General intellect, according to
Karl Marx
Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...
in his ''
Grundrisse
The ''Grundrisse der Kritik der Politischen Ökonomie'' (''Foundations of a Critique of Political Economy'') is an unfinished manuscript by the German philosopher Karl Marx. The series of seven notebooks was rough-drafted by Marx, chiefly for ...
'', became a crucial
force of production. It is a combination of
technological
Technology is the application of knowledge to reach practical goals in a specifiable and reproducible way. The word ''technology'' may also mean the product of such an endeavor. The use of technology is widely prevalent in medicine, science, ...
expertise
An expert is somebody who has a broad and deep understanding and competence in terms of knowledge, skill and experience through practice and education in a particular field. Informally, an expert is someone widely recognized as a reliable s ...
and
social
Social organisms, including human(s), live collectively in interacting populations. This interaction is considered social whether they are aware of it or not, and whether the exchange is voluntary or not.
Etymology
The word "social" derives from ...
intellect, or general
social knowledge
Common knowledge is knowledge that is publicly known by everyone or nearly everyone, usually with reference to the community in which the knowledge is referenced. Common knowledge can be about a broad range of subjects, such as science, literat ...
(increasing importance of
machinery in
social organization
In sociology, a social organization is a pattern of relationships between and among individuals and social groups.
Characteristics of social organization can include qualities such as sexual composition, spatiotemporal cohesion, leadership, s ...
). The "general intellect" passage in the 'Fragment on machines' section of ''Grundrisse'', says that, while the development of machinery led to the oppression of workers under
capitalism
Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, price system, priva ...
, it also offers a prospect for future liberation.
Overview
According to Marx, the development of the general intellect manifests in a
capitalist society
Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, price system, private pr ...
, in the control of the social life process. In other words, with the idea of the general intellect, Marx designates a radical change of the subsumption of
labour to
capital and indicates a third stage of the
division of labour. The concept has several interpretations. For instance,
Paolo Virno maintained that "general intellect" does not only thrive in communism, as Marx originally thought, since it also characterized other economic systems such as the
late capitalism
Late capitalism, late-stage capitalism, or end-stage capitalism is a term first used in print by German economist Werner Sombart around the turn of the 20th century. In the late 2010s, the term began to be used in the United States and Canada t ...
. Here, it is suggested that Marx underestimated the extent to which the general intellect would develop within capitalism, particularly in the modern period where the concept is said to have been realised but with no revolutionary or even conflictual repercussions.
Etymology
According to Matteo Pasquinelli, Marx took the expression 'general intellect' from William Thompson's book ''An Inquiry Into the Principles of the Distribution of Wealth'' (1824) which is probably the first book ever written on mental labour. According to Pasquinelli the concept disappears in the transition between the ''Grundrisse'' and ''Capital'' as it is replaced by the notion of collective worker or ''Gesamtarbeiter''.
See also
*
Cognitive capitalism
References
External links
*
Paolo Virno"General Intellect"in ''Lessico Postfordista'', Milano: Feltrinelli, 2001.
* Matteo Pasquinelli
"Italian Operaismo and the Information Machine" ''Theory, Culture & Society'', first published on February 2, 2014.
*Matteo Pasquinelli,
On the Origins of Marx's General Intellect" ''Radical Philosophy,'' 2.06, winter 2019.
* Tony Smith
The "General Intellect" in the ''Grundrisse'' and beyond
Marxist theory
{{poli-philo-stub