Karl Marx – BBC Radio 4 In Our Time’s Greatest Philosopher (Part 2 of 5)
Marx developed the theories upon which modern communism is based and is considered the founding father of economic history and sociology. Marx set down his ideas in The Communist Manifesto(1848) and Das Kapital ((3 vol., 1861, 1885, 1894) arguing that economic relations determined all other features of a society, including its ideas. He also outlined the goal of Marxism – the creation of social and economic utopia by the revolution of the proletariat which would “centralise all instruments of production in the hands of the state.” All class boundaries would be destroyed and each individual would find personal fulfilment, having no need for the bourgeois institutions of religion or family. Marx himself was an atheist, coining the phrase, “Religion is the opium of the people” Marx continued to express views about class struggle and bourgeois oppression throughout his life, despite being exiled from his homeland and coping with both his own illness and the death of his children. Most modern socialist theories are drawn from his work but Karl Marx has had a wider influence touching on many areas of human thought and life such as politics, economics, philosophy, and literature.
March 8th, 2010 at 7:06 pm
Okay but going back to Marx’s ideas, which aspect of his thought would you disagree with? Do you have an alternative to historical materialism and class analysis? lol.
March 8th, 2010 at 7:41 pm
thank you for posting
March 8th, 2010 at 7:56 pm
Thanks so much for posting these.
March 8th, 2010 at 11:42 pm
by metaphysical analysis i mean finding out about the author of the material world and material law. this includes studying how material conditions shape mans view of God.
March 9th, 2010 at 1:15 am
Keep your eye on the evolution of capitalism in 21st century China. Get a lesson in “real world” effectiveness of communism vs. capitalism. Real world works a little differently than academia…
March 9th, 2010 at 1:22 am
religious institutions and reactionary thinking are different from metaphysical analysis of material order. the same can even be said of the possibility of divine intervention even the concept divinity of christ. however, these things shouldn’t interfere with a sober scientific analysis of reality. so generally speaking marx is spot on imo.