Karl Marx (1818 – 1883)
was a German economist
who was exiled to England.
He wrote Das Kapital,
which explained how he
thought capitalism would
fall, and also the
Communist Manifesto,
which told the workers of
the world to unite and fight
the factory owners.
• Worked closely with Friedrich
Engels
• Together they advocated for
rights of the working class
• Both were opposed to idealism as
the basis of existence.
• Believed in materialism.
• Coined the notion of historical
materialism.
• Concept of dialectics
Marx’s “Scientific
Socialism” had 5 major
points:
•Historical Materialism
•Class Struggle
•Surplus Value
•Inevitability of Socialism
•Classless Society
Materialism
• What comes first; being (existence) or thinking
(consciousness)?
• Idealism V Materialism
• Materialists believe in what is real, what exists and what is
tangible
• Idealists believe in metaphysics
• Marx believed in materialism
• Materialism is the force that drives society
• His is historical materialism
Dialectics
• Phenomena coined by Hegel
• Concept of materialism that holds that the world/ matter is
made up of complex interconnections
• The interconnections are contradictory in nature
• The volatility of the interconnections propels change
• Thesis, antithesis = synthesis; repeat
• Dialectics is a scientific way of explaining social
phenomena
• Based on empirical observations rather idealism
• Dialectical materialism V Historical Materialism
• See principles of dialectics
Historical
Materialism
Marx argued
that
economics
is the driving
force of
history.
Base and Superstructure
• Since society is materialistic
• The economy of any society forms its base
• Everything also falls in the superstructure
• The cultural and political conditions of
society, as well as its notions of human
nature, are largely determined by obscured
economic foundations.
• Changes in the economic base make
changes in the superstructure inevitable.
The Law
• Similarly the law falls in the superstructure.
• It is a mere tool of safe guarding the
interests of the bourgeoisie.
• Laws against the interest of the capitalist
cannot succeed.
• The law validates the authority and actions
of the bourgeoisie.
• Most laws have materialist underpinnings.
Karl Marx says…
“The ideas of the
ruling class are in
every epoch the
ruling ideas…”
“The ruling material
force of society, is at
the same time its
ruling intellectual
force.”
According to Marx, whoever owns the means of
production has always controlled the government and
society.
Historical Materialism – Class struggles
• Society progressed from primitive communalism to socialism
• Primitive Communalism:
– Earliest form of organization
– Means of labour were rudimentary
– Hunter gatherer era
– No settled life
– No private ownership of resources
– Production relations were friendly – no social classes
• Later, man discovered fire
– Formulated tools
– Production created surplus
– Haves and have nots
– Social classes born
– Man settled down
– Production for common consumption
– Desire for surplus/ materialism
Historical Materialism – Class struggles….
• Master Slave society
– Came as a result of discovery of tools & surplus
– Owners of means of productions became masters
– Have notes became slaves
– Society became segmented
– Masters continuously exploited slaves
– Productive forces were antagonistic
– Satisfaction of parasitic demands of the master
– Exploitation led to down fall
Historical Materialism – Class struggles…
• Feudalism
– Came after collapse of master slave
– Slaves were accorded land rights
– In exchange for a share of production or rent
– Collapsed due to growth of capitalism
– And extravagance of the feudal lords
• Capitalism
– an economic system in which a country’s business and
industry are controlled and run for profit by private
owners rather than by government.
– Free market system
Class Struggle
According to
Marx, society has
always been
divided into the
“haves” and the
“have nots” – and
these two classes
have always
fought each
other.
Examples:
Patricians vs.
Plebeians
Serfs vs. Lords
Bourgeoisie vs.
Proletariat (Urban
Wage Laborers)
In Hunter / Gatherer
cultures, people live
in close-knit groups
and share the fruits
of their labors.
Karl Marx says…
“From each
according to his
abilities, to each
according to his
needs.”
In Feudal / Agricultural cultures, serfs and peasants lose the
fruits of their labor by working for the nobles, but at least they
still live in close-knit communities.
But in Industrial
cultures, the
proletariat is
completely
separated from the
fruits of his labor,
and he lives a
restless, miserable
detached existence.
This is called
Alienation of
Labor
Marx believed that the proletariat in every country faced the
same problem – Class struggle with the bourgeoisie.
So he told the proletariat in every country,
“You have nothing to lose but your chains…”
“…Workers of the World Unite!”
Surplus Value
Marx believed that the
bourgeoisie basically
bought the products of
the laborers at a cheap
price, and then sold
those same products
back to them at a high
price, in effect
stealing the surplus
value as their profit.
Inevitability of Socialism
Marx argued that over
time, capital (money)
would concentrate in the
hands of a small number
of capitalists.
Finally, the lower class
would rise up, overthrow
the capitalists, and
establish a Dictatorship
of the Proletariat.
What does this remind you
of?
At first, the Dictatorship of
the Proletariat would
need absolute powers to
make sure Reactionaries
didn’t bring back
capitalism.
What does this remind
you of?
But before long, the workers would learn to share
everything equally – “from each according to his abilities,
to each according to his needs.” Karl Marx called this
Communism, or the Ultimate Classless Society.
Application
• Influence of economic systems on legal establishments.
• Commercial laws.
• Social classes and power struggles.
• Economics and politics.
Criticisms
• Non commercial laws
• Equality, freedom for all and rule of law
• Socialism is a fallacy
• Collapse of communism
