It Turned Out to Be a Snark (Book review: P.N. Kondrashov. Nine Myths of Karl Marx’s Philosophy: From Demythologization to the Reconstruction of the Original Ideas. Moscow: LENAND, 2023)

The review offers a critical examination of P.N. Kondrashov’s monograph, Nine Myths of Karl Marx’s Philosophy: From Demythologization to the Reconstruction of the Original Ideas. Kondrashov employs an expansive definition of myth, encompassing any distorted interpretation of Marx’s philosophy that is prevalent within certain groups. Kondrashov posits that these distortions primarily stem from misattributions to Marx, decontextualization of his statements, and subsequent reinterpretations that invert their original meaning. However, the book’s author can only partially substantiate the existence and prevalence of these distortions. As a result, his understanding of the “degree of prevalence” affords him almost unlimited discretion to classify as myths both widespread misconceptions and contentious interpretations known only to a narrow circle of specialists. Consequently, the debunking of these “myths,” which in many cases can only loosely be classified as such, transforms into a critique of revisionism and other forms of “bourgeois ideology and propaganda.” Kondrashov often “reconstructs” what he perceives to be “myths about Marx’s philosophy,” only to subsequently refute them, thereby reaffirming his own interpretations of contentious aspects of Marx’s philosophy. In conclusion, while Kondrashov’s primary contribution lies in his positive exposition of the reconstructed ideas of Marx, the framing of this process as “demythologization” could potentially lead to confusion.

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5. Kondrashov P.N. & Lyubutin K.N. (2007) Dialectics of Everyday Life: A Methodological Approach. Yekaterinburg: Urals State University – Institute of Philosophy and History, Ural Branch of RAS – Russian Academy of Sciences (in Russian)

6. Kondrashov P.N. & Lyubutin K.N. (2010) Historical Phenomenology of Inhumanity. Yekaterinburg: Ural Branch of RAS Publishing House (in Russian)