Alfred Sohn-Rethel
Encyclopedia
Alfred Sohn-Rethel was a Marxist economist
and philosopher especially interested in epistemology. He also wrote about the relationship of German industry with national socialism
.
near Paris, Sohn-Rethel came from a family of painters and his father was a painter too. His mother came from the Oppenheim family and had influential relations with big business.
As his family did not want him also to become a painter, he was brought up by his uncle, the steel industrialist Ernst Poensgen. On Christmas 1915 he expressed a wish for a copy of Karl Marx
Capital as a present. He received one and studied it intensively. Sohn-Rethel received his doctorate with the Austrian Marxist Emil Lederer
in 1928. In his thesis he criticized the theory of marginal utility
as a petitio principii because it implies the notion of number implicitly.
His theoretical concerns are close to the Frankfurt School
. In 1924 he had met Adorno and Kracauer
on the island of Capri. From 1920 he was a friend of the philosopher Ernst Bloch
and in 1921 he met Walter Benjamin
. He stayed in contact with different members of the Frankfurt School
but they never established a close working relationship because Horkheimer
was afraid of social theory becoming too speculative.
Thanks to Poensgen he found a job as research assistant at the Mitteleuropäischer Wirtschaftstag (MWT). The MWT was a lobbying organization of the leading export industries. From 1931 to 1936 he worked 'in the cave of the lion' and watched and analyzed power politics from a very close distance. At the same time he had contacts with socialist resistance groups like Neu beginnen or Der rote Stosstrupp. In 1937 he emigrated via Switzerland and Paris to England. He wrote economic analyses for a circle close to Churchill which were used against Chamberlain's appeasement policy.
For a long time after the Second World War Sohn-Rethel was not really able to continue his theoretical work. He made a living teaching French. He joined the Communist Party and despite his disillusionment he was a member until 1972. The 68 movement created a new interest in his work. At the funeral of Adorno he met the editor Unseld who encouraged him to crystallize his ideas in his major work Intellectual and manual labor. In 1978 Sohn-Rethel was appointed Professor for Social Philosophy at Bremen University. He died in Bremen in 1990.
, especially the notion that a post-marxist social and historical analysis can be founded on the 'real abstraction' principle.
The second domain where Sohn-Rethel made important contributions was the study of the economic policies which favored the rise of German fascism. He insisted on the difference between different factions of capitalists, the more prospering industries close to Brüning
and the less successful industries close to the Harzburger Front (Hugenberg, Hitler) namely coal, construction and steel - with the exception of Krupp
. The endorsement of the compromise between industry and big agrarians at the shareholders' meeting of the IG Farben
in 1932 paved the way for the dictatorship, according to Sohn-Rethel.
Economist
An economist is a professional in the social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy...
and philosopher especially interested in epistemology. He also wrote about the relationship of German industry with national socialism
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
.
Life
Born in Neuilly-sur-SeineNeuilly-sur-Seine
Neuilly-sur-Seine is a commune in the western suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris.Although Neuilly is technically a suburb of Paris, it is immediately adjacent to the city and directly extends it. The area is composed of mostly wealthy, select residential...
near Paris, Sohn-Rethel came from a family of painters and his father was a painter too. His mother came from the Oppenheim family and had influential relations with big business.
As his family did not want him also to become a painter, he was brought up by his uncle, the steel industrialist Ernst Poensgen. On Christmas 1915 he expressed a wish for a copy of Karl Marx
Karl Marx
Karl Heinrich Marx was a German philosopher, economist, sociologist, historian, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. His ideas played a significant role in the development of social science and the socialist political movement...
Capital as a present. He received one and studied it intensively. Sohn-Rethel received his doctorate with the Austrian Marxist Emil Lederer
Emil Lederer
Emil Lederer was a Bohemian-born German economist and sociologist. Purged from his position at Heidelberg University in 1933 for being Jewish, Lederer fled into exile. He helped establish the "University in Exile" at the New School in New York City.-Biography:Lederer was born in 1882 to a Jewish...
in 1928. In his thesis he criticized the theory of marginal utility
Marginal utility
In economics, the marginal utility of a good or service is the utility gained from an increase in the consumption of that good or service...
as a petitio principii because it implies the notion of number implicitly.
His theoretical concerns are close to the Frankfurt School
Frankfurt School
The Frankfurt School refers to a school of neo-Marxist interdisciplinary social theory, particularly associated with the Institute for Social Research at the University of Frankfurt am Main...
. In 1924 he had met Adorno and Kracauer
Siegfried Kracauer
Siegfried Kracauer was a German-Jewish writer, journalist, sociologist, cultural critic, and film theorist...
on the island of Capri. From 1920 he was a friend of the philosopher Ernst Bloch
Ernst Bloch
Ernst Bloch was a German Marxist philosopher.Bloch was influenced by both Hegel and Marx and, as he always confessed, by novelist Karl May. He was also interested in music and art . He established friendships with Georg Lukács, Bertolt Brecht, Kurt Weill and Theodor W. Adorno...
and in 1921 he met Walter Benjamin
Walter Benjamin
Walter Bendix Schönflies Benjamin was a German-Jewish intellectual, who functioned variously as a literary critic, philosopher, sociologist, translator, radio broadcaster and essayist...
. He stayed in contact with different members of the Frankfurt School
Frankfurt School
The Frankfurt School refers to a school of neo-Marxist interdisciplinary social theory, particularly associated with the Institute for Social Research at the University of Frankfurt am Main...
but they never established a close working relationship because Horkheimer
Max Horkheimer
Max Horkheimer was a German-Jewish philosopher-sociologist, famous for his work in critical theory as a member of the 'Frankfurt School' of social research. His most important works include The Eclipse of Reason and, in collaboration with Theodor Adorno, The Dialectic of Enlightenment...
was afraid of social theory becoming too speculative.
Thanks to Poensgen he found a job as research assistant at the Mitteleuropäischer Wirtschaftstag (MWT). The MWT was a lobbying organization of the leading export industries. From 1931 to 1936 he worked 'in the cave of the lion' and watched and analyzed power politics from a very close distance. At the same time he had contacts with socialist resistance groups like Neu beginnen or Der rote Stosstrupp. In 1937 he emigrated via Switzerland and Paris to England. He wrote economic analyses for a circle close to Churchill which were used against Chamberlain's appeasement policy.
For a long time after the Second World War Sohn-Rethel was not really able to continue his theoretical work. He made a living teaching French. He joined the Communist Party and despite his disillusionment he was a member until 1972. The 68 movement created a new interest in his work. At the funeral of Adorno he met the editor Unseld who encouraged him to crystallize his ideas in his major work Intellectual and manual labor. In 1978 Sohn-Rethel was appointed Professor for Social Philosophy at Bremen University. He died in Bremen in 1990.
Theory
Sohn-Rethel's life-long project was the combination of the epistemology of Kant with Marx's critique of political economy. When people exchange commodities they abstract from the specific goods. Only the value of these goods is important. This abstraction is called 'real abstraction' because it takes place without conscious effort; whether or not anyone is aware of it is of no importance. Sohn-Rethel believed this type of abstraction to be the real basis of formal and abstract thinking. All of Kant's categories such as space, time, quality, substance, accident, movement and so forth are implicit in the act of exchange. Readers of Marx will not be entirely surprised by such a genealogy, since Marx himself suggested that the ideas of freedom and equality, at least as we know them so far, are rooted in the exchange of commodities. Sohn-Rethel's work on the nature of 'real abstraction' has been amplified and extended by the writers of Arena (Australian publishing co-operative)Arena (Australian publishing co-operative)
Arena is an independent Australian radical and critical publishing group. It has been publishing continuously since 1963. Currently, its principal publications are the political and cultural Arena Magazine , and the twice-yearly theoretical publication Arena Journal...
, especially the notion that a post-marxist social and historical analysis can be founded on the 'real abstraction' principle.
The second domain where Sohn-Rethel made important contributions was the study of the economic policies which favored the rise of German fascism. He insisted on the difference between different factions of capitalists, the more prospering industries close to Brüning
Heinrich Brüning
Heinrich Brüning was Chancellor of Germany from 1930 to 1932, during the Weimar Republic. He was the longest serving Chancellor of the Weimar Republic, and remains a controversial figure in German politics....
and the less successful industries close to the Harzburger Front (Hugenberg, Hitler) namely coal, construction and steel - with the exception of Krupp
Krupp
The Krupp family , a prominent 400-year-old German dynasty from Essen, have become famous for their steel production and for their manufacture of ammunition and armaments. The family business, known as Friedrich Krupp AG Hoesch-Krupp, was the largest company in Europe at the beginning of the 20th...
. The endorsement of the compromise between industry and big agrarians at the shareholders' meeting of the IG Farben
IG Farben
I.G. Farbenindustrie AG was a German chemical industry conglomerate. Its name is taken from Interessen-Gemeinschaft Farbenindustrie AG . The company was formed in 1925 from a number of major companies that had been working together closely since World War I...
in 1932 paved the way for the dictatorship, according to Sohn-Rethel.
Works
- Intellectual and manual labour : a critique of epistemology , Atlantic Highlands, N.J : Humanities Press, 1977
- Economy and class structure of German fascism, London, CSE Books, 1978