The Realization of Critique: Species-Being, Metabolism, and Natural Limits

Karen Ng

Vanderbilt University

In this paper I argue that the concept of species-being should not primarily be understood as concerned with the question of human essence, but as a development of a distinctly post-Kantian conception of “critique.” In developing this notion of critique, I argue, secondly, that this understanding of species-being is necessarily connected to and compatible with an idea of “natural limits.” I engage with some eco-Marxist discussions of natural limits and develop a different conception based on Marx’s suggestion that the movement of capital is maßlos (limitless), drawing on some resources from Aristotle and Hegel.