preview

Biography of Karl Marx Essay

Better Essays

Biography of Karl Marx

Karl Marx was a professional intellectual and philosopher. Throughout Marx's life, chance meetings with other professional intellectuals and philosophers helped guide Marx to his final destination. Although Marx died in March of 1883, some 122 years ago, his theories are still being studied, and in some cases, used in some governments. In his lifetime Marx explored many different social settings and groups. His final accumulation of work can be found in his Communist Manifesto, which he co-authored with Fredrick Engels. Although very meager at times, Marx lived an extraordinary life.

Karl Marx was born on May 5, 1818 in Trier Rheinish Prussia (Germany). Although his family was …show more content…

In 1883, the patriarch of the Marx family, Heinrich Marx, died. With his fathers' death, Karl now had to learn how to make his own living. Not being someone who ever "got his hands dirty," Marx decided to become a lecturer at the university level. Once finished with his doctorial thesis on the philosophy of Epicurus, Karl turned to his mentor, Bruno Bauer, whom he hoped would be able to help him get a job as a professor at Bonn. Marx was soon notified that Bauer had been removed from his position due to his outspoken atheism ². Marx was unable to find a position due to his connections with Bauer. Marx's connections with Bauer were not the only problem keeping him from receiving a lecture's job; Marx had joined a group called the "Left Hegelians." This circle of intellectuals sought to draw atheistic and revolutionary conclusions from Hegel's philosophy ³. Marx soon decided on a profession; journalism. He soon found that his extreme political views kept him from being hired. Marx decided to move to Cologne, where the city's liberal opposition movement was fairly strong. Once in Cologne Marx began writing for a newspaper called Rhenish Zeitung, soon Marx became the editor. Once in Cologne, Marx surrounded with a group of intellectuals whom he found shared many of his

Get Access