Karl Marx (1818-1883) | Political Science for CUET(PG) - CUET PG PDF Download

Life Sketch 

• Karl Marx was born on 5 May 1818, in Trier, a city in present-day Germany, which was then part of the Kingdom of Prussia. His father, Heinrich Marx, was a wealthy lawyer, and his mother, Henriette Pressburg, came from a prosperous family.
• Marx believed in the importance of the proletariat developing a strong class consciousness. He advocated for universal suffrage, emphasizing the need to extend voting rights to the working class as well.
• In Marx's view, the transition from a capitalist society to an ideal, democratic society would involve a dictatorship of the proletariat. This was a phase where the working class would seize power and socialize the means of production through force.
• One of Marx's closest friends and collaborators was Friedrich Engels. Together, they co-authored the influential political pamphlet 'The Communist Manifesto' in 1848. They also helped establish the Communist League, a political society aimed at promoting their revolutionary ideas.

Writings of Marx 

• The Poverty of Philosophy (1847)
• The Communist Manifesto (co-authored with Engels, 1848)
• The Critique of Political Economy (1859)
• Inaugural Address of the  International Workingmen’s Association  (1864)
• Value, Price, and Profit  (1865)
• Das Kapital (1867)
• The Civil War in France (1870-71)

Sources of Marxian Philosophy 

• Marx drew inspiration from three main ideological currents of the 19th century:
• German Classical Philosophy: This formed the basis of Marx's doctrine of historical materialism.
• Classical School of British Economy: This provided the foundation for his labour theory and the doctrine of surplus value.
• French Revolutionary Tradition: This influenced his theories on the state and revolution.

As a student, Marx was influenced by Hegel, particularly Hegel's dialectic method, which explains progress through the stages of thesis, antithesis, and  synthesis. Hegel taught Marx that nature is dynamic and progresses in a zigzag manner.

The Communist Manifesto

The Communist Manifesto was written by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels in 1848 at the request of the Communist League. It presents Marx's ideas on class struggle throughout history, the conflict between the bourgeoisie (capitalist class) and the proletariat (working class), and the inevitable downfall of capitalism. The manifesto also outlines the actions the working class should take to align with the current historical developments.

Theory of Alienation

Marx's Theory of Alienation 

• Marx's Theory of Alienation, a key contribution in his early work "Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts" (written in 1843 but published long after his death), focuses on the concept of alienation.
• To grasp Marx's idea of alienation, it's essential to understand Hegel's perspective, as Marx drew from Hegel and Feuerbach.

Hegel's Notion of Alienation

• Hegel viewed alienation as a state of consciousness becoming aware of the external world, where objects seem foreign or alien. He saw nature as a self-alienated form of Spirit or Absolute Mind.
• According to Hegel, man is a self-alienated Spirit or God in the process of overcoming this alienation.

Marx's Critique of Hegel

• Marx criticizes Hegel for equating the existence of objects with alienation, which he believed distorted the objective world.
• He differentiates between objectification and alienation, emphasizing that alienation in capitalist society has multiple dimensions.

Dimensions of Alienation in Capitalism

• Alienation from Nature: Workers become disconnected from the natural world.
• Alienation from Humanity: Workers feel estranged from their fellow laborers.
• Alienation from Self: Individuals become disconnected from their own essence and identity.

Alienation from Nature

• Alienation from nature means that the worker feels disconnected from their ability to shape and transform the world around them through their labor.
• Instead of feeling like the master of their environment, the worker sees the world as something that controls and dominates them.
• This reflects a fundamental estrangement from the natural capacity to mold and create the environment through productive activity.

Alienation from Humanity or Fellow Workers 

• Alienation happens because the worker cannot recognize the product of his work, which belongs to someone else. His labor is also not his own because he has sold it to another person. What is embedded in the product of his labor is no longer his. As a result, he becomes alienated from the object of his labor. This object, which he has produced, takes on an external existence. It exists independently outside of him and appears foreign to him. It stands in opposition to him as an independent force, almost like a hostile entity.

Alienation from Himself

• Alienation occurs because work for the laborer is not a choice but something forced upon him. It is compelled labor that he must carry out. It is not for the fulfillment of his own needs but for the needs of others. Thus,  work becomes a tedious and monotonous task for him. For hours, the worker engages in activities like weaving, spinning, drilling, turning, building, breaking stones, or carrying loads without understanding the purpose behind it. Another aspect of alienation is the dominance of inanimate, objectified labor (machinery) over the living labor (the worker). In this scenario, the worker becomes an extension of the machine. His products and machines become his true masters.
• He experiences a disconnection from himself. This is why he feels truly active only in basic animal functions—eating, drinking, and procreating—while in his human functions, he is reduced to an animalistic state. The animalistic part of him becomes more human, and the human aspect of him becomes more animal.
• According to Marx, property is not the realization or fulfillment of personality but its negation. Therefore, it is not only the property-less (the workers) who experience alienation, but so do those who possess property (the capitalists). The possession of property by one person inevitably means its non-possession by another. However, Marx believes that the issue of alienation cannot be resolved by ensuring property for all (which is, in any case, impossible) but by abolishing all property relations.
• Thus, the abolition of capitalism is a necessary step towards eliminating alienation. Capitalism, by its very nature, entails alienation. For Marx, communism is not only the positive abolition of private property but also the elimination of human self-alienation.

Dialectics 

• Marx adapted the dialectical method from Hegel but made a crucial change. While Hegel applied his method to the realm of ideas, Marx used it to explain the material conditions of life.
• In doing so, Marx rejected Hegelian dialectical idealism and the theory of mechanistic materialism. Thus, his approach to society and history is known as Dialectical Materialism.
• Engels, in his work Anti-Dühring, even applied dialectics to physical nature, sparking debate among post-Marxist thinkers.
• Marxian dialectical materialism, as developed by Engels, encompasses three key dimensions:
• The law of transformation of quantity into quality: This principle suggests that quantitative changes can lead to qualitative revolutionary situations.
• The law of unity of opposites (contradiction): This law emphasizes the importance of contradictions within a system.
• The law of negation of negation: This involves the process of thesis, antithesis, and synthesis.

Historical Materialism 

According to Marx, production is the most crucial human activity. Society emerges from the need to secure life's necessities. However, since society cannot produce everything required by its members, tensions and stresses arise. Marx's historical materialism is the application of dialectical materialism to societal development. He divides history into four stages: primitive communism (Asiatic stage), ancient, feudal, and capitalist.

In each stage, the class that controls the forces of production dominates the others, leading to pressures and anxieties. Marx argues that the progression from one stage to another is not random but follows the law of history. Each dominant class gives rise to its opposite, and the clash between these opposites (such as barons and serfs, freemen and slaves, burgesses and journeymen) leads to the emergence of a new ruling class.

At the final stage, the capitalist and the proletariat confront each other, and their conflict results in the establishment of a classless society. Before this happens, there will be a transitional phase known as the dictatorship of the proletariat, which will socialize natural resources and eliminate the remnants of capitalism.

At a certain point in their development, the material forces of production in society come into conflict with the existing relations of production or, more legally, with the property relations that have governed them. These relations, which were once conducive to the development of productive forces, become constraints.

• This triggers an epoch of social revolution.
• With the change in the economic foundation, the entire superstructure is transformed to a greater or lesser extent.
• Marx identifies a close relationship between social relations and productive forces.

Theory of Class War 

• Marx's theory of class war is a logical extension of his economic interpretation of history.
• He argues that history is driven by the struggle between oppressors and the oppressed, such as free men and slaves, patricians and plebeians, lords and serfs, guild masters and journeymen.
• Even in modern bourgeois society, class antagonism persists, though the conditions of oppression and the nature of the struggle have evolved.
• Marx believes that society has become divided into two hostile camps, the bourgeoisie and the proletariat, and predicts that the workers will ultimately prevail.

Inevitability of Capitalism's Destruction 

• Marx theorized that capitalism was destined to collapse due to its inherent self-destructive tendencies.
• He argued that capitalism leads to large-scale production and monopoly, concentrating wealth in the hands of a few.
• As the number of capitalists dwindles and the proletariat increases, the system sows the seeds of its own demise.

Marx's Theory of Value 

• Marx posited that the value of a commodity is determined by the labor invested in it, making labor the primary cause of value.
• The value is not influenced by other factors but is based on the quantity of labor and materials used, as well as the necessary working time under specific social conditions.

Marx's Theory of Surplus Value 

• Building on his labor theory of value, Marx's concept of surplus value explains the difference between the value a laborer produces and the wages they receive.
• He argued that capitalists pay workers less than the value of what they produce, keeping the excess as profit.
• This excess, or surplus value, arises from unpaid labor and represents the difference between the total value of a commodity and the laborer's wage.

Marx's Theory of State and Revolution 

• Marx viewed the state as a tool of the dominant class, serving to uphold their interests and ideas.
• The modern bourgeois state, in his view, is an organization that protects the property and interests of the bourgeoisie.
• He argued that true democracy is impossible in a society divided into antagonistic classes, as under capitalism.

Dictatorship of the Proletariat 

• Marx envisioned the dictatorship of the proletariat as a transitional phase towards a stateless and classless society.
• During this period, the state would be controlled by the proletariat, who would work to socialize natural resources and eliminate the remnants of capitalism.
• Although the ultimate goal was to abolish the state, this phase was necessary for the transformation from capitalism to communism.

Marx on Religion and Morality 

• Marx criticized religion as a tool used to placate the masses, suggesting that moral ideas are shaped by the economic structure of society.
• He viewed religion as part of the superstructure created by production conditions, rather than as an eternal truth.

Marx and Internationalism 

• Marx argued that workers have no country and called for the unification of the global working class.
• While he emphasized international brotherhood among workers, he believed that the proletariat's struggle against the bourgeoisie should first occur at the national level before considering international movements.