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Karl Marx Marx (1818 - 1883) was born in the family of lawyer in Trier. He studied in Bohn and Berlin Universities, mainly learning philosophy and history. His philosophical and social-political ideas attract attention. Really, his views regarding the man and history were so bright and unusual that nobody could think about returning to old categories of social science.
All modern researchers of problems in social philosophy are obliged to Marx. He focused his attention on fundamental problems of essence and existence of a man, alienation and overcoming of alienation, freedom and sense of history. Marx interpreted the essence of a man, as combination of social relationships. Any person is the result of his social interlocution's. The man participates in creation of traditions, stereotypes of behavior and character of each epoque. Such kind of sociality gains fundamental ontological sense.
Marx considers that sociality of a person is responsible for creation of value orientation, modal conditions, economic relations, etc. Karl Marx also examines ideas of Feyerbach, who stated that a man is tightly connected with nature. The person, who has some certain need, should realize himself in nature. Such person creates a lot of objects, which can help him to survive.
In such a way he creates the second nature, which is personalized. The person can reach perfection only by means of practice. When a man overcomes difficulties, he changes himself, thats why the labor has a historical meaning. Marx considers a human activity powerful. Thats why he attempts to foresee the flow of historical development and offers in his works some projects of the future.
His philosophical anthropology includes two important concepts: alienation and appropriation. The problem of alienation is known for the Western European society. Goods and Rousseau understood alienation as the process of depersonalization, depriving of individuality in social relations, which is connected with transfer of personality rights to the government. Gene understood alienation as institutionalization of the mans power and his essence. What was Marx attitude to alienation? He considers it as a problem, when the own action of a man becomes for him an alien power.
Such action influences the feelings of a man; it is the example of pressure on a man. The social labor makes a differentiation between the man and animals. It gives a man certain characteristics, but later it gains the violent character. Marx makes analysis of alienated labor in different aspects. In conditions, when the personal property exists and all means of manufacture belong to the capitalist and worker has to sell his labor force (the only thing which belongs to him), - appears alienation of manufacturer from the product of his labor.
The worker doesnt care what he can produce, because he gets the salary for his working time. Actually, as far as the salary is so small, that it is enough only to buy all the necessary, the worker doesnt put attention on his work. The manufacturer is also alienated from his activity. He doesnt choose to work or not. He doesnt take part in the management or perfection of the manufacturing process. So, as Marx considers, the worker is alienated.
Such intensive labor makes him stupid, it deprives him of health and interest to life. All the people live in nature. Moreover, they are in close relations with nature by means of labor. Still, the labor for a worker is only the way to maintain his individual existence.
Finally, the alienation between people appears between the manufacturers because of competition for labor places between classes (Luk Acs 1985, p. 81) as a reason of differences in their property positions. Marx considers that a worker can be free only beyond the process of labor. He can be free only when he satisfies his biological (animal) demands, whereas he should be free only due to his demand in labor. The private property made us so stupid and one-sided, that a subject can be our property only in case we possess it or consume it. Thats why the feeling of alienation replaced all those physical and moral feelings. Marx considers that such position should be changed.
He thinks that the man during the process of social emancipation should regain the social world and in such a way to become a whole, universal man. Finally, you can overcome the alienation of a man from his own being only when youll change the conditions, creating such situation. Marx writes that the philosophers explained the world in different kinds, whereas they had to change it. Such position is supported to some extent by tradition of Enlightenment philosophy.
It considered that it should bring in the reason into society; it should assist to progress, but always in radical way. Marx understands that private property, being the consequence of expropriated labor, didnt exist always. He considers that the way out is possible only when labor socialist movement will know about the scientific socialism. Such socialism explains which historical rules brought to existing contradictions and which rules assist to destruction. He criticizes positions of socialists and indicates that the relations, existing in our society are difficult to change by words or demands of justice. Marx says that there is only one way out to abolish private property and all existing economical relations by the revolutionary way.
In such a way, according to Marx, proletariat becomes the class, which is able to complete such historical mission, because the proletariat is the main manufacturer of material values and is the poorest and at the same time the most solidary. Marx had to examine philosophy, political economy and history of Western European countries to provide his supporters with deep theoretical grounds. In the process of work he formed the unique Weltanschauung economical materialism. The essence of it was: the being doesnt determine the conscience - only the social being determines the conscience.
People have certain relations, which doesnt depend on their will, when they produce conditions of their social life. Those relationships make a kind of economic structure of society. There is also superstructure above this structure, which includes political, legal and ideological relations (Enter 1991, p. 114). The way of manufacture stipulates social-political institutions and moral life. The changes in basis provoke changes in superstructure. Marx repeats philosophical-historical scheme, according to which the history of human alienation and appropriation has three stages.
The relations of personal dependence, when a person depends on something can be related to the first stage. All before-industrial societies can be interpreted from position of the first stage. The second stage is the relations of personal independence. It is a form of society, which understands creation of universal social exchange of material, universal relations and universal needs. The alienation of man reaches the maximum and Marx relates all the societies of industrial type to this stage. The third stage is the stage of appropriation.
Humankind appropriates all accumulated powers. It means creation of society, where everything serves to a man. Separate progress of a separate man depends on separate progress of each member of society. It is no doubt that Marx conception is abstract. It is not clear and it differs from ideologies hierarchy of historical forms, created by his followers. What is class struggle?
The struggle between social classes with incompatible or contradicting interests was called the class struggle. The history of all class societies was based on class struggle. Class struggle, resulting from internal contradictions or any other exploiter economical-social formation, inevitably leads to its revolutionary destruction and to establishment of new social-economical regime. Class struggle can be divided into thee groups: - Economical - Ideological - Political. Economical struggle has the aim to improve material (economical) position of any class within the limits of definite social-economical formation. Ideological class struggle is the war of ideas between social classes, which are different by their interests.
Political struggle has the aim to win the political power. So, the class struggle is the struggle between the classes, which have different interests. It is the main content and the driving force of all antagonistic class societies. The sources of class struggle are contradictions of interests.
Depending on the character of such contradictions, we can define antagonistic and non-antagonistic classes. Antagonistic classes are the relationships between the main classes of all formations, which are based on exploitation of man by man: slaves - slave-owners, peasants feudalist's (Avineri 1972, p. 49), proletariat-bourgeoisie. Also the relationships between ruling classes of changing formations can be antagonistic. For example, between feudalist's and bourgeoisie, in case their interests are incompatible. Economical class struggle is a struggle for professional interests of workers (Mazlish 1985, p. 270). It concerns increasing of salary, shortening of working day, improvement of labor conditions, etc.
It helps workers to struggle for their interests and at the same time it helps them to see new perspectives in their struggle. Economical class struggle assists revolutionary education and organization. For example, this struggle created trade unions, which united more than 250 millions of workers in the 70 -ies. Economical struggle often results in political class struggle.
The quantity of strikes in 1951 - 55 in the developed capitalistic countries counted 13211 per year, whereas in 1956 - 60 12790, in 1961 - 15323, in 1966 - 70 18650. The strikers had not only political demands, but also were struggling for democratic freedoms. They were against acts of imperialistic aggression. The struggle for everyday economical needs cannot be successful without political class struggle even in conditions of governmental-monopolistic capitalism. Marxists were struggling against reformists. The political struggle was the highest form of proletarian class struggle.
The peculiarities are as follows: it means the struggle for primary interests of proletariat; political struggle is the struggle of all classes. It means not only the struggle of separate workers of separate company against the owner, but the whole class of proletariat against the whole class of capitalists; the political struggle also means the creation of a party, which is the supreme form of class proletarian organization. The main goal of proletariat is to establish its power. You cannot reach this goal without ideological class struggle, which has to liberate workers conscience from the influence of bourgeois ideology. Such ideological struggle needs to bring in the socialistic ideology. The main peculiarity of class struggle is in organic combination of struggle for democracy with struggle for socialism.
Lets take the situation, when monopolistic capitalism becomes the governmental monopolistic capitalism. It insults the interests of working class. At the same time both working class and petty bourgeoisie experiences difficulties. It means that together with increasing of main class contradiction of bourgeoisie society (between labor and capital) we notice increasing of contradiction between the majority of nation and monopolies.
Such new position of class forces gives possibility to establish the union of working class with other working people in their struggle for liquidation of monopoly power. Struggle for peace, for democracy, for protection of national sovereignty, for radical social reforms is the struggle for democratic ideas. Proletariat can unite working class to achieve those aims. The working class is the most important and the most dangerous opponent of monopoly power and acts as the center of all anti-monopolist forces. Class struggle within national limits is closely related to class struggle within the international limits.
Powers of monopoly and bourgeois society are united into one mechanism as a result of international monopolies. Bourgeois governments make different military alliances in their struggle against increasing revolutionary movement. Their aims are not only to lead imperialistic policy in international relations, but also to suppress the revolutionary forces in separate countries by way of intervention. Nowadays we face significant change in correlation of class powers in the...
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Research essay sample on Karl Marx Class Struggle
