Philosopher views
Karl Marx Communist-Political Philosopher (1818-1883)
Download 5.81 Mb.
|
- Navigate this page:
- Bibliography
Karl MarxCommunist-Political Philosopher (1818-1883)Marxism is a general theory of the world in which we live, and of human society as a part of that world. It takes its name from Karl Marx, who, together with Fredrick Engels (1820-1895), worked out the theory during the middle and latter part of last century. In an attempt to uncover the theories of Marxism, this essay will examine: (1) role of capitalism and work, (2) role of science, (3) freedom, (4) morality, and (5) application to debate. Marx applied the general idea of alienation to the society in which he lived--mainly capitalist Britain--and worked out the economic theory of capitalism by which he is most widely known. But he always insisted that his economic theories could not be separated from his historical and social theories. Profits and wages can be studied up to a certain point as purely economic problems but the student who sets out to study real life and not abstractions soon realizes that profits and wages can only be fully understood when employers and workers are brought into the picture. The essence of bourgeois society is technical innovation in the interests of capital accumulation. The bonds of feudal society are destroyed, a spirit of enterprise is unleashed, and the power of humans over nature is indefinitely extended. Hence in bourgeois social life the concept of the freedom of the individual, liberated into a free-market economy, is central. Marx argues that the social and economic forms of that same society imprison the free individual in a set of relationships which nullify his/her civil and legal freedom and stunt his/her growth. Humans see themselves in the grip of impersonal powers and forces, which are in fact their own forms of social life, the fruits of their own actions falsely objectified and alienated. The key for Marx is what constitutes a social order, what constitutes both its possibilities and its limitations, is the dominant form of work and by which material sustenance is produced. The forms of work vary with the forms of technology; and both the division of labor and the consequent division of masters and laborers are divisive of human society, producing classes and conflicts between them. The conceptual schemes through which humans grasp their own society have a dual role; they both partly reveal the nature of that activity and partly conceal its true character. So the critique of the concept of work and the corresponding struggle to transform society necessarily go hand in hand. The scientific approach to the development of society is based, like all science, on experience, on the facts of history and of the world round us. Therefore Marxism is not a completed, finished theory. As history unfolds, as the human being gathers more experience, Marxism is constantly being developed and applied to the new facts that have come to light. The result of the scientific approach to the study of society is knowledge that can be used to change society, just as all scientific knowledge can be used to change the external world. But Marxism also makes clear that the general laws which govern the movement of society are of the same patterns as the laws of the external world. These laws which hold good universally, make up what may be called the Marxist philosophy or view of the world. Marx’s central concept is that of freedom, and the idea that this very idea is itself at the center of human existence. That is, freedom is not something that humans have, it is something humans are. Marx wrote that freedom is so much the essence of humans that even its opponents realize it. No human fights freedom; he or she fights at most the freedom of others. In addition, Marx views freedom in terms of the overcoming of the limitations and constraints of one social order by bringing another, less limited social order into being. In addition, Marx argues that one may nonetheless use morally evaluative language in at least two ways. One may use it simply in the course of describing actions and institutions; no language adequately descriptive of slavery could fail to be condemnatory to anyone with certain attitudes and aims. Or one may use it less explicitly to condemn, appealing not to some independent classless tribunal, but to the terms in which one’s opponents have themselves chosen to be judged. Numerous philosophers have been impacted by Marx and his followers. Those debaters interested in incorporating Marxism will find his theories intertwined with many others. Any debate that either implicitly or explicitly articulates the values of capitalism will find Marx’s theory useful in critique. In addition, Marx argues that all of our values in capitalism are driven by the capitalist system. Hence, the debater can critique current values within a Marxist framework. BibliographyKostas Axelos. ALIENATION, PRAXIS AND TECHNE IN THE THOUGHT OF KARL MARX. Ronald Bnizina, trans. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1976.
Princeton University Press, 1984. Karl Marx. THE CLASS STRUGGLES IN FRANCE (1840-1850). New York: International Publishers, 1935. Karl Marx. THE COMMUNIST MANIFESTO. New York: The Modern Library, 1932. Karl Marx & Frederick Engels. THE GERMAN IDEOLOGY, PARTS III & I. London: Lawrence & Wishart, 1938. Karl Marx & Frederick Engels. KAPITAL. New York: International Publishers, 1967. Karl Marx. MATHEMATICHESKI RUKOPISI. London: New Park, 1983. Karl Marx. ON RELIGION. Chico, CA: Scholars Press, 1964. Karl Marx. ON SOCIETY AND SOCIAL CHANGE. Chicago: University of Chicago Ness, 1973. Bertell Oilman. ALIENATION: MARX’S CONCEPTION OF MAN IN CAPITALIST SOCIETY. Cambridge University Ness, 1971. Fritz Pappenheim. THE ALIENATION OF MODERN MAN: AN INTERPRETATION BASED ON MARX AND TONNIES. New York: Monthly Review Press, 1959. Directory: uploads uploads -> 587 Return function, r i(X) r i(0) r i(1) r i(2) r i(3) 1 0 2 4 6 Thermal Station, I 2 0 1 5 6 3 0 3 5 6 10 uploads -> Department of science and humanities department of mathematics part-a questions and answers uploads -> The Case Against the nypd’s Quota-Driven ‘Broken Windows’ Policing What Is It? uploads -> For want of a nail uploads -> Ownership Models There are two different types of ownership models uploads -> Police Militarization uploads -> City of rising star regular meting thursday, july 14, 2016 uploads -> Township of winfield uploads -> Stop Militarizing Law Enforcement Act of 2014 uploads -> The Black Panther Party’s Ten-Point Program What We Want Now! Download 5.81 Mb. Share with your friends:
|