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In an article (title not give) by D. Ruben appearing in Critique (1974, 4), a main conclusion was that Marxism must consider incorporating common-sense elements of the foundationalist view & reconsider the rejection of reality as given. Ruben arrives at his conclusion with the unproven proposition that there is a "world-as-it-is-in-itself," which may be known. But this must be established & discussed in relation to historical materialism. Ruben recommends an empiricist epistemology merely because he favors it, & rejects the dialectical relation between thought & reality. He fails to see that concepts & categories change, & goes on to misinterpret Kant. He sees objective & subjective traditions in opposition because he criticizes dialectics on positivistic grounds & then criticizes empiricism on dialectical grounds. Ruben's pure reflections on reality & thought are one-directional & devoid of movement, & therefore, outside the dialectical tradition of Lenin & others. L. Kamel.

Introducing students to current controversies over the nature of the ancient economy, this volume brings together twelve influential studies by leading experts in the field. In 1973, Moses Finley unveiled a comprehensive model of the economic underpinnings of classical civilisation. Since then, supporters and critics have turned the study of the ancient economy into what has been called 'an academic battleground'. In recent years, however, a growing number of scholars have aimed to move the debate beyond partisan controversies. This volume takes stock of these developments. Embracing a wide range of interdisciplinary perspectives derived from ecology, economics and cultural studies and drawing on literary, documentary and archaeological evidence, the contributions address crucial issues from agricultural production, the uses of money and the creation of markets to the scale of long-distance trade and economic growth in the Greek and Roman periods. In a general introduction and separate headnotes for each chapter, the editors provide a concise survey of recent debates, seeking to situate the different contributions in the broader context of contemporary scholarship. This is the first collection of its kind. It is designed to acquaint beginners as well as more advanced students with a variety of thematic and methodological approaches to the study of economic processes in the ancient world. All terms in foreign or ancient languages have been translated into English or explained in a comprehensive glossary. An up-to-date bibliographical essay covering pertinent scholarship in English offers guidance for further reading and the preparation of term papers