Background on Karl Marx

Karl Marx (1818-1883):

Marx was a German philosopher, economist, and socialist who focused on political economy and Hegelian philosophy in his studies. Marx's theories and beliefs are collectively known as Marxism, and were greatly influenced by the German philosopher G. W. F. Hegel. Marx was most fascinated by Hegel's conception of history, pertaining to his theory of progression. Hegel believed history held the key to the science of society, and was not smoothly continuous. He didn't see history as a sequence of accidental occurrences or as proceeding cyclically through a series of recurring events, as many people did at that time. Rather, Hegel saw the progression of history as an outcome of opposing ideological forces. He claimed history was a result of conflict induced change. These influences from Hegel led Marx to form his dialectic. The word dialectic refers to the nature of those conflicting elemental processes that are believed to constitute the essence of reality itself. Marx's dialectic includes a thesis, an antithesis, and a synthesis. In this dialectic, the thesis refers to the status quo; the accepted system or beliefs in society. The antithesis in his dialectic concerns the idea or belief that challenges the thesis and creates a conflict. And finally, the synthesis is the outcome of the struggle between the thesis and the antithesis in Marx's dialectic. As time progresses the synthesis becomes the new thesis, and another antithesis arises to challenge that thesis, and so on and so forth. 

Karl Marx (1818-1883)

Marx's Critique of Classical Economics:

Karl Marx combined economic analysis with philosophical and sociological elements in a way that was unique to his time period. Marx was a critique of capitalism especially, looking for contradictions within the system, between the dynamic forces of production and the static relations of production. Marx predicted that capitalism would eventually inevitably collapse and give way to socialism, which would in turn give way to communism. Marx's goal in his studies was to promote the changes in society that he considered desirable. Marx saw many faults in the society he lived in. He described the difference between the forces of production and the relations of production. The forces are portrayed by the technology used in producing material goods, manifested in labor skills, scientific knowledge, tools, and capital goods. The forces of production are inherently dynamic, according to Marx. The relations of production refer to social relations and property relations. Social relations are those between people and other people. Property relations are those between people and things. Marx claims that the relations of production are static and past-binding. He also states that this static nature is reinforced by what he calls the social superstructure. This superstructure included art, literature, music, philosophy, jurisprudence, religion, and other cultural forms accepted in society, and its purpose was to maintain the status quo. Put in terms of Marx's dialectic, the relations of production is the thesis, while the forces of production is the antithesis.

Karl Marx's main objection to capitalism was that he believed it alienated human beings from themselves. He claimed that the market system and private property devalue all that they touch and thus, alienate individuals from their true selves. Marx concluded that the very existence of markets, especially labor markets, undermine one's ability to achieve true happiness. Marx continued to argue that to sell one's time to another, as one does in the labor market, is to alienate oneself from the realization of one's true self. Marx disliked the functionality of classical economics because he believed that it simply accepted the market system and failed to consider the nature of private property and the effect that existing markets had on people. His major criticism of classical economics followed from that belief; that it failed to to consider how the forces of production would undermine the relations of production. Finally, Marx argued that capitalism, like feudalism, contained the seeds of its own destruction within it, as conflicts eventually develop with changes in the forces of production.

The Communist Manifesto, a pamphlet written by Marx and Frederick Engels in 1848. The pamphlet details the problems of capitalism and class struggles specifically. It is commonly considered one of the most influential political manuscripts of all time.