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Paul Tillich's Marxism

Author(s): TERENCE M. O'KEEFE


Source: Social Research, Vol. 48, No. 3 (AUTUMN 1981), pp. 472-499
Published by: The New School
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Paul Tillich's /
Marxism* / BY TERENCE M. O'KEEFE

In his historyof the Frankfurt Instituteof Social Research,


MartinJay wrote that there were three alternativesfacing
left-wingintellectualsin Germanyafter 1917.1 They could
supportthe moderatesocialistsof the WeimarRepublicand
ignore the problemposed by the Russian Revolution;they
could support that revolution,join the KPD, the German
CommunistParty,and attackWeimaras a seriesof bourgeois
compromises;or they could reexaminethe foundationsof
Marxisttheoryin order to explain past errors(in particular
the failureof the 1918 Germanrevolutionand the seeming
of Marxisttheoryabout the inevitablevictoryof
falsification
socialism)and to prepareforfuturesocialistaction.A number
of importantthinkerschose the thirdway and gave birthto
differingreinterpretationsof Marxism,of the role of class-
consciousnessand of theproletariat,of thenotionof ideology,
of thenatureof bourgeoisculture,etc.Paul Tillich,duringthe
period from 1919 untilhe leftGermanyin 1933, dismissed
fromhis teachingpost,was himselfone of thoseintellectuals
who attempteda reexaminationof Marxisttheory.That he
did thisfroma theologicalperspectivesuggeststhatTillich's
versionof Marxand his idea of "religioussocialism"offerone
interestingexample of the relationof theologyand politics,
for whatTillich presentsis a parallelreinterpretationof the
theoreticalbasis of both Marxismand Christianity.

1 MartinJay,TheDialectical (Boston:Little,Brown,1973).
Imagination

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PAUL TILLICH'S MARXISM 473

TheMarxistPeriod

Perhapsit is necessaryfirstto establishTillich'scredentials


as a Marxist.Scant attentionhas been paid to his "religious
socialism,"and mostcommentators have concentratedon the
theologicalworksof his Americanperiod. Where mentionis
made of hissocialism,hispoliticalstancetendsto be portrayed
as a spin-offfromhis theology.2Yet from 1919, when he
publishedhis firstarticleon socialism,untilthe early 1940s,
when he forsooka Marxistperspectivefor a more narrowly
theologicalanalysisof culture,it is clear thatit was Marxism
whichshaped much of Tillich'sthought.Between 1919 and
1933,he publishedtwobooks- MasseundGeist(1922)3and Die
religioseLage der Gegenwart (1926)4- and more than twenty
articleson socialistthemes.This socialistperiodculminatedin
1933 in a systematicexpositionof his thoughtin thebookDie
sozialistische
Entscheidung? whichwas quicklybanned by the
Nazis.
Let us firstsee detailsof Tillich'ssocialistcareer.6Priorto
1919, Tillich,the son of a Lutheranpastor,had receivedthe

2 Cf. Edouard
Heimann, "Paul Tillich's Religious Socialism," in Charles W. Kegley
and Robert W. Bretall,eds., The Theology ofPaul Tillich(New York: Macmillan, 1959).
An exception to this is the fine study of Tillich's religious socialism in John R.
Stumme,Socialismin TheologicalPerspective: A StudyofPaul Tillich,1918-1933 (Chico,
Calif.: Scholars Press, 1978).
3 In Paul Tillich, GesammelteWerke [hereinafter
GW], 14 vols. (Stuttgart:
Evangelisches Verlagswerk, 1959-75), 2: 35-90.
4 GW 10: 9-93. Translated as Paul
Tillich, The Religious Situation (New York:
Meridian Books, 1956).
5GW 2: 219-365. Translated as Paul Tillich, The SocialistDecision (New York:
Harper & Row, 1977).
6
Biographical details may be found in Paul Tillich, On theBoundary(New York: C.
Scribner, 1966); "AutobiographicalReflections,"in Kegley and Bretall,The Theology of
Paul Tillich;and "Author's Introduction,"in Paul Tillich, The ProtestantEra (Chicago:
Universityof Chicago Press, 1948). The standard biography is Wilhelm and Marion
Pauck, Paul Tillich:His Life and Thought(New York: Harper & Row, 1976). Cf. also
James V. Fisher,"The Politicizingof Paul Tillich: The FirstPhase," in JohnJ. Carey,
ed., TillichStudies1975 (Chicago: Universityof Chicago Press, 1975) and "Introduc-
tion" by John R. Stumme in Tillich, The SocialistDecision.

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474 SOCIAL RESEARCH

traditionalformationof a Protestant clericalscholar.In 1911


he receivedhis doctoratein philosophyfromBreslau and in
1912 his licentiatein theologyfromHalle. Both his theses
were on the GermanidealistSchelling.In 1912 he was or-
dained a ministerof the EvangelicalLutheranChurch. He
volunteeredto servein the Germanarmyas a chaplainat the
outbreakof the FirstWorld War. Tillichhimselftellsus, in
severalautobiographicalsketches,thatuntilthe war he was
politicallyindifferentand indeed conservative.Lutheranism
was facingthe problemof how to reach the de-Christianized
proletarianmasses, and Tillich at this time supportedthe
movementknown as "inner mission"as the way to break
throughto them.Indeed, he debated the pointwithleading
socialistsof thetimelikeKarl Liebknecht,laterthefounderof
the GermanCommunistParty.As a volunteerin thearmy,he
was convincedthatthe allianceof throneand altar was per-
manentand divinelyordained.Socialism,he says,was at that
timeconsidered"revolutionary, whichmeantcriminal."The
war provedthe turningpoint his life.It was therethathe
in
came intocontactwiththe proletariatfor the firsttime,that
thephilosophicalharmonyof nineteenth-century idealismwas
shattered, and thathe himselfwas,in his own words,"broken
within."7He returnedto a Germanythatwas preparingfor
the Novemberrevolutionof 1918 led byLiebknechtand Rosa
Luxemburg. Luxemburg and Liebknechtleft the radical
USPD, the Independent SocialistParty,and founded the
KPD, the GermanCommunistParty,in December1918. The
USPD was itselfan ultra-left-wingbreakawayfromthe main-
line SPD, the Social DemocratParty.
It was to the USPD thatTillich turnedon his return.He
had alreadyjoined a radicalchurchgroupcalledtheBundneue
Kirche,one of a numberof similarmovements in theEvangeli-
cal Church during the time of revolution,some callingfor
"people'schurchcouncils"(Volkskirchenräte),fora new church

7GW 13: 778.

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PAUL TILLICH'S MARXISM 475

thatwouldaffirmsocialism,fortheformation of tradesunions
fortheclergy,forthe democratization institu-
of ecclesiastical
tions.Togetherwithhis close friendand fellowpastorCarl-
JosephWegener,he accepted an invitationin May 1919 to
addressa meetingof the USPD on the subject"Christianity
and Socialism."It was attendanceat thismeeting(and perhaps
membershipin the party,thoughthe evidencehere is con-
flicting)thatgave rise to the article.The EvangelicalConsis-
toryof Mark-Brandenberg calledTillichand Wegenerto book
foraddressinga meetingof radicalantireligious socialists.In
their reply,they defended their positionand called for a
radicalrethinking of the presumedhostility betweensocialism
and religion.WhileWegenerresignedfromthe ministry later
in 1919, Tillich took up an appointmentin the theological
facultyat the University of Berlin.
Tillich'sespousal of socialismwas not a passingphase, nor
could it be called a briefyouthful interludein the headydays
of revolution.In Berlin,Tillichjoined a groupof like-minded
socialistsincludingAdolf Lowe, Edouard Heimann,Alexan-
der Rustow,and Arnold Wolfers.This group, which soon
became knownas the "KairosCircle"(fromthe themeof the
kairosor "righttime"in Tillich'sthought)publisheda small
journal, the Blatter für religiösenSozialismus.It opposed the
relegationof religionto the privatesphere(a positioncharac-
teristicof mainstream socialistthinkingwhenit was not posi-
tivelyhostileto religion)but also attemptedto rethinkthe
fundamentalsof socialismfroma critical,left-wingstance.
They attackedthe rigid,doctrinaire"scientific" socialismof
the SPD, the legacy of socialisttheorizingfrom Engels to
Kautsky.Tillichcontinually in his writingsopposed it forthe
remnantsof bourgeoispositivistthinkingin theirpositions.
Though regularmeetingsof the circleceased in 1924 when
Tillichmovedto Marburg,thejournal continuedpublication
until 1929. In that year, Tillich accepted the chair of
philosophyand sociologyat Frankfurt, in successionto Max
Scheler.A newjournal was launched,theNeueBlätter für den

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476 SOCIAL RESEARCH

Sozialismus.Tillich,in the forewordto The SocialistDecision,


deniedthatthedroppingof theterm"religious"fromthetitle
meantthatthe religiousrootsof his socialismhad been sev-
ered. But he agreed thatthe termhad been challenged"with
good reason"frombothsides.8The NeueBlätterwas editedby
a youngsocialist,AugustRathmann,in collaborationwithTil-
lieh and Heimann. (Interestingly, it was two contributers to
the Blätter,Mayer and Landshut,who discoveredthe 1844
Paris manuscriptsof Marx in 1932.)
Tillich at Frankfurtencounteredmany of his formerso-
cialistfriends.Karl Mennickeand Adolf Lowe were on the
economicsfaculty;Karl Mannheimwas professorof sociol-
ogy; and of coursethereTillichmetand befriendedthe core
group of the Instituteof Social Research,Max Horkheimer,
Theodor Adorno,and FriedrichPollock.And a regulardis-
cussiongroup (the Kränzchen or Gathering)was instituted in
whichall these participated.
This periodof intenseintellectual effortwas broughtto an
end in 1933 whenTillichwas dismissedfromhis chair,along
withHorkheimer,Mennicke,Lowe, Rietzler,and Mannheim.
He had publishedTheSocialist Decisionin 1933 whichcalledfor
a decision for socialismand againstthe Nazi demonry.As
dean of the philosophyfacultyin 1932 he had protestedve-
hemently againstanti-Jewish riotingamong the students.The
FrankfurterZeitungin March 1933 had indictedTillichalong
withothersas teachersof "culturalbolshevism."9 Tillich'semi-
gration to America and his appointmentto the Union
TheologicalSeminaryin New Yorkmarkstheend of hisovert
espousal of the socialistcause. Althoughhe joined a group
knownas the Fellowshipof SocialistChristiansand contrib-
uted some theoretical articleson socialismto theirjournal,his
intereststurnedmoreand moreto narrowertheologicalcon-
cerns and the workingout of his Systematic Theology, The

8 Tillich, The SocialistDecision,p. xxxvi.


9 Quoted in Pauck,Paul Tillich,p. x.

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PAUL TILLICH'S MARXISM 477

reader of this work will find little trace of that passionate


involvementwith Marxist thoughtthat inspired Tillich in the
firsthalf of his career.

ReligiousSocialism

What then was the contentof Tillich's religious socialism?It


is clear that,during thisperiod, he considered himselfa Marx-
ist, saw socialism as the destiny of the German people, and
placed himselfwithinthe socialistmovementof the time. But
it is equally clear that Tillich took some time to appropriate
specificallyMarxist themes. His early articles adopt a rather
ethical view of socialism. Their tone is hortatory and en-
thusiastic.The call is for socialism conceived as "a restructur-
ing of the world according to love and justice";10the overrid-
ing theme is solidaritybased on a common ideal of humanity.
He rejects a simplisticidentificationof Christianitywith so-
cialism (of the sort embodied in the claim thatJesus was the
firstsocialist), though he does argue that "Christianitypos-
sesses a greater affinityfor certain formsof social order than
for others."11The spiritof Christianlove, he says, "accuses a
social order which consciouslyand in principle is built upon
economic and political egoism."12His main concern is to op-
pose three notions: thatreligionis solelya matterof the "inner
man"; that the love-principle of Christianityfinds its only
expression in charityand almsgiving; and that the cleavage
between rich and poor is in any sense divinelyordained. For
example, against the second notion he writes:
Whoeversupposesthatsociallegislation,
charity,
almsgiving, and
thetendingof casualtiesis theonlywayforthe spiritof love to

10"Bericht an das Konsistorium der Mark


Brandenburg," in GW 13: 154-160.
Translated as "Answer to an Enquiry of the ProtestantConsistoryof Brandenburg,"
Metanoia 3:3 (1971): 10-12.
11Ibid.,
p. 10.
12Ibid.,
p. 11.

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478 SOCIAL RESEARCH

becomeeffectivein thisworldis obliviousto themovement of


and knowsnothing
history of whatthepresentdemandof the
Christian is: towillthestructuring
spirit oftheworldin accord-
ancewiththeideaofjusticeandlove.. . . Socialism
doesnotsee
as
charity evidence of lovebut as a signof injustice.13

There are signshoweverthatby 1922 Tillichwas moving


towarda morespecifically Marxistaccountof socialism.In his
bookMasseundGeist,he putsforwardan accountof the mass
as the locus of revelationand as the bearerof the destinyor
fateof the future.Though the analysisof "mass"in the book
is typologicaland at timescuriouslydislocatedfromanysocial
context,it neverthelessprefigureshis later adoption of the
proletariatas the bearer of the future.In his 1922 article
"Kairos,"14which he describedas "a summonsto the con-
sciousnessof history,"15 Tillich attemptsto set up a way of
understanding the relationof the conditioned,finiteworldto
the Unconditionalor divine that would avoid both supra-
naturalism(where an absolute cleavage is introduced)and
naturalism (which denies any distinction).Kairos is the
moment - the"righttime" - at whichthe Unconditional bursts
throughthe autonomousformsand functionsof cultureto
create a new theonomy.Tillich argues that socialismis just
such a breakthrough. Kairoscannotbe deduced fromautono-
mous forms - it is fate,but it is also grace. UnlikeKarl Barth
(anothermemberof the religioussocialistmovementof the
time),Tillichrefusesto acceptthe absolutecleavagebetween
God and world posited by dialecticaltheology.The divine
cannotimpose itselfupon the worldheteronomously; it ap-
pearswithinautonomousforms,in a tensionthatis paradoxi-
cal, and in a corporateor socialform.Tillichrefusesto iden-
tifythiswiththechurchand insiststhatitspresentappearance
is withinsocialistthought.
One last theme must be noted fromthese early works.
13"Christentumand Sozialismus I," in GW 2: 32.
14GW 6: 9-28. Translated as "Kairos" in Tillich, The Protestant
Era, pp. 32-51.
15Ibid., 32.
p.

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PAUL TILLICH'S MARXISM 479

Tillichhad set out on a path of reinterpretation of religion


whichwould eventuallylead him to Systematic Theology.An
earlyarticle,"On the Idea of a Theologyof Culture,"16 insists
thatany attemptto interpret religionas a separatesphereof
activityis incorrect.All human activityis autonomous.Reli-
gion is a directionor dimensionin everysphere of human
activity,identifiablein ethicsas in art, in social or political
thoughtas in philosophy.It is the directionof depth, the
directiontowardthe Unconditional(or in the laterformula-
tionof Systematic
Theology, it is "ultimateconcern").For exam-
ple, he says in Masse und Geist:
A philosophyin whichman can ask the question,whetherGod
existsor not,is godless.. . . God is the presupposition of every
question,because everyquestioncarriesin itselfthe uncondi-
tionallyof theconsciousness of truth.. . . Whatever
is holyis God.
But whatis holy?Man shouldnotask that;rather,whatcannot
be holy?Because the eternalsubstance[Gehalt]of the uncondi-
tional(whichis notitself
a thing)breaksout througheverything.17

is to be critically
But if Christianity to avoid
reinterpreted
errorslike Barthiansupranaturalism, so too must socialist
theory.The article"Kairos" presentsa criticismof current
socialisttheoryand its "untimely"elements.Obviouslyone
centralcriticismby Tillichis thatsocialismhas lostany grasp
of the unconditional.He asserts,however,thatthisis because
it has inheritedbourgeoisthoughtpatterns:

of thebourgeoisepoch,has
Socialism,in spiteof all itscriticism
been unable to keep itselffree from its negativeelement,
namely,its attemptto exclude the unconditionalfrom the
spheresof thoughtand action,and accordingly, to createa new
epoch merelythroughtechnologyand strategy.Socialismwas
notawarethatprecisely in thisfashionitwas prolongingtheold
epoch.18
16"Über die Idee einer
Theologie der Kultur,"in GW 9: 13-31. Translated as "On
the Idea of a Theology of Culture," in Paul Tillich, WhatIs Religion? (New York:
Harper & Row, 1969), pp. 155-181.
11GW 2: 71.
18Tillich, "Kairos,"
p. 49.

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480 SOCIAL RESEARCH

Tillichinstancesseveralareas in whichthistendencyis ap-


parent.Despite its attackon bourgeoisscience,socialismre-
tainsitsbasicpresupposition, "thepurelyobjectifying relation-
ship to the to
world, spirit and to In
history."19 rejectingthe
"aestheticaristocratic practiceof art,"it merelypositsan art
"determined byitscontent and orientedto a particulartypeof
ethicsand politics"which,thoughits polar opposite,remains
stillon the same plane.20Socialismhas takenover the basic
attitudeof the bourgeoiseducationalsystemin makingen-
lightenment and thetechnicaldisciplineof intellectand willits
aim. In short,"if socialismintendedto deprivethe spiritual
and religiouslife of its intrinsicvalue, consideringit mere
ideology,it did not sense that it therebystrengthenedthe
attitudetowardeconomicsand lifein generalthatis charac-
teristicof materialistic Tillichthuswishesto en-
capitalism."21
gage in an internalcritiqueof socialisttheory,parallelto his
critiqueof religionalreadyreferredto. It is along theselines
that Tillich'sdeepening awarenessof Marxistthoughtpro-
ceeded in the period after1922.

Basic Principles

Tillich'searlysocialismis thusmarkedby an excess of en-


thusiasmover theoreticalconsiderations. After1922, we find
Tillichworkingto clarifythe theoretical basisof his socialism.
His 1923 article"Basic Principlesof ReligiousSocialism"22
presentsa theoreticalblueprintfor the Kairos Circle. It is
noteworthy thatmostof the classicalthemesof Marxismare
present.Religioussocialismis said to aim at the establishment

™Ibid.
20Ibid.
21
Ibid., p. 50.
22"Grundlinien des religiösen Sozialismus," in GW 2: 91-119. Translated as "Basic
Principles of Religious Socialism," in Paul Tillich, Political Expectations(New York:
Harper & Row, 1971), pp. 58-88.

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PAUL TILLICH'S MARXISM 481

of theonomyin all culturalspheresand, mostcruciallyforthe


presentepoch,in theeconomicrealm.The feudal-aristocratic
attitude,embodiedin the holinessof the soil,the race,etc.-
whatTillichcallsthesacramental - has been decisively
attitude
overcome by the autonomous,liberal-democratic "rational
will." "The autonomous and limitlesseconomy begins its
strugglefor primacyover all «othersocial functionsand
achievesit. In the degree to whichit succeeds,however,it
createssocialsituationsthatbear in themselvestheunmistaka-
ble stampof the demonic."23Under the relentlessgrowthof
liberal capitalism,we get the growthof the class struggle.
Tillichfindssome difficultyat thistimein affirming the class
struggleabsolutely:
Class struggleis not a universalsocialphenomenon but the
consequence of a rationallyformedeconomicsocialorderin
whichintrinsicpowerrelationshavebecomeextrinsic.The pre-
dominance ofcapitalleadsnecessarily . . . The
toclassstruggle.
class struggleis itself,however, like
exactly competition, an
expressionof the demonic of
character capitalist
economy.24

Religioussocialismaims at liberatingthe workerfrom"the


ethosof thelimitlessrationaleconomy"and seeksthe"realiza-
tionof a theonomouseconomicattitude."25 Expropriation and
the socialization of the means of production are only
cautiouslyaccepted as genuine socialistaims, so long as so-
cializationis seen still as an extensionof the autonomous
rationalwillpredominantin the liberalcapitalistepoch.
Throughoutthe article,Tillich seems to be attemptingto
establishwithinsocialistthoughta dimensionthatwill over-
come theemptyautonomyof capitalismwithoutslippingback
into the sacramentaldemonryof feudalism:a breakthrough
of "religious"substancewhich will overcomethose liberal-
bourgeois modes of thoughtthat prevent socialism from

23Ibid.,
p. 77.
24Ibid.,
p. 78.
25Ibid.,
p. 79.

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482 SOCIAL RESEARCH

achievingthe theonomousstandpoint.In an articleentitled


"The Philosophical and Religious Development of So-
cialism,"26Tillich's appropriationof most of the Marxist
categoriesis apparent.He demandsfirstof all thatsocialism
develop its own ontology.Whathas passed for thisso far in
socialistthinkingis what he calls "the most spiritlessof all
ontologies,"scientific This "vulgarmaterialism"
materialism.27
is in Tillich's view an inheritancefrombourgeois-capitalist
attitudes,fromwhichMarxhimselfis notentirely free,despite
his adoptionof the verydifferent notionof "historicalmate-
rialism."The proletarianstateis markedby "loss of whole-
ness"and "lossof meaning."The answerof socialismmustbe
thecreationof meaningand wholeness(or Gestalt) in personal
and sociallife.ConsiderwhatTillichcalls the substructure of
history- economicrelationships.He gives a straightforward
Marxistdefinitionof substructure and superstructure: "The
economicbase is in motionin a strongcausal chain. From it
comesand fromit depends thejuridical-political sphere,and
in likemannerfromit thereligious,thephilosophicaland the
aestheticrealms."28 But we misunderstand thisif it is thought
to involvea "strictnaturalcausality."For Tillich we are not
talking about determinismin a scientificsense of the
superstructure by theeconomicsubstructure - thisis the"vul-
gar materialist" interpretation.Ratherit is the assertionthat
theeconomicrealm"standsin immediaterelationship withall
areas."29
Turningto the conceptof the historicaldialectic,we find
Tillich acceptingthe Marxian analysisthat the dynamicsof
change in capitalistsocietyis at the point of tension and
contradiction- the class struggle.But again this is misun-
derstoodif it is seen as a mechanicalprocess.This, he says,is

26"Die philosophischeund des Sozialismus,"in GW 2:


religiöseWeiterbildung
121-131.
27
Ibid., p. 121.
28Ibid.,
p. 124.
2»Ibid.

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PAUL TILLICH'S MARXISM 483

"mechanicalbourgeoisthinking"30 and missesthe pointof the


historicaldialectic.For Marx,history is to be analyzedin terms
of periods,and a characterization can be givenof a particular
period in termsof a structuredwhole. So capitalismis ana-
lyzedin termsof itseconomicpowerrelationsand the conse-
quent class conflict.Such an analysisservesto bringout that
pointof tensionwithinthe periodwhichshowsthe nextstage
of the dialectic.The presenttimeis forTillichthe end of the
bourgeoisera, and the socialistis one who sees in the pro-
letariatthe advent of the new Gestalt.But the coming of
socialismis no morea matterof mechanicalcalculationthanit
is of bare ethicaldemand. Tillichsees in dialecticalthinking
just thattensionbetweendeterminism and actionthatis mir-
rored theologically in the notionof predestination. (Flesh is
now being given to the categoryof the kairos.)Socialismis
the historicalfate of the coming era. But socialismmust
be created. In seeking a new sense of communityto re-
place the emptyand inhuman relationshipsof capitalism,
solidarityis not enough: "Solidarityis determinedby outside
pressure,by mutualopposition.It fallsapartwhen thispres-
sureceases."31Nor is classstruggleenoughto achievetheturn
fromthe loss of wholenessof proletarianexistenceunder
capitalism.To believein the instantachievementof the class-
lesssocietyis,saysTillich,a beliefin miracles,notin dialectics.
Religion,in Tillich'snew sense of the term,providesthe
depth of meaningrequiredfor socialistreconstruction.
in whichthiscondition
situation
The spiritual of separationis
overcome,inwhichreality
againbecomes a symbolofthe divine
groundof meaning, whereall spheresof life,even the eco-
nomic,showthisdepth,wherenothingis fundamentallyunholy,
whereholyknowledgeand holyacts are one, thiswe call
theonomy.32

30Ibid.,
p. 126.
61Ibid.,
p. 128.
32Ibid.,
p. 130.

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484 SOCIAL RESEARCH

Onlythroughsuch a unityof cultureand religioussubstance


can thewayto the Holy be opened forthe proletariat.Tillich
refersto new symbolsbeingcreated,to a new religionemerg-
ing. But whatevershape thistakes,Tillich is convincedthat
thereis no otherway for religionto contactthe masses.
The burdenof the Germansituationis thata comingtogether
of the masseswiththe representativesof the religioussphereis
impossibleat thistime.The old greatwordsand symbolsare
beatendown and used up and theyare moreover
intellectually
fortheworkingclasssymbolsof thebourgeoisculturethatthey
hate. This situationforcesus to be completelyfree fromthe
Churchand all itswords,even theword"God" itselfinsofaras
thishas lost its expressivepower.33

What is necessaryforsocialiststhenis to bringout clearly


the pointsof tensionin societyand culturewherethe new is
breakingforth.TheReligiousSituation, publishedin 1926, at-
temptsjust such a task. Tillich findsthe spiritof capitalist
societyin the conceptsof "self-sufficient finitude,"withits
harnessingof naturalscience,technology, and capitalistecon-
omy. It restson the economicsof the freemarket,theregula-
tionof productionby supplyand demand,and the unlimited
of profit-making
possibilities and the accumulationof capital:
all thisis the productof "an autonomouseconomicsystem
subjectonlyto itsown laws."34Under capitalism,thereis "the
dominationof theeconomicfunction overall otherfunctions,"
a domination that tends toward "infiniteeconomic im-
perialism"by the artificialcreationof needs throughadver-
tising.35The class divisionthatit givesrise to- "the conflict
betweenthe ownersof the means of productionand those
who are dependent on these means but do not own
them"36 - runs throughall aspectsof social and culturallife.

33Ibid.,
pp. 130-131.
34Tillich, The ReligiousSituation,p. 106.

Ibid., p. 108.
36Ibid.,
pp. 109-110.

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PAUL TILLICH'S MARXISM 485

This class divisionis not a resultof ill-willor "individual


arbitrariness" and thereforecannotbe overcomeby a simple
changeof attitudeor ethicalstance.It is necessarilybound up
withthe maintenanceof the capitalisteconomicsystemand is
the resultof that systemitself.37Its productis the "mech-
anized mass,"the "terribledestructive by-products of the de-
monic elementin the capitalistspirit."38The problem for
socialistsis thatthesocialistmovementhas acceptedthe terms
of the strugglelaid down forit by the spiritof capitalism.In
doingso, it has losttheeschatological thrust,thedrivetoward
transcending finitude,that is inherentin the
self-sufficient
symbolsof theclasslesssociety,the realmof freedom,and the
era of human history.Socialisttheoryhas fallenpreyto the
spiritof the nineteenth century.Tillichlooks,in TheReligious
Situation, to movements withinsocialism(he instancesLand-
auer's socialism,the thoughtof Lukacs, Frenchsyndicalism,
and hisownKairosCircle)which"strugglefora newdefinition
of the theoreticalbasis and the practicalend of the move-
ment,"30in particular by eliminatingall bourgeois and
capitalistelementsfromit. Otherwisesocialismbecomeseither
a romantic utopianism or a disillusioned,compromising
bourgeoisbeliefin inevitableprogress.Even the adoptionof
democracyas a centraltenet of socialismis taintedby an
unconsciousadherenceto bourgeoisideals: "The pillarof de-
mocracyis the middleclass and particularly thatpart of the
middle class whichexerciseseconomicleadership,in whose
handslies thecontrolof capital.Middle-classdemocracyis the
politicalexpressionof capitalism."40The wholeoí TheReligious
Situation is a sustainedattemptto analyzethe superstructural
elementsof capitalistsocietyand pinpointthe tensionsand

37Ibid.,p. 109.
38Ibid.,p. 111.
39Ibid.,p. 114.
40Ibid.,p. 128.The translator, to add a note
H. RichardNiebuhr,feltconstrained
forthe Americanaudience,assuringthe readersthatTillichwas thinkingprimarily
about the Germansituation.

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486 SOCIAL RESEARCH

in science,metaphysics,
contradictions art,politics,ethics,and
religionthatpointbeyondthemselvesto the comingkairosof
socialism.

Ideology

One furthercomponentof Marxismis incorporatedinto


Tillich'ssocialismat a ratherlaterdate. This is theconceptof
ideology,firsttreatedsystematically in a 1926 article,"Kairos
and Logos."41It becomes more centralto Tillich'sthought
after his move to Frankfurtand his friendshipwith Karl
Mannheim.Tillichwas predisposedto acceptsuch a concept
bytwoearlierinfluenceson his thought:Kierkegaard'snotion
of truthas bound to the situationof the individualsubject,
and Luther'stheologicalpolemicagainst"man-madegods."
Here Tillichinterprets theReformation as thestruggleagainst
-
twoideologies the Catholicone, whichattemptsto overcome
the divisionsand distortions of humannaturethroughsacra-
mentality, and the humanistone, whichdenies any real per-
version.These are ideologies,Tillichsays in an article"The
Protestant Principleand the ProletarianSituation,"42 because
theyare waysof concealing the true situation of man. "The
Protestant principle"- thatno finitereality,whetherit be an
ecclesiasticalform,a religiousconcept,a doctrine,or a person,
can be identifiedwiththe Unconditional - has as its function
the unveilingof such "man-madegods." It is a constantpro-
testagainstfalseidols (and is forTillichthe real meaningof
justification by faith).
Now this unveilingis what Tillich sees as the essence of
ideology-criticism.Whenit is applied to society,he argues,we

41"Kairosund Logos,"in GW 4: 43-76. Translatedas "Kairosand Logos"in Paul


Tillich,TheInterpretation (NewYork:C. Scribner's
ofHistory Sons,1936),pp. 123-175.
42"Protestantische Prinzipund proletarische in GW 8: 84-104. First
Situation,"
publishedin 1931,it is translatedas "The ProtestantPrincipleand the Proletarian
Situation," Era, pp. 161-181.
in Tillich,TheProtestant

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PAUL TILLICH'S MARXISM 487

see that"thesocial realitiesconsciouslyor unconsciously con-


ditionactionas well as thought."43 They resultin "falsecon-
sciousness,"a "consciousor unconsciousconcealmentof the
drive for power of certaineconomicand politicalpressure
groups."44He instancescertainideologicalpositionswithin
Protestantism. "The old claim . . . that the Churches have
takena neutralattitudeto thefarm-laborer problemwas pure
ideology,a definitely'falseconsciousness'."45So too is its al-
most total surrenderto nationalistideology.In philosophy,
idealismhas its roots"in the social and economicsecurityof
the upper class."46It is pure ideology,Tillich argues, for
religiousbelieversto attacksocialistsbecause of their"mate-
rialistoutlook."
The suspicionof ideologyis thesharpest weaponof socialism
againstthechurch.Andno onecandenythatthereis abundant
evidenceto showthisto be correct. in Germany
Especially the
close connectionbetweenchurchand state,betweenspecific
socialgroupsor specific
partiesandthechurch, givesrisetothe
permanent of
suspicion ideology in the consciousnessof the
masses.47

The interdependenceof the economic substructurewith


superstructural elementsmeansthatany positionmustbe ex-
aminedin relationto itsrootsin socialreality.But it is impor-
tantto see thatideologyis difalse a veilingof the
consciousness,
truestateof reality.That is whythe proletariansituationis a
nonideologicalstate:"The proletariatrequiresno ideological
cover for a positionof power, for it has none. The true
structureof societyis disclosedin the proletariatforit is the
victimof this structure."48 The proletariansituationis the
locus in historyin whichideologiesmaskingtheclasssituation

43Ibid.,
p. 180.
44Ibid.
45Ibid.
46Ibid.,
p. 167.
47
"Religiöser Sozialismus 1," in GW 2: 155.
48Tillich, The Socialist
Decision,p. 76.

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488 SOCIAL RESEARCH

are exposed. The proletariatcan disguise nothingsince it


directlyexperiencesthe injusticeof the social situation.And
thisis wherethe differencelies betweenthe middle-classin-
tellectualconvertto socialismand the proletariat;"What in
any otherplace is posed onlyforindividuals - to see through
-
the social ideologies happens here without any effort,
throughtheirsheer existence."40
Tillich recognizesthat ideologyis a polemicalconcept (a
Kampfbegriff) to be used in the struggleagainst bourgeois
ideas. And its value as a weapon should not be underesti-
mated:"If an intellectual systemis successfully interpretedas
mereideology,it has lostits formative power."50But in vari-
ous articles,and in particularin a long reviewof Mannheim's
Ideology and Utopia,51he showshimselfsensitiveto the misuse
of it. In thefirstplace,itis a double-edgedweaponthatcan be
turnedagainstsocialismitself.A thesisabout the dependence
of ideas on the existingpower relationsof societymustbe
self-referring.And Tillichwishesto see in ideologya moment
of self-criticismthatsocialismmustapplyto itselfas wellas to
all nonsocialistthought.He wishes to criticizeMannheim's
notionof "generalideology"as being"politically meaningless."
The concept of ideology must retain its concretepolitical
characterof struggle.Nor is it clear,he arguesin "Kairosand
Logos,"how the Marxistnotionof ideologycan preservethe
truthof objectivescienceand indeed of history.Tillich sug-
geststhatMarx,in interpreting ideas as productsof historical
situationsand by introducinga dynamic,dialecticalunder-
standingof reality,has pointed us to a dynamictheoryof
truth.Knowledgecannotbe divorcedfromhistory, fromdeci-
sion, from fate. This is not to make truth -
subjective
subjectivity,Tillichasserts,is a "prèhistorical -
category"52 but

49Ibid.,p. 123.
50"Realismand Faith,"in Tillich,TheProtestant
Era, p. 75.
51Karl Mannheim, and Utopia[1929] (New York: Harcourt,Brace, 1936).
Ideology
Tillich'sreviewappearsin GW 12: 225-261.
52Tillich,"Kairosand Logos,"p. 157.

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PAUL TILLICH'S MARXISM 489

itdoes assertthatthereis no truthin an abstract,


nonhistorical
sense. Truth is "in the kairos."
Thereare moments ... in which"kairos," therighttime,is
unitedwith"logos,"the"eternal truth"andinwhichthefateof
philosophy is decidedfora specialperiod.... It is essentialto
philosophy to standin existence, to createout of timeand
fate.... Ifitstoodonlyinthekairositwouldbe without validity
andtheassertion wouldbe validonlyfortheone making it;ifit
stoodonlyin the logos,it wouldbe without fateand would
therefore haveno partin existence.53

Tillichwishesfinallyto insistthatMannheimdoes notlocate


theabsolute,nonideologicalpositioncorrectly. For Mannheim,
who are the least bound to theirsocial
it is the intelligentsia
situation, the most "free floating"and hence most free of
ideologicaltaint.Tillichinsiststhatthispositionis stillheld in
the capitalistera by the proletariat.It is true,he says,that
"thoseintellectuals who have brokenthroughto the proleta-
riansituationhave theparticularfunctionof givinga theoreti-
cal expressionto theirconsciousness."54 But theydo not re-
place the because
proletariat it is the objectivesituationof that
class whichdestroysideology.55

A Schematic
Summary

If one were to make a veryschematicsummaryof Tillich's


socialism,a numberof pointswould be central.
It is firstof all a proletariansocialism.Indeed, Tillichinsists
in The SocialistDecisionthatthereis no such thingas a non-
proletarianversionof socialism.There mustbe no weakening
of thisin an idealisticmanner.By proletariat, however,Tillich

53
"Philosophy and Fate," in Tillich, The ProtestantEra, p. 3-18. The German
"Philosophie und Schicksal"is in GW 4: 223-235 and was Tillich's inaugural lectureas
professor at Frankfurt.
54GW 12: 261.
55Cf. Tillich, "The Protestant
Principle and the Proletarian Situation," p. 170.

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490 SOCIAL RESEARCH

does not meanjust a "mass of people who are affectedby a


commonfate.It means a class thatis consciousof itselfas a
of the poletariatis socialism.
class."56This self-consciousness
The industrialproletariatholds "the keypositionin the con-
temporary But theterm"proletariat"
socialsituation."57 is not
a purelyempiricaldescriptionof a specificclass:

The proletariat is an "idealtype," i.e.,a conceptthatdescribes a


socialstructure according to itsdecisivecharacteristics without
regardto whether thisstructure is immediatelyand purelyevi-
dentin experience. The proletariat, furthermore, is an existen-
tialconcept, i.e.,one whichcannotbe derivedfromconscious-
nessofone whois onlya spectator. Whattheproletariat is can
onlybe understood fromwithin theproletarian struggle andby
takinga standwithin thisstruggle. at itsdeepest
"Proletariat,"
level,is a polemical concept[Kampfbegriff].58
This is theparticular,
concreteaspectof socialism.But there
is also a universalelement,wherebythe proletarianstruggle
for socialismis given the will to transcenditselftowardthe
classlesssociety.Its strugglehas universalhuman meaning
because it pointstowardtheonomy.And neitherelementcan
be forgotten. Withoutproletarianparticularity, socialismbe-
comes "a sociologicallyrootlessgeneralidea . . . losingits his-
toricalpower."59It becomessimplyan "intellectual socialism"
or a bare ethicaldemand.60
socialismis derivedfromthe bourgeois
Such an intellectual
situation
and itstypeof politicalthinking. It seeksfromthis
standpointtoplana comingorderofjusticebyleapingoverthe
proletariansituation.
Whatever sucha planmaybe called,and
however it maybe regarded, The
it is in anycasenotsocialist.
struggleagainstUtopiansocialism is basedon theinseparable
connection between and theproletariat
socialism thatMarxhas
demonstrated.61
56Tillich, The SocialistDecision,p. 62.
57Ibid.,
p. 161.
58Ibid., p. 62.
59Ibid.,
p. 64.
DUIbid.
61Ibid.

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PAUL TILLICH'S MARXISM 491

Secondly, it is a critical socialism in that Tillich, while ac-


cepting notions of historicalmaterialism,the historicaldialec-
tic,and ideology, rejects the crude, mechanisticinterpretation
that animated traditional socialist theory. He constantlyap-
peals to "the genuine, not the materialisticallymutilated
Marx."62 In The SocialistDecision he refers to the recently
discovered works of Marx as proof that Marxism must be
extricated "from the dogmatic narrowness into which it has
fallen . . . and [restored to] the breadth it had in the young
Marx, and which'the Marx of Das Kapital had not abandoned
in principle but only in order to narrow the scope of his own
work."63In particular it is the most pressing task of socialist
theoriststo purge Marxist theoryof the remaining bourgeois
elementsand to combat "theirhopeless mixtureof mechanistic
calculation of historicalnecessities and pettytasks."64
Tillich's socialism does not pay too much attention to an
economic analysis of capitalism, nor to the changes in the
economi^ structurethatmark the advent of socialism. In some
earlier articles,indeed, he denies thatreligioussocialismis tied
to any economic theoryon the grounds thatsuch questions are
autonomous, scientificproblems.65But The SocialistDecisionis
more theoreticallysecure.

Positionsof economicpowerheld by privateenterprisemustbe


placed in thehandsof societyas a whole,and thismeansin the
handsof the leadinggroupsin the socialstructure. These posi-
tionsof powerincludethelandedestates,heavyindustry, major
manufacturing concerns,bankingand foreigntrade.This hav-
ingbeen done,thewholeprocessof productioncan be managed
accordingto thesocialistprinciple.On thisbasis,theproblemof
economicrationalization can be solved so thatthe destructive
effectsof technologicalrationalization
are abolished.... In this
way it becomes possible to preservethe free market,which
servesas a register
of needsand theregulatorofthedirectionof

62Tillich."Kairosand Loans." n 154


63Tillich, The SocialistDecision, 125.
p.
64Tillich,"The Protestant
Principleand the ProletarianSituation,"p. 174.
65Cf. Tillich,"Basic
Principlesof ReligiousSocialism,"p. 88.

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492 SOCIAL RESEARCH

and the establishment


production - all, to be sure,
of prices
theperimeters
within of centralplanning.66

Tillichis concernedto enunciatea theoryof socialismwhich


can deal withsuch superstructural elementsof societyas reli-
gion, ethics,art, and politicswithoutreducingthem to the
statusof epiphenomenaof materialprocesses.All these ele-
mentsmust be criticallyexamined in order to expose the
ideologicalthrustof the bourgeoisspirit,to point to those
tensionsand contradictions withinthem,and to develop a
genuine socialist
theory of culture.Tillichis unconvincedthat,
when the economictransformation of societyis achieved in
socialism, man willbe miraculously transformed and all prob-
lems will be resolved:"The strugglefor socialismhas long
since become as much a strugglefor the socialistidea of
cultureas fora socialistidea of economics.It is notadmissable
to put aside thesequestionsuntil'the day afterthe successful
revolution'."67
socialism.In the articleby that
But it is above all a religious
und Gegenwart
title,whichhe wrote forDie Religionin Geschichte
in 1931,68Tillichoutlinedfourpossiblerelationships between
religionand socialism.The firstis the claim thatsocialismis
"the directconsequenceof the moral demands of religion,
The realizationof socialismis the
especiallyof Christianity."69
fulfillment of the Christianethic.This form,whichhe calls
"legalistic,"attemptsto connectthe two in a directand un-
paradoxicalway and thisis mistaken.A romantic interpreta-
tion,on theotherhand,merelygivesreligiousconsecration to
the presentsocialistmovement. It that
asserts socialismis reli-
gion. Tillich accepts that this has the value of seeing that
religionis not confinedto a specialsphere.But it failsto take

66TiIlirh. The SocialistDecision,dd. 159-160.


67Ibid.,
p. 79.
68GW 2: 159-174. Translated as "Religious Socialism," in Tillich, PoliticalExpecta-
tions,pp. 40-57.
«»Ibid., p. 40.

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PAUL TILLICH'S MARXISM 493
accountof theelementof criticism - the"Protestant
in religion
principle"in Tillich'sthought - whichallowsno actualrealiza-
tion to be exempt fromjudgment.A third,and the most
widespread, way of relating religion and socialism is a
stance,thatis, thetacticalattemptto unitethe
practical-political
present socialist movementwithparticularinstitutional forms
of Christianity. Its mainconcernis to remove"thoseelements
of socialismand of the churcheswhichmake personalalle-
giance (to both) impossible."70 But thoughthisis usefuland
indeed a necessarytaskforindividualbelievingsocialists,it is
limitedbyitspracticalorientation. It positsno theoretical
base
and therefore,Tillich says, "is unable to bring about a
transformation of eitherreligionor socialismfromthedeepest
level."71
This is thetaskwhichTillichsetsout forreligioussocialism
correctly conceived.It "seeksto overcomethestaticopposition
of the conceptsof religionand socialismby demonstrating
theirdialecticalrelationship."72 It is thereforemoreconcerned
withtheoreticalconsiderations, refusing, says,to "accept
he
the inherited,empiricalformsof religionand socialismas
fixedand final."Socialismis religiousin Tillich'snew use of
the termbecause,in itsuniversalaspect,it representsa move-
menttowardthedepthand meaningof humanexistence.But
religious.It is a propheticmovementproperly
it is indirectly
understood.Tillichhas oftencalled attentionto thisfeature,
which,derived fromthe Old Testament,is representedin
autonomousformby Marx. It is propheticbecause it breaks
the powersof origin(of blood, soil, tribe,and nation)by an
unconditionaldemand and presentsa promiseof futureful-
fillment."Socialismis prophetismon the soil of an autono-
mousself-sufficient world."73 Its symbolis no longerkairos, the
righttime,but expectation(Erwartung): expectationof a fu-
70
Ibid., p. 41.
71Ibid.
"■Ibid.
73
Tillich, The Socialist Decision, p. 101.

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494 SOCIAL RESEARCH

ture,comingtheonomythatis not mechanically predictedbut


grounded in the impulse of the events But expec-
themselves.
tationrepresents just thatparadox thatis foundin prophetic
eschatology between transcendenceand immanence. The
comingfuturefulfillment cannotbe objectifiedin a nonsym-
bolic way. That would be utopianism.Yet expectationas a
socialistattituderequiresmore than forcedcompromisealso.
The tensionwithinthe concept is in fact the way that the
proletariattranscendsitself and posits the symbol of a
theonomoussocialistsociety.

The SocialistContext

It mightbe useful,in parenthesis,


to place Tillich'sMarxism
in the general contextof German socialistthoughtof the
1920s.The publicationof twoworksin the early'20s, George
Lukacs's Historyand Class Consciousnessand Karl Korsch's
Marxismand Philosophy, marked the reentryinto socialist
thinking of the Hegelian Marx and thebeginningof whathas
becomeknownas Marxisthumanism.It was a challengeto the
theoreticalstandpointof both the Social Democraticand the
Communistpartiesof Weimar,for whom Marxismmeanta
monisticmaterialism, a copy-theoryepistemology, and a re-
liance on mechanistic, "scientific"laws of historicaldevelop-
ment.Much of the challengecenteredon the notionof pro-
letarianclassconsciousness.For Marxistorthodoxy, sincecon-
sciousness(or thought)is merelyepiphenomenal, a dependent
by-product of autonomousprocessesat workin the material
base of society,proletarianclass consciousnessis a directand
inevitableresult of capitalistexploitation.This seemed to
implythat Marxisttheorizingplays no crucial role in the
historicalprocessit describes.For Lukacs,however,thiswas
too mechanistic a viewof consciousness.He claimedthatthe
proletariatwould not automatically develop the sortof revo-
lutionaryclass consciousnessimputedto thetn.The mistake

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PAUL TILLICH'S MARXISM 495

lay in applying exactlythat reification,which Marx said


capitalismapplied to capitaland to abstractlaborconceivedas
a commodity, to thematerialbase of society.Theoryis thereby
representedas a dependentoutcomeof practicewithoutthe
dialecticalrelationshipthatshould existbetweenthem.
One particulargroup which took up the task of refor-
mulatingsocialisttheoryin oppositionto Marxistorthodoxy
was the Instituteof Social Researchat Frankfurt, foundedin
1923byFelixWeil.It broughttogetheroverthenexttenyears
a number of thinkerslike Max Horkheimer, Theodor
Adorno,FriedrichPollock,Leo Löwenthal,ErichFromm,and
a littlelater Herbert Marcuse. We have already seen that
Tillich met and befriendedthe core group of the Institute
when he took up his chair of philosophyand sociologyat
Frankfurt in 1929. Horkheimerat thattimewas a Privatdozent
or assistantprofessor,and the Institutewas still nominally
underthedirectionof theailingCarl Grünberg.It was Tillich
who proposedHorkheimerfora newlycreatedchairof social
philosophyat the University, enablinghimtherebyto succeed
Grünbergas directorin 1930. In 1931 Adorno, who had
completedhisdoctorateon HusserlunderCornelius,obtained
Tillich'ssponsorshipforhisHabilitationsschrifton Kierkegaard.
Between1930 and 1932 Tillichconductedcoursesand semi-
narsin philosophywithbothHorkheimerand Adorno.When
the Instituteeventually movedto Genevain 1933 and became
theSociétéInternationale de Recherches Sociales,Tillichbecame
one of the twenty-one-member board of administration. His
links with Institutepersonnelcontinuedafterthe move to
Americawhen the Institutewas locatedat ColumbiaUniver-
sityin New York.
In fact,the taskof "criticaltheory,"as the programof the
Institute was called,bearsquitea closeresemblanceto Tillich's
ownoutlook.Criticaltheoryis certainly Marxist,engagingin a
of
critique bourgeoissociety,capitalism, and imperialism. It is
dialecticalsocial theoryrooted in the Marxistnotionof the
dialectic.It acceptedthe Marxistcritiqueof politicaleconomy

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496 SOCIAL RESEARCH

but sought,by bringingtogetheran interdisciplinary teamof


economists, sociologists,
philosophers, social psychologists,and
the like,to studythe interaction betweenthe individualand
the social worldon the suppositionthatthe economyis the
crucialdetermining factorforall socialand individualactivity.
It acceptedthe Marxistjudgmenton capitalismwhichsaw all
social problemsas ultimately rooted in the irrationality and
contradiction of the capitalistmode of production.As Hork-
heimerwrotein his article"Traditionaland CriticalTheory"
in 1937:
The Marxistcategoriesof class,exploitation, surplusvalue,
profit, pauperization,and breakdown are elements in a con-
ceptualwholeandthemeaning ofthiswholeis tobe soughtnot
in the preservationof contemporary societybut in its
transformation intotherightkindof society.74
includingall theculturalmanifestations
It is thesocialtotality,
of capitalism,rather than the socioeconomicsubstructure
alone,thatis thepropersphereof criticalsocialtheory.Hence
Horkheimer's groupworkednotonlyin economicsbut also in
philosophy, sociology,literature,music,and socialpsychology,
the
showing ideological trends in everydaycultureand point-
ing beyondthemto the construction of socialistsociety.
And thisis verysimilarto Tillich'sprogram.Both refusea
crudelymaterialist accountof the Marxistdialectic,insisting
on an interdependence ratherthana one-waydependenceof
cultureon the economicbase. The attemptto deriveevery-
thingfroman economywhichis understoodas materialbeing
is "an abstractand therefore badlyunderstoodMarx,"argued
Horkheimerin his inauguraladdressas director.75 There is a
complexsetof mediationsthatinterconnect consciousnessand
society,cultureand economy,state and citizen,and critical
theoryis thestudyof theseinterconnections and of thetotality
of the systemwhichproduces these mechanisms. Both mis-
'^ Max tlorKneimer, trincai ineory ^i'ew iotk: oeaDury, lv/¿), p. 410.
75"Die gegenwärtige und die AufgabeneinesInstituts
Lage der Sozialphilosophie
quotedin DouglasKellner,"The Frankfurt
fürSocialforschung," SchoolRevisited:A
New GermanCritique4 (1975): 137.
Critique of MartinJay'sTheDialecticalImagination,"

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PAUL TILLICH'S MARXISM 497
trustpositivism as a formof falseconsciousnesswhichreifies
or objectifieswhat are human,and thereforealterable,pro-
cesses. They are thereforemistrustful of the sort of prop-
aganda for the status quo that goes with outlook.
a "scientific"
The Marxistwho carriesover thispositivism into his socialist
theoryis merelyprolonging reign capitalism.The rev-
the of
olutionarypower of the masses is inhibitedby the various
devices of culture;the socialisttask is to analyze these and
point societybeyond them. Both Tillich and the Frankfurt
School pinned theirfaithon the proletariat,but theywere
consciousthatthe workingclass mightnot fulfillitshistorical
role. Marcuse wrotein 1934: "Today the fate of the labor
movement,in whichthe heritageof thisphilosophywas pre-
served, is clouded in uncertainty."76 Despite the fact that
neitherthe FrankfurtSchool nor Tillich in theirrespective
writingsdiscussesthe ideas of the other,the common per-
spectivesuggeststhatthe relationof Tillich'sMarxismto the
criticaltheoryof the Frankfurt School is a subjectthatawaits
furtherclarification.
Finally,let us considersome criticism of Tillich'snotionof
religious socialism. He set out to givea radicaltransformation
of both Christiantheologyand socialisttheory.Is eitherrec-
ognizable after Tillich's attempt? Certainly religion is
transformed. It is resolutelynonsupranatural. The Uncondi-
tional is not a being, not even the highestbeing. But any
experientialcontentcan becomereligiousin Tillich'ssense by
being made the objectof a particularattitude - of uncondi-
tionally or ultimacy.The ambiguityof Tillich's "uncondi-
tional"is evident.His referencesto it oscillatebetweena de-
scriptionof theexperienceswe have and thepresumedobject
of these"unconditional" experiences.It thusattemptsto unite
the subjectiveside of religiousexperienceswiththeirobject.
Yet,even thoughTillichinsiststhatthis"unconditional" is not
a being but a dimensionor a characterization of our ex-
76"The StruggleagainstLiberalismin the TotalitarianView of the State,"in
HerbertMarcuse,Negations
(Boston:Beacon Press,1968),p. 42.

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498 SOCIAL RESEARCH

periences,he can stillvestit withall the attributes


of objectiv-
ity,referring to the
continually the Unconditional, Ultimate,
etc.In thisfashion,a widerangeof experiencesand attitudes,
whetheraesthetic,moral,or political,can be describedas reli-
giousas long as theycontainthismomentof "unconditional
concern."Since these"objects"of religiousconcerncannotbe
directlyspokenof but onlytreatedin symboliclanguage,Til-
lich mustreinterpret all the traditionalcontentsof Christian
theology.This reinterpretation, alreadyevidentin his earliest
theologicalarticleof 1919, findsits culminationin his three-
volume Systematic
Theology.
Tillich'ssocialismis recognizableas a speciesof Marxism,at
leastof the Marxisthumanismcommonin the Westafterthe
1920s. But it shows its greateststrainpreciselyat the point
where Marxismclaimsto be so strong - the unityof theory
and practice.The fundamentalproblemin the theory-praxis
relationis the linkbetweenrevolutionary theoryand theclass
consciousnessof the proletariat.In The Communist Manifesto,
the revolutionary of
nature capital is the unwitting organizer
of the proletariat.But "proletariat"is not just an objective
socioeconomicgrouping.It is also the goal of politicalen-
lightenment: to formtheproletariat intoa class.The theoreti-
cal analysisof the historicalmovementtoward socialismis
interdependent withthat class whichin its life and activity
contributes to thatmovement.The proletariat's interestis de-
veloped by the experience of alienation and exploitation;but
it mustalso be formedand directedbytheory,a theorythatis
constantly testedin action.
Yet, thoughTillichinsiststhathis socialismis proletarian,
his proletariat becomesless and less a recognizablesocialclass
because of his almosttotalisolationfromproletarianactivity
and socialistpractice.More and morethe proletariat becomes
forTillicha symbolicgroup of brokenpeople, experiencing
meaninglessness and despair.It is notaccidentalthat,afterhis
moveto America,the group whichprovidesthe locus forthe
nonillusorygrasp of realityis in fact the middle-classin-
tellectualwho experiencesanxietyand meaninglessness in his

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PAUL TILLICH'S MARXISM 499
life.Theonomyceases to have any politicaldimensionwhat-
ever,and the"socialistdecision"is replacedbythe"courageto
be." Existentialism and psychoanalysis fillthe space once oc-
cupied by socialism.It could be plausiblyargued thatTillich's
conceptof praxisis itselfonlya theoretical construct.Despite
his acceptanceof the Marxistinsightinto the primacyof the
economic realm (at least under capitalism),Tillich never
grounds his socialist theory on a sufficiently developed
of
analysis capitalism and itscontradictions.To thisextent,his
religioussocialismremainsaloof fromany practicalinfluence
on socialistaction.It offersfewstrategicor tacticalguidelines
for the socialistactivist.
Indeed, thisweaknesscan be tracedbackveryfarindeed in
Tillich'sthought.In 1919, he began to analyze cultureby
meansof a triadof concepts:theirform,theircontent(Inhalt),
and theirsubstanceor expressivepower (Gehalt).These no-
tionscan be easilyapplied to an aestheticcreationsuch as a
painting.It willhave form,a contentor subject-matter, and, if
it is a great painting,a meaning,an import,a Gehalt The
more formpredominatesin culture,Tillichsays,the greater
the autonomy;the more substance,import,or Gehaltpre-
dominates, the nearer we are to theonomy.The other
element - theconcretecontent - playsalmostno partat all and
is soon lostsightof in Tillich'sanalyses.We are leftwitha sort
of dualisttensionbetweenformand Gehalt.But whilethismay
not have very serious consequencesfor aesthetictheory,it
means that,when these categoriesare applied to his social
thought,he sees the struggleas between theformof the
bourgeois era- self-sufficient finitude- and the breaking
throughof theGehaltof socialismto createa new theonomy.
Justwhatis missingis the concretecontentof socialistaction,
bourgeoisoppression,and proletarianmiserythatwouldhave
servedto preservethe link betweenTillich'ssocialisttheory
and a revolutionary social praxis.
* A version of this
paper was presented in a symposiumon "Religion and Politics"
at TrinityCollege, Dublin, in April 1979. I am gratefulfor the invitationand for the
discussion afforded my paper by the participants.

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