Bill Martin is a professor of Philosophy at DePaul University

DePaul University

DePaul University is a private institution of higher education and research in Chicago, Illinois. Founded by the Vincentians in 1898, the university takes its name from the 17th century French priest Saint Vincent de Paul...

 is best known for his work on Derrida, Sartre, Marxist theory, Aesthetics

Aesthetics

Aesthetics is a branch of philosophy dealing with the nature of beauty, art, and taste, and with the creation and appreciation of beauty. It is more scientifically defined as the study of sensory or sensori-emotional values, sometimes called judgments of sentiment and taste...

, and his critiques of Richard Rorty

Richard Rorty

Richard McKay Rorty was an American philosopher. He had a long and diverse academic career, including positions as Stuart Professor of Philosophy at Princeton, Kenan Professor of Humanities at the University of Virginia, and Professor of Comparative Literature at Stanford University...

. Martin has written a few books on the subject of Prog Rock and bands like Yes

Yes (band)

Yes are an English rock band who achieved worldwide success with their progressive, art, and symphonic style of rock music. Regarded as one of the pioneers of the progressive genre, Yes are known for their lengthy songs, mystical lyrics, elaborate album art, and live stage sets...

. He also considers himself a Maoist

Maoism

Maoism, also known as the Mao Zedong Thought , is claimed by Maoists as an anti-Revisionist form of Marxist communist theory, derived from the teachings of the Chinese political leader Mao Zedong . Developed during the 1950s and 1960s, it was widely applied as the political and military guiding...

; however rejects certain dogmatic principles of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism

Maoism

Maoism, also known as the Mao Zedong Thought , is claimed by Maoists as an anti-Revisionist form of Marxist communist theory, derived from the teachings of the Chinese political leader Mao Zedong . Developed during the 1950s and 1960s, it was widely applied as the political and military guiding...

. He has certain affinity to the work of the Revolutionary Communisty Party

Revolutionary Communist Party, USA

The Revolutionary Communist Party, USA , known originally as the Revolutionary Union, is a Maoist Communist party formed in 1975 in the United States. The RCP states that U.S...

 and its chairman, Bob Avakian

Bob Avakian

Bob Avakian is Chairman of the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA , which he has led since its formation in 1975. He is a veteran of the Free Speech Movement and the Left of the 1960s and early 1970s, and was closely associated with the Black Panther Party. He has published writings on Marxism and...

.

Beyond the relationship there are some major theoretical and philosophical differences as can be seen in the book co-written by both Avakian and Martin, "A Call to the Future," such as the question of the Ethical, the relation of productive forces to our contingency, and the legacy of Christianity

Christianity

Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...

. While Avakian has a stricter take on Marxism and the dialectical

Dialectical materialism

Dialectical materialism is a strand of Marxism synthesizing Hegel's dialectics. The idea was originally invented by Moses Hess and it was later developed by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels...

 relationship between Morality and the economic base, Martin argues for a new Kantian

Immanuel Kant

Immanuel Kant was a German philosopher from Königsberg , researching, lecturing and writing on philosophy and anthropology at the end of the 18th Century Enlightenment....

re-envisioning of Ethics within Marxism.

Works

• "Avant Rock: Experimental Music from the Beatles to Bjork"
• "Humanism and Its Aftermath: The Shared Fate of Deconstruction and Politics"
• "Marxism and the Call of the Future: Conversations on Ethics, History, and Politics" co-written with Bob Avakian.
• "Matrix and Line: Derrida and the Possibilities of Postmodern Social Theory"
• "Music of Yes: Structure and Vision in Progressive Rock"
• "Listening to the Future: The Time of Progressive Rock, 1968-1978"
• "Politics in the Impasse: Explorations in Postsecular Social Theory"
• "The radical project: Sartrean investigations"
• "Ethical Marxism: The Categorical Imperative of Liberation (Creative Marxism)"