Abstract
A tension persists in Marx's thought between his Kantian respect for the inviolability of persons and his consequentialist ethical theory which defines our moral obligations in terms of advancing historical progress. Since the Kantian part seems to require a theory of rights, the possibility of which the other part denies, his critique of rights is examined and shown to be deficient. In rejecting non-relative standards of right and justice, Marx rejects important implications of his own insights into human moral motivation; and he errs in criticizing the institutions of rights as destructive of community. Whether we consider ‘specific’ or ‘general’ rights, they are not only compatible with community, but necessary foundations for the development of communal feelings. Instead, it is wrongful action—and not the consequent claiming of rights—that is subversive of community.
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