Method in Marx

the foundations of the dialectical-critical method

Abstract

The present article analyzes the epistemological and ontological foundations of Marxian thought, highlighting the method as the structuring core of
the critique of political economy. Based on the distinction between the research method and the method of presentation, as indicated by Marx in the Preface to Capital, it is demonstrated that scientific knowledge must apprehend concrete reality in its movement and contradictions. The study highlights the transition from Hegelian idealist dialectics to materialist dialectics, in which consciousness is determined by the material conditions of existence. The analysis of the categories of totality, contradiction, and mediation allows for an understanding of the historicity and processual nature of social phenomena. In developing the critique of political economy, Marx reconstructs the capitalist mode of production as a contradictory totality, articulating the laws of accumulation and the exploitation of labor. Thus, the dialectical-critical method reveals itself not only as a theoretical instrument of interpretation but also as a practical mediation aimed at transforming social reality, constituting the scientific foundation of historical materialism.