...Critique and Revolution: The Faces of Karl Marx “The nobility of man shines upon us from their work hardened bodies.” (Manuscripts, 100)[1]. And according to Karl Marx, that is the bottom line. In Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844 and Manifesto of the Communist Party[2], two of his most profound works, Marx outlines both his harsh critique of capitalism and his prophetic theory of impending communist revolution. Although these texts are extremely complex—Manuscripts is described often as the hardest sixty pages of modern philosophy—their main points can be summed up concisely. For Marx, a worker’s labor, and therefore product, is an extension of himself, and any practice that separates the two, most obviously capitalism’s private property, essentially tears the man apart. A system such as this is beyond repair, and the only feasible solution is a forceful and complete communist revolution ending in the destruction of private property and the reunion of mankind with his labor. The complex philosophizing behind these two doctrines will be revealed shortly, but now the question arises, are they consistent? More specifically, do the circumstances that exist under capitalism, as described in his critique, put the world in a realistic position to undergo his desired revolution? Taking his opinions of the world under capitalism as fact, the answer is yes: the desperation of alienation will drive the growing majority of men to unite and revolt. That said, a thorough examination...
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...Part 2 Classical social analysis can best be described as intricate relationships among diverse groups ,focusing on assets, occupations and it explores how individuals observe, act on and discuss their interests. Many sociologists have entertained the idea of this but I feel that there were 2 sociologists that really stood out and actively reflected this in their work Emile Durkheim and Karl Marx. As I stated earlier a key aspect of classical social analysis is how individuals "observe, and act on their interests", Durkheim reflects this in his work on how religion affects a person and their society. Durkheim was not interested in the religious experience of individuals but rather with the communal activity and the communal bonds that came as a result of participation in religious activities . C. Wright Mills stated that a classic social analysis " should entail concern with historical structures" which Durkheim addresses with his analysis of religion and how it affects those that indulge in it. Karl Marx also reflected the same characteristic Mills stated was vital in his work major contribution to sociology "Historical Materialism". Marx believed that it starts from the realization that in order for human beings to survive and continue existence from generation to generation, production relations will be created among people to survive and produce goods essential for man’s livelihood. Marx believed that this leads to division of labor and some people live off the...
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...Part 2 Classical social analysis can best be described as intricate relationships among diverse groups ,focusing on assets, occupations and it explores how individuals observe, act on and discuss their interests. Many sociologists have entertained the idea of this but I feel that there were 2 sociologists that really stood out and actively reflected this in their work Emile Durkheim and Karl Marx. As I stated earlier a key aspect of classical social analysis is how individuals "observe, and act on their interests", Durkheim reflects this in his work on how religion affects a person and their society. Durkheim was not interested in the religious experience of individuals but rather with the communal activity and the communal bonds that came as a result of participation in religious activities . C. Wright Mills stated that a classic social analysis " should entail concern with historical structures" which Durkheim addresses with his analysis of religion and how it affects those that indulge in it. Karl Marx also reflected the same characteristic Mills stated was vital in his work major contribution to sociology "Historical Materialism". Marx believed that it starts from the realization that in order for human beings to survive and continue existence from generation to generation, production relations will be created among people to survive and produce goods essential for man’s livelihood. Marx believed that this leads to division of labor and some people live off the...
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...Karl Marx and Max Webber both many had many philosophies of the capitalism and its effects on society. Their ideas helped pave the way and expand on theories of previous sociologists. Both men have a deep insight of socioeconomic class in the origins and development of modern capitalism. This paper will analyze the impact of capitalism on society as perceived by both men and the areas in which they agreed, disagreed, and expanded on the ideas of the other. In many ways, the Weberian theory was “rounding out” Marx’s theories, working within the traditions of Marxian (Ritzer, page 26). Weber viewed Marxists as economic determinists who offered single-cause concepts on societal life (27). Marx’s material orientation and its effect on society was something that Weber did agree with completely. Weber had a strong belief that most ideas are what shapes an economy, while Marx believed that it is the economy (and the materials within it, help to define our ideas (27). Weber was said to have taken Marx’s ideas and, “turned Marx on his head” (27). The inverse relationship between Marx and Weber transcends into many tremendous ideas on capitalism and the effects on society. Both sociologists have unique ideas on the driving measures that led to the development and the rise of capitalism. One of Weber’s most famous works called the, Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, dealt with the origins of capitalism and their “ethos”; ideas that are engraved into religious beliefs. Weber...
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...Chapter 4 Society I. Society. Society refers to people who interact in a defined territory and share culture. This chapter explores four important theoretical views explaining the nature of human societies, focusing on the work of Gerhard Lenski, Karl Marx, Max Weber, and Emile Durkheim. II. Gerhard Lenski: Society and Technology. Gerhard Lenski (Nolan & Lenski, 2010) focuses on sociocultural evolution, the changes that occur as a society acquires new technology. According to Lenski, the more technological information a society has, the faster it changes. New technology sends ripples of change through a society’s entire way of life. Lenski’s work identifies five types of societies based on their level of technology. A. Hunting and gathering societies use simple tools to hunt animals and gather vegetation. Until about twelve thousand years ago, all humans were hunter-gatherers. At this level of sociocultural evolution, food production is relatively inefficient; groups are small, scattered, and usually nomadic. Society is built on kinship, and specialization is minimal, centered chiefly around age and gender. These societies are quite egalitarian and rarely wage war. B. Horticultural and pastoral societies employ a technology based on using hand tools to raise crops. In very fertile and also in arid regions, pastoralism, technology that supports the domestication of animals, develops instead of horticulture. In either case, these strategies encourage much larger societies to emerge...
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...KAFKA MARX COMBO _________________________________________________________________________________________________ Kafka wrote about the contradictions and anxieties of his time but the central theme of his works, indisputably, is the theme of alienation. Alienation is a complex subject which is linked with its vast historicity from the Judeo-Christian beginnings. To understand alienation in Kafka’s works, it is essential to understand its foundation within a socio-economic context of the modern society. In this regard, Karl Marx and his theory of alienation can help steering our way. The human society, as Marx had stressed in the Grundrisse, “does not consist of individuals; it expresses the sum of connections and relationships in which individuals find themselves”. Human beings therefore cannot exist independently of the society but are shaped by the society they live in. Human lives are dominated by natural and impersonal forces that control society to a great extent. While studying the nature and functioning of the capitalistic form of production Marx had discovered the uniqueness of human labor: “At the end of every labor-process, we get a result that already existed in the imagination of the laborer”. This physical and intellectual labor of man has resulted in the collective development of the productive forces and subsequently became capable of producing a surplus. By taking over control of the means of production, a particular minority class of people adroitly...
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...explores the negative aspects of industrialized society and what it means for the workers in terms of class conflict and the effects of working in the factories. Modern Times takes place in 1936, in the midst of the Great Depression, which was a time of economic catastrophe and misfortune, resulting in a crisis in capitalism. During this time, there was high unemployment and a significant decrease in corporate profits, causing corporations to become obsessed with saving time and money in order to increase and even make profits. This crisis in capitalism is prominently featured throughout the film as various actions of the factory owners & managers depict this crisis. In the film, factory workers are expected to reach the highest efficiency of labor because of the crisis and are therefore constantly worked like machines without breaks. For example, wanting the workers to work even longer hours, Charlie’s supervisors come up with a machine that will feed workers while they work so they no longer have to take a lunch break and can spend that time working. Charlie is the one to demonstrate how the machine works, however something goes wrong and it malfunctions. Another example is when Charlie has to use the restroom at work and when he is in there, a video of his supervisor pops up telling him to get back to work. Not even the privacy of the restroom are they free from control and work for just a few minutes. His “adventure” with the gamine girl throughout the entirety of the film also...
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...Social science is described by Sills as a house with each room containing their own social science disciplinary. Social science involves social structures and public issues amongst their disciplines, with each discipline using their own concepts to achieve a common understanding. It is has multiple disciplines which covers subjects like Economics, history, and geography. Sills explains that the significance of social science allows for the better understanding of oneself in the world. He states thatsocial sciences is not concrete and differs depending on the generation. The social sciences needs to bemore heavily considered especially in our current society because there are many youths have no idea how their actions are affected by social structures.Sociological imagination is the interaction between the individuals and other individuals as well as the social structures in place. The term was coined by Mills in the 19th century during the industrial revolution. To have a sociological imagination, a person must be able to pull away from the situation and think from an alternative point of view. The movie lottery at birth helps us understand the concept of socio imaginti. Mills believed in the power of the sociological imagination to connect personal troubles to public issues. Soci imaginat is more applicable today than in Mill’s time because society is going through very fast transformations. Socio imaginati explains the nature of sociology and its relevance in daily life.Mythistory...
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...February 27, 2012 SOC 200 Karl Marx Growing up in communist Romania in the 70’s and 80’s, deprived of the most basic liberties, as young children we were indoctrinated with communist ideas and schools were used merely as platforms in which curriculum strictly controlled with the purpose of instilling in youth communist principles. Karl Marx’s portrait would hang in every classroom above the old blackboard and his theories were studied and celebrated in every history book, literature book, economics, or any book for that matter. Sociology and Psychology were considered pseudo-sciences under the communist reign and therefore forbidden in schools. As Romanian history books were altered from the truth, describing only his greatest achievements and never the flaws, for the purpose of this project I was rather intrigued to research Karl Marx – I hated him for so many years - and take a really close look at who he actually was, and how he impacted the study of Sociology. I knew that he established the basis of communist ideology, and I have lived for twenty years through the atrocities committed by his followers, but I never really had the interest ( until now) to understand what influenced and drove him into envisioning and writing his proposals for change. Karl Marx was born in 1818 in the German Rhineland (Prussia). He was a philosopher, journalist and economist and even though he produced little that earned him money or recognition during...
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...| the alienation of labor 1 karl marx economic and philosophic manuscripts of 1844 | | In political economy 2 and its terminology, we have shown that the laborer sinks to the level of a commodity and indeed becomes the most miserable commodity possible, that the misery of the laborer stands in an inverse relationship to the power and size of his production, that the natural result of competition is the accumulation of capital in a few hands, which is the most frightening type of monopoly, that finally the difference between the ground-rentier 3 and the capitalist 4 as well as the difference between the farmer-renter and the factory laborer disappears and the entire society must fall into two classes: those with property and those propertyless souls who labor. Political economy begins with the fact of private property. It does not explain this fact to us. It describes the material process of private property--by which it actually passes from hand to hand--in general, abstract formulas, which it then raises to the status of laws . It does notunderstand these laws, that is, it does not show how the existence of private property comes about. Political economy gives no explanation concerning the foundation of the division between labor and capital and between capital and land. When, for instance, it describes the relationship between wage-labor and the profit of capital, its fundamental point of departure is the interest of the capitalist, that is, it accepts as given what...
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...RESPONSE PAPER “Contributions made by KARL MARX, MAX WEBER and EMILE DURKHEIM to the research methodology used in social sciences” INTRODUCTION The paper mainly concerns the contributions of MARX, WEBER and DURKHEIM to the methodology in social sciences. The various methodologies in social sciences establish a connection with the societal implications which have a large impact over the society and its normative effects. Referring to the contributions by the following sociologists, all have a different and influential impact on the factors of society. The methodology of various sociologists reflects their attitude towards the society and its various customs and traditions. The following mentioned are the various methodologies adopted by sociologists in the field of social sciences. Marxist sociology emerged around late 19th/early 20th century, influenced by the thought of Karl Marx. Marx is seen as one of the most influential thinkers in early sociology, alongside thinkers such as Max Weber and Émile Durkheim. KARL MARX The theory propounded by Karl Marx is Marxism; in a nutshell it is the theory and practice of working-class emancipation. Marxism is also a method of looking at the world. One of the most important foundations of Marx's method was dialectical thought. Marx relied a lot on historical materialism and dialecticism to propound his theories in social science. Marx relied heavily on these two methods for...
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...Economics, is infamous has been called the “first modern school of economic thought.”[1] Two economist/philosophers who have been placed within this Classical category are Adam Smith and Karl Marx. Though these two men are polar opposites in the political-economic spectrum they share some similarities; and although dated, there are points of value to both Adam Smith’s and Karl Marx’s theories. Adam Smith, the father of economics as a science, combined economics with moral theory in regards to the way societies ought to live. Today’s capitalist economic systems have been shaped by Smith’s explanations of market factors and the role of the state, or lack thereof, in economics. Karl Marx, a fundamental revolutionary, is one of the original minds behind communism. He is renowned as a radical political philosopher. These men have together been placed in the school of classical economics, signaling that there are similarities in their ideology. Politically, however, these men differ greatly. This essay intends to study some of their most poignant theories to compare fundamental differences. Karl Marx became famous for his revolutionary ideas and as one of the originators of communist theories. He is renowned for his book on economic theory, Das Kapital. As members of the Communist League, Marx and his friend Friedrich Engels authored the Communist Manifesto—which discussed the class struggle and the need for a revolution of the proletariat.[3] Common Sense dictates...
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...this essay will focus primarily on the workings of John Locke and Karl Marx. Both being raised in a different time, thus different upbringings have resulted in a difference in their train of thought and philosophical approaches on life. Karl Marx has been forced...
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...Karl Marx (1818-83) grew up in Germany under the same conservative and oppressive conditions under which Kant and other German philosophers had to live. The Enlightenment had had some liberating effects on German life here and there, but most German principalities were still autocratic, and the idea of democracy was combated by all their rulers. The presence of police spies at major universities was a regular feature of German student life, and some students served long prison sentences for their political activism. As a law and philosophy student at the University of Berlin, Marx joined a political club that advocated political democracy. Very soon after receiving his doctorate, however, his ideas went beyond mere political reform. His future friend and collaborator Friedrich Engels introduced him to socialist and communist ideas, i. e., to ideas which progressed from mere political to social and economic reforms. For the rest of his life Marx dedicated himself to the project of radically restructuring modern industrial society along socialist and communist lines. In time he became the single most important theoretician and prominent leader of a growing international labor movement. Since Marx participated in the Revolution of 1848 as an influential newspaper editor (in a revolution that was defeated by the monarchists, and the defeat of which led scores of liberal Europeans to emigrate to the United States and elsewhere), he found it preferable to leave the stifling and backward...
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...European thinker in that period built theories for the changing structure and reshaped it. Marx who influence following social scientists until today with his theories is one of those thinkers. In this paper, I’ll analyze Marx’s social theory, relations of production, social classes and the structures of capitalist society. Hegelian dialectic approach was the key figure for Marx while he was building the social theory....
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