Karl Marx: Philosophy, Influences, and Historical Setting
Karl Marx: Life, Context, and Thought
Biographical Sketch
Karl Marx was born on May 5, 1818, in Trier. After studying at the high school in Trier, Marx enrolled in university, initially pursuing law but focusing on history and philosophy. He completed his studies in 1841, writing his thesis on The Difference Between the Democritean and Epicurean Philosophy of Nature. His ideas at that time were still Hegelian idealist. In Berlin, he associated with the circle of ‘Young Hegelians’ (including Bruno Bauer, Ludwig Feuerbach, Max Stirner) who sought to draw atheistic and revolutionary conclusions from Hegel’s philosophy.
Historical and Cultural Context
Rise of the Bourgeoisie
The period spanning Marx’s life saw the bourgeoisie consolidate its power, displacing the aristocracy and absolutism. The first part of his life coincided with the Restoration period, marked by the return of aristocratic and absolutist powers.
Industrial Revolution & Colonialism
The historical-cultural context was dominated by the consolidating Industrial Revolution, which enriched the bourgeoisie but also intensified the exploitation of workers. The revolution required abundant raw materials and new markets, leading to the development of colonial policies.
Liberal Revolutions & Capitalism
Liberal bourgeois revolutions occurred, asserting their demands. These revolutions led to the recognition of political and civil rights, state control through census-based elections, an economy based on supply and demand, and state guarantees of private property, culminating in a capitalist society.
Romanticism and Realism
This era also saw the consolidation of two cultural movements: Romanticism, which exalted freedom, and Realism, which denounced social hardship and misery. Notable figures include:
- Romanticism: Goethe, Delacroix, Schumann, Chopin.
- Realism: Millet, Stendhal, Dickens, Zola.
Critique of Capitalism
Marx questioned the capitalist political-economic system due to:
- The poverty of workers
- Colonial exploitation
- The perceived impossibility of achieving genuine social progress within the liberal state.
Key Philosophical Influences
Marx’s philosophy emerged from the confluence of several key sources:
- German Idealism (Hegel) and its critique by the Young Hegelians (especially Feuerbach).
- Classical Political Economy.
- French Utopian Socialism.
- Anarchism.
German Idealism & Young Hegelians
Kant had defined the finite, limited character of human reason and established the unknowable nature of the ‘thing-in-itself’. Some thinkers criticized this Kantian concept, and Hegel ultimately denied its existence. For Hegel, the object is entirely constituted by the subject. This introduced a new concept of reason: an infinite, absolute, creative, and historical Reason. It progresses dialectically (thesis, antithesis, synthesis). Philosophy’s role, for Hegel, is to understand reality, which he saw as the unfolding of this infinite Reason.
Marx adopted Hegel’s concept of the dialectic nature of reality and history, utilizing the method involving thesis, antithesis, and synthesis. From the Young Hegelians, particularly Feuerbach, Marx took the critique of idealism. Feuerbach argued that concepts like God were human inventions onto which we project our own qualities in their highest degree.
Classical Political Economy
Another source for Marx’s thought was classical political economy, including the theories of thinkers like Adam Smith, Thomas Malthus, David Ricardo, and John Stuart Mill. These economists often justified capitalism and the economic disparities between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat, interpreting economic relations as obeying a natural order.
French Utopian Socialism
French Utopian Socialism included theories from figures like Robert Owen, Henri de Saint-Simon, and Charles Fourier. Marx criticized utopian socialism for failing to identify the material conditions necessary for proletarian liberation and for proposing unrealistic, idyllic societal models.
Anarchism
Anarchism, represented by major thinkers like Pierre-Joseph Proudhon and Mikhail Bakunin, also influenced Marx, though often through critique. Anarchists also demanded societal transformation but believed the only way was to reject all forms of power, viewing it as inherently corrupting. Their emphasis on individual freedom and independence clashed with the organized structure proposed by communism as necessary for societal reform. These differences became apparent in the First International. The confrontation between Marx and Bakunin led to a major split within the international labor movement.