Abstract
Marx sees history as a progressive development. This account is often criticized for portraying history in a Hegelian fashion as a single teleological process culminating ultimately in a classless communist society. Is this criticism justified? What role - if any - do teleological ideas play in Marx's philosophy? Marx himself is unclear on these issues. Through a critical discussion of Althusser's view that history is a process without a subject, it is argued that Marxism is best seen as a theory which involves a naturalistic concept of teleology and which describes the historical emergence of the human subject. This interpretation is supported by comparison of Marx's theory of history with Darwinian evolutionary theory.
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