In his early treatise Zur Judenfrage (1843/1844; “On the Jewish Question,” 1926), Karl Marx (1818–1883) argued for Jewish emancipation. At the same time he formulated the first materialist critique of the state and of civil society. The work also contains a number of problematic anti-Jewish statements and figures of speech; these have given rise to a still-ongoing debate over the antisemitic content of the text and its enduring impact.