Comparing Marx 'The Jewish Question And The' Rule Of Law

The theory of Marxism generates a method for the analysis of society, which focuses on class relations and conflict amongst humanity. Inspired by Karl Marx (a German philosopher, economist, sociologist, historian and journalist), the theory influences contemporary understanding of labour and its connection to capital. Marx’s most notable publications ‘The Communist Manifesto’ and ‘Das Kapital’ showcase his analytical work and well-know themes related to Marxism.

The Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen, adopted in 1789 by the National Assembly, explicitly defines “the natural, unalienable, and sacred rights of man” (Declaration, p. 1). Two philosophers, Jeremy Bentham and Karl Marx, object the document, especially its usage of natural rights, by presenting different arguments against its language and function. Bentham centers his argument around the Declaration’s promotion of anti-legal rights and its vagueness in description in his essay “Anarchical Fallacies.” Marx criticizes the Declaration’s perpetuation of social alienation and for not pursuing human emancipation in “On the Jewish Question.” Of the two arguments, Marx presents a better and more convincing argument than Bentham. Marx advocates for complete human emancipation beyond political emancipation whereas Bentham does not go beyond the criticism of the legislators, of their use of language and design, as opposed to the law itself.

One of the greatest debates of all time has been regarding the issue of the freedom of mankind. The one determining factor, for Marx, it that freedom is linked with class conflict. As a historian, Karl Marx traced the history of mankind by the ways in which the economy operated and the role of classes within the economy. For Marx, the biggest question that needed to be answered was “Who owns freedom?” With this in mind, Marx gives us a solution to both the issues of freedom and class conflict in his critique of capitalism and theory of communism, which is the ideal society for Marx. His theory of communism is based on the “ultimate end of human history” because there will be freedom for all humankind.

The bourgeoisie’s ever increasing wealth was, Marx believed, proportionally followed with increasing political advance. As such Marx believes, the governments of Europe were “but a committee for managing the common affairs of the whole bourgeoisie” (247). The bourgeoisie, Marx claims, destroyed all the relations between men, except for ‘naked self interest’; the bourgeoisie has transformed personal self worth into exchange value. Marx notes that, the exploitation previously veiled by religious and political ‘illusions’ is now direct, brutal and blatant.

It is important to keep in mind the context of the Communist Manifesto, especially when Marx writes that liberal democracy

Furthermore, Karl Marx believes the state can be nothing more than the dictatorship of the proletariat, or the wage-earners; for this to take place the proletariat must overthrow the bourgeoisie or the class who owns most of the country’s wealth and means of production. In essence, Karl Marx, believed that there is a chronological order of the development of society from capitalism, which is developing into communism is impossible without a transition period; the state can only be the revolutionary dictatorship of the working class. After which, the people are no longer wage slaves and no more classes, then will the state cease to exist and freedom truly comes forth. Nevertheless, Karl Marx believes a capitalistic society conveys a false democracy, a democracy only for the rich; that communism is only capable of providing a full democracy, a democracy for

A German economist, philosopher, and revolutionist, Karl Marx’s writings form the basis of the body of ideas known as Marxism. As one of the most original and influential thinkers of modern times, Karl Marx produced, with the aid of Friedrich Engels, much of the theory of modern socialism and communism. The main criticism of

    Karl Marx felt that his government’s capitalistic rule was unfair to the working class. When a group of communist supporters that called themselves “The Communist League,” asked him to write a guide to improve life, Marx looked back on history and created “The Communist Manifesto.” This writing is a piece of literature which heavily influenced Russian history. The article suggested workers revolt and later the

Karl Marx has been understood increasingly as a globalised figure, far from his central European intellectual orientation, political career and origins. Reversing the usual approach, this paper places Marx in the context of the political and intellectual world of nineteenth-century Germany. The article takes a critical look at his life, dictions, and ideas. The piece concludes with a brief consideration of the influence of his ideas and its implications globally. Keywords: Materialism, Exploitation, Alienation, Revolution, Political influence, Philosophical influence.

Liberalism is a set of ideologies in which the foundation of a society lies within the freedom of the individuals within it. The basic principles or values of liberalism include freedom, cooperation and the importance of human reason. Although all forms of liberalism were built upon these common principles or values, there are certain factors that assist in differentiating between them. The two most commonly known forms of liberalism include classical liberalism and modern liberalism. Both of these ideologies put an emphasis on the value of human reason and individual freedom however, they are not the same when it comes to their ideas regarding government intervention in social, political and economic factors.

Marx’s proposition about the role of philosophers in ‘changing the world’ is one of his most oft quoted lines yet it was written early in his personal intellectual and philosophical development. It is the 11th note in his Thesis on Feuerbach (1888) and seemingly expresses Marx at his most revolutionary if by ‘revolutionary’ we mean allotting a degree of importance to the role of conscious in human action in radically transforming socio-political structures. These early notes give us an in-sight into Marx’s initial ideas that would then come to be more roundly expressed in The German Ideology (1932) and, critically, The Communist Manifesto (1848). Marx was perhaps at his most ‘revolutionary’ in his youth because, at other times, he seemingly rejects the idea that intellectual interpretations and human actions are the principle factors in transforming society. For example, in the Communist Manifesto he writes, “[…] the theoretical conclusions of the Communists are in no way based on ideas or principles that have been invented, or discovered, by this or that would-be universal reformer. They merely express, in general terms, actual relations springing from an existing class struggle, from a historical movement going on under our very eyes” (1848, p. 50).

In the late 18th and early 19th century, revolution was on the tip of the world’s collective tongue. The French monarchy was in the process of being overthrown; there was political and civil unrest throughout Europe. In the midst of all this turmoil Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel emerged, presenting an analysis of history that would echo through the future, an understanding of the human condition, and an estimate of the end of said history and what would bring it about. This end of history would be brought about by the State, for the State’s sole purpose was to bring positive change and freedom to the individual. Less than a century later, Karl Marx released the Communist Manifesto. Marx had drawn heavily from Hegel for basis of his

Capitalism is a social system where the means for producing and distributing goods are owned by a small group of people. This small collection of people is the labor class. Marx claims that an individual’s moral, philosophical and religious ideas

When one contemplates the history of worker abuse in Marx’s time, IE: slave wages, child labor, and harsh conditions, it is easy to marvel at the solutions that Marx came up with in his Communist Manifesto. When Marx wrote about the taking of private property, he says in effect, “not the poor man’s property, but “your property;” as he addresses the rich (McLellan, 256). When defending the taking of freedoms, he states that it is only the, “abolition of bourgeois freedom,” because the poor already have a lack of freedom (McLellan, 257). Although Marx’s writings are of pure genius, one shudders at the fact that they have been enacted in some venues. However, when taken historically, one can see how Marx has benefited capitalist societies in that his theories do provide a check on unfettered capitalist actions against workers’ rights; much like Hegel’s thesis and antithesis theories

One of the main themes in Marx’s “On the Jewish Question” is emancipation. For Marx, true emancipation comes in two stages, which are those illustrated in this passage: political and human emancipation. Marx does insist that political emancipation is a step toward true emancipation, however it does not yield complete emancipation, which is necessary for true freedom. While the government can say that all classes and races are equal, the people may still act racist or distinguish between classes. This is why human emancipation is the key to freedom. How does Marx aim to achieve this? Human emancipation, as Marx says, comes down to the members of society to act as a species-being and rather than acting in their own interest, members of a society must act in the interest of all. This means they should abolish religion, race, and class differences autonomously. Whether society will abandon the limitations it places on itself is questionable, yet it is a requirement for