Marxist Ethics - A Short Exposition by Willis H Truitt

Book Review by Bruce Toms

n his slim volume of 107 pages Willis Truitt makes much of Marxist philosophy more easily accessible to modern readers than many writers have formerly done...Difficult technical terms are used sparingly in the interests of clearing up some common misunderstandings of Marxism.

A basic misunderstanding is that Marxism is deterministic- leading to the frequently made absurd claim that Marx=s economic interpretation of history is based on technological progress without human intervention. If that was the case there would be no point in discussing Marxist ethics because such a narrow view would imply that Marxism confines itself to the material world.. Yet it is well known that Marx condemned the injustices of capitalism and other exploitative systems in moral language. A Marxist ethic is suggested by the use of such language. Truitt establishes that human intervention is the basis of this ethic and takes the form of partisanship with the exploited . Under capitalism such partisanship is with the working class as a priority and it interacts with the material world dialectically to produce change.

Truitt argues that ethical theories are, in general, ideological ie .they embody the values of ruling classes; and he explains the ways in which the state serves the interests of the ruling class under capitalism. One striking example, the use of Aright to work@ legislation, is chosen from his own USA but it applies equally to current AWork Choices@ in Australia.. It is a case of a seemingly noble ideal being used as a smokescreen for a scandalous policy that inhibits the rights of workers to organise and defend their interests.

Traditional ideas and institutions of justice claim a disinterested, dispassionate deliberation of issues, says Truitt. Yet justice in workers= interests would, to a Marxist, return all value to labour. After all, classical economists ,as well as Marx agree that all value is created by labour. To return that value to labour, then, means expropriation of the exploiting capitalist class and the prevention of another exploiting class thereby emerging by transferring capitalist ownership to collective ownership by the working class.

Truitt tackles the frequent assertion that individual rights are denied by collective ownership. He argues that individual development is possible only in a society free from exploitation , unemployment and poverty. He quotes Marx=s statement in the AGrundrisse@ that capitalist society reduces human freedom to a material condition , Athe freedom to compete for subsistence for many if not for the majority@. He concludes this argument with a discussion of the tactical and ethical issues that would arise in the class struggle to overthrow capitalism and the transition to an ethic of duty in the construction of a socialist society. This discussion is designed to emphasise the historically situational character of Marxist morality.

Truitt was able to observe everyday life in the former Soviet Union, before and after the restoration of capitalism there in the early 1990's. The rejection of marxism in the post Soviet period convinced him that the resulting morality based on egoism, market principles of economic efficiency, nationalism and religion, has had profound anti-social effects on people, compared to the pre 1990 period

Truitt offers a fresh and accessible exposition of an important, but little explored area of Marxist thought which is worthy of attention

Professor Truitt teaches pphilosophy at the University of South Florida, Tampa. The book was published byi International Publishers, New York, in 2005 and is available for $15 from CPA, 74 Buckingham St., Surry Hills, NSW, 2010. Major booksellers can also supply it by request.