Attempts to find an underlying consistency in Marx's complex vision of history without glossing over apparent contradiciton in the writings of Marx and in those of his interpreters.

Addressing himself to basic ethical questions -- What is the essential value of life? What is right action? What is the nature of a good social order? -- the author seeks to find his answers in the humanist spirit of philosophy. The author takes his quest beyond the limits of personal ethics. Viewing man both as an individual and as a member of society, he examines, among various themes, the meaning and implications of the community as an ethical concept. In (...) so doing, he refers to such related fields as religion, law, sociology and political theory, but the primary focus of the book is on basic sources and central issues. Far more than most writers on ethics, he deals with the concept of justice, and with human rights and liberties; the values of democracy he treats at length and relates to the individual. The result is a text of depth and distinction that deals with the total human personality in the dynamic context of a functioning society. (shrink)