...TermPaperWarehouse.com - Free Term Papers, Essays and Research Documents The Research Paper Factory JoinSearchBrowseSaved Papers Home Page » Other Topics Historical Materialism In: Other Topics Historical Materialism INTRODUCTION "In the Marxian view, human history is like a river. From any given vantage point, a river looks much the same day after day. But actually it is constantly flowing and changing, crumbling its banks, widening and deepening its channel. The water seen one day is never the same as that seen the next. Some of it is constantly being evaporated and drawn up, to return as rain. From year to year these changes may be scarcely perceptible. But one day, when the banks are thoroughly weakened and the rains long and heavy, the river floods, bursts its banks, and may take a new course. This represents the dialectical part of Marx’s famous theory of dialectical (or historical) materialism." Historical materialism is a methodological approach to the study of society, economics, and history first articulated by Karl Marx (1818–1883) as the materialist conception of history. It is a theory of socioeconomic development according to which changes in material conditions (technology and productive capacity) are the primary influence on how society and the economy are organised. Historical materialism looks for the causes of developments and changes in human society in the means by which humans collectively produce the necessities of life. Social classes and the...
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...explore the ESV version in Genesis 2, we see God made man and woman and said that they “shall become one flesh”. Karl Marx however, offered up a different approach. Marx was an Atheist and therefore did not believe in God or the word of God (Martin, 2006). Marx’s atheistic teachings created a succession of process philosophers that eventually brought us to our current situation. By not believing in or following God’s word or established institutions, in this case the family and marriage, humans begin to go against God and away from God. In today’s world, the news headlines are filled with results of process philosophy; homosexual “marriages” being legalized, divorce rates are sky high, domestic violence rates up above normal, etcetera. The biggest of the issues in my opinion that involves process philosophy is the national legalization of homosexual “marriages”. The phrase most frequently used is “gay marriage”. This wording however does not align within a biblical worldview because marriage is between a man and woman. “You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination” (Leviticus 18:22). By adhering to our biblical worldview, we would and should follow God’s holy word. Marx “adopted the idea of materialism” since he “dispensed with the idea of God” (Martin, 2006, p. 156). Being a materialist, Marx also shared the idea of “dialectical materialism”, which contains three presuppositions. One of those is the idea that “progress is inherent in change” (Martin, 2006...
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...Introduction Karl Marx (1818 – 1883) was born the son of a well-known lawyer, in Trier. He was a German philosopher, economist and historian whose ideas played a major role in the development of the social sciences and the socialist political movement. During his lifetime Marx wrote and published many articles and books, most notably; The Communist Manifesto and Capital. Admirers of Marx work have drawn from what he wrote, taking his ideas one step further and created grand theoretical viewpoints which are known to us as Marxism. Marxism is a theory of economics and history and the basic explanation for how societies go through the process of change, Marx believed that capitalism was evil and created increasing disproportion so wealth in society, since the worker would become poorer the more wealth he created for their employers, this was because a worker becomes a cheaper commodity the more commodities he produces. The central theme of Marxism is public ownership and control of all means of production. Marxism thus calls for abolition of the capitalist economic system where chief means of production are privately owned. According to Marxism, supporting the development of a classless society would have led to prosperity and freedom for all. Marxist Ideas One of the basic ideas of Marxism is that of Dialectical Materialism. This outlook is referred to as dialectical materialism because its approach to the occurrences of nature, its method of studying and apprehending these...
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...Whitechapel London, also known as the East End, was the scene of at least five gruesome murders in 1988 that were committed by a killer now famously known as Jack the Ripper. These murders took place in the height of transition from feudalism to capitalism and fueled by this, the East End was plagued with gross overcrowding, unemployment, and was a place of severe poverty and prostitution. Marxist theories of alienation and dialectical materialism help to explain how the rise of capitalism formed the case setting and supported The Ripper’s murders of five women. In the mid-nineteenth century, an influx of Irish and Jewish immigrants hit England and swelled the population, including that of East London (Kershen 2008). Whitechapel suffered gross overcrowding and an urban proletariat started to emerge (Rumbelow 2001). Housing and working conditions became worse and poverty led many people to alcohol, crime and violence and women were driven into prostitution as work was hard to find (Vaughan 2008). Many people were dependent on lodging houses for a place to sleep, and would only be admitted if they had four pence as payment. Those who did not have the money were left outside on the streets (Rumbelow 2001). The first of the official Jack the Ripper murders occurred in the early hours of 31st August 1988 (Rumbelow 2001). A woman later identified as forty-two year old Polly Nichols was found with her throat cut from ear to ear and when taken to the morgue and undressed by morgue...
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...Heather Jones Contemporary Political Thought Dr. Pickell November 24, 2015 Karl Heinrich Marx Throughout history many ideologies have been created and many philosophers have explained their thoughts and ideas. It has been over a century since Marx’s death, but he still remains to be one of the most highly influential figures (Prychitko). Karl Marx was not known as a 19th century philosopher, yet he was known as a German journalist, revolutionary socialist, and revolutionary communist. Not only did he discuss political and social issues, but he also inquired about history. Karl Marx was born to Heinrich and Henrietta Marx in Trier, on May 5, 1818 and was one of nine siblings. According to Ball, Dagger, and O’Neill, his father Heinrich was a Jewish, wealthy lawyer in Trier, but was forced to convert to Christianity because the government did not allow Jews to practice law. He was privately educated prior to going to college, and because Marx’s family was wealthy, he went to study law at the University of Bonn. There his grades began to deteriorate because he dedicated himself to his friends, alcohol, and trouble instead of his studies. As a consequence, his father made him relocate to University of Berlin, and while studying philosophy and pursuing law here he was introduced to the ideas Hegel and Feuerbach. In 1941, Marx graduated with a doctorate in Philosophy, but later turned to journalism because with his radical way of thinking he was unable to find an academic...
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...weakened and the rains long and heavy, the river floods, bursts its banks, and may take a new course. This represents the dialectical part of Marx’s famous theory of dialectical (or historical) materialism." Historical materialism is a methodological approach to the study of society, economics, and history first articulated by Karl Marx (1818–1883) as the materialist conception of history. It is a theory of socioeconomic development according to which changes in material conditions (technology and productive capacity) are the primary influence on how society and the economy are organised. Historical materialism looks for the causes of developments and changes in human society in the means by which humans collectively produce the necessities of life. Social classes and the relationship between them, plus the political structures and ways of thinking in society, are founded on and reflect contemporary economic activity. Since Marx's time, the theory has been modified and expanded by thousands of Marxist thinkers. It now has many Marxist and non-Marxist variants. Objectives of Study: • To define Historical Materialism. • To discuss about the basic philosophy behind the concept of historical Materialism by Karl Marx. • To study about the Recent Versions of Historical Materialism. • To findout the limitations of the Concept of Historical Materialism. Research...
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...RESPONSE PAPER “Contributions made by KARL MARX, MAX WEBER and EMILE DURKHEIM to the research methodology used in social sciences” INTRODUCTION The paper mainly concerns the contributions of MARX, WEBER and DURKHEIM to the methodology in social sciences. The various methodologies in social sciences establish a connection with the societal implications which have a large impact over the society and its normative effects. Referring to the contributions by the following sociologists, all have a different and influential impact on the factors of society. The methodology of various sociologists reflects their attitude towards the society and its various customs and traditions. The following mentioned are the various methodologies adopted by sociologists in the field of social sciences. Marxist sociology emerged around late 19th/early 20th century, influenced by the thought of Karl Marx. Marx is seen as one of the most influential thinkers in early sociology, alongside thinkers such as Max Weber and Émile Durkheim. KARL MARX The theory propounded by Karl Marx is Marxism; in a nutshell it is the theory and practice of working-class emancipation. Marxism is also a method of looking at the world. One of the most important foundations of Marx's method was dialectical thought. Marx relied a lot on historical materialism and dialecticism to propound his theories in social science. Marx relied heavily on these two methods for...
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...Selection? Was it because he already supported materialism which claims that matter is eternal, before forming this theory? Did he form this theory because he did not want to accept the ethical beliefs that were taught in the region and time period that he lived in? was it his overactive imagination that caused him to form this theory? In eighteen fifty nine Charles Darwin formed a theory that gives an explanation to the question from what or where did mankind come from. Was this theory based on fact, or was it just based on the teachings of materialism philosophers’? The ancient Greek Philosophers Democritus and Leucippus believed in an early form of materialism which they called Atomism. They believed that invisible particles which they called atoms make up everything that exists. During the time period that these Philosophers lived in there was not enough technological advances to even realistically attempt to prove their beliefs as scientific fact. The Ancient Greek Philosophers were the educated community of their time. Like some Darwinism scientists today many of these Ancient Philosophers thought that people should accept their teachings because they were highly educated. Educated people are not always right about everything. A form of materialism called dialectical materialism developed in the late eighteen hundreds. The German Philosopher Karl Marx supported this philosophical belief. It was his belief in dialectical materialism that motivated him to create the political...
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...Metaphysics From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to:navigation, search This article is about the branch of philosophy. For the work of Aristotle, see Metaphysics (Aristotle). |Philosophy | |[pic] | |Branches[show] | |Aesthetics | |Epistemology | |Ethics | |Logic | |Metaphysics | |Social philosophy | |Political philosophy | |Eras[show] | |Ancient | |Medieval | |Modern | |Contemporary | |Traditions[show] | |Analytic | |Continental | |Eastern | |Islamic | |Marxist | |Platonic | |Scholastic | |Philosophers[show] | |Aestheticians | |Epistemologists...
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...nature- everyone is selfish, everyone is born with rationality Locke believes that things wouldn’t change much in state of nature , business would exist. We need government to solve basic economic problems, Social Contract- people give up 3 inalienable rights: Life, liberty, right to Property Government must promise to improve the common weale or improve peoples lives and to protect the inalienable rights of all citizens. Revolution is OK and sometimes mandatory if gov’t breaks those two promises Best form of government: Democratically elected, 3 branches (executive, judicial and legislative) Government should stick to laws and not give each case a different solution Only problem is that gov’t is inconsistent Karl Marx Dialectical Materialism, The...
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...Theory Question 1. Compare and contrast the views of religion held by Marx and Tocqueville. Religions, all over the world have always tried to find an association between mankind and nature and a relation between human beings themselves. One of religion’s main goals is to provide rules and guidance that create order and support for the people that follow it. However, the notion of religion and where it came from has been a subject of debate amongst many historians, thinkers, sociologists and philosophers. Karl Marx, the German philosopher, revolutionist, and sociologist, believed that religion was a manmade ideology. He did not believe that God made humankind; he believed we made God (Marx, 1978). Alex de Tocqueville did not believe in what I just previously mentioned. Instead, the Roman Catholic political thinker and historian believed that God created us and he was responsible for providing the people with the proper rules and keys to living in a materialistic and worldly place (Tocqueville, 1972 pp 359). In this paper, I will be contrasting the different views of religion from the perspectives of Karl Marx and Alex de Tocqueville. With that being said, and although by now we know that both thinkers have different views regarding religion, some of their writings show otherwise and in turn, we will find some striking similarities between them. Beginning with the ideas of Karl Marx; Karl Marx was known to be an atheist who strongly believed that religion was created...
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...Marxism Today Student’s Name University Affiliation Marxism Today Identify an emerging country and discuss why Marxism might be an option for the country and discuss how Tocqueville may view the country if he were to visit it today. Karl Marx is considered as the father of communism (Wright, Levine & Sober, 1992). He is an individual who has made a lot of contributions in policies of the economy as well as various writing that he has made. This has especially influenced many of the leaders in the emerging countries especially in the way that they run their economies. The main idea that was raised by Karl Marx is that of communism that is highly applied in countries such as china and Korea and has been a major contribution to the prosperity if these economies. He advocated for the unity of the workers. Emerging countries on the other hand are defined as that is on the road attaining industrialization. The theory of Karl Marx can be highly applicable to these economies to help them in the process of industrialization. The country we are going to focus on in this assignment is India. India is considered as in of the emerging economies in the world that for a very long time had practiced capitalism on a very large scale and it is recently losing the sense for the capitalism system. India has been struggling with its economy in terms of bringing about economic growth and also in the terms of providing quality standards of living for their people and this has been caused...
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...|eliminating Kant’s “things-in-themselves” (external reality) and making the self, or the ego, the ultimate reality. Fichte | |maintained that the world is created by an absolute ego, which is conscious first of itself and only later of non-self, or the | |otherness of the world. The human will, a partial manifestation of self, gives human beings freedom to act. Friedrich Wilhelm | |Joseph von Schelling moved still further toward absolute idealism by construing objects or things as the works of the | |imagination and Nature as an all-embracing being, spiritual in character. Schelling became the leading philosopher of the | |movement known as romanticism, which in contrast to the Enlightenment placed its faith in feeling and the creative imagination | |rather than in reason. The romantic view of the divinity of nature influenced the American transcendentalist movement, led by | |poet and essayist Ralph Waldo Emerson. | |C | |1 | | | |Hegel ...
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...Autarky is the quality of being self-sufficient. Usually the term is applied to political states or their economic systems. Balance of power is a distribution of power in which no single nation is able to dominate or interfere with others. Imperialism is the policy of extending a nation's authority by territorial acquisition or by the establishment of economic and political hegemony over other nations. Indigenization means to transform things to fit the local culture. Most changes in original culture occur when western corporations impose their products on other economies, Westernizing. German problem is basically refers to the difficulty of finding Germany’s place in the international system. Regionalization is the process of dividing an area into smaller segments called regions. One of the more obvious examples of regionalization is the division of a nation into states or provinces. Expansionism: A nation's practice or policy of territorial or economic expansion. Imperial overreach is a hypothesis which suggests that an empire can extend itself beyond its ability to maintain or expand its military and economic commitments. Hard power is the use of military and economic means to influence the behavior or interests of other political bodies. Soft power is a persuasive approach to international relations, typically involving the use of economic or cultural influence. Mutually assured destruction is a US doctrine of reciprocal deterrence resting...
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...capitalism. His mode of inquiry for uncovering the hidden reality of capitalism is through his own invented process of socioanalysis. Because of Marx’s legacy of revealing the reality of capitalism, Heilbroner compares him to Freud and Plato, all whose works are inescapable for the truths they have unveiled. Freud and Plato both unveiled hidden realities. Marx shared a further similarity in the sense that his “combination of insight and method permanently altered the manner in which reality would thereafter be perceived” (Heilbroner, 17). Marx’s works in his book Capital is still more relevant today than Adam Smith’s renowned work Wealth of Nations. Marx‘s book placed importance on technology and crises and social tension, and more importantly, undertakes the task of critiquing the political economy. However, the problem of Marxism is within trying to define it. Heilbroner believes that there exists a set of premises that can assist in defining Marxist thought, “so that any analysis that contains these premises can be properly classified as Marxist” (Heilbroner, 20). There are four main premises as described by Heilbroner; the dialectical approach to knowledge itself; the materialist approach to history; the socioanalysis of history; and commitment to socialism. Marxism has the political goal to overthrow the capitalist order and replace it with socialism, which will eventually lead to communism. “The self-declared objective of Marxism is as a force for revolutionary change, as a rallying...
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