Abstract:
This essay argues that Marx’s distinction between concrete-in-thought
and concrete-in-reality does not invoke a conceptual or empirical difference but
a difference-in-act. This difference is verified in social practice rather than in
thought. The actuality of practice verifies that of thought without there being a
metaphysical correspondence between them. While thought can adequately represent
the structure of practice, there is no similarity or resemblance between the
structure of thought (what is concrete-in-thought) and that of practice (concretein-
reality).What is concrete-in-reality is a practical act whose nature does not reveal
itself either to those executing it or to the theoretical consciousness that
takes the consciousness of practitioners as its starting point.
