The Nature and Logic of Capitalism [Paperback]

Robert L. Heilbroner (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 17, 1986 | ISBN-10: 039395529X | ISBN-13: 978-0393955293

In The Worldly Philosophers, Robert Heilbroner set out to describe what the great economists thought would happen to the system of capitalism. In later books. Professor Heilbroner projected his own views about the future of the capitalist system. Now he asks a still more demanding question: What is capitalism?

In search of an answer, The Nature and Logic of Capitalism takes us on a far-ranging exploration to the unconscious levels of the human psyche and the roots of domination and submission; to the organization of primitive society and the origins of wealth; to the sources of profit and the conception of a "regime" of capital; to the interplay of relatively slow-changing institutions and the powerful force of the accumulation of wealth. By the end of this tour we have grappled not only with ideas of Adam Smith and Karl Marx but with Freud and modern anthropologists as well. And we are far closer to understanding capitalism in our time, its possibilities and limits.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Heilbroner brings his thoughts to the question ``What is capitalism?'' He re fers to earlier civilizations but most of the work deals with American capital ism. His focus is on the social forma tion of capitalismits nature and its logicthe process that surrounds the accumulation of capital. This treatise thus represents Heilbroner's descrip tion of the capital accumulation pro cess, the role of government, and capi talist development, along with the multiple ideologies that can surround capitalism. The theories of numerous other writers, including Marx, Smith, Veblen, Lowe, and Mandel, are both criticized and praised. Difficult reading but important for larger public and aca demic libraries. Jane M. Kathman, Man age ment Dept., Coll. of St. Bene dict, St. Joseph, Minn.
Copyright 1985 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Robert L. Heilbroner was Norman Thomas Professor of Economics at the New School for Social Research and author of The Worldly Philosophers and many other books.

Product Details

• Paperback: 226 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company (September 17, 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 039395529X
• ISBN-13: 978-0393955293
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 4.9 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #352,905 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Robert Heilbroner is the Norman Thomas Professor of Economics, Emeritus, at The New School for Social Research. He is the author of over twenty books, among them The Worldly Philosophers. He lives in New York City.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Still Timely, July 17, 2006

By 

Douglas Doepke (Claremont, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Nature and Logic of Capitalism (Paperback)

A wise and well thought-out booklet. Some readers may be put off by the level of abstraction, but how else can essential properties be discussed other than by abstraction from particular cases. Happily, the text proceeds without the obsessive concern with how things differ-- the hallmark of post-modernism, our intellectual fashion of the day. Nonetheless, the slim volume is not a primer and does make some demands of the reader.

In measured terms, Heilbroner characterizes capitalism as a concept and shows how its defining drive to appropriate profits shapes the entire society. There are a number of departures from Marxist social theory (e.g. the formative role of prestige-desire in the accumulation process), but the outline remains basically intact There are, of course, any number of practical upshots resulting from this point of view. One topical result (mine, not his) would be that instead of talking in neutral fashion about Western society or civilization in its current state, it would be more accurate to characterize each as `capitalist' or `bourgeois', since that class dominates the societal formation as a whole. Accordingly, the so-called `clash of civilizations' with the world of Islam, for example, would be better understood as a clash between Western capitalist civilization with whatever one makes of the Islamic side, a conceptual shift that puts a different cast on the nature of the conflict. Thus, instead of descibing the clash as between "freedom" and those "who hate freedom", as Bush invidiously puts it, the conflict would be framed in terms of profits expansion into a previously recalcitrant region of the world. (In that regard, consider L. Paul Bremer's diktats privatizing the Iraq economy, ones that any succeeding govrnment is legally bound to carry out. So much then for Iraqi self-determination!) All in all, this is not a mere quibble over words, but has far-reaching consequences.

Again, the obvious touchstone is Marx. And while the author follows the broad outline of Marxian social theory, he also wants to loosen up some of the more determinist elements. There is, for example, no mention of such common determinist staples as `dialectical necessity' or `historical inevitability. Heilbroner's is a much less certain world. In that sense, the book can be viewed as a broad reckoning of what remains relevant from Marx's classic social theory and what does not. Given the Bush administration's uncompromising revival of 19th century economics and imperial expansion, perhaps it's time to take an updated look at capital's foremost 19th-century critic.

14 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars What capitalism IS., April 25, 2004

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MrSherlockHolmes - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Nature and Logic of Capitalism (Paperback)

Heilbroner in this book attempts to show what capitalism is, and he looks to a wide range of fields to find the answer. Drawing upon Freud, Smith, Marx and a number of well known economists, philosophers and scholars, he argues that Capitalism is not a state but rather a process, that developed by the inner need of man to dominate and gain power. He contrasts primitive and tributary systems that accumulated surplus for use values with capitalism which seeks surplus for the creation of more surplus; Marx's M-C-M'. The rest of the book builds upon this notion of capital's relentless search for profits.

Although you may not completely agree with Heilbroner's analysis of capital, it is important to look into the mirror he holds up to the system we are in. Heilbroner recognizes the defects of socialism and communism as alternatives to the capitalist system, but he also shows that capitalism as a system is built upon domination by the political system and then exploitation by capital of those who rely upon the system for their sustenance.

Although it is a relatively short book for the subject matter it covers, it is quite dense. Heilbroner's prose at times was too cryptic for me. I don't know whether he intentionally made the work more difficult than it need be to impress, but he would have succeeded more in his purpose to persuade if he was clearer in his exposition.

What was not satisfactorily answered for me is why the appropriation of surplus value by capital is wrong. Heilbroner argues that the return to capital is really a misnomer as it is the appropriation of surplus value created by labor. But surely the capitalist in order to have an incentive to allow the use of his capital and the risk he takes when he enters the market, is entitled to a share of the surplus value of labor.

Heilbroner's book is a necessary one for all those who live in a capitalist society. It questions the assumptions upon which our capitalist system is based. For those of you who are free-market fundamentalists, this book should be a sobering experience. I think everyone, of whatever political persuasion, should read this book. After all, if the free market is as good as you think it is, what harm is there in trying to see what some socialist says about it.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Short additions, November 3, 2005

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charcoal (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Nature and Logic of Capitalism (Paperback)

I won't add too much to what the other reviewers have already said. This is a good read, but it can be offputting because of the way the author writes (almost train-of-thought from a erudite speaker).

Stick with it though, as it becomes more comfortable a few chapters in (unfortunately, the book's only 7 chapters!). If anything, I think it's possible to skip the preface and first chapter, which I didn't find all that illuminating. He defines what "nature" (causes, reasonings) and "logic" (manifestations, rules, expressions of nature) are from an abstract point of view, but takes an entire chapter to say it.