The Theory Of Ideology In Marx's Four Sociological Traditions

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Marx utilized the term ideology to discuss certain aspects of society. To begin with, “Ideology refers to those ideas that naturally emerge out of everyday life in capitalism” (Ritzer, 64). This means that ideas that come naturally in life are seen as an ideology. An example of this was provided in Four Sociological Traditions. In it, Marx discusses how men can be distinguished from animals because we have consciousness and with consciousness, men can distinguish themselves from animals as soon as we begin to produce our own means of subsistence (Sel. Readings, 13-14). This consciousness is the basis behind Marx’s Theory of Ideology. Conscious real men set out and develop their own ideological reflexes and show this in real life instances …show more content…

You live to produce for yourself and are consciously aware of such things, as you can distinguish yourself from other animals. The same mental production occurs in politics, laws, morality, religion, and metaphysics of people (Sel. Readings, 14). By this, Marx was trying to say that men are the producers of these ideas. They are influenced by the definite development of their productive forces. Marx continues by stating, “Consciousness can never by anything else than conscious existence, and the existence of men is their actual life-process” (Sel. Readings, 14). This is presented in what Marx called camera obscura. This is a trick where a real image is reflected upside down. Commodities and money represent this type of ideology. Ritzer provides a good example of this. “Even though we know that money is nothing but a piece of paper that has no value only because of underlying social relations, in our daily lives, treat money as though it had its own value” (Ritzer, 64). This represents camera obscura because instead of seeing people as giving money value, we see money as giving us value. Ritzer also provides a second form of ideology referred to as those systems of ruling ideas that attempt once again to hid the contradictions that are at the heart of the

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