellan concludes, should be read as "an extended pun at Bauer's expense".

Stephen Greenblatt (1978) compares the essay with Christopher Marlowe's play The Jew of Malta. According to Greenblatt, "oth writers hope to focus attention upon activity that is seen as at once alien and yet central to the life of the community and to direct against that activity the antisemitic feeling of the audience". Greenblatt attributes to Marx a "sharp, even hysterical, denial of his religious background".

Feminist Wendy Brown argues that "On the Jewish Question" is primarily a critique of liberal rights, rather than a criticism of Judaism, and that apparently antisemitic passages such as "Money is the jealous god of Israel, in face of which no other god may exist" should be read in that context.

Yoav Peled (1992) sees Marx "shifting the debate over Jewish emancipation from the plane of theology... to the plane of sociology", thereby circumventing one of Bauer's main arguments. In Peled's view, "this was less than a satisfactory response to Bauer, but it enabled Marx to present a powerful case for emancipation while, at the same time, launching his critique of economic alienation". He concludes that "the philosophical advances made by Marx in 'On the Jewish Question' were necessitated by, and integrally related to, his commitment to Jewish emancipation".

Francis Wheen says: "Those critics, who see this as a foretaste of 'Mein Kampf', overlook one, essential point: in spite of the clumsy phraseology and crude stereotyping, the essay was actually written as a defense of the Jews. It was a retort to Bruno Bauer, who had argued that Jews should not be granted full civic rights and freedoms unless they were baptised as Christians". Although he claimed to be an atheist, Bruno Bauer viewed Judaism as an inferior religion.

The political-scientist Professor Iain Hampsher-Monk wrote in his textbook: "This work has been cited as evidence for Marx's supposed antisemitism, but only the most superficial reading of it could sustain such an interpretation."

In part II of the essay, Marx refers to Thomas Müntzer's 1524 pamphlet, Apology, attacking Martin Luther. Müntzer wrote, "Look ye! Our sovereign and rulers are at the bottom of all usury, thievery, and robbery; they take all created things into possession. The fish in the water, birds in the air, the products of the soil – all must be theirs (Isaiah v.)". Marx's appreciation of Müntzer's position has been interpreted as a sympathetic view of Marx towards animals. It is also possible that Müntzer was referring to the temerity of sovereign rulers who would take even that which God had created (for all of mankind and the world) as their own.

See also

Notes

  1. This view that by Judentum "Jewry ~ Jewishness ~ Judaism" Marx colloquially meant "commerce" is also shared by other Marxists outsides the English-speaking world. For example, this prepositional phrase from Marx's Theses on Feuerbach, in original German in ihrer schmutzig-jüdischen Erscheinungsform, is translated by USSR Marxist translators into Russian as в грязно-торгашеской форме ее проявления (rough English translation: "in its dirty-hucksterish form of appearance"). Even so, that view is not universal; for example, some Vietnamese Marxist translators translate that same phrase into Vietnamese as dưới hình thức biểu hiện con buôn - bẩn thỉu của nó mà thôi (rough English translation: "in its dirty-hucksterish form of appearance") yet others translate it literally into Vietnamese as trong hình thức biểu hiện Do Thái bẩn thỉu của nó mà thôi (English translation: "in its dirty-Jewish form of appearance").

References

  1. Bruno Bauer, Die Judenfrage (The Jewish Question), Braunschweig 1843
  2. Bruno Bauer: "Die Fähigkeit der heutigen Juden und Christen, frei zu werden" ("The Capacity of Present-day Jews and Christians to Become Free"), in: Einundzwanzig Bogen aus der Schweiz, edited by Georg Herwegh, Zürich and Winterthur, 1843, pp. 56–71.
  3. Marx 1844: "he political annulment of private property not only fails to abolish private property but even presupposes it. The state abolishes, in its own way, distinctions of birth, social rank, education, occupation, when it declares that birth, social rank, education, occupation, are non-political distinctions, when it proclaims, without regard to these distinctions, that every member of the nation is an equal participant in national sovereignty, when it treats all elements of the real life of the nation from the standpoint of the state. Nevertheless, the state allows private property, education, occupation, to act in their way – i.e., as private property, as education, as occupation, and to exert the influence of their special nature. Far from abolishing these real distinctions, the state only exists on the presupposition of their existence; it feels itself to be a political state and asserts its universality only in opposition to these elements of its being."
  4. ^ Johnson, Paul (April 1, 1984). "Marxism vs. the Jews". Commentary Magazine.
  5. ^ David McLellan: Marx before Marxism (1970), pp. 141–142
  6. ^ Brown, Wendy (1995). "Rights and Identity in Late Modernity: Revisiting the 'Jewish Question'". In Sarat, Austin; Kearns, Thomas (eds.). Identities, Politics, and Rights. University of Michigan Press. pp. 85–130.
  7. Nirenberg 2013, p. 423–459.
  8. Marx 1844: "On the other hand, if the Jew recognizes that his practical nature is futile and works to abolish it, he extricates himself from his previous development and works for human emancipation as such and turns against the supreme practical expression of human self-estrangement."
  9. Ruge, Arnold; Marx, Karl, eds. (1981). Deutsch–Französische Jahrbücher. Leipzig: Reclam.
  10. Engels, Marx: The Holy Family 1845, Chapter VI, The Jewish Question No. 1, No. 2, No. 3
  11. Marx-Engels Gesammtausgabe (MEGA), Volume II, apparatus, p. 648 (German) Dietz, Berlin 1982
  12. Karl Marx Selected Essays, translated by H. J. Stenning (Leonard Parsons, London and New York 1926), pp. 40–97
  13. "Review of A World Without Jews". The Western Socialist. 27 (212). Canada: 5–7. 1960.
  14. "Discussion: Marx and Anti-Semitism". World Socialist. 27 (214). Canada: 11, 19–21. 1960.
  15. Harap, Louis (July–August 1959). "Karl Marx and the Jewish Question" (PDF). Jewish Currents. via Marxists.org: 220–229.
  16. ^ Marx 1844
  17. R. Wistrich in Soviet Jewish Affairs Journal, 4:1, 1974
  18. Bernard Lewis. Semites and Anti-Semites: An Inquiry into Conflict and Prejudice. (1999). W.W. Norton & Company. ISBN 0-393-31839-7 p. 112
  19. Draper 1977
  20. Edward H. Flannery. The Anguish of the Jews: Twenty-Three Centuries of Antisemitism. Paulist Press. (2004). ISBN 0-8091-4324-0 p. 168
  21. Hyam Maccoby. Antisemitism and Modernity: Innovation and Continuity. Routledge. (2006). ISBN 0-415-31173-X pp. 64–66
  22. Robert Fine: Karl Marx and the Radical Critique of Anti-Semitism Archived 2012-02-05 at the Wayback Machine in: Engage Journal 2, May 2006
  23. Larry Ray: Marx and the Radical Critique of Difference Archived 2008-06-01 at the Wayback Machine in: Engage Journal 3, September 2006
  24. Nirenberg, David (2013). Anti-Judaism: The Western Tradition. New York: W. W. Norton & Company. pp. 423–459. ISBN 978-0-393-34791-3.
  25. Nirenberg 2013, p. 4.
  26. Leon 1950, Chapter One, Premises
  27. Isaac Deutscher: Message of the Non-Jewish Jew in American Socialist 1958
  28. ^ Avineri, Shlomo (1964). "Marx and Jewish Emancipation". Journal of the History of Ideas. 25 (3). University of Pennsylvania Press: 445–450. doi:10.2307/2707911. JSTOR 2707911.
  29. "I have just been visited by the chief of the Jewish community here, who has asked me for a petition for the Jews to the Provincial Assembly, and I am willing to do it. However much I dislike the Jewish faith, Bauer's view seems to me too abstract. The thing is to make as many breaches as possible in the Christian state and to smuggle in as much as we can of what is rational. At least, it must be attempted—and the embitterment grows with every petition that is rejected with protestations." Postscript of a Letter from Marx to Arnold Ruge in Dresden, written: Cologne, March 13, 1843
  30. Althusser 1965, Part One: Feuerbach's 'Philosophical Manifestoes', first published in La Nouvelle Critique, December 1960.
  31. Althusser 1965, Part Two: On the Young Marx: Theoretical Questions, first appeared in La Pensée, March–April 1961
  32. Althusser 1965, Part Five: "The 1844 Manuscripts", first published in La Pensée, February 1963.
  33. Marx, Karl (1978) . "1. ad Feuerbach". Marx-Engels-Werke. Vol. 3. p. 5.
  34. Marx, Karl; Engels, Friedrich (1978) . "Thesen über Feuerbach". Marx-Engels-Werke. Vol. 3. p. 533.
  35. Marx, Karl (1974) . "Тезисы О Фейербахе – (Текст 1845 Года) – 1) К «фейербаху»". К. Маркс и Ф. Энгелс — Cочинения. Vol. 42. p. 261.
  36. Marx, Karl; Engels, Friedrich (1974) . "Тезисы О Фейербахе – Маркс О Фейербахе". К. Маркс и Ф. Энгелс — Cочинения. Vol. 42. p. 264.
  37. Marx, Karl; Engels, Friedrich (1955) . "Тезисы О Фейербахе". К. Маркс и Ф. Энгелс — Cочинения. Vol. 3. p. 1.
  38. Marx, Karl (2000) . "Luận cương về Phoi-ơ-bắc – (Bản thảo năm 1845) – 1) về 'Phoi-ơ-bắc'". C.Mác và Ph.Ăng-ghen – Toàn tập. Vol. 42.
  39. Marx, Karl; Engels, Friedrich (2000) . "Luận cương về Phoi-ơ-bắc – Mác nói về Phoi-ơ-bắc". C.Mác và Ph.Ăng-ghen – Toàn tập. Vol. 42.
  40. Marx, Karl; Engels, Friedrich (1995) . "Luận cương về Phoi-ơ-bắc". C.Mác và Ph.Ăng-ghen – Toàn tập. Vol. 3.
  41. Marx, Karl (1976) . "1) ad Feuerbach". Marx/Engels Collected Works. Vol. 5. p. 3.
  42. Marx, Karl; Engels, Friedrich (1976) . "Theses on Feuerbach – Marx on Feuerbach". Marx/Engels Collected Works. Vol. 5. p. 6.
  43. Stephen J. Greenblatt: Marlowe, Marx, and Anti-Semitism, in: Critical Inquiry, Vol. 5, No. 2 (Winter, 1978), pp. 291–307; Excerpt Archived 2007-08-12 at the Wayback Machine
  44. Y. Peled: From theology to sociology: Bruno Bauer and Karl Marx on the question of Jewish emancipation, in: History of Political Thought, Volume 13, Number 3, 1992, pp. 463–485(23); Abstract
  45. Francis Wheen (2001). Karl Marx: A Life. W.W. Norton & Company. p. 56. ISBN 978-0393321579. Retrieved 10 March 2014.
  46. Iain Hampsher-Monk, A History of Modern Political Thought (1992), Blackwell Publishing, p. 496
  47. Thomas Müntzer: Hoch verursachte Schutzrede, or Apology, 1524, Alstedter, English translation cited from Karl Kautsky: Communism in Central Europe in the Time of the Reformation, 1897, Chapter 4, VIII. Münzer's Preparations for the Insurrection
  48. Wilde, Lawrence (Autumn 2000). "'The creatures, too, must become free': Marx and the Animal/Human Distinction". Capital & Class. 24 (72): 37–53. doi:10.1177/030981680007200103. S2CID 144525600. Archived from the original on March 19, 2011 – via Marx Myths and Legends.
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