A comment on hollander on Sraffa and the 'Marxian dimension'

The contribution by Professor Hollander (2000) discusses Marx's influence on Sraffa's thought. While enquiries into this matter certainly have a historical and biographical interest, the paper steps beyond this kind of interest. In fact, in this article, Professor Hollander maintains that this influence caused a bias in Sraffa's interpretation of Ricardo (pp.192-97).1 However, such a claim on Professor Hollander’s part requires a demonstration that Sraffa’s conclusions were indeed led astray by the alleged influence.2 This is therefore the central question, and will be taken up in the present comment. Only in the conclusion will I touch briefly on the question of whether the claim of a Marxian influence on Sraffa’s interpretation of Ricardo is indeed correct from a biographical and historical point of view.