Re: How the Dismal Science Got Its Name

Robin Hanson (hanson@hss.caltech.edu)
Wed, 26 Mar 1997 09:13:37 -0800 (PST)

Max More writes:
>>This white-wash has been made easier by the fact
>>that Marx himself came from the economic tradition, and so shared
>>their views on race and gender.
>
>Interesting information Robin. Marx, however, does seemed to have been
>racist. He made numerous racist remarks about Jews when attacking other
>socialists he felt rivalrous with including La Salle.

Let me clarify. I quote from Gould, "Mismeasure of Man" (p.422)

"The egqalitarian end did not exist for the policymakers of Darwin's
day. All were racists by modern standards. On that spectrum, those we
now judge most harshly urged that inferiority be used as an excuse for
dispossession and slavery, while those we most admire in restrospect
urged a moral principle of equal rights and nonexploitation, whatever
the biological status of people."

Carlyle and his socialist allies I am referring to were "Brutal"
racists, advocating slavery and cruel treatment of blacks, using
language that is quite shocking to the modern ear. My understanding
is that Marx was much more moderate than this.

Robin D. Hanson hanson@hss.caltech.edu http://hss.caltech.edu/~hanson/