VP (Vuyiwe) Mhlobo
23268328
WVLS 314
ASSIGNMENT 1
MARX: THE ECONOMIC BASIS OF HUMAN SOCIETIES
05 MAY 2014
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction ……………………………………………………………. 1
The work and life of Marx ……………………………………………...1
The Materialist Theory of History ……………………………………..2
Theory history of human nature………………………………………..2
Diagnosis: alienation, capitalism and exploitation ……………………3
Prescription: revolution and utopia ………………………………………4
Conclusion …………………………………………………………………4
Introduction
Marx was born in German whom abandoned his religion ad become a lawyer. His work was determined as Marx’ life and work, a materialist theory of history, theory of human nature, diagnosis which includes alienation, capitalism and exploitation, the last was prescription under revolution and utopia.
1. Marx life and work
He was born in Germany and dumped his Christianity and become a lawyer. He inherited from his Christianity ideal of human equality and share the enlightenment hope that society. The two philosophy who had greatest influence on him, it was Hegel whom Marx now again left his legal studies and joint the philosophy. The leading inspiration in Hegel was the idea of progress in human history through various stages of mental and cultural development. Hegel therefore conceptualized historical progress in terms of conception of Geist Mind or Spirit. When Hegel talks about alienation he mentioned subject that is known and object that is unknown to alienation. This alienation was expressed in Economic and Philosophical Mascripts.
Marx educates and organizes the proletariat which was class of industrial workers that have to sell labour in order to survive and those thought success in the class must go. Marx becomes well known...
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...shed capitalism and introduced communism. When introducing alienation of land he wanted the labour to cultivate the land and the industries’ will therefore sell products to open markets so that all society will benefit and not only industries may benefit. Marx saw that his communist movement is growing, but seeing that he know educates the portraits so that they may have Like religion, Marxism is more than just a theory. It is more of a prophetic vision of social salvation. Despite some disputes of Marx’s theories and their extreme formulations, and the failed attempts of communist regimes in the twentieth centuary, his theories remain alive.
Reference
Heyns, M. Man and Society. Potchefstroom: NWU, Potchefstroom Campus. (Study guide WVLS 314).
Stevenson, L., Haberman, D.L. 2007. Ten Theories of Human Nature. New York: Oxford University Press.
According to Marx, capitalist system has another damage rather than class differentiation and low source of income. This damage is basically alienation of labor. Labors are being fundamentally alienated from production, production process, man’s species being and also from other men. Those are the alienation steps of workers in capitalist world. According to communist theory Marx believes that in such system society divides into two different classes; on one hand there are property owners so called bourgeoisie and on the other hand property less workers so called proletariats. For Marx the class stratification that driven from private ownership causes to alienate workers from the existence world. It begins that property less workers become alienated from the product that they produce. Worker relates to...
Marx’s ideals of communism were drawn from the realization that the cycle of revolutions caused by the class struggles throughout history lead society nowhere. Society as a whole was more and more splitting up into two great hostile camps, into two great classes that were directly facing each other—bourgeoisie and proletariat. According to Marx, in order for society to further itself a mass proletarian revolution would have to occur. The bourgeois, who were the employers and owners of the means of production, composed the majority of the modern capitalists. It was these individuals that controlled the capitalist society by exploiting the labor provided by the proletariats. For example, the bourgeoisie make property into a right because they are the ones with the property. However, without their power force of labor behind them, the bourgeoisie class would crumple. To accomplish a revolution, the workers (proletariats) would need to rise up against the bourgeoisie and take back the factors of production. Marx believed that after the inevitable revolution of the proletariats against the oppressive force of the bourgeoisie, a communistic form of government would take hold.
Karl Marx’s was a German philosopher, economist and evolutionary socialist born in Germany on May 5th 1818. His theories mostly consisted of the capitalist economic system. Marx’s attended the University of Bonn and University of Berlin. He is widely recognized for his theory of on the class system which included the concepts of base and super-structure. Marx’s theory of the class system is well exhibited by the documentary film, Class Dismissed: How TV Frames the Working Class.
Karl Marx 's writing of ‘The Communist Manifesto’ in 1848 has been documented by a vast number of academics as one of the most influential pieces of political texts written in the modern era. Its ideologically driven ideas formed the solid foundation of the Communist movement throughout the 20th century, offering a greater alternative for those who were rapidly becoming disillusioned and frustrated with the growing wealth and social divisions created by capitalism. A feeling not just felt in by a couple of individuals in one society, but a feeling that was spreading throughout various societies worldwide. As Toma highlights in his work, Marx felt that ‘capitalism would produce a crisis-ridden, polarized society destined to be taken over by
Karl Marx was a German/Prussian philosopher, economist, sociologist, author, and revolutionary socialist. His economic ideas were the basis for communism, which can be seen around the world today. Marx was very popular due to his predictions of the fall of capitalism and the rise of the working class via revolution presented in his book, Communist Manifesto, written in 1848. Marx was very committed to his idea that history has always been affected by class struggles, which he touches base on in his book. His ideas are often found very controversial, and in Communist Manifesto, there is a lot to make controversy about.
Karl Marx creates a well-rounded materialist conception of history throughout his writings on how a society should be described in terms of its means of material production, which became the first of its kind by introducing a theory rivaling the rising concept of capitalism.
Karl Marx was a German philosopher who studies at the university of berlin. He was a Hegelian. He was very active in the political scene, thus springing his desire to combined philosophy, political science and economics. Marx believes that we are the product of our environments but we also have the power to change our environment. He believed that human beings can shape the environment that we live in through our abilities. He also believes that philosophers should not only interoperate the world, but they should be able to change it (Citation). Marx believed that history is all based class conflicts. He uses the example of the Bourgeoisie and the Proletariat. The bourgeoisie is the oppressive class, they consist of the rich, upper class,
The ideology of Marxism, established by German philosopher Karl Marx, is a collectively known set of assumptions of a political ideology, which focuses especially on analysis of materialist interpretation of historical development, or on class struggle within the society. The primarily approach of Marxism, nonetheless, was the critique of capitalism. The strength of his inquiry lies in belief of inevitable shift from capitalism and he aims to advocate the new form of ideology and economy, the socialism. The title of this essay is provocative as in today´s world, there exist many proponents who claim, the core of Marx conception of ideology is still relevant in the 21st globalised world. However, Marxism is relevant to the extent to which is it important to examine every political and economic conception, moreover if we are able to perceive its outcomes after the concepts has been practically applied. This paper is intended to assess key ideas of Marxism with observations of positives and negatives it brought and the reasons why the concepts failed.
Stevenson, Leslie. The Study of Human Nature: A Reader. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000.
In his Manifesto of the Communist Party Karl Marx created a radical theory revolving not around the man made institution of government itself, but around the ever present guiding vice of man that is materialism and the economic classes that stemmed from it. By unfolding the relat...
Abel, Donald C., ed. Theories of Human Nature: Classical and Contemporary Readings. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1992.
Karl Marx’s article titled Estranged Labor as found in his 1844 Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts pays significant attention to the political economic system, which is commonly referred to capitalism. He further delves into nature of the political economy with a keen focus on how it has negatively impacted the worker or laborer. Therefore, the laborer forms the subject of his critical and detailed analysis as tries demonstrates the ill nature of the political economy. To start with Karl Marx portrays how the political economy as presented by its proponents has led to emergence of two distinct classes in society; the class of property owners and on the other hand, the class of property less workers. According to Karl Marx (2004), proponents of the political economy have introduced concepts such as private property and competition indicating without providing any form of analytical explanation but rather just expecting the society to embrace and apply such concepts. In particular, political economists have failed to provide a comprehensive explanation for division that has been established between capital and labor. Estranged Labor clearly depicts Marx’s dissatisfaction as well as disapproval towards the political economy indicating that proponents of such a system want the masses to blindly follow it without any form of intellectual or practical explanation. One area that Karl Marx demonstrates his distaste and disappointment in the article is worker or the laborer and how the worker sinks to not just a commodity but rather a wretched commodity (Marx, 2004). This is critical analysis of Karl Marx concept or phenomenon on the alienation of the worker as predicted in Estranged Labor in several aspects and how these concepts are ...
The political philosopher believed that communism could only thrive in a society distressed by “the political and economic circumstances created by a fully developed capitalism”. With industry and capitalism growing, a working class develops and begins to be exploited. According to Marx, the exploiting class essentially is at fault for their demise, and the exploited class eventually comes to power through the failure of capitalism.... ... middle of paper ...
As one of greatest figures in human history, Karl Marx introduced not only Communism but also historical materialism to us. According to historical materialism, the mode of production would determine and foster mankind’s ideas, values, and beliefs. Many opponents of Marx attacked his “impossible” Communism but neglected his contribution in defining the relationship among important production elements. This paper would explain the theme of historical materialism and probed the relationship between consciousness and mode of production. Then, this paper would analyze how division of labor affect mode of production and conclude that historical materialism was realistic and applicable.
He is known worldwide for his numerous theories and ideas in regards to society, economics and politics. His outlook on these subjects is known as Marxism. Marxism focuses on the imbalance and struggle between classes and society. Marx’s theories stem from the concept of materialism based society and the implications thereof. These concepts leads to the Marxist theory of the failure of capitalism. Marx had a number of specific reasons for the downfall of capitalism yet capitalism remains very real and successful. Marxism covers a wide range of topics and theories, but an in depth analysis of his criticism to capitalism and how it is not relevant to modern day will be explored.