Marxism and utopia

pp. 21-67

in: Wayne Hudson, The Marxist philosophy of Ernst Bloch, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 1982

Abstract

Bloch's early utopian philosophy has received little critical attention, although it throws light on the problem of his development and on the meaning of some of his most difficult concepts. Bloch tries to present his work as a unified whole; hence, the nonchronological listing of works in the Gesamtausgabe and the replacement of the original texts by revised editions. Nonetheless, it is important to note that Bloch formulated many of his fundamental ideas either before he became a Marxist or before Marxism became as central to his thought as it would later become.