Geistige und körperliche Arbeit Zur. Theorie der gesellschaftlichen Synthesis

The book by the German philosopher and economist Alfred Sohn-Rethel (1899–1990) combines Karl Marx’s critique of political economy with Immanuel Kant’s transcendental epistemology, offering a materialist reexamination of the theory of knowledge.

At the heart of the study lies the concept of “real abstraction.” The author argues that abstract thought and the basic categories of reason (space, time, causality) are rooted not in the pure workings of consciousness, but in the material practice of commodity exchange. The emergence of money and the development of market relations have historically led to a radical separation of mental and physical labor. Intellectual activity becomes detached from material production, which creates the illusion of the mind’s complete independence and serves as the social foundation for classical philosophical idealism.

By revealing the connection between the economic form of exchange and forms of thought, Sohn-Rethel proposes a reexamination of traditional conceptions of the nature of scientific knowledge, the genesis of philosophy, and class domination. This publication is intended for philosophers, sociologists, economists, as well as scholars of Marxism, epistemology, and the history of science.