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Example research essay topic: Karl Marx Marx Believes - 1,174 words

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... arboreous the worker. the more refined his product the more crude and misshapen the worker (cited in Bottomore; 1963 pg 122) Here competition is seen to accentuate mans state of alienation through his use as a commodity. The workers exploitation as a commodity reduces his labour to that of a machine, causing the maintenance of the workers welfare to also carry with it the attributes of a mechanical object; ... as far as political economy is concerned, the requirements of the worker can be narrowed down to one: the need to support him while he is working and prevent the race of workers form dying out... (ibid, pg 137) It is these relations between wages, labour and the product of labour that Marx believes to be responsible for the de-humanization of man.

With the economic conditions and considerations of capital Marx has provided, it is clear to see that man has been deduced from his natural state as a species-being, to that of a commodity solely as a consequence of capital interest and competition. Through the exploration of the various features of market exchange and modes of production within the state, Marx derives a critique upon the political economy as a result of the inability for man to own the product of his labour in a Capitalist society where, as mentioned previously - only the capitalist prospers. Marx's critique elaborated the concept of private property which sustained alienation, and concluded that the abolition of alienation would require an abolition of private property; which itself would require a shift in the political economy. His thesis arose from his recognition of the enslavement of workers as commodities as a result of a competing market economy that man had become unfortunate enough to be represented within as a form of living capital. Man became a form of private property as both labour and capital; of which both have evidently been portrayed as being alien to him. Yet Marx believes that these alienating features of private property can be overcome in a state where mutual production and conditions of labour are not alienating.

Marx postulates that in present society, wealth resides in producing objects and this is an attribute of alienation. Previously in more communal societies (for example that of tribes) wealth resided in natural objects, thus the alienation of man from the object of his production was non-existent (Avineri; 1968). Property ownership in previous tribal communes represented social identification as opposed to individual prosperity (ibid). In present society the perfect political state for Marx (where individuals acknowledge their capacities as species-beings) is that of a communist state. A state where man produces not for the sake of capital, but for the sake of others.

The only means to achieve this end would therefore require the abolition of private property which produces this capital. The preference for a communist state lies in Marx's contention that modes of production need to change in order for man to be free form his alienated state. These modes will only change if the political economy changes to allow the worker to own the product of his labour, the mode of production in Material life determines the general character of the social, political and spiritual processes of life. It is not the consciousness of men that determines their existence, but, on the contrary, their social existence determines their consciousness (Marx, K as cited in Feuer, L 1959, pg 84).

This point highlights the shift in Marx's thinking from that of Hegel's. Whilst Hegel suggested internal consciousness determined alienation, Marx suggests external existence determines the internal consciousness, thus the environment in which mans labour is produced is of vital significance to his existence as alienated - a theme coherent throughout Marx's early manuscripts (Bottomore; 1963 p 202). Although in saying this the notions of alienation and species-being were always different between Marx and Hegel; one thought the solution lay internally (Hegel) and the other (Marx) saw the solution to lye externally. However in addressing specifically the notion of species-being Marx's transition from Feuerbachian influence is less clear. Initially when Marx talks of species-beings, he speaks in relation to individuals having the capacity to recognise their human essence. Yet, when Marx speaks of alienation, he speaks in relation to men as objects with no reference to there human essence.

He appears to abandon his philosophical premise inspired by Feuerbach and opts for a purely economic and political rhetoric of the state and the individual within civil society. Marx's writings read from a very historical understanding of the nature of man, whilst in adopting the Feuerbachian notion of species-being he transcends to a more anthropological understanding which he fails to persevere through his concept of alienation. This presents confusion as to whether or not Marx simply discards this anthropological position of Feuerbach in the German Ideology in preference for a historical account of human nature. Through the clarification of the notion species-being and alienation, it appears that the money economy is pre-eminent as a factor underpinning the alienation of man from his labour, the object of his production and his human essence. It is predominantly for this reason Capitalism will endeavour to induce and sustain the alienated existence of mankind: as long as the relationship between labour and capital remains within its present state among the modes of production (Avineri; 1968). Marx has been successful in considering the development of the economic structure of society as a natural historical process whilst also considering the realms of personal interest and relations embodied within capitalist production.

However Marx opens himself up to criticism with his failure to maintain a grounded frame of understanding upon which to build his thesis, or at least to make coherent the process of his adaptive shifts in understanding - from an initially anthropological understanding to a more historical and economic one (Bottomore; 1956). Aside from this Marx makes clear his standpoint on the notion of alienation and the place of species-being within the context of human emancipation: for Marx, emancipation from an alienated existence is the only means for individuals to return to there natural state as species-beings and his concepts of alienation appear to substantiate this claim within the greater context of the political economy. References Arthur, C (1970) The German Ideology. Lawrence and Wishart. pp 4 - 34.

Avineri, S (1968) The Social and Political Thought of Karl Marx. Cambridge University Press. pp 8 - 123. Bottomore, T. B (1956) Karl Marx: Selected Writings in Sociology and Social Philosophy.

McGraw Hill book company. pp 1 - 29 Bottomore, T. B (1963) Karl Marx: Early Writings. Watts. pp 1 - 144 Collect, L (1975) Karl Marx: Early Writings. Harmondsworth; Penguin.

pp 270 - 400. Enter, J (1985) Studies in Marxism and Social Theory: Making Sense of Marx. Cambridge University Press. pp 74 - 78 Feuer, L (1959, 1969) Marx and Engels: Basic Writings on Politics and Political Philosophy.

Fontana; Classic of History and Thought. pp 11 - 87. Lucas, G (1938) The Young Hegel. Merlin Press, 1975. ch 3. 5 web


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