244 Economic Theory: An Introductiontheory to heart. Imperialism, its causes and the conflicts that
result, became part of the official communist indictment against
capitalism. This was not Hobson’s intent. He was a heretic
among his peers, but by no means a revolutionary. It is interest
ing that John Hobson, a meek, unassuming reformer, who
wanted only to seek a solution to the poverty he saw in his native
land, would provide a theory that has become a pillar of Marxist
philosophy.
At this point, Marxism deserves mention. However one
assesses its validity, the philosophy of Karl Marx has been the
dominant political and economic force in this century. While
recent events strongly suggest that his influence is on the wane,
the effect of his ideas has been enormous. In Chapter Twenty the
philosophy of Karl Marx was detailed: the labor theory of value,
the theory of surplus value, the theory of concentration of
capital, the theory of the new industrial army, the inevitable
violent revolution, the dictatorship of the proletariat, and the
eventual withering away of the state are all important in under
standing Marxism. Dialectical materialism and historical deter
minism, coupled with his other theories are predicated upon his
concept of the nature of man and it is upon that issue that we must
begin to analyze Marx as well as the other philosophers.
Is man, by nature, competitive? Is man, by nature, coopera
tive? Does man have no human nature at all, in this regard, and
is he simply conditioned to be one or the other? What is human
nature and how powerful is heredity in determining it? How is
our nature formed, and how powerful are the forces of environ
ment? Is man basically self-interested? Or, is man basically
altruistic? These questions are at the forefront of the investiga
tion not only of economic, but of moral and political questions
as well.