Marx's sociology is always a critical
sociology. He intends to produce not
only an understanding but also a critique of modern western society (i.e.,
capitalism). However, according to Marx,
this criticism can't be based solely on abstract, timeless, or utopian moral
ideals. It has to be based as well on a
thorough, concrete analysis of capitalist society, which will reveal its inner
dynamics and the way in which it creates the objective possibilities for its
own transcendence (through revolution).
Marx is always scornful of mere moralizing, and of socialists who, as he
says somewhere, know nothing about capitalism except that it is bad. He sees capitalism as a stage in a process of
historical development, one whose emergence had a certain inner logic, even
necessity, but which will just as necessarily give way to a different (and
higher) kind of society.
Marx's criticism of capitalist (and pre-capitalist)
societies is rooted in a powerful conception of human nature, even
though Marx would never admit this. This
conception involves not a fixed set of drives or instincts, but a set of
capacities or possibilities, the realization of which makes people fully
human. Human beings have the capacity to
freely, consciously, and actively shape their lives in cooperation with others;
this is precisely what makes them human.
As long as they are not able to do so, as long as they are the pawns of
other persons or of impersonal natural or social forces beyond their control,
they are not fully human.
For Marx, then, freedom, community, and
human fulfillment all go together, and he expresses this unity in the idea
of communism. History is
the conflict-ridden and often contradictory process through which human beings
develop and fully realize their nature.
Marx thus means his vision of human possibility not simply as an
ahistorical abstraction, but as the goal toward which history is actually
moving, albeit in indirect, unintended ways.
All hitherto existing societies, in contrast,
are characterized in different ways by unfreedom, isolation, and the lack of
fulfillment (or outright denial) of human possibilities. This condition is captured in the term alienation
or estrangement. Although Marx
rarely uses the term after writing The German Ideology in the mid-1840s,
the concept remains crucial throughout his work. Central to this concept is the idea that in
all societies up to and including the present, human beings come to be
dominated by their own creations--including their system of social
relationships. Much of Marx's work
analyzes the specific ways in which human beings are dominated by social forces
that confront them as irresistible alien powers. Alienation, however, is not inherent in the
human condition; it is the product of certain forms of social organization and
can be overcome.
Marx integrated his moral vision into a
complex analysis of how history works and how societies fit together, which he
and Engels sometimes called historical materialism, and into a detailed critique
of capitalism.
Marx's writing can be divided into two
periods. From 1843 to 1848, he developed
the basic outline of his thought, including his vision of human nature, a general
conception of societies and how they change, and an ambitious agenda for a
total analysis of modern societies. From
1848 to nearly the end of his life (in 1883), he labored to complete one
important part of this agenda, the critique of "political economy."
At the same time, he poured immense effort into political writing of various
kinds.
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Summaries on Marx:
An Extended Summary of The Communist Manifesto by Marx and Engels (chapter 1, chapter 2, chapters 3 and 4)
Summaries on Marx:
An Extended Summary of The Communist Manifesto by Marx and Engels (chapter 1, chapter 2, chapters 3 and 4)