KARL MARX:
A CRITICAL PROFILE
1. Contribution
Like Charles Darwin (1809-82), his contemporary, Karl Marx (1818-83) has had a profound impact on modern thought. This German philosopher, social scientist, and professional revolutionary formulated a theory of social change that influenced most modern forms of socialism and communism. Marx pioneered conflict theory. Motivated by a belief in human emancipation, he tried to discover a way to free people from the social, political, and economic constraints that prevent them from reaching their full potential. Marx used to say: Philosophers explain only; critical theorists translated theory into practice.
2. Early life
Marx grew up in Trier, Prussia, the son of Jewish lawyer who converted to Christianity in order to keep his job. During the period 1835-41, he studied (in 1835) law at the University of Bon and he studied (in 1837) philosophy at the University of Berlin, falling under the influence of the idealist philosopher G.W.F. Hegel (1770-1831), who interpreted the whole of history as the process by which "Spirit" (and consequently humanity) progressed towards complete self-knowledge and a "rational" and "free" society. Marx looked to Hegel for help in uncovering the principle that would explain historical change; he wanted to know how slavery gave way to feudalism and how feudalism gave way to capitalism. About this time, he joined a group of leftist radical socialists who attacked the Prussian government. He graduated (in 1841) Ph.D. at the University of Jena, but could not obtain a university teaching job because of his subversive views.
During the period 1842-48, Marx made his living as a free-lance journalist and political activist. For a while, he wrote for the R...
... middle of paper ...
...e. He predicted the revolutions that came later, but he misread the proletariat altogether; peasants make revolutions, the proletariat do not. Marx's dialectical materialism, combined with semiotics, offers social scientists a powerful tool for studying the political signification of every facet of contemporary culture, including television, film, music, fashion, and sports. They show how people absorb capitalist values via political rhetoric, news reporting, advertising, and public relations.
6. Works Cited
Engels, Fr. "Karl Marx's Funeral." 1999. Available at: http://www.ex.ac.uk/Projects/meia/Archive/1883-Death/dersoz1.htm
Karl Marx: Timeline (the Marx/Engels Internet Archive). 1999. Available at http://tqd.advanced.org/3376/MARX2.htm
Marx, Karl, and Friedrich Engels. 1967. The Communist Manifesto (1848), introduced by A.J.P. Taylor. London: Penguin Books.
In the first section of Communist Manifesto, Marx explains the class struggles of the modern society, most notably found between the bourgeoisie and the proletariats. He also points out that in today’s modern society, all of the exploitive relationships that were covered by ideology (i.e. religion) have all been uncovered and revealed to be only in self-interest. Finally, he explains that the bourgeoisie need to continually change their way of leadership if they want to stay in power. The proletariats, in Marx’s opinion, go to great lengths as to how the modern laborers seem to be seen as part of the machinery and are only good for what labor they produce. Marx reveals that the proletariats are a unique class, and that they are connected by the miserable existence they share in common. He believes that they have nothing to lose, and that by being proletariats they have no powers or privileges to defend; rather, to help themselves they must destroy the entire class system. Because of this, when they have the revolution they destroy everything.
A small historical background on Marx is beneficial to understanding the views he holds. Marx was born in 1818 during the destabilizing effects of Industrial Revolution and by the ideological and political forces unleashed by the Enlightenment and the French Revolution. His commitment to radical social change and atheism were still unpopular to the authorities of his home, Trier, Prussia. Marx then moved to France, where he married his childhood friend, Jenny von Westphalen, daughter to ...
Karl Marx was an idealist. He observed the cruelties and injustices that the poor working class endured during the period of industrial revolution, and was inspired to write of a society in which no oppression existed for any class of people. Marx believed in a revolution that would end socialism and capitalism, and focus on communist principles. The Communist Manifesto, written by Karl Marx, describes the goals of the communist party for ending exploitation of the working class and creating a society in which there is equality without social classes. As a historian, philosopher, and revolutionary, Marx has helped shaped the society of the past, present and future. He is known for being a liberal reformist who believed that capitalism could be reformed and inequality of the working classes could be addressed and abolished. I agree with Marx?s view points and feel he is a man that has achieved many great experiences throughout his lifetime for which he is remembered.
Mapes-Martins, Brad. “Karl Marx.” Class lectures, Modern Western Political Theory from University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, WI, 11/12/13, 11/14/13, and 12/19/13.
“Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844” is a collection of writings that appear to be intended to be a book. These manuscripts provide important information about the the way in which Marx interpreted history, particularly the ways in which the revolution of the proletariat and the future prevalence of communism as the result of historical progression. It also tells the historical story of man's alienation.
The Background on the authors of the Communist Manifesto; “Marx, the son of a prosperous German lawyer, was living in Brussels, having emigrated from Prussia to Paris in 1843 after the government had suppressed the newspaper which he edited, and having been expelled from Paris in 1845.” (Boyer 152). Marx's father was wealthy, Engels father was as well. “Engels, whose father owned a cotton spinning business with branches in Barmen, Germany, and Manchester, England, was living in Paris.” (Boyer 152). “The two had first met in 1842, and had begun to work together after their second meeting in Paris in 1844.” (Boyer 152) They had written two books together, The Holy Family (1845) and The German Ideology (1846), before writing the Communist Manifesto.” (Boyer 152). “Marx wrote the Manifesto in December 1847 and January 1848. The Manifesto was published in London in February.” (Boyer 152). These two collaborated together to write a great piece of literature which has been known to be called the “holy book” according to historian A. J. P. Taylor (Boyer 151).
Marx, Karl, ‘Economic & Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844’, Marx - Engels Collected Works Volume 3: Karl Marx Internet Archive, Progress Publishers, 1932. Retrieved from [http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1844/manuscripts/preface.htm] & [http://csf.colorado.edu/psn/marx/archive/1844-epm/1st.html]
Karl Marx who was born in 1818-1883 has been established as one of the most influential thinkers and writers of modern times. He is a socialist amongst a philosopher who is recognized for his devotion to economic society and has left a lasting impression on the world. He is mostly respected for envisioning a society where everyone would be happy. Marx wrote the Communist Manifesto in the middle of the 19th century which was an altering time in European history. The Industrial Revolution was changing society rapidly and radically. New technologies were coming out vigorously and many spoke of great changes to come. The idea of social engineering became admired by those that believed in advanced technology and an enlightened world. Many believed in the notion of tearing down old and dysfunctional systems in hopes of replacing them with new and improved visions. Revolts began in Italy then took hold in Paris in February. From Paris they spread to most European capitals and parts of Latin America with over 50 countries affected. Moreover, Marx’s work was published on February 21 1848 during the uprising in Paris and on the eve of the revolution of Berlin and elsewhere. The revolutions of 1848 remain the most widespread wave in European history, but within one year, reactionary forces regained control. Revolutions collapsed, and in most countries, monarchies were re-established. Still, 1848 decisively shaped the European political landscape. In most countries the restored monarchies expanded the power of the liberal bourgeoisie as a bulwark against the proletarian classes. Marx’s work did not cause the revolutions but is best read as an interpretation of the events on the ground and an attempt to direct them. Even though, Karl Marx be...
Born in Trier, Prussia to Heinrich and Henriette Marx on May 5, 1818, Karl Marx would grow up to become a radical thinker, revolutionary, and a disciple of sociology, whose ideas would influence the world long after his death (Steven Kreis, 2008). Marx’s first experience with radical thinking would be during his study at the University of Berlin as a member of the Young Hegelians, a group whose critique of Christianity was seen as controversial at the time (Kreis, 2008). After obtaining his PhD in philosophy from the University of Jena, he turned to journalism, becoming the editor of Rheinische Zeitung, where we wrote several increasingly revolutionary works that was “suppressed for its derisive social and political content” (Janet Beales Kaidantzis, n.d). Marx emigrated to France and forged a life-long friendship with Friedrich Engels as well as becoming the co-editor of another leftist radical newspaper, the Deutsch-Französische Jahrbücher (Kries, 2008). While in Paris and having been influenced previously by his work for the newspaper in Prussia, Marx started to develop and theorize his ideas of communism, detailing the economic ideas of “Marxism” and publishing several essays, papers, and manuscripts such as the The Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts (Jonathan Wolff, 2011). During the storm of protests, rebellions, and revolutions sweeping through Europe at the time, Marx published multiple works and books of which the most famous is the Communist Manifesto, “his most widely read work” before settling down in London, England in 1849 (Wolff, 2011). As stated on the University of Sanford’s webpage on Marx (Wolff, 2011), “He now concentrated on the study of economics,” detailing ideas and works where he “sketches out what he...
The German thinker, Karl Marx (1818-1883), wanted to understand and explain the changes that occurred in society at the time of the Industrial Revolution in Europe. (ibid) In 1843 Marx met Engels in Paris. It marked the beginning of a lifelong of friendship and professional collaboration. In 1848 Marx and Engels published “The Communist Manifesto”. The Manifesto outlined the struggles between classes. From then onwards it has become apparent that Marx was not an economist. His theories are a combination of economics, history, sociology and politics. Marx moved to London in 1849 where he spent the rest of his life.
Karl Marx, the preface, “a Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy,” written 1859, Progress Publisher, Moscow, Translated by S. W. Ryazanskaya 1999
Born in 1818 in Prussia, Karl Marx was a philosopher, journalist, historian, sociologist, economist, and revolutionary socialist. Marx is most notably known for founding socialism, a system of society in which no property is held as private, and his economic works, like the Communist Manifesto and Das Kapital. His fundamental ideas, later known as Marxism, created the base of Socialist and Communist movements throughout the world. Marx also had a very close friend named Friedrich Engels. Engels, born in 1820 in Prussia, was philosopher and collaborator of Karl Marx. Engels helped Marx co-author The Communist Manifesto and edit Das Kapital. Throughout The Communist Manifesto, key themes are showcased in Marx and Engels’s argument on economics. The major argument is for Communism. Marx states that Capitalism
Bensaid, D. (2002) In Marx for our Times: Adventures and Misadventures of a Critique. New
On May 5th, 1818, in Trier, Karl Marx was born of Heinrich and Henrietta Marx in the German Rhineland. Studies say that Karl’s family was of a large size, consisting of about four children: Karl, Sophie, Emilie, and Luise. His mother, whom belonged to a family of Hungarian Jews, died in 1863,yet was always considered to be a lovely wife and mother. The Jewish blood that ran through the family ultimately impacted Karl’s fate. When Karl was six years old, he adopted Christianity because at the time it was considered as an act of civilized progress. His father, a highly educated lawyer whom admired eighteenth century literature (of the French Enlightenment), was a “Prussian patriot” and a Jewish believer. Karl and his father held a personal relationship, to which they enjoyed a close friendship. His father did indeed influence him greatly, but Karl “did not believe in the power of rational argument to influence action,” (2) as did his father.
Karl Marx was known in sociology history as the master builder of social science. Marx believed that history was made up of steps and controlled by a class conflict. In today’s social problems we face a wide range of conflict Marx 's might analyze very differently then how today 's humans beings would.