Critique Of Hegel 's Pure Thoughts

Marx viewed society as a conflict between two classes in competition for material goods. He looked at the history of class conflicts and determined that the coming of the industrial age was what strengthened the capitalist revolution. Marx called the dominant class in the capitalist society the bourgeoisie and the laborers the proletariat. The bourgeoisie owned or controlled the means of production, exploited laborers, and controlled the goods produced for its own needs. He believed that the oppressed class of laborers was in a position to organize itself against the dominating class. He felt that it was the course of nature, that is, it is the way that society evolves and that the communist society would be free of class conflict, "the free development of each is the condition for the free development of all." (Marx & Engels 1948, 37)

Marx theory states that the superstructure kept society in order and kept the proletariat in place by the use of the government, laws the media and education, teaching the future generations the rules of their society. The superstructure also favoured the ruling class by making the rules easier for them to live by and enabling them to do better in life through the better education they could afford and with the press helping them keep the proletariats under a false consciousness. The superstructure shapes the rest of society and enables to conflict between the ruling and working class to

Marx’s primarily aims to explain how communism will free men, end the class struggle. The work argues that class struggles, and the exploitation of one class by another is the source of all inequality. Marx’s theories become one the motivating force behind all historical developments. The work strongly advocates the freedom of the proletariats which Marx’s claims can only be achieved when property and other goods cease to be privately owned. He see’s that private property has been a problem through out history, capital that aids the ruling class to maintain control. Marx argues that the lower class come together in a revolution and gain power and eventually take the power away from the upper class.

Most of Marx work focused on the plight of the working class, he felt that it was crucial to change the class structure of society because the relationships between people stemmed from who controlled the mode of economic production. In addition, he believed that the wealthy citizens controlled resources and owned the factories and the land, which forced the working class to work according to the conditions mandated by the upper, controlling class, allowing the “rich to become

The system of production gave rights to the competition, which was initiated with the bourgeois fashion. The bourgeois is the top of the rank and also possess the wealth which has caused them to give directions to proletarians who produced the wealth. “Self-consciousness and substance” is one of the most unselfish clue used to enact most of the theory of Marx,although there were a lot of attacks through religion and other sources, Hegelian was able to get through his theory as a result of a lot of cults that were established. It was until Marx chipped through with his theories which were able to over both the old and new

Karl Marx, for instance, reacted powerfully against Hegel's dialectic and produced a more poetic and yet more materialistic vision of mankind. Dispensing with Hegel's rational spirit, Marx turned Hegel's "dialectical history of spirit" upside down by creating "historical materialism" (A History of Suspicion, 2011). The means of production was Marx's focus. Marx examined Capitalism, Industrialism and ideology, and by viewing life in solely material terms developed the Communist Manifesto. This was a radical departure from Hegel's attempt to spiritualize the world. If Hegel was the embodiment of one extreme, Marx was the embodiment of its opposite.

He pushed for a total labor party (Communist) up rise against the ruling middle class because the middle-class merchants had become too powerful for themselves. Therefore, the only step for the proletariat to take would be to overthrow the bourgeoisie regime and take back the government. Marx along with Friedrich Engels published their ideas of this new working class revolution in their Communist Manifesto (1848). Additionally, Marx and Engels proposed their idea that human consciousness is based on human existence, instead of the idealistic belief that human consciousness is based on their ideals as opposed to material culture. This new thought differed from that of John Locke, who believed that humans were born with a blank slate and gained an understanding of the world through their experiences. Most of the Marxist ideas were radical, however, it still grew the ground of anthropological theory because it brought the world’s attention to class stratification, which is an important topic in today’s world. As stated these were revolutionary ideas of the time, also during Marx’s time there was an emergence of classical cultural

These two facts created a division of labor and a separation of classes based upon power and wealth. This material organization of society is what Marx calls "class consciousness." This, in turn, created the social conflict that drives society.

Marx’s views on human nature make up the philosophical element of his ideas. He believed human beings define themselves primarily through their labouring activity. Labour is therefore what they live for, it defines human beings and also performs functions by connecting them to their existence. This is achieved in three senses which Marx outlined (Morrison, 2006). Firstly individuals exert control over nature which makes them active in history, rather than passive. Secondly, labour provides the necessities a human requires to live, without it they would have no food, shelter or clothing and would not exist. Thirdly Marx believed labour allows an individual to define themselves. Through labour humans feel in control of their survival and are confirmed in their own existence (Morrison, p. 120).

As Hegel believed that the goal of human history was the realization of the world spirit; Marx embraced the theory and believed it was the abolition of capitalism, the victory of the proletariat, the disappearance of the state, and the ultimate liberation of all humankind. Marx insisted that material conditions determined the governance of the world. Following Hegel, who said that truth evolves by a "dialectic method," Marx called his own philosophy "dialectic materialism." He posited a world of change but stated that it was embedded in material conditions, not in a clash of ideas. To Marx, ideas were merely a reflection of the material world.

Young Marx moved from studying law to philosophy in 1837 and was fascinated by the work of Hegel, who condemned communism and communal property claiming people who had the drive, had the right to own. Hegel’s philosophy had been written from 1789 – 1819. At this time Europe was in turmoil with the people of the educated class were in religious crises. The work of Emmanuel Kant as he discussed enlightenment and reason married with the turbulence of politics compounded the crises of faith. Hegel, however, maintained his dogmatic approach that religion and philosophy had a duality in that they were about discovering God. In the German Ideology Marx set out his opposition to the work of Hegel. The Young Hegelians believe that in order for man to move forward there needed to be a change in mind set however, Marx argues that basic needs of life are to be attended to first before this process of thinking. Marx writes how the people should rise up against the thoughts of the ruling classes as they falsely attribute the exploitative relationship as a result of the will of God rather than the will of the ruling classes. The elite have the ideas of how society should run and religion is firmly within the ruling strata. He condemns the

Marx conceived the base and superstructure approach that defines capitalist society. The base relates to all that is a function of production in society and conversely, the superstructure, which can be said to be derived from the base, relates to the values, culture, ideology and the governing bodies of society. The former creates and supports the latter by a process of legitimisation of the economic activities, and in turn, the superstructure ensures the processes remain in place. Class domination plays a large part in this process of organisation; for example, private education providing better opportunities for advancement and primary socialisation into the higher echelons of society. However, a counter argument claims that the state is just as involved in the stresses and “struggles of civil society’’ as opposed to being a mere extension of it for the pure benefit of a particular class interest (Held 2001, in Hall and Gieben 2001, p 113).

History, is to be independent from politics or religious, which would hold men together, and is usually presented as “the multitude of productive forces accessible to men determines the nature of society, hence, that the ‘History of humanity’ must always be studied and treated in relation to the history of industry and exchange…which is as old as men themselves” (Edles, 36). The driving force is the co-operation of men within the industrial stage and social stage. Furthermore, Marx defined wealth (all form) as the transformation of nature by human labor, and talked about civil society as “the true source and theatre of all history” (39), and that it “embraces the whole material intercourse of individual within a definite stage of development of productive forces (39).

According to Marx, society is primarily divided on those who own property, For Marx, he believes that there are only two primary groups in society and these classes are the bourgeoisies and the proletariats whose social relationship is the motivational force for change in capitalism. But before humans can do anything, they must satisfy certain their basic needs, they must feed, clothe and house themselves though productive labor, as it is the This approach is called by Marx, the Materialist Conception of History. Because humans produce their own means of life, the only available means would determine their level of existence, as the “productive forces of society” consist of the means of production and labor power, enabling them to

Marx’s entire theory stated in The German Ideology borrows from his own teacher, Hegel, who he himself argued that consciousness is a continual process called the “dialectic between oppositions” (thesis and antithesis). This is familiar to us due to the “Hegelian Philosophy”. For Marx however the process is instead economic and is amid those with money and