'Capital in General' and 'Competition' in the Making of Capital: The German Debate

摘要

In the Manuscripts of 1857-58 and 1861-63, Mane dealt substantially with the topic "capital in general." In several plans he put down in that period this was indicated as the first point of the book on capital, to he followed by the "competition" of "many" capitals. At the end of 1862 Marx referred to a new project, in which that category was not mentioned. Rolsdolky's book on the making of Capital focused for the first time on this question. In Germany and Russia, his interpretation was criticized by several scholars; some of whom were editors of the new critical edition of the works of Marx and Engels (Marx-Engels-Gesamtausgabe). In this long-standing debate new alternative positions emerged. Some argued that the "capital in general" category was abandoned (but not for the same reasons proposed by Rosdolsky); others thought it was maintained as part of a new outline.