Marx's
Perception of History in The German Ideology: dialectics and capitalism
Karl
Marx conceives history as a dialectical progression. This is not a new idea
even in Marx's times and it was preceded especially by Hegel who saw history as
a course where a thesis meets it antithesis to create a synthesis. But Marx's
"The German Ideology" is to a large extent a rebellion against Hegel
and his followers. Where Hegel thought that the historical dialectics takes
place in human consciousness and in the realm of ideas, Marx thought that
shifts in the manner in which people perceive their existence is the result of
material, not mental, changes.
According
to Marx in The German Ideology, material historical dialectics takes on the
form of constant class conflict. Marx argues that human history is the history
of the development of means of production and the relations of production
subsequently formed. History progresses according to Marx through class
conflict, contradictions and clashes which have a dialectical shape. This dialectics
dictates human progression to the present time of capitalism.
According
to Marx in The German Ideology capitalism is different from any epoch that
preceded it in that that it is the final conflicted phase of the historical
dialectics. In capitalism, for the first time in history, salaried employs are
the central form of relation of production and the worker is no longer the
property of the ruling class. Capitalism according to Marx is also new in being
global, a fact that will aid it in constantly developing new means of
production which will intensify the contradictions that are at the base of
capitalism. These contradictions between the new means of production and the
old relations of production will eventually bring about a revolution which will
abolish classes and private property.
It should
be noted that although Marx's philosophy in The German Ideology is highly
"social", what in fact he is talking about is individual liberation
which according to Marx is only possible is a classless society.
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