Nonreductive Materialism and the Materialisms of Marx and Heidegger.

The objective of this article is to reconsider the relationship between Marxism and existential-phenomenology in light of writer J. Margolis' terms of nonreductive materialism. Marxism is perhaps the most compelling and socially consequential school of sociology. Yet as long as it is tied to a reductionist materialism that denies human free will, its own moral component is threatened with nihilism. Existential-phenomenologically inclined Marxists have been correct to recognize and resist this. The existential-phenomenological approach does not necessarily presuppose an ontic dualism, which is evident from the work of writer M. Heidegger. It is therefore important that Margolis' non-reductive materialism involves neither of these weaknesses. It thus provides the basis for an understanding of Marx's materialism that does not preclude the commitments of existential-phenomenology.