As the full title suggests, this is a set of three separable, yet linked studies/chapters of central philosophical concepts that relate to Marx's work. Suchting's philosophical inspiration was clearly Louis Althusser (both early and later). The first study/chapter deals with epistemology, and argues for a solution to the epistemological problem (the twin evils of dogmatism and scepticism) via a re-thinking of scientific and ordinary thought in terms of the practices entailed in a theoretical (and actual) mode of production. The second study/chapter deals with ontology, arguing for a materialist approach, but one that does not have its grounding in the traditional foundationalist metaphysical project. It is argued that because materialism cannot be ultimately justified by means of self-reflexive thought (the characteristic mode of philosophy), the choice of this presupposition is made on the grounds of its effectiveness in relation to practical emancipatory struggles of the working class. The third study/chapter is a dissection of the meaning of 'the dialectic'. It is argued here that this concept has no genuine metaphysical status in Marx's work, and is better thought of as providing some regulations or guides to investigation and revolutionary practice.

Wal Suchting died in early 1997. His work has passed largely unnoticed by his Marxist colleagues in the field of philosophy (possibly due to his loathing of self-promotion). This is unfortunate because the quality of his work is of the first order, and constitutes a powerful argument for a type of Marxism (and Marx!) that is not rooted in philosophical doctrine, but rather in scientific practices that can be used to empower the working class.

This book lays bear this approach, employing a style that carefully and succinctly dissects opposing arguments in their most general formulation, and proposes new arguments in a similar fashion.

This work could be criticised for being 'old fashioned' in that it does not deal with some contemporary issues facing Marxist philosophy - most notably, the place of feminist and multicultural approaches to issues of epistemology and political theory. It also makes no mention of the post-modern turn in philosophy. Perhaps Suchting would have replied to these criticisms by claiming that issues of gender and race are particularistic and thus not of concern to the extremely abstract doctrines dealt with in this work. As to post-modernism, one can confidently state that Suchting felt this to be a philosophical blackhole hardly worthy of comment. A more immanent criticism, however, might be that this work lacks a systematic treatment of the practices of social science or of political theory - concerns that were obviously central to Marx.

That said, it is beyond dispute that this work is an innovative and rewarding contribution to Marxist scholarship.