Marx In Terms Of Philosophical Thought example essay topic

There can be little doubt that Karl Marx is one of the most important and influential political thinkers that has lived. However, Marx was not simply just a political thinker and he would often like to consider himself as a political scientist, methodical in approach and calculation. Yet is often very difficult to simply classify Marx in this way as he would often delve in many other fields and therefore he can be categorised as a historian, philosopher, sociologist or even a controversialist. Marx's most important works, "The Communist Manifesto" (1848) and "Das Capital" (1867), incorporate aspects from many of these areas. In terms of history, Marx was greatly influenced by Friedrich Hegel, with whom he had had the chance to study with whilst at university in Germany.

Hegel was considered the authority on philosophy at this period and consequently Marx's views on history were shaped by Hegel's works. Nevertheless their views on history were crucially different. Marx argues, in "The German Ideology" (1845) that, similarly to Hegel, everything in history is pre-determined and therefore happens for a reason (for example the French Revolution of 1789). Marx puts forward the notion that the end of history will come about with the beginning of Communism. For this to occur, Marx argues, that an advanced Capitalist state will have to progress to a socialist one, via a revolution.

After this transformation the progression to Communism will take place and as Marx says "then begins an epoch of social revolution". Marx relays his prediction of a revolution to economic matters and sees it as a "consequence of an economic structure no longer being able to continue to develop the forces of production". Many critics of Marx have often claimed that, in fact, he was not a philosopher. Perhaps as a youth, Marx could have been described as a philosopher, yet the more mature character and many of his subsequent works have led some to believe that he was not a philosopher. There is, however, a consistency to interpret Marx as a humanist rather than an idealist (like Hegel) or a realist. Marx often places importance on the individual human being and the self, body and mind.

He accepts that they are all separate entities yet they are unable to function without the others. Many of Friedrich Engels own philosophical thoughts were actually attributed to Marx. Philosophies such as dialectical materialism, which was "essentially the work of Engels", became the basis of whole Communist regimes such as in Russia and China where these concepts were taught in schools. The theory of dialectical materialism argues that reality is matter in motion and that the world is dialectical, i.e. that everything is connected and consequently constantly changing. The ascription of this philosophy to Marx highlights the underlying connection between Marx and Hegel, who had been one of most inspiration influences to Marx in terms of philosophical thought. For Hegel, the dialectic was "the fundamental process of development - in both thought and reality - from thesis to antithesis to synthesis".

In conclusion, there can be little doubt that each of these specific areas of academic study, both history and philosophy, had a substantial impact on Marx's thought and attitudes. Although Marx was heavily influenced by Hegel's theories of history he developed his own outlook towards the already well established Hegelian ethics. On the other hand, philosophically, many of Engel's own philosophical thoughts were accredited to Marx causing not only misrepresentation but also misunderstanding of Marx's philosophical standings. Marx is once claimed to have said that "If that's Marxism, then I'm not a Marxist" highlighting the difference between what he felt Marxism was and what others had perceived Marxism to be, underlining how people's own opinions can affect the roles of both history and philosophy in Marxist thought.