The Marxs Concept of Historical Materialism - Essay Example

Karl Heinrich Marx was a great German Philosopher. He played a major role in the development of social movements along with a significant role he played as a historian along with being a remarkable revolutionary socialist. He articulated a great socialist theory known popularly as the historical materialism which was about the economics and history along with the society. It basically highlights the developments along with the changes in human society. It focuses on the production of the necessities of life. It is mainly focusing on the relationship formation in the society and how the social classes and political structure of a society can have an impact on the economic activity going on in the society. Materialist theory was modified and many variations were made to the original theory which was of Karl Marx. However the original theory known as historical materialism or the materialist conception of history talks about the events in a society which are based on the dialectic situations which are between two opposing forces or the classes of the society. For Marx the concept of dialectic was important and effective however he discarded the Hegel’s concept which was based on idealism. He believed in the existence of the real world. Marx did not believe or agree with the ideologies presented by the society as for him they were a hindrance in the clear and vivid picture of the material conditions of the society. The analysis of Marx was basically on the division and dissimilarity based on the production means such as the natural resources, land and also technology which makes the material goods production possible, this distinction was with the production and the social relationships which are created during the production process between people. The mode of production was important and according to Marx societies changes their mode of production and he made a statement about the European society which adapted the capitalist production format moving ahead of the feudal production method. Marx was in favor of the capitalist mode and the capitalist class as for him it has potential to grow and there is also incentive offerings which takes place in this case, reinvestment which is made through the profits generated into the new technologies is a very important incentive. For Marx revolution could be brought by the capitalist society as it helps in the revolutions brought by the production means. The social relationships which are made during the production phase are less constant with the change as appose to the means of production changing. The variance between the superstructure and also the base causes a major social conflict. There is a history which is based on the production mean along with the history of the superstructure formation (Shimp,K, 2011 pg 89). When the Marx appreciated capitalist concept is applied the capacity to sell basically becomes important and not the product which is made or is to be sold. Labor power becomes an important concept in this case. Money is given in return to the labor power which is offered which basically makes the survival easier for the people. Proletarians are the term given to the people who basically sell their capacity and power in return for the money under the capitalist system. The person who is basically purchasing the labor power is the owner of the technology or the land which is enabling the production to take place and thus he is the bourgeois or the capitalist in this case who is utilizing the labor force. Capitalist society also had many downfalls or disadvantages which includes the periodic crisis thus to solve that Marx presented an idea of further investment by the capitalists on the technologies compared to the labor force. He wanted to reduce the labor power for more profit and he also established the idea that profit rate and proportion will fall with the growth of the economy thus this can cause depression along with a recession phase if the profit really falls thus collapsing the important sectors of the economy. Now the economy falling will have a greater impact on the labor prices thus this would make the investment for the new technologies easier and smoother which will then help in the growth of the economy. Now as per Marx a cycle will be created which will be dependent on the growth phase along with the collapse phase and this also had long term impacts on the society which includes the empowerment of the capitalist class which was important also. There was a need to improve the social relations in this case which would be between the owners of the means of the production and this will be beneficial for the society in this case. This would help the society in avoiding the periodic risks which are not good for the capitalist and they try to avoid them. As per Marx the negotiations which were quiet were not possible and the revolution should be on a larger scale which was well organized and vicious. He stressed on establishing a dictatorship system which was important for the society. For Marx the socialism was inevitable and it was important to come and many laborers would be interested in establishing a proper relation with the capitalist to form a better system which is not in favor of anyone particularly. This concept presented by Karl Marx basically covered the theories which was based on the problems of the working class and their struggle to get the higher form of the society which was important for them. Marx talks about the dialectical materialism which was later on followed by the historical materialism which covers some important aspects and points and talks about the development which took place in the history. For Marx it is the social existence which basically is important for a men’s existence so it is important for a man to have a social life and a cycle which will have a positive impact on all walks of his/her life. Human thinking cannot be predicted however there are some aspects in life which can be properly treated which includes the productivity levels which play a very important role along with various areas of the society. The major baseline is that social existence is crucial and Karl Marx stresses on this along with all the important highlighting points. Karl Marx talks about the dialectical materialism which is the importance given to the thinking process rather than the reason to find out how it arose (Daniel De Leon, 2004 pg 78). The theories of Karl Marx are not always appreciated, they are also called the economic determinists as the theory of materialism of Karl Marx totally denies the concept or existence of ideas or the individuals playing a role in the society instead stresses on collectivisms and social relations in the society. The concept of materialist covers the importance of production along with the reproduction process which is important in the real life. The theory revolves around giving significance to the elements of society such as the elements related to the superstructure along with the problems such as the class struggle and the political problems which then creates problems and results in various situations. It covers various theories which hold importance such as the political development along with the legal and philosophical theories having a huge impact. There are situations where the economic elements hold great importance and are major element of stress (Shimp, K, 2011 pg 89). The concept of dialectical materialism works under the Marx’s theory where maximum efficiency is obtained through proper economic order along with the development of the contradictions and also some of the weaknesses which are important. It talks about the ways in which the real and practical world would have an impact on the lives of others and people and how they can come together so that it can have an impact on the society over all. As per Marx the views presented by the idealistic society are not realistic ones and thus they need to be avoided as much as possible for a better outcome. Generally speaking the term materialism refers to people who value worldly possessions however talking about Karl Marx’s opinion or he being a materialist does not mean he valued worldly goods along with he not being idealistic referring to he rejected ideas or not having any. Idealism which is basically referred to the mind being separate from all other things and is not dependant on worldly matter or substances, it talks about the free will and mind accepting and doing whatever they feel like doing, on the other hand the concept of materialism is referred to the realities of life and how these realities impact life. Social life as per Marx holds great importance and it is the basic determinant (International Marxist resource, 2012, pg 67). As per Marx ideas are important in determining reality and how these reality impact life. Marx said that for him people make their own history and life and they do it under their own circumstances and life which are coming from the circumstances of the past. As per Marx it is the human behavior which will shape the physical structure and the labor needs to be given work so that they can arrange their shelter and also find food and live a life with basic necessities at least. It is basically the production level which holds importance along with the social relationships being built which helps in determining the human level along with the possibilities of life. As per Marx people are not ready to be liberated and it is important for people to obtain good food along with drinks and also housing the details. These details are the important element of life and have mental pressure as well. These ideas help in development of history. Referring to the Marx’s concept of historical materialism there is an important assertion made by the economic forces which play a vital and primary role when the social relationships are built and the social classes interact with each other. The economic interactions basically talks about the material world the relation which it holds with the material world. As per Marx the world cannot be change only with ideas and thoughts, it requires picks, ploughs, machinery, equipment and proper material, the crux being the importance of labor. Human beings need labor in order to survive and get the necessities of life. Labor basically helps the man in developing what is called the environment and getting best from that (Marx & historical materialism, 2008, pg 186-192). There is also an important concept of class struggles which helps in the determination of the dialectical process working in favor of the Marx’s theory. The class is divided into two with one being the ruling class which is the owner of the production resources such as the equipment and the labor, other one is the lower or struggling class which struggles and later on becomes the basic ruling class. Now the society will be divided into two classes ruling class and the working class. The development of classes is the result of the struggle which takes place between the economic forces along with the productive forces and also relations of the production and also the superstructure. There are various relations of production which are related to the development taking places of the production forces and all these factors play an integral role in the formation of the society and the structure of the society. The social consciousness however is the key elements of foundations like political superstructure along with the legal structure and development. All these processes play an integral role in the determination of the society and in achieving integral goals of the society. As per Marx the production relation is dependent on some important factors such as property rights along with the production forces and the path which is created for improvement. The class conflict here plays an integral role which is due to the production forces and their interference. There are basically three important occasions which create the mode of production and helps in overthrowing the ruling class. Marx under his theories focuses on four various modes of production which includes the ancient mode of production, Asiatic mode of production, capitalist mode of production and also feudal mode of production. These production stages have different steps and different impacts. To conclude we can safely say that capitalist is the development process of the social revolutions who are changing with different modes of production, these mode of productions are basically ending up in creating a battle between the lower and ruling classes which helps in determining the rights of the production. Over Marx felt that only ideas cannot help in developing and establishing history, ideas need to be implied on people and there should be a social and material requirement of the idea. References Manifesto, Communist. "The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and Frederick Engels." 2012 Marxist.net - Committee for a Workers International Marxist resource. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Jan. 2013. Pg 67 . Materialism, Historical. "Marx & historical materialism."2008 Spiritual Insights Quotations and the Faith vs Reason debate. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Jan. 2013. Pg 186-192. Program, Social. "Materialist Conception of History - Karl Marx / Friedrich Engels." 2004Socialist Industrial Union Program of Daniel De Leon. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Jan. 2013.pg 78 . Shimp,Kaleb.2011"http://business.uni.edu/economics/Themes/shimp.pdf."http://business.uni.edu/economics/Themes/shimp.pdf. pg 89 N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Jan. 2013. . Worker, Socialist. "Why was Marx a materialist? | SocialistWorker.org."SocialistWorker.org | Daily news and opinion from the left. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Jan. 2013.pg 68 .       Read More