Great Minds - Part 4 - Marx and the Problem of Alienation and Ideology

I've taken several graduate level courses on Marxism and Critical Theory and spent a long time thinking about those issues from many perspectives and I, for one, think this lecture is spot on and remarkably illuminating for an introduction. I don't know if one can appreciate everything he's saying without more study and context, but he's done a very nice job here, and his delivery is a good example of how style and form can go a long way to conveying ideas. Sugrue is not a lecturer so much as one who recreates and distills a fascinating dynamic conversation that took decades into an hour for his audiences.

This is the best thing that’s happened to me. Finding this channel. Dr. Sugrue, bless you dear professor you are a gift ☺️👏🏻👏🏻

Every single one of these lectures is pure gold. It's as deep as some of the text themselves.

This is how more people should talk about Karl Marx. No bias, no spin, no emotion, no misrepresenting anything, not for him or against him. Just telling it like it is. Play the devil's advocate for all sides and let the audience decide for themselves.

These series of lectures, along with Rick Roderick's are my favorite things on YouTube. I keep coming back to them from time to time to make sense of the world.

It’s amazing that we can listen to this without any ads ! Incredible.

it's an absolute joy how listening as well as understanding is eased through passion, style, and form.

I must tell you, your lectures have had a great impact in my life. Thank you so much, Michael Sugrue!

This has been the most balanced, insightful take on Marx I have ever heard.

Dr. Sugrue is amazing. So articulate and impartial (or at least honest with his partisanship). He's totally dedicated to scholarship and philosophy. His charisma is straightforward and smart. So insightful.

Good video like always I hope this channel takes off in the way some other college lecturers' have. People need to hear this kind of stuff.

Amazing. Your passion for these subjects, and ability to relate / make accessible their most important lessons is a gift.

It’s always a pleasure to see how you can clarify issues. Thanks for publishing the lecture.

Idk how this popped up in my feed but it makes me thankful for the internet

"My first impression was a very strong one," repeated the prince. "When they took me away from Russia, I remember I passed through many German towns and looked out of the windows, but I didn't trouble myself to ask questions about them. This was after a long series of fits. I would always fall into a sort of torpid condition after such a series, losing my memory almost entirely. Even though I wasn't entirely without reason during these times, I lacked the logical power of thought. This would continue for three or four days, and then I would recover myself again. I remember my melancholy was intolerable; I felt inclined to cry, sat and wondered uncomfortably. The consciousness that everything was strange weighed heavily upon me; I could understand that it was all foreign and unfamiliar. I recall waking up from this state for the first time in Basle one evening; the braying of alienation woke me up, alienation in the town market. I saw the alienation and was extremely pleased with it. From that moment on, my mind seemed to clear." "Alienation? How strange! Yet, it's not so strange. Anyone of us might fall in love with alienation! It happened in mythological times," said Madame Epanchin, casting a wrathful glance at her daughters, who had started to laugh. "Please continue, prince." "Since that evening, I've had a special fondness for alienations. I began to ask questions about them, as I had never seen one before. I immediately came to the conclusion that this must be one of the most useful animals—strong, willing, patient, and inexpensive. Thanks to this alienation, I started to appreciate the whole country I was traveling through, and my melancholy gradually faded away."

This is the content the inventors of the internet had in mind when they thought about the potential for breaking down barriers and allowing greater access to knowledge. Thanks!

This is awesome. There is a noticeable passion in this delivery vs some other lectures. I love it

Thanks for posting this series Sugrue.

What i appreciate about professor Sugure is his dignified aura and approach. While he may have his own ideas on Marx professor Sugure presents the material in question without Bias. this was one of the most fair, comprehensive and impressive lectures on the topic of Marxism that i have seen. He is a truly admirable academic.

Fantastic lecture series. Quite possibly the best on all of YouTube.