Idealism vs. Materialism

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The philosopher Hegel is an idealist, while Marx is a materialist. Hegel came from the German Idealism period and revolutionized Europe with his idealistic ideas, which were highly criticized by his counterpart Marx. Hegel however, did have a lot of people who admired his work and followed in his theory of idealism. Marx was also very influential in his theory of historical materialism. Marx materialist ideas were developed out of the struggle of the working class to attain a higher status in society. These concepts have redefined history and its development.
Hegel’s philosophy of history is idealist, which means that reality is depended on the mind or spirit. His philosophy is based on the concepts of idealism, spirit and unity. Hegel philosophy is based on absolute idealism; God is a spiritual entity that realizes itself and is the origin of all material things (Hegel 22). Thus, philosophy is the self-knowledge of the spirit. In particular, he developed the concept that history occurs through a dialectic or clash of opposing forces. Some of these opposing forces are nature vs. spirit and transcendence vs. immanence. He believed that ideas can be the motive force for world development. Hegel places ultimate reality in ideas rather than in material things.
Hegel’s philosophy of idealism deals a lot of the conscious state. In the Reason of History it is written that two things must be distinguished in consciousness, That I know and What I know (Hegel 23). Hegel argues that the nature of reality, to know reality is through consciousness (Hegel 35). One has to be conscious of reality to know reality and that is when one reaches perfection. Hegel philosophy is based on the study of logic, which investigates the fundamental structur...

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...at rules society while the group who provides for society, the working class (Proletariat) is the one being ruled. The ruling class essentially lives off the surplus of the working class.
Hegel and Marx were two philosophers with competing philosophical ideas. Hegel is an idealist philosopher, basing everything on ideas of competing forces. Marx’s philosophy on the other hand is based on the idea of class relationships determine people’s will or how they think. For Marx the conception of history is depended on the ability of human nature to produce (Tucker 164). Marx completely rejected Hegel’s religious and idealist theories because of their unrealistic nature. However, these two philosophers have impacted the development of world history through their opposing ideas. These two concepts have provided a theoretical basis for how present history is viewed.

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