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| Andy Warhol, Four Dollar Signs (1982) |
Karl Marx (1818–1883) is known as a philosopher and a
revolutionary communist, whose works inspired the foundation of many
communist regimes in the twentieth century. It is hard to think of
many who have had as much influence in the creation of the modern
world. Trained as a philosopher, Marx turned away from philosophy in
his mid-twenties, towards economics and politics. However, in addition
to his overtly philosophical early work, his later writings have many
points of contact with contemporary philosophical debates, especially
in the philosophy of history and the social sciences, and in moral and
political philosophy. Historical materialism — Marx's theory of
history — is centered around the idea that forms of society rise
and fall as they further and then impede the development of human
productive power. Marx sees the historical process as proceeding
through a necessary series of modes of production, characterized by
class struggle, culminating in communism. Marx's economic analysis of
capitalism is based on his version of the labour theory of value, and
includes the analysis of capitalist profit as the extraction of
surplus value from the exploited proletariat. The analysis of history
and economics come together in Marx's prediction of the inevitable
economic breakdown of capitalism, to be replaced by communism. However
Marx refused to speculate in detail about the nature of communism,
arguing that it would arise through historical processes, and was not
the realisation of a pre-determined moral ideal. (Modified from the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
Before you begin the reading for our next class session, it will helpful to have a fuller understanding of some of Marx and Engels's terms as these might be unfamiliar. Read the following material below before doing the reading for our next session. I would also suggest taking a note card and writing down these definitions and using this note card as a book mark as you read.
Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, The Communist Manifesto, 3-16
Study Questions:
1. According to Marx and Engels, "The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles" (4). What do they mean by this? According to Marx and Engels what two forces were then engaged in class struggle? What do you think of this assertion?
2. In a famous passage, Marx and Engels write, "All that is solid melts into air, all that is holy is profaned and man is at last compelled to face with sober senses, his real conditions of life, and his relations with kind" (6). What do they mean by this? Why do you think that this important to Marx and Engels?
3. Bring in a passage that you find interesting either because it made you think or because you didn't fully understand it. Fully transcribe the passage and write about what you think about the passage. You will be sharing this with your peers.
Before you begin the reading for our next class session, it will helpful to have a fuller understanding of some of Marx and Engels's terms as these might be unfamiliar. Read the following material below before doing the reading for our next session. I would also suggest taking a note card and writing down these definitions and using this note card as a book mark as you read.
- The Communist Manifesto (1848) is first and foremost a critique of capitalism. In Marxist analysis, capitalism is a socioeconomic system based on private ownership of the means of production and the exploitation of the labor force.
- As its name implies, capitalism is dependent on capital. In Marxist terms, capital is not money or wealth, per se. Rather, capital is generated when one buys an object in order to sell it at a higher price. The profit earned through this exchange is capital and will be reinvested in order to yield more capital.
- Such transactions rely on objects having exchange value in addition to use value. The difference between these things is rather quite simple. The use value of a hammer, for instance, is that it is good for hitting nails. It's use is dependent on its physical values. An object only gains exchange value when it is sold on the market. Thus, a hammer has an exchange value of $15.00. In capitalist economies, exchange value predominates because almost everything can be exchanged for money. Exchange value obscures the real value of any object, namely the amount of labor it took to produce an object. It is labor-value that ultimately determines the price of objects.
- Those with capital constitute the dominant class. For Marx and Engels, this class is the bourgeoisie. The bourgeoisie are the middle class, but we need to qualify this term a bit since we use it differently today than Marx and Engels did in 1848. By middle class, Marx meant those who were neither members of the aristocracy, the peasantry, or industrial laborers. He also did not mean what we mean by the term today, those who need to work to pay their bills, but are financially comfortable and most likely live in the suburbs. Rather, Marx and Engels were referring to those who owned the means of production. By means of production, Marx and Engels meant "the tools and raw materials to produce a product." This might take the form of farm land or a factory. Essentially, the bourgeoisie are the owning class in society.
- The bourgeoisie are thus separated and opposed to the proletariat. The proletariat consists of the "lower" or working class who must sell their labor for wages in order to survive. Since the proletariat does not own the means of production, and since they do not work directly for themselves, they are alienated from their labor. According to Marx and Engels, it is this group, the clear majority of people, who will lead a communist revolution and overthrow the bourgeoisie.
Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, The Communist Manifesto, 3-16
Study Questions:
1. According to Marx and Engels, "The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles" (4). What do they mean by this? According to Marx and Engels what two forces were then engaged in class struggle? What do you think of this assertion?
2. In a famous passage, Marx and Engels write, "All that is solid melts into air, all that is holy is profaned and man is at last compelled to face with sober senses, his real conditions of life, and his relations with kind" (6). What do they mean by this? Why do you think that this important to Marx and Engels?
3. Bring in a passage that you find interesting either because it made you think or because you didn't fully understand it. Fully transcribe the passage and write about what you think about the passage. You will be sharing this with your peers.
