Karl Marx Essay

Since the inception of communism in the early 1840’s, the idea has created turmoil and instilled fear in both the western world and eastern world alike. This philosophy, created by Karl Marx in his novel The Communist Manifesto has started wars, created a massive decline in productivity and destroyed the liberty of many deserving citizens. Leaders of communism, including Hugo Chavez and Joseph Stalin, have perfected the art of exploitation of the mind through mob mentality, or the human tendency to take on certain emotional, violent behaviors in large groups. Arthur Miller in the play The Crucible and Ray Bradbury in his novel Fahrenheit 451 critique the negative effects of communism, especially the mob mentality its leaders create in

Karl Marx is considered to be one of the most influential thinkers of our age. Born in Germany in 1818, he was greatly influenced by philosophers such as Hegel, Feuerbach & St. Simon. He made an immense contribution to the different areas of sociology- definition of the field of study, analysis of the economic structure and its relations with other parts of the social structure, theory of social classes, study of religion, theory of ideology, analysis of the capitalist system etc. In this essay, we will deal with his contribution to the study of social development or the materialist conception of history.

In “Marx: Anthropologist,” Thomas C. Patterson provides archival research and contemporary analysis to defend the assertion that Karl Marx was one of the first urban anthropologists and a progenitor of emic ethnography in western culture. Patterson also aims to correct prior misinterpretations of Marx’s work in a polemic manner, addressing deficiencies in early analyses through careful argumentation and relevant evidence to contrary inferences. Patterson’s stated purpose is to answer the question “What would Marx’s anthropology look like today?” and does so by explaining the correlation between critical-dialectical methodology and the manner in which Marx went about social analysis. Chapters are organized according to each subject’s relevance to the construction of Marx’s anthropology. Chapter one focuses on the greater political state of Europe and university culture in which Marx received his education, providing historical and pedagogical explanations for the manifestation of his ideas. Chapter two explains the facets of Marx’s “philosophical” anthropology, explaining how Marx viewed the moral and social characteristics of humans. Chapter three highlights Marx’s ideas and works that explain his “empirical” anthropology, or the how he viewed the natural and biological determinants of human existence. Chapter four aims to explain the importance of modes of production and social relations to Marx’s theory of cultural change. In chapters five and six, Patterson incorporates

The Communist Manifesto written by Karl Marx explains the history of all societies as the history of class conflicts, he claims that the power and direction of all societies is determined by the modes of production, as such when the mode of production no longer suits the relations of society there is a revolution. He predicts that a revolution is coming between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie, and calls its coming inevitable. Marx argues that the bourgeoisies are no longer fit to rule, nor is their rule sustainable, as such the proletariat will overthrow them and end all class antagonisms with the creation of a classless society. However, Marx does not give enough credit to nationalism, nor

In the Communist Manifesto, a document that first proclaimed the ideology of communism itself, Marx declared that the “history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles” (Marx, Karl and Frederick Engels). As a man who spurred resentment of governments and inspired revolutionaries, Karl Marx is often regarded as a man who led to the rise of 20th century tyrannical dictators such as Stalin and Mao to take power. His ideas are regarded as failures and, by some, are seen as pure evil. However, the ideas of Marx were not evil and did not solely bring about the rise of dictators. Rather, Karl Marx dedicated his life to bring economic equality to Europe and wanted to bring an end to the corrupt inequality that the

Summary of reading: Karl Marx, the father of Marxism, often misunderstood dreamt more of a utopian society than draconian. Marx envisioned the world where people worked not for self-fulfillment but the welfare of all. Additionally, Marx’s abhorrence for capitalism laid the foundation for revolutionary ideas and tactics. His exile to England led to the creation of the International Working Men’s Association, conversely, the first international worker’s organization. In Marx’s book “The Communist Manifesto” he notes three parts: the flaws and injustices of capitalism, second his Communist vision for society; and lastly, his viewpoint on the misleading doctrines of competing for socialist ideologies. Comparatively, Marx like Adam Smith, the founder of capitalism, believed that society is governed by certain unchangeable laws and must be rationally examined to predict the future. This belief led to many people identifying Marxism with “scientific socialism.” Although Karl Marx died at a

“Marx’s break with Hegel’s idealist philosophy which helped him devise a method that was suitable to the study of society and history which was formally outside philosophy […] the introduction of materialism and the materialist outlook as a theoretical perspective for looking at the formation of historical societies. Having introduced the materialist perspective, Marx then was able to show that the

Marx’s studies the theory of the individual and mainly focus in three areas, which are the complete development of the individual, the problems of alienation and freedom.

Karl Marx (1818-1883), in collaboration with his benefactor and friend, Friedrich Engels (1820-1895), founded the Marxist Theory. Both men were philosophers, however were referred to as revolutionaries. ‘The Communist Manifesto’, was written collaboratively by both Marx and Engels, as they explored the argument that “history and progress can be seen dialectically as societies shift from one mode of production to another”. This will be argued through a contextual account of Marxism, its development, critiques, and both the dependency theory and critical theory.

Karl Marx is undoubtedly one the most influential and controversial writers in modern history; Robert Tucker, a noted political scientist at Princeton University, once asserted, “[Marx] profoundly affected ideas about history, society, economics, ideology, culture, and politics [and] about the nature of social inquiry itself. No other intellectual influence has so powerfully shaped the mind of modern left-wing radicalism in most parts of the world.” (9). Indeed, his innumerable works, in particular, the Manifesto of the Communist Party, inspired political upheaval and violent uprisings which, to this day, continue to influence the structure of governments and society in countries around the world. The theory behind “The Communist Manifesto” is a simple one: “The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles”— but, Marx believes, history could take a new direction if guided by the disinterested equalizing force of communism. In the first chapter of his great manifesto, Marx argues that as the bourgeoisie, motivated by ruthless capitalism and industrialization, accrued more and more wealth, the proletariat would gain class consciousness and move from being a class in itself to a class for itself; in essence, the growth of capitalism would paradoxically be its own undoing.

Karl Marx’s Communist Manifesto was published in 1848. Although Karl Marx had been relevant and influential since 1830s it was not until he earned his PhD from the University of Jena in 1941 and established himself as an author, academic, and a journalist living between Cologne and Berlin both in Germany. However, it was not until he penned his signature work, the Communist Manifesto that he solidified his stance on power and power relationship within society. Marx’s theory states that, Society as a whole is more and more splitting up into two great hostile camps, into two great classes directly facing each other — Bourgeoisie and Proletariat (Walters, 2015) and his ideas of capitalism began the great debate of a power struggle between those with it and those without it. The Bourgeoisie is the wealthy middle class and the Proletariat is the industrial working class. These two groups were and will always be at odds over many types of power, including but not limited to: financial capability, political power, social capital, property and business ownership, access to opportunity, fair and equal justice, etc…Marx had many pupils who he mentored and peers who helped him expand and sharpen his theories. One of the prominent disciples of Marx, Pierre Bourdieu, built upon Marx’s conflict theory and other thoughts about class and society.

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.

Karl Marx, oh where do I begin, The father of communism wrote many books and presented ideas that were never really brought up in an economical system before. Karl Marx was strictly opposed to Capitalism because he believed that it was an extremely unfair and one-sided kind of government. He noted that the rich which he called the bourgeoisie kept getting richer by taking advantage of the classes that weren’t as fortunate as them. Karl used this difference in class to focus on his own ideal economy, where he spoke of a world where everyone has the same. Everyone unites under one and do things for the benefit of the nation as a whole.

Karl Marx is often called the father of communism, but his life entailed so much more. He was a political economist, philosopher, and idea revolutionist. He was a scholar that believed that capitalism was going to undercut itself as he stated in the Communist Manifesto. While he was relatively ambiguous in his lifetime, his works had tremendous influence after his death. Some of the world’s most powerful and most populace countries follow his ideas to this day. Many of history’s most eventful times were persuaded by his thoughts. Karl Marx was one of the most influential persons in the history of the world, and a brief history of his life will show how he was able to attain many of his attitudes.

For Marx there were two distinct classes in society, the ruling class, the owners of the means of production, the “Bourgeoisie” and the ruled class, the “Proletariat”. The quote, with which I begin this essay, clearly explains the Marxist view of what law is in a given society. For Marxists