Marx’s Philosophy is occasionally referred to as historical materialism or Marxist Philosophy. It was pioneered by Karl Heinrich Marx, who was a German. Marx was a political theorist, philosopher, and revolutionary during the 19 th Century. He lived between 1818 and 1883. In many texts and forums, Marx is referred to as the ‘founder’ of communism. Being a philosopher, political theorist, and revolutionary, Marx observed how people lived in the society. He was interested in studying how association and relations between people, leadership, and the society at large would be more productive. Marx lived during the last years of the industrial revolution. He noticed the dynamics of the economy and the transformation in the societal structure as some people garnered more wealth than others. In most of research and observations, Marx aimed at the harmonization of the society into a contained system that was based on equity. The distribution of resources, wealth, and opportunities are some of the aspects that Marx integrated into his scholarly works.
Over the years, Marx’s Philosophy was modified by other scholars that came after Karl. The philosophy has many interpretations and approaches. Marx’s philosophy had different adoptions and models. However, the basis and core of principles of the philosophy have remained recurrent and constant throughout various models of adoption or application (Wood, 2004). Marx’s philosophy was developed from Marx’s materialist view and approach to certain scholarly theories. Both Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels tailored the integrated Marx's philosophy which came into life and acknowledgment during the second half of the 19 th Century. Marx’s philosophy was coined from observations that were initially made by Marx and later fostered by Engels. Marx observed the segregation that was ravaging through the society and the social hierarchy or status that was being accorded to some individuals. This was after the ‘booming’ of the industrial revolution that had transformed most of the European economies.
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The philosophy of Marx is based on both theoretical and practical frameworks that are derived from the critical analysis of the society. It is coined from the struggle, differences, and contention that exists between the powerful and those who are subjects to the powerful. The powerful, according to Marx, include those who have no political power or authority and those who do not have a lot of wealth. The gap between the two groups and how its contributing factors are structured into existence formed some of the ‘hypotheses’ for the modeling of Marx’s theory. The philosophy, therefore, is based on two main entities both of which contain thematic values of social equity (Holt, 2009). One of the entities is the economic structure and the societal rift that is created on its basis. The economic structure cuts through the distribution of resources, wealth, opportunities, and its overall acquisition. The second entity is the power division in authority and leadership together with the integrated concept of ‘ruler’ and ‘subjects.’
Fundamentally, Marx’s philosophy promotes principles of socialism. Also, the philosophy sets an intellectual foundation for the various modules for the structuring of communism. In his philosophy, Marx perceived the set-up of the society as a conflict that is slowly evolving. The conflict in Marx’s context is between the two main groups of people in the society, the wealthy or powerful and the poor. According to Marx, the poor have no authority and power and are subdued and live at the ‘mercy’ of the rich. The evolution refers to the transformation and transitional changes that were being adopted by the society to create comfort and conformity to the social division. The philosophy viewed the society as a pertinent structure in modern living and disputed the division and inequality that was being induced by the ‘social status’ phenomenon. Marx, in his philosophy, also referenced the mode of production in the society and how it had transformed through the industrial revolution.
The dictatorship of the proletariat was another sociopolitical thought that was embedded in Marx’s philosophy. It refers to the social state where the working class (proletariat) have political control, power, and authority. According to Marx, this power and control possessed by the proletariat is the basis on which principles of oppression and dictatorship were induced in the society. The proletariat used their power to tailor policies that favored the rich to continue being rich while the poor lived at the mercies of what the proletariat decided. The dictatorship of the proletariat was structured from a capitalism dimension. In Marx’s philosophy, the dictatorship of the proletariat is depicted an intermediate structure between communism and capitalism. This structure existed at a time when the government was trying to change the mode of ownership of the production means (Wood, 2004).
Production means were pertinent to the employment system and job allocation. After the industrial revolution, the modes of production changed. There were mechanization and extensive use of machines. Regarding the ‘dictatorship of the proletariat,’ proletariats were pushing for policies that would promote mass production in industry. However, adopting mechanization in production would imply that industries and other production firms laid off some workers/employees. Proletariats, who had more power and authority, wanted to change production processes from collective ownership to private ownership and control. Marx’s philosophy views dictatorship of the proletariat from a critical dimension. Marx paints it as a self-centered economic model that was only geared towards making the rich (proletariats) gain more wealth while the poor and less-privileged fed from the scraps. According to Marx’s philosophy, proletariats were pure capitalists who wanted to exploit the system to gain more wealth. This endeavor by the proletariats continued widening the gap between the poor and the rich in the society and consequently increased the struggle.
Historical materialism, although synonymous with Marx’s philosophy, was an important ‘statute’ of Marx’s philosophy. It is also referred to as Materialist Conception of History. Historical materialism was derived from Marx’s enthusiasm to harmonize science and history. In modeling this ‘statute’ of his philosophy, Marx synthesized the principle of Dialectical Materialism that had been explored and scrutinized by Hegel. Dialectical Materialism was primarily derived from stipulates of Dialectics ; which had been developed by Hegel (Holt, 2009). Historical materialism views the structures of the society and other related phenomena to be real and material rather than spiritual, hypothetical or ideal.
Cultural institutions, practices, political ideologies, and social structures all break down to aspects that can be broken down and valued from a material dimension. This is according to historical materialism. According to Marx, the association of people and the general operation of the society at the end of the day narrowed down to material things. Analytically, the dominant class of people (proletariats) suppressed the emerging class of people because of material things. The social status, respect, authority, and power all had an association with material things. In his philosophy, therefore, Marx attached the element of materialism with other structures of the society to establish the social gap between people and how principles of capitalism were being integrated into the society.
Conclusively, Marx’s philosophy was the foundation for communism. It propagated principles and ideologies of communism while it strongly opposed the elements of capitalism. His philosophy outlined amicable ways that would reduce the social gap between certain groups of people. He described ways that he thought would be effective and efficient in bringing equality and amicable distribution of resources together with opportunities. He believed in an integrated society that was vibrant in fostering equitable wealth distribution. However, his philosophy was not initially adopted in German and was used later by the Soviet Union and its affiliates.
References
Holt, J. (2009). Karl Marx’s Philosophy of Nature, Action, and Society : A New Analysis. Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
Wood, A. (2004). Karl Marx. Routledge Publishers.
