Karl Marx's Study of Philosophy and Economics

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Karl Marx's Study of Philosophy and Economics

There are as many definitions of Marxism as there are practicing Marxists, however there are at least four concomitant elements which form the backbone of his philosophy. The first is the manner of approach to history and philosophy, namely dialectics. In a dialectical approach, one is aware of the arguments and contradictions within ideas themselves, and in the tangible form those ideas take within civilization. A second trend running throughout Marxism is a materialist approach to history. To Marx, this meant that the central role of historical development was the productive aspects of civilization. Within this view, the basis for historical change is the conflict between the "haves" and the "have nots" otherwise known as class struggle. The next common element is a general view of capitalism. Marx viewed capitalism as an historical product, one which operated with scientific, and therefore discoverable, laws. Finally, as capitalism is an historical truth, so to is its eventual demise. Since capitalism will continue to exploit its workers in the desire for greater profit, there will come a time when the workers (proletariat) will rise up and throw off the chains of their oppressors. It is at this point that the doctrine of socialism will enter, which may be characterized as "from each according to his ability, to each according to his labor." Thus, Marx's

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Philosophy. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1972.

Payne, Robert. The Life and Death of Trotsky. New York: McGraw

Trotsky began to study Marx as early as 1896. He was not immediately attracted to the theoretical outlook of Marx, in fact it seemed impossibly narrow to him. Thus, Marx originally appeared,

writings hold a preconceived commitment to socialism. Contrary to popular myth, Marx did not spend much time at all talking about communism. For Marx, communism would be the stage in which society would evolve after socialism had run its course. The maxim would then become, "from each according to his ability, to each according to his need."2

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		Friedrich Engels \| Echoing Marx \| Manuscripts Capital \| Capital Grundrisse \| Marx Trotsky \| Using Marxism \| Permanent Revolution \| Marxism Trotsky \| Finally Marx \| Marxism Stalinism \| tucker ed \| york oxford 1980 \| oxford 1980 \| york oxford \| nineteenth century \| price commodity \| york norton \| marxism \| permanent revolution \| karl marx \| twentieth century \| value price profit \| tucker ed capital \| idea permanent revolution \| capital value price \|