Interpreting Marx as a Philosopher of Life: An Attempt of a Peculiar Synthesis in the Thought of Michel Henry

Abstract

We can find certain constant motifs in the far-reaching and rich oeuvre of Michel Henry, that run through his entire oeuvre. First and foremost, we can highlight four such motifs: his commitment to phenomenology, to philosophy of life, to Catholicism, and to the philosophy of Marx. Perhaps the most important motif from these was his phenomenological commitment. In his life’ work – in my interpretation – we should interpret everything related to his phenomenological philosophy. In the present paper, I would like to take a closer look at Michel Henry’s phenomenologically oriented reading of Marx, which occupies a quite specific and unique place in the range of 20th century interpretations of Marx. It is an interpretation that is fundamentally based upon the philosophy and phenomenology of life, and in which Henry contrasts Marx with Marxism in general, that is, with all the interpretations of Marx that emerged after Marx’s death. Marx’s idea of radical emancipation, Henry argues, must ultimately be directed to the liberation of immanent, productive life. It imposes upon us the ethical and political imperative to continually seek to transcend capitalism as a state of permanent barbarism.