During the peak of the Cold War, particularly during the 1950s, communists and communism were constituted the hobgoblins that haunted Western consciousness and anyone professing positive opinions towards the political philosophies of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels were immediately tarred with the communist brush and viewed with suspicion and censure. Nevertheless, the philosophy of historical materialism that both Engels and Marx espoused became very influential to the thought of the Western world, in addition to inspiring the revolutions that shook Russia and China. The following examination of this philosophy will, first of all, offer an overview of the basic tenets of this philosophy and then consider to what extent the legal histories of both Europe and the US can be regarded as consistent or inconsistent with the ideas proposed by Marx and Engels. This essay will also consider how the work of later writers reflects the theoretical traditions begun by Marx and Engels, or if their theoretical orientations can be better explains by other traditions. Basic ideas of Marx and Engels Marx offers the basic tenets to historical materialism, that is, his economic interpretation of history, in the preface to his text A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy. This writing proposes that it is economic factors, specifically the way in which people produce the necessities required to sustain human society, that determine both the politics and ideology of that society. Marx writes the "legal and political superstructure" of a society will arise from the "mode of production of material life conditions for general process of social, political and intellectual life" (Marx Critique 20). In other words, Marx argued that it was not ... ... middle of paper ... ...ced, and are continuing to influence, contemporary society, which means, in general, a better future for the working class. Works Cited Dahl, Jonathan. "Congress passes a bill likely to force many hotels to install room sprinklers." Wall Street Journal. Domhoff, William. The Higher Circles. (1970): 217-218. Engels, Friedrich. "Letters on Historical Materialism." Engels, Friedrich. The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State. Granfield, Robert. "Legal education as corporate ideology: Student adjustment to the Law School Experience." Sociological Forum 1.3 (1985): 514-515. Graves, Florence and Norrgard, Lee. "Money to burn: How Chicago's traders get their way on capital Hill." Common Cause Magazine (1985): pp. 20-31. Marx, Karl. A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy. Ed. Maurice Dobb. New York: International Press, 1859, 1970.
Marx, Karl, Friedrich Engels, and Robert C. Tucker. The Marx-Engels reader . 2d ed. New York: Norton, 1978. Print.
"History is nothing but the succession of separate generations, each of which exploits the materials, capital, and productive forces handed down to it by all preceding generations." Marx resists any abstraction from this idea, believing that his materialistic ideas alone stand supported by empirical evidence which seems impossible to the Hegelian. His history then begin...
Marx, Karl, Friedrich Engels, and Robert C. Tucker. The Marx-Engels reader. 2nd ed. New York: Norton, 1978. Print.
Baggins, Brian. "Abstract from the Preface of A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy." Preface. Comp. Zodiac. A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy. By Karl Marx. Ed. R. Rojas and Matthew Carmody. Trans. S. W. Ryazanskaya. Comp. Tim Delaney and Zodiac. Moscow: Progress, 1859. Marx/Engels Internet Archive. Marx/Engels Internet Archive. Web. 8 Mar. 2012. .
Marx starts off with saying that our relationship to nature arises from the material world. The relationship of nature to the material world is organized by the capitalist and socialist mode. The individual becomes who he is as Marx states "Thus, what individuals are depends on the material conditions of production."(Marx, 1845-46, pg. 46) The individual first must establish who he is within the organization he is placed in through what he produces. The material, what he produces expresses the life he lives. (Marx, 1845-46, pg. 46) Our consciousness is above in the heavens but do not shape us. Our consciousness is produced through the life we live, the material that comes from the ground, from the earth. (Marx, 1845-46, pg. 47)
The German thinker, Karl Marx (1818-1883), wanted to understand and explain the changes that occurred in society at the time of the Industrial Revolution in Europe. (ibid) In 1843 Marx met Engels in Paris. It marked the beginning of a lifelong of friendship and professional collaboration. In 1848 Marx and Engels published “The Communist Manifesto”. The Manifesto outlined the struggles between classes. From then onwards it has become apparent that Marx was not an economist. His theories are a combination of economics, history, sociology and politics. Marx moved to London in 1849 where he spent the rest of his life.
Marx, Karl, and Friedrich Engels. The Communist Manifesto. Trans. Paul M. Sweeny. New York: Monthly Review Press, 1998.
Inspired by the works of Karl Marx, V.I. Lenin nonetheless drew his ideology from many other great 19th century philosophers. However, Marx’s “Communist Manifesto” was immensely important to the success of Russia under Leninist rule as it started a new era in history. Viewed as taboo in a capitalist society, Karl Marx started a movement that would permanently change the history of the entire world. Also, around this time, the Populist promoted a doctrine of social and economic equality, although weak in its ideology and method, overall. Lenin was also inspired by the anarchists who sought revolution as an ultimate means to the end of old regimes, in the hope of a new, better society. To his core, a revolutionary, V.I. Lenin was driven to evoke the class struggle that would ultimately transform Russia into a Socialist powerhouse. Through following primarily in the footsteps of Karl Marx, Lenin was to a lesser extent inspired by the Populists, the Anarchists, and the Social Democrats.
Since 1989, when the Berlin Wall fell and Eastern European Communism came to an end, many of those who have lived through or bore witness to communism published their experiences to the public through media. These personal accounts tell, for the most part, of repressive and manipulative governments that constantly abused their power. Since the original goal for communism was equality, the East German government clearly corrupted the hopes that Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels had for the future of the Eastern European government and society.
Karl Marx, the preface, “a Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy,” written 1859, Progress Publisher, Moscow, Translated by S. W. Ryazanskaya 1999
In 1848, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels pamphlet titled The Communist Manifesto displaying their opinions on economics and socialism for the public’s enjoyment. Little did they know their ideas would still be influential today.
Marx, Karl, and Friedrich Engels. The Communist Manifesto. 1st Signic Classic print. ed. New York, NY: Signic Classic, 1998.
Marx, in his theory of historical materialism, advocates that political and historical events result from the conflict of social forces. His theory focuses on the class struggles and the human attempts to control and dominate the natural environment. Profits obtained by the capitalists are a result of the workers being exploited. This conflict will lead to a revolution in which the workers control the state. Thus, capitalism will be replaced by socialism. The result is freedom for all. In the Soviet Union, the lower class overthrew the ruling class and created a new mode of production. This new economic base then determined political, social and ideological changes in its society. The failure of the Soviet Union impacts the validity of Marxian historical materialism because it discredits materialistic
Marx defined historical materialism in the preface of A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy that, “it is not the consciousness of men that determines their existence, on the contrary, their social existence that determines their consciousness.” In contrast to idealism, which prioritized the value of human ideas, historical materialism insisted that the existence of human kinds pushed the productions; and mode of production shaped human consciousness in return. The contradictory between Idealism and historical materialism lie between whether it was evolvement of consciousness steering for societal changes or the other way around. While choosing one of them as individual political philosophy, it was very similar of answering question, “which came first, chicken or egg?” Personally, I favor for historical materialism for “consciousness is determined by your beings” seems rational as well as logical.
Engels points out in his ‘Socialism: Utopian and Scientific’ that, “man [will], more and more consciously, make his own history.” The significance of this remark is that it explains how socialism will change the way of human beings creating history. Based on Utopian Socialism, materialistic conception of history and Marx’s surplus value, Engels asserts that history develops because of class struggles through observing all the history, and develops scientific socialism. The remark points out that human beings are always try to make his own history but still develop according to a ‘hidden plan’. But only under socialism, man will make his own history consciously and freely.