Aristotle and Hegel as the Co-authors of Das Kapital

Marx’s theory of capitalism was significantly influenced by Aristotle’s and Hegel’s theory of the syllogism. In Hegel the formula of the syllogism was: Universal-Particular-Individual, or the Universal was not dialectically negated by the Particular, rather they fused and originated a distinct and newly created Individual. As a measure of continuity Marx understood capitalism in terms of the syllogism, Money-Commodity-Money, or Money incrementalize. Capitalism was the production of commodities for the sole purpose of selling them for profit and the acquisition of Money. Another area of continuity between Marx and Aristotle concerned the ethical principles of distributive justice, reciprocity, equivalence, the commensurate. All these Aristotelian principles were the ethical foundations of Marx’s theory of communism. A major discontinuity between Aristotle/Hegel and Marx concerned the state. Neither Aristotle nor Hegel called for the abolition of the state. Aristotle recognized the distinction between government and state. Although there was a discontinuity between Marx and Aristotle and Hegel over the state there was also a continuity between Marx and Aristotle regarding the preservation of government, or Marx maintained that the government, the commune, would continue after the overthrow of the state.