...Karl Marx: Sociologist of the 19th Century Karl Marx: Sociologist of the 19th Century Karl Marx was a man who was way ahead of his time. He was born in modern day Germany in 1818. He came from a long line of rabbis but decided not to follow that lifestyle. At the age of 17 he decided to attend Bonn University. He was taking law classes at Bonn University, but a year later he enrolled at the University of Berlin. While attending Berlin Karl Marx joined a group called Young Hegelians. This was a radical group full of students who criticized religion and politics. This was really the first noted time that Marx questioned authority, but would not be the last. Karl Marx graduated from school with his doctorates in 1941 at the age of 23 years old (Wolff 2003) In 1842 Marx got his first real job as an editor for the newspaper Rheinische Zeitung (Parsons 1964.) A year after acquiring this job the government ordered suppression of the newspaper, which caused Marx to quit. Shortly after resigning as editor Marx got married to his long time fiancé. They two of them moved to Paris in 1843. While in Paris, Marx worked for a paper while also working on a political journal. The writings Marx had in this newspaper got him expelled from France. (Wolff 2003) The first political journal that Marx worked on was titled Deutsch-Französische Jahrbücher. There was only one issue of this published before Marx and his co-writer got into a disagreement and decided to not continue...
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...This paper will be about the main elements of Karl Marx’s work, which includes the Paris Manuscripts, which will focus on alienation. The Communist Manifesto, which will focus on Marx’s political and economic theories and Capital Vol. 1., Marx’s final work about how profits are made by the capitalist. Karl Marx was a liberal reformist who believed that capitalism could be reformed and inequality and exploitation of the working classes could be addressed and abolished. (Stones, p.22) . In 1844 Karl Marx wrote and published “The economic and philosophic manuscripts of 1844”, better known as “The Paris Manuscripts.” This was Karl Marx’s first work, where he writes a study about alienation of workers. (Hughes p.27) What does one mean by alienation? Karl Marx states that the alienated person feels a lack of meaning in his life, or a lack of self-realization. (Hughes p.27) “One must understand, he argues, that there are three types of alienation. The first type of alienation is alienation from oneself. The second type of alienation is alienation from his fellow human beings. The third type of alienation is alienation from the world as a whole. These three forms of alienation are interconnected, and Karl Marx describes the connections between them. This is the core of his approach to the problem of alienation (Monthly Review, 2000, p.36-53). An example of alienation does not have to stem from the workplace, however. For example, I know many persons who attend the same church as I...
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...arl Marx was communism’s most zealous intellectual advocate. His comprehensive writings on the subject laid the foundation for later political leaders, notably V. I. Lenin and Mao Tse-tung, to impose communism on more than twenty countries. Marx was born in Trier, Prussia (now Germany), in 1818. He studied philosophy at universities in Bonn and Berlin, earning his doctorate in Jena at the age of twenty-three. His early radicalism, first as a member of the Young Hegelians, then as editor of a newspaper suppressed for its derisive social and political content, preempted any career aspirations in academia and forced him to flee to Paris in 1843. It was then that Marx cemented his lifelong friendship with Friedrich Engels. In 1849 Marx moved to London, where he continued to study and write, drawing heavily on works by David Ricardo and Adam Smith. Marx died in London in 1883 in somewhat impoverished surroundings. Most of his adult life, he relied on Engels for financial support. At the request of the Communist League, Marx and Engels coauthored their most famous work, “The Communist Manifesto,” published in 1848. A call to arms for the proletariat—“Workers of the world, unite!”—the manifesto set down the principles on which communism was to evolve. Marx held that history was a series of class struggles between owners of capital (capitalists) and workers (the proletariat). As wealth became more concentrated in the hands of a few capitalists, he thought, the ranks of an increasingly...
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...February 27, 2012 SOC 200 Karl Marx Growing up in communist Romania in the 70’s and 80’s, deprived of the most basic liberties, as young children we were indoctrinated with communist ideas and schools were used merely as platforms in which curriculum strictly controlled with the purpose of instilling in youth communist principles. Karl Marx’s portrait would hang in every classroom above the old blackboard and his theories were studied and celebrated in every history book, literature book, economics, or any book for that matter. Sociology and Psychology were considered pseudo-sciences under the communist reign and therefore forbidden in schools. As Romanian history books were altered from the truth, describing only his greatest achievements and never the flaws, for the purpose of this project I was rather intrigued to research Karl Marx – I hated him for so many years - and take a really close look at who he actually was, and how he impacted the study of Sociology. I knew that he established the basis of communist ideology, and I have lived for twenty years through the atrocities committed by his followers, but I never really had the interest ( until now) to understand what influenced and drove him into envisioning and writing his proposals for change. Karl Marx was born in 1818 in the German Rhineland (Prussia). He was a philosopher, journalist and economist and even though he produced little that earned him money or recognition during...
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...proletariat.” (Marx 204) If there is a movie that represents exactly what Karl Marx said about society being split into two very drastic classes, it is The Hunger Games. Besides being one of the most popular trilogies of our time right now, The Hunger Games, represents a strict division of social classes and how after years of repression, the working class finally decides to come together and unite against the owners of the means of production. Karl Marx explains the clear difference between the bourgeoisie and the proletariats. The bourgeoisie are the ones who own the means of production and the proletariats are the ones who worked and did all the manual labor and whose hard work would only end up benefitting the bourgeoisie. In The Hunger Games, we see Marx’s representation of the bourgeoisie being the rulers of the two social classes, just like the people of the Capitol were, and the people in the districts were the proletariats. In The Hunger Games, the concept of family and unity is present to us because we see it through Katniss, Primrose, and her mother and as well as other families in the districts. There seems to be, however, no unity between all the districts. The only form of communication between them and the Capitol was for the exchange of goods and services. Likewise, the proletariats had no communication or business with the bourgeoisie other than anything having to do with the waged work they performed for them. Another major point that Karl Marx made and...
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...Karl maex A Marxist Analysis of an Italian Block Buster - By Vrinda Aggarwal Post the cold war Communism and Marxism remained mere philosophies which couldn't stand the test of time. They were either “impractical" modes of organizing economy and polity or rather were theories which were more advanced than the ages in which they were tested. It is thus the farsightedness of Marx which makes his theory extremely relevant for people to at least study. Marx principally focused on observation and historical analysis. According to him there were two Classes in the society - The Bourgeoisie and the Proletariat. The former was the class which owned all the resources and organized production, the later is the laboring class who own nothing but their own physical power to run the machines. Thus both the producers and the workers are in a symbiotic relationship. Still we see that the capitalist can survive for a longer time without the worker as compared to the vice versa, putting the workers in a compromising position. Thus in the fight of wage determination, the capitalists tend to win, thereby fixing the wage rate which is sufficient for survival (which according to Marx s living like cattle). According to the Marxist ideology, “when the capitalists and the laborers suffer equally, the worker suffers in his very existence, the capitalist in the profit on his dead mammon. The worker...
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...Karl Marx: A Man of Many Thoughts Karl Heinrich Marx was born into a wealthy in the Prussian Rhineland of Trier, Germany to Herschel Marx and Henrietta Pressburg. The German born philosopher, economist, historian, journalist and revolutionary socialist was born on May 5, 1818, later becoming a pioneer in the world of economics, focusing on the relationship between labor and capital(Wikipedia). Marx became interested in philosophy after studying the Young Hegelians at the University of Bonn and the University of Berlin (Wikipedia). Later he began associating with a few communist societies, where he would meet the person he would collaborate with from then on. Through his ever changing ideas and philosophies, Karl Marx has influenced Socialist as well as Communist, on his road to becoming one of history’s greatest minds. When Marx was developing as a young economist and historian much of his influence came from his connection he felt to Hegel and the Young Hegelians. Most of the Young Hegelians were instrumental in assisting Hegel by pushing him to further the most conservative implications of his work. Much of Marx’s significant advancements of this time of his life were the result of him trying to find his place in amongst Hegel and the other talented Young Hegelians like Ludwig Feuerbach, who thought to try and re-write the metaphysics Hegel and recently developed in the early 1840’s, critiquing Hegel’s doctrine of religion and the state, in the process. The works...
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...Karl Marx was a Germen sociologist, historian, and economist. His basic ideas, know as Marxism form the foundation of Socialist and Communist, an economic and government system characterized by citizens holding all property and goods in common movements throughout the world. Karl Marx was born on May 5, 1818 in Trier, where he received a classical education. Karl attended the Friedrich Wilhelm Gymnasium in Trier for five years, graduating in 1835 at age of seventeen. Karl became very skillful in French and Latin, both of which he learned to read and write fluently. In October 1835, Marx enrolled in Bonn University in Bonn, Germany, where he attended courses primarily in laws, as it was his father’s desire that he become a lawyer. Marxian economics refers to economic theories on the functioning of capitalism based on the works of Karl Marx. His writing inspired generations of economic thinkers, and in his name entire societies were transformed. First of all, Karl Marx’s labor theory of value asserts that the value of an object is solely a result of the labor expended to produce it. According to this theory, the more labor or labor time that goes into an object, the more it is worth. For example, if a hat usually takes twice as long to produce as a pair of sock, then hats are twice as valuable as socks. In the long run, the competitive price of hats will be twice the price of socks. The labor theory of value states that the value of a commodity is determined by...
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...How does Karl Marx philosophy enrich our understanding of Theory of Knowledge? The philosopher we chose for our project is Karl Marx. Karl Marx was a revolutionary socialist who believed in equality amongst people and his views on politics, economy and society, also known as Marxism, were the base of communism in the 20th century. Karl Marx believed that “democracy” or “capitalism” was just a “dictatorship of the bourgeois” because the wealthier class would take advantage of their position to their own benefit. Well he was in the most part right because in modern day democracy the middle and high class are the ones who have the control in most positions inside the government, and some of the middle class people that enter politics and obtain a seat in the government usually take advantage and get wealthier through corruption and through many shameless actions. The curious thing is that Karl Marx was born into a wealthy middle class family but still he was the base of most communist beliefs, one of them being the resentment against the wealthy class who took advantage of them. Theory of Knowledge is basically looking at the different was of learning new things in a different perspective and also answering existential questions in not only one way but from different points of view which stretch much more than our knowledge and bias. Karl Marx being raised within a rich background never became interested in poor people’s problems but instead searched for equality amongst...
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...Karl Marx and Marxism Karl Marx set the wheels of modern Communism and Socialism in motion with his writings in the late nineteenth century. In collaboration with his friend, Heinrich Engels, he produced the The Communist Manifesto, written in 1848. Many failed countries' political and socio-economic structures have been based on Marx's theories, for example the USSR, East Germany etc. Many people believe that Marxism is not applicable to today's society, as Karl Marx put forward his ideas not anticipating the type of society we have today. The welfare state system has effectively nullified Marx's arguments, and made them irrelevant. Karl Marx, born on May 5, 1818, died on March 14, 1883, was a German economist, philosopher and revolutionist whose writings form the basis of the body of ideas known as Marxism. In his youth he was deeply affected by the philosophy of G.W.F. Hegel, and joined a rebel group called the Young Hegelians, which contributed ideas towards the movement against organized religion and the Prussian Autocracy. Later on in life, he was influenced by the writings of Ludwig Feuerbach, who wrote that God was invented by humans as a projection of their own ideals, and that in creating such a 'perfect' being, in contrast to themselves, mankind lowered themselves to lowly, evil creatures who needed guidance from the church and government. He said that, in creating God in their own image, humans had 'alienated themselves from themselves.' ...
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...a communist? No, a citizen of the United States of America can’t be a communist. But Karl Marx was a communist, or at least he founded some of the main principles of communism, and Karl Marx firmly believed in some of the things that make this country what it is, like equality. But, Karl Marx was still a great political philosopher of his time, and a humanitarian. To really understand the principles of Marx’s teachings one would have to study him, or at least read an essay that describes Marx’s life. There are three key elements to understanding Marx they are his childhood and education, the people that had the greatest influence on him, and his writings. At 2:00 A.M. of May 5, 1818, the life of the greatest political philosopher began. He was born in the Rhine province of Prussia, and was born to Henriette and Hirschel Marx (Payne 17). Hirschel Marx was a rich lawyer, and he was also a Jew (World Book Encyclopedia 236M). On August 26, 1824 Karl and his whole family were baptized, so his family turned away from its traditional Jewish teachings to Protestant Christianity (Payne 21). At the age of twelve Karl entered the Friedrich Wilhiem Gymnasium. He stayed there for five years excelling in foreign languages, but not really caring about mathematics and history (Payne 23). Karl’s father decided that Karl would attend the University of Bonn to study law (World Book Encyclopedia 236M). Karl became an active member of “poetry clubs,” while studying at the University. The poetry...
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...KARL MARX (Reflection Paper) For me he was not that concerned about the feelings of those individuals with whom he came in contact. Karl Marx believed that a perfect society is one governed by communism and where religion was just a thing of the past. His theory stems from the negative qualities of capitalism where it sometimes seems as though the rich feeds off the hardship of the poor and his belief that religion’s chief purpose is to provide reasons for keeping things in society just the way the oppressors like them . No thinker in the 19th-century has perhaps had so direct, deliberate and powerful influence upon mankind as Karl Marx. The strength of his influence was unique. He completed the bulk of his work between 1844 and 1883, a period of democratic nationalism, trade unionism and revolution. Great popular leaders and political martyrs appeared upon the historical stage, their words stirring the enthusiasm of their audiences. Indeed, within Marx's lifetime, a new revolutionary tradition was born, and Marx's name would be forever associated with that tradition. Yet Marx was not a popular writer or orator. Like most Victorians, Marx wrote extensively. The Grundrisse, a work not published in Russian until 1941, or in English until 1973, is really little more than a series of preliminary notes Marx made in preparation for his three volume masterpiece, Das Kapital. The Grundrisse is a 900 page notebook. The three volumes of Das Kapital weigh in at 2500 pages, and the...
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...Summary of Karl Marx Karl Marx did not give a functional definition of religion but rather felt that religion is pure illusion. He stated that “man makes religion, religion does not make man” (pg. 134). Marx theories were most centered on economics than religion but he also used religion (mainly Christianity) to build his viewpoint. Marx was a firm believer in the communist system as oppose to the capitalist system. He believed that the capitalist system was a system that made the rich richer and the poor poorer. He also felt that religion was a source of manipulation by the wealthy and powerful in order to brainwash the “proletariats” into submission (pg. 124). Marx believed that eventually, through education and action, the lower class would one day revolt again the wealthy. He called it the “dictatorship of the proletariat”, which in his mind was the final phase of history (pg. 125). Marx felt that the communist system was best fit for societies, where religion, class division and ownership of private property cease to exist. 1) In terms of Karl Marx view on religion, it seems as though he drew his conclusions primary from Christianity and other religions alike, how is that not having a bias opinion on religion as a whole? 2) Karl Marx preferred communism to capitalism, but it have been proven throughout history that at some point absolute power corrupts absolutely. With that said, how can he prove that communism is the lesser evil over capitalism? Reflection...
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...In Karl Marx’s work the Estranged Labour he explains his theory of an estranged or alienated labour. A basic definition of estranged labour would be the state or feeling of isolation or alienated from work. Marx’s asks “What, then constitutes the alienation of labour?” (Marx 74). His theory explains how Labours are forced to do work they are unfamiliar to, causing the alienation of labour. Karl Marx’s text Estranged Labour encompasses the main cause of the alienation of labour. In Marx’s text Estranged Labour he explains four key aspects of an alienated labour. The main one I will discuss is “(2) The relation of labor to the act of production within the labor process” (Marx 74). The process of alienation of labour itself is explained as an...
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... in the modern representative State, exclusive political sway…” – Karl Marx. Karl Marx in the communist manifesto, praises the Bourgeois for establishing a worldmarket, which gave birth to immense development in commerce, navigation, communication and expanding the industry. However, he also argues, that as the bourgeois continue to broaden the 22 capital market, it pushes back every other class to a lesser decreed. As the bourgeois developed, so did their political power. The bourgeois exploits the proletariat as laborers, a mere commodity to the means of production to further their own interests in establishing themselves as the dominant power. The bourgeoisie cannot exist without constantly revolutionising the instruments of production, and thereby the relations of production, with them the whole relations of society 24. Therefore, as the bourgeois try to maximize their profits through the mechanics of competition and free trade, nations become interdependent on each other, and the proletariat is not only from one country or region, but an international set of people. The labourers, are seen as a means of production, and therefore to maximize profit (which is the key goal of capitalists), labours are are exploited to a degree of unfair working conditions, low wages and illtreatment as their availability or supply is more than its demand. Karl Marx, further writes that the bourgeois creating a world after its own imageTherefore, Marx delves into what we now know was ...
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