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Philosophy and Science in Gramsci's Reconstruction

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Philosophy and Science in Gramsci's Reconstruction PHILOSOPHY AND SCIENCE IN GRAMSCI’S RECONSTRUCTION OF MARXISM Alessandro Olsaretti Department of Sociology McGill University, Montreal July 2013 A thesis submitted to McGill University in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy © Alessandro Olsaretti, 2013 CONTENTS (GENERAL): Abstract (English) 4 Abstract (French) 5 Acknowledgements 6 Introduction 7 THE PHILOSOPHY OF PRAXIS 1 – Philosophy, Intellectuals and Hegemony 38 2 – Practical Activity 76 3 – Human Nature 107 THE THEORY OF SCIENCE 4 – Natural Science 133 5 – Economics 165 6 – Political Science 199 Conclusions 243 Bibliographic Note 249 Bibliography 251 1 CONTENTS (DETAILED): Introduction 7 THE PHILOSOPHY OF PRAXIS 1 – Philosophy, Intellectuals and Hegemony 38 1.1 – The Development of the Notes on Philosophy I: Pre­Prison Antecedents 42 1.2 – The Development of the Notes on Philosophy II: the Miscellaneous Notebooks 45 1.3 – The Development of the Notes on Philosophy III: the Thematic Notebooks 49 1.4 – Philosophy and Intellectuals I: The Double Revision of Marxism 56 1.5 – Philosophy and Intellectuals II: the Success of Idealism 59 1.6 – Philosophy and Intellectuals III: the Intellectuals­Masses Dialectic 62 1.7 – Philosophy and Hegemony I: The Critique of Common Sense 65 1.8 – Philosophy and Hegemony II: The Critique of Implicit Philosophy 68 1.9 – Philosophy and Hegemony III: The Critical Conception of the World 71 Conclusion 74 2 – Practical Activity 76 2.1 – The Development of the Notes on Praxis 80 2.2 – Praxis as The Foundation of a Concrete Humanism 87 2.3 – Praxis as The Unity of Theory and Practice 93 2.4 – The Unity of Structure and Superstructures 98 Conclusion 106 3 – Human Nature 107 3.1 – The Development of the Notes on Human Nature 112 3.2 – Capabilities/possibilities and the Question of Progress 117 3.3 – Man as Essentially Political I: the Social/relational Components 121 3.4 – Man as Essentially Political II: the Purely Individual Component 127 Conclusion 131 2 THE THEORY OF SCIENCE 4 – Natural Science 133 4.1 – The Development of the Notes on Science 138 4.2 – Philosophy and Natural Science 143 4.3 – The Critique of Bukharin and Common Sense Realism 148 4.4 – Objectivity and Experimental Activity 154 4.5 –Objectivity and Cultural Differences 159 Conclusion 163 5 – Economics 165 5.1 – The Development of the Notes on Economics 171 5.2 – Natural Science and Economics 175 5.3 – The Critique of Croce and Pure Economics 181 5.4 – The Historical Study of the Economic Structure 186 5.5 – Economic Science and Tendential Laws 192 Conclusion 198 6 – Political Science 199 6.1 – The Development of the Notes on Political Science 205 6.2 – Economics and Political Science I: Against Economism 209 6.3 – Economics and Political Science II: Collective Will and Subjects 213 6.4 – The Critique of Croce and The Machiavellians I: Bureaucratization 218 6.5 – The Critique of Croce and The Machiavellians II: Elites 222 6.6 – Relations of Force I: The Definition 230 6.7 – Relations of Force II: The Framework of Economy and Politics 233 6.8 – Economic and Political Preconditions of Historical Development 239 Conclusion 241 Conclusions 243 Bibliographic Note 249 Bibliography 251 3 ABSTRACT (ENGLISH) This thesis investigates the role that philosophy and science play in Gramsci’s Prison Notebooks. While there is growing recognition of the importance of philosophy in Gramsci’s prison work, the importance of science and its relationship to philosophy often go unremarked. Yet both fields were important to Gramsci’s prison project. The bulk of the thesis consists in a detailed philological study of the unabridged Italian edition of the Prison Notebooks by Valentino Gerratana which brings out the importance of both philosophy and science to Gramsci's work, as well as their inter-relationship. In fact a crucial part of Gramsci' work while in prison, the part belonging to a second and most productive phase of the prison work according to current scholarship on Gramsci, consists in an effort to reconstruct Marxism as a philosophy of praxis within which a special place was reserved for science. Gramsci in fact dealt extensively with both natural science in its relationship to philosophy and, even more importantly, with social sciences like economics and political science. This was in keeping with the insight that Marxism was born out of the encounter between philosophy, economics and politics, which constituted the three keystones of Marx’s new theory for Gramsci. The first part of this thesis analyzes Gramsci’s reconstruction of Marxism as a philosophy of praxis, examining how the foundational concepts of praxis and human nature were interpreted by Gramsci in such a way as to lay the foundations for his theory of science. It then considers this theory of science in detail, examining first the place that Gramsci’s reflection on natural science played within his reconstruction of Marxism, then considering how he laid the foundations for economics and political science within Marxism. Two novel concerns emerge in this discussion: the centrality of social science to Gramsci’s reconstruction of Marxism and the importance that the individual played in both his philosophy and in this social science, particularly in economics. 4 ABSTRACT (FRENCH) Cette thèse explore le rôle de la philosophie et de la science dans les Carnets de prison de Gramsci. Alors que l’importance de la philosophie dans les écrits de prison de Gramsci continue de gagner en reconnaissance, l’importance de la science et de son rapport avec la philosophie est souvent négligée. Ces deux champs de recherche sont toutefois aussi important l’un que l’autre dans le projet réalisé par Gramsci lors de ses années passées en prison. La plus grande partie de cette thèse consiste en une analyse philologique détaillée de la version italienne complète des Carnets de prison établie par Valentino Gerratana. Elle met en évidence la double importance de la philosophie et de la science dans les écrits de Gramsci et le rapport qui les unit. Effectivement, une part essentielle de l’oeuvre de prison de Gramsci, identifiée par la recherche portant sur Gramsci comme un second volet distinct et plus productif de ses écrits de prison, se présente comme un effort de reconstruction du marxisme comme philosophie de la praxis au sein de laquelle une place particulière est réservée à la science. En fait, Gramsci s’est largement intéressé aux sciences naturelles dans leur rapport avec la philosophie et, de manière plus importante encore, avec des sciences sociales comme l’économie et la science politique, et ce en cohérence avec l’idée que le marxisme est né de la rencontre de la philosophie, de l’économie et de la politique, les trois piliers de la nouvelle théorie de Marx chez Gramsci. Dans un premier temps, cette thèse analyse la reconstruction du marxisme comme philosophie de la praxis par Gramsci en examinant comment les concepts fondamentaux de praxis et de nature humaine sont interprétés par Gramsci de manière à jeter les bases de sa théorie de la science. La thèse s’intéresse ensuite à cette théorie de la science en détails, examinant d’abord la place des réflexions de Gramsci sur les sciences naturelles au sein de sa reconstruction du marxisme, puis en considérant la manière dont il établit les fondements de l’économie et de la science politique au sein du marxisme. Deux préoccupations nouvelles émergent de cette discussion: la centralité des sciences sociales dans la reconstruction du marxisme par Gramsci et l’importance de l’individu dans sa philosophie et dans ces sciences sociales, particulièrement en économie. 5 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to thank John A. Hall for his encouragement as well as for the kind guidance and insightful comments that I received from him throughout the completion of this project. This thesis is all the better thanks to his guidance and comments. I also wish to thank Fabio Frosini for his generous hospitality, encouragement and detailed comments on an earlier draft of the thesis. They proved critical both for the argument and the timely completion of the thesis. Michelle Hartman has been there for this one too, with more detailed points than I can thank her for. 6 INTRODUCTION This thesis argues that a crucial part of Gramsci’s prison work has an intimate unity and coherence dictated by a single overriding concern: laying the theoretical foundations for a reconstruction of Marxism. This task had two aspects for Gramsci. First, it included defining Marxism as a philosophy or theory of history. As understood by Gramsci, this philosophy focused on praxis, or human practical activity, thus marking a radical departure from idealist and materialist philosophies alike. Second, the task included sketching the place of various sciences – natural science, economics and political science – within Marxism reconstructed as a philosophy. In fact, Marxism itself was for Gramsci a philosophy or theory of history, not a science of society. But within this philosophy an important role was reserved for natural science and even more so for social sciences like economics and political science. After all, as echoed by Gramsci in several notes, Marx’s theory had emerged from a synthesis of German philosophy together with English economics and French political thought. The upshot of this argument is to propose a new picture of Gramsci, one that is perhaps closer to contemporary Analytical Marxism than to the cultural or linguistic turn. Gramsci’s interest in the notion that Marxism was a synthesis of philosophy, economics and politics betrays in fact a concern with the foundations of knowledge and explanation in social science. These were the traditional foundational concerns associated with the rise of modern social science. These traditional concerns, however, do not make him any less interesting from the vantage point of today, in the wake of the cultural and linguistic turn.
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