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Marx
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Essay Subject:
Discusses Marx's dialectical materialism & his conception of history as one of ceaseless class struggle. Outlines the Marxian view of the inevitability of the overthrow of the bourgeoisie by the proletariat.... More...
2 Pages / 450 Words
1 sources, 3 Citations, MLA Format
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Paper Abstract:
Discusses Marx's dialectical materialism & his conception of history as one of ceaseless class struggle. Outlines the Marxian view of the inevitability of the overthrow of the bourgeoisie by the proletariat.

Paper Introduction:
In the perspective of Karl Marx, the bourgeois society in which he lived and which persists to this day in the developed West was a system of class conflict and the domination of the bourgeois class over the proletarian class. Marx described the nature of this society not as an aberration but as a stage in social evolution, succeeding the feudal period and preceding the era of the dictatorship of the proletariat. His view was based on the idea that these stages were inevitable and that the only way for the proletariat to gain a better position in life was through revolution, through the violent overthrow of bourgeois society. Yet, as we have seen in subsequent history, this is not the case, and while we have not produced a classless society, the classes are not in conflict to the degree Marx saw as inevitable and inescapable.

Text of the Paper:
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Work CitedMarx, Karl and Frederick Engels. Theclass consisting of the bourgeoisie developed during the feudal period, andas the bourgeoisie got the upper hand it "put an end to all feudal,patriarchal, idyllic relations. Thebourgeoisie, says Marx, "cannot exist without constantly revolutionizingthe instruments of production, and thereby the relations of production, andwith them the whole relations of society" (12). The bourgeoisie more andmore concentrates the means of production and property in its own hands. The class struggle is the defining fact ofsocietal life and will lead in time to the violent overthrow of thecapitalist class by the working class, producing the dictatorship of theproletariat for a certain period until a completely classless society isproduced. Yet, as wehave seen in subsequent history, this is not the case, and while we havenot produced a classless society, the classes are not in conflict to thedegree Marx saw as inevitable and inescapable. For Karl Marx, the force that determines social relations is economicand is identified by the relationship of the human being to labor. Manifesto of the Communist Party. Marxhas a conception of human history based on dialectical materialism, aperspective which includes the idea that the determining factors in thedevelopment, relations, and institutions of mankind are not mystical orideological but economic. In the perspective of Karl Marx, the bourgeois society in which helived and which persists to this day in the developed West was a system ofclass conflict and the domination of the bourgeois class over theproletarian class. For Marx, everything in life rests on theseeconomic foundations. The most alienated class in society is the proletariat,dominated by the bourgeois class which controls the means of productionthrough the control of capital. Human beings have to secure a livelihood, andto accomplish this they organize their productive forces in a way that isbased on the level of development of society and thus the type of economicsystem that has been produced. It has pitilessly torn asunder the motleyfeudal ties that bound man to his 'natural superiors,' and has leftremaining no other nexus between man and man than naked self-interest. His view wasbased on the idea that these stages were inevitable and that the only wayfor the proletariat to gain a better position in life was throughrevolution, through the violent overthrow of bourgeois society. Human motivations are rooted in the laboractivities of human beings. They donot own the means of production, while the capitalist who does sells theproduct of the labor of the workers. Marx writes in the "Manifesto of the Communist Party": "The historyof all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles" (9).This struggle defines the ongoing stream of historical materialism, basedon the necessary social conditions defined by economic relations. The workers sell their laborand are alienated from the product of their labor because of it. He sees the interplay of classes in terms ofdomination, and at the present juncture, it is bourgeois society thatdominates. ."(11). The proletarian class is being impelled toward revolution as the onlyway to break its bonds and escape from the shackles imposed on it by thebourgeoisie. . Marx described the nature of this society not as anaberration but as a stage in social evolution, succeeding the feudal periodand preceding the era of the dictatorship of the proletariat. Marx's language here, as in all his writings, is the language ofconflict and struggle. The bourgeoisie takes the product of thelabor of the proletariat and sells it as a commodity, increasing its ownpower by doing so. Both classes are revolutionary, and indeed allclasses are in the process of revolution throughout history. The bourgeoisie is the capitalist class, the class in which ownershipof the means of production has been concentrated, while the proletariate isthe new working class. The proletariate will revolt against this system andestablish a dictatorship of the proletariate as the next stage in socialevolution. New York: International Publishers, 1948.----------------------- 4 This exploitation of one class byanother produces class hostilities which are constant and which are basedon material inequalities. Society is made up of social classes, with one classdominant at a given time based on the control of the means of production.Human nature is expressed in the way individuals relate to class and theway they are controlled by that relationship.

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