Marx’s Grundrisse and the Dialectic in Life and in Thought

The 1973 publication of the first English translation of Marx’s Grundrisse, also called the “Rough Draft” of Capital, was hailed by Dunayevskaya for how it showed the self-determination of the Idea. The two letters presented here take up the illumination shed by the Grundrisse on the break in Marx’s concept of theory, his restructuring of Capital, and the relationship between the dialectic in life and in theory. The second letter addresses these themes and Marx’s method rooted in the Hegelian dialectic through a detailed critique of the Foreword by the translator, Martin Nicolaus. The letters are included in The Supplement to the Raya Dunayevskaya Collection, pp. 15099–100 and 12435–39.