Was Marx a Positivist?

Marx understood himself as a scientist of the social world (Cornforth, 1962: 142, Walker, 2001: 1); however, he arguably never left a ‘clear and systematic exposition’ of his methodology (Echeverría, 1989: 242). Due to this he has often been reinterpreted (McBride, 1977: 165) to fit the ‘dominant model of science at the time’ (Walker, 2001: 181). From this, commentators have stated that Marx was ‘undoubtedly’ a positivist (Acton, 1967: 30). This essay seeks to evaluate such claims against what Marx really said.