Marx’s exegetical critique: Deconstructing formulaic expressions of social relations

Abstract

Purpose: This study examines the procedure and function of “exegetical critique” as it appears in selected texts by Marx. In particular, it focuses on how Marx reproduces and closely examines his interlocutors’ sentences, equations, definitions, and programmatic formulations, traces their connections and ordering, and thereby reveals the social relations and historical conditions concealed within them. Method: This study conducts a literature-based textual analysis of The German Ideology, The Poverty of Philosophy, Capital, Volume III, Theories of Surplus Value, “Marginal Notes on Adolph Wagner,” and Critique of the Gotha Programme. Content: This study defines “formulaic expressions” as forms in which historically specific social relations are compressed into self-evident sentences or concepts, while the conditions and mediations through which those relations are constituted are omitted. It then compares six cases and examines how Marx traces lexical and conceptual connections and ordering and reconstructs the social relations omitted from them. Conclusion and Suggestions: The analysis confirms that exegetical critique is a distinctive form of critique that becomes particularly salient when dismantling expressions that fix historically formed social relations into self-evident formulas. This finding demonstrates the potential for interdisciplinary research linking Marx studies, hermeneutics, rhetoric, and social theory, and suggests that exegetical critique may also be applicable to the analysis of formulaic expressions in contemporary society.