Reflections on the New Readings of Marx. Critical Theory as a Non-Identitarian Knowledge

Abstract

This article presents a theoretical and historical reflection on the new readings of Marx, which are located in the tradition of the Frankfurt School, specifically: The Critique of Value, Moishe Postone’s critical theory and the Open Marxism. I use the term "new reading of Marx" in a general sense to refer to a historical constellation that covers the last 30 years. The theoretical point of view of this work is Adorno’s Critical Theory. The objective of this article is not to understand the new readings of Marx as divergent or confronted, but rather to analyze them as moments of cognition of the double character of capitalist society. I shall not to develop a complete and exhaustive analysis of the new readings of Marx; the focus of the analysis is the concept of “capital” and its relation with modern society, one of the main points for these readings. My intention in this article is to contribute the dissolution of the principle of identity that dominates modern thought as a whole, including critical thinking. Adorno’s thought is the most important attempt to overcome this principle and to escape the prison of logic.