The Theory of Need in Marx

By Agnes Heller, Stephen Bodington and Ken Coates

The first full presentation of a fundamental aspect of Marx, the concept of need

What are needs? While the edifices of economic theory are built upon various mechanisms designed to satisfy “human needs,” not many economists have addressed the idea of need itself. Heller’s highly original work identifies this lacuna, recognizing the concept of needs as playing a “hidden but principal role in Marx’s economic categories.” Her writing lucidly exposes radical needs as bearing the seeds of revolutionary agency in alienated capitalist society, and reasserts our existence as sentient beings beyond the realm of the material, productive spheres.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: May 1, 2018
• ISBN: 9781786636133

Agnes Heller

Born in Budapest in 1929, Agnes Heller was Professor Emerita of Philosophy at the New School for Social Research in New York City. A student and colleague of Georg Luk�cs during her years at the University of Budapest, Heller is highly acclaimed for her contributions to Marxist philosophy. She received numerous awards for her work, including the Hannah Arendt Prize, the Sonning Prize, and the Goethe Medal.

Reviews for The Theory of Need in Marx

[mccaine · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

In particular the philosophy of needs and their fulfilment. Agnes Heller's book is quite short, a mere 130 pages of content, but she accessibly and thoroughly analyzes all Marx' statements about need and the various meanings he gives to the word. She also contrasts individual need with social need, discusses true and false needs and class interests. The book in many parts is confusing and lacks structure, but that is not Heller's fault, but Marx' own fault; his use of the concept is contradictory in many places, and Heller does not hesitate to point out every inconsistency in his writings on this subject. Her general treatment of Marx is, of course, positive, but she is very even-handed in assessing the realism and the logic of Marx' own theory of needs, in particular as concerns the future "society of associated producers". There are a couple of flaws in her work, though. The first is her obligatory negative treatment of Engels, which in fact goes to such lengths that she refuses to consider works written by Marx and Engels together in her analysis (like the Manifesto!), and even when she has to admit Engels was correct on a certain point it is always still mysteriously "one-sided" or "limited". This is a common tendency in Marxist analysis and it is very tiresome. Another problem is her argumentation by means of things that Marx has NOT written; absence of commentary in certain places is used as an argument for favoring one interpretation over another in several cases, which is always a dubious endeavour. But overall it is a competent, if clearly Hegelian, reading of Marx, in the school of Lukacs. Anything one might want to know about the way Marx uses the concept of need can be found within, and that is useful indeed.