An Investigation of Marxism’s Responsibility for Authoritarianism in the Soviet Union

Abstract

This thesis is a written critique of David. W. Lovell’s From Marx to Lenin: An Evaluation of Marx’s Responsibility for Soviet Authoritarianism. It summarizes Lovell’s arguments and conclusions and criticizes them for leaving out some of Marx’s most notable critics and their views. I seek to demonstrate how Lovell’s work is an example of a wrong approach to philosophical responsibility, both because it seeks to link outcomes to a man instead of to ideas, and because it does not engage with these ideas sufficiently. I will conclude that Lovell’s mistakes are an example of the causes behind Marxism’s continued popularity, and object to an a-moral analysis of philosophical theory.