A Journey into a Vision

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Claud Wilson
7 years ago
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1 A Journey into a Vision

Karl Marx, born in Germany 1818 Studied economics and philosophy. His professor of philosophy was G.W.F. Hegel, the most influential philosopher in Germany at the time.

2 Karl Marx, born in Germany 1818 Studied economics and philosophy. His professor of philosophy was G.W.F. Hegel, the most influential philosopher in Germany at the time. Met Friedrich Engels, and wrote The Communist Manifesto with him in Took part in the German and French revolutions of 1848, after which Marx left for England where he spent the rest of his life. He wrote Das Kapital in Died in 1883.

3 G.W.F. Hegel developed a theory that became immensely popular at the time: the theory of absolute idealism: As history develops, the World Spirit evolves in an increasingly rational way, moving from opposite to opposite in a pendulum-style, dialectical movement. As time progresses, the World Spirit realizes its rational potential, and the world enters a state of complete human selfrealization. Hegel seems to have believed that this state of self-realization was being reached in his own lifetime, and in Germany in particular. Marx rejected the entire notion of a World Spirit, but retained the idea of a dialectical movement, except Marx saw it as an economic development, not a spiritual one. Marx called it historical materialism, but the theory has later been labeled dialectical materialism.

4 Marx imagines that every historical time period develops in opposition to the previous time period. Each time period accumulates so many economic contradictions that at some point the whole system topples over into its opposite, which after a while will topple over into its own opposite, and so forth, until economic history has reached an equilibrium. The basic dialectical movement: The ancient barter economies would, according to the theory, develop into a primitive monetary economy; this would, in turn, develop contradictions and be followed by a society structured along the lines of feudalism; feudalism would then develop tensions, and be replaced by capitalism; eventually, capitalism will collapse under its own contradictions and class struggles, and be replaced by socialism, which was conceived as the final step before communism. Once the world has reached the stage of communism, all contradictions will be resolved, and there will be no further need for developments.

5 Marx sees capitalism as a complete negation of the human dignity of the working classes. The realization of labor: the worker s time is used to create a product that the worker has no control over, and can t afford. The product creates surplus value (profit) which the worker has no access to. Profit is theft of the worker s time. The worker is thus alienated from his or her own labor product. So the worker can t experience any self-activity = pleasure in work. This warps human nature and makes humans miserable if they re workers, and greedy and selfish if they are employers. So what must be done? Start a revolution: the working classes must unite, and take over the productive forces. In the new society of socialism the workers will own the productive forces, but there will still be a monetary system. In the final stage of communism there will be no wages, but to each according to need, and from each according to ability.

Marx seems to have believed that as economies change, people s behavior patterns also change. There is no permanent human nature, but each economic phase creates its own nature.

6 Marx seems to have believed that as economies change, people s behavior patterns also change. There is no permanent human nature, but each economic phase creates its own nature. The economy is the basis for everything, literally. All cultural institutions are a superstructure to the substructure or base of the economy. That means that when the base changes, everything in the superstructure must also change, including human nature. In the final stage of communism humans will no longer be selfish, aggressive and greedy; these characteristics are typical of the capitalist society s superstructure.

8 Why would all aspects of human nature change? Why work harder if you don t receive more? Who will do the dirty work? Workers have rights and unions now; we don t need a revolution Why should the communist stage be the final one? Can t there be contradictions in Communism? Why work for Communism if it happens automatically, anyway? Communism has obviously failed, so why even take the theory seriously? The countries Marx thought would have a communist revolution, such as Germany and Great Britain, developed a culture of workers rights instead, creating a blue-collar middle class.

Group Members: Leslie-Ann Bolden, Michela Bowman, Sarah Kaufman, Danielle Jeanne Lindemann Selections from: The Marx-Engels Reader

Group Members: Leslie-Ann Bolden, Michela Bowman, Sarah Kaufman, Danielle Jeanne Lindemann Selections from: The Marx-Engels Reader Karl Marx s broad theoretical and political agenda is based upon a conception