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This essay argues that Marx's doctoral dissertation presents a Hegelian reading of the natural philosophies of Epicurus and Democritus which serves as important evidence of Marx's subscription to a Hegelian style of theorising, which informs his later, more famous works. Marx perceives Epicurean atomism to be superior to Democritean atomism in so far as Epicurus registers the self-determining character of thought and reality. A holistic, conceptual perspective is taken to inform Epicurus' understanding of concepts, nature and self-consciousness. Marx's preference for Epicurus over Democritus reflects Marx's own commitment to what Oilman has termed a philosophy of internal relations.¹ Marx takes Epicurus to represent the world as being determined immanently by the principles invoked in its explanation. Epicurean atomism is seen as being opposed to the fabrication of causal explanations which construe things as merely being acted upon by discrete, external factors. Marx's sophisticated reading of the determination and interpénétration of concepts in Epicurean natural philosophy, reflects Marx's own capacity to perceive connections between categorial standpoints. It also points to Marx's subsequent reading of capitalism as a relative, historical mode of production which generates an interrelated set of phenomena demanding explanation, in a holistic conceptual framework.

DOI: 10.1057/9780230595934_6

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