To assist those in comparative politics in assessing Marxist inquiry, the research-relevant assumptions and research practice of several Marxist orientations are described and compared to those of major Western intellectual currents (romanticism, empiricism, and rationalism). The match between specific Western currents and Marxist orientations is surprisingly straightforward. The Philosophic Marxists are found to share many elements with Western romanticism. The Materialist Marxists are shown to agree with most aspects of modern empiricism. The Structuralist Marxists and the Analytical Marxists are considered to be in agreement with contemporary rationalism on research-related questions. The Stalinist-inspired Deductivist Marxist have a contradictory view of research, which, nevertheless, shares important points with Western philosophical currents. On the topic of research, certain Marxists are found to be intellectually closer to non-Marxists who share their assumptions than they are to other Marxists who disagree with them on these matters.
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