The German Ideology (1932) - Marx Flashcards
What is a Young Hegelian?
An anti-establishment group which believed Hegel’s ideas on the dialectical method and emphasis on historical development
They believed that reason and rationality would save them from suffering
Marx was a Young Hegelian but eventually developed his own approach
Why did Marx break away from the Young Hegelians?
Marx eventually did not believe in their abstract ideals; he believed in Materialism - the real, tangible things that allow us to survive (e.g. food, water, shelter) rather than the intangible (e.g. religion)
What is the premise for materialism?
- our material conditions shape our immaterial reality (e.g. social relations, religion, institutions, culture)
What are the fundamental conditions of human history?
- all history of mankind fundamentally requires the existence of living individuals
- the production of the means to support human life and the exchange of things produced is the basis of all social structure/conditions to shaping human history
- meeting basic needs would create new needs
- Mankind wants to ensure continuity (the creation of social relations leds people to maintain existing relations), otherwise society will collapse
- productive force: social relations in production (relationships between individuals based on their roles in the production process) influence power dynamics and distribution of resources
What is dialectical materialism?
- Marx’s approach to studying society
- Marx emphasizes the importance of real-world conditions and the presence of functional contradictions within and among social relations, which derive from the contradictions in social class and relations
What makes humans different from animals, according to Marx?
can be distinguished by
* consciousness
* religion
* ability to produce means of subsistence -> indirectly producing their actual material life
can link this to alienation and commodification of labour
What is Marx’s view of the division of labour?
- When tasks and roles are distributed among individuals, Marx views division of labour as integral to creating class struggles and exploitation of the oppressed; Division of labour results in the unequal distribution of labour and hence, property. (p. 52)
- it is inherently unequal and there will always be injustice
- the division of labour implies the contradiction between the interests of the separate individual or the family and the communal interests of all individuals
- the fixation of social activity or roles is forced upon us and we must remain so involuntarily to maintain our livelihood (p. 53)
What happens when man has no exclusive sphere of activity?
each person can become accomplished in any thing he wishes while society regulates the general production
can be a hunter in the morning, fish in the afternoon without having to become one
What is Marx’s view of the state?
- the state is divorced from the real interests of the individual and the community
- the state is an instrument of class domination by reinforcing the interests of the bourgeoisie - the state protects private property to maintain social order
- the state is a means to which the ruling class maintains its political and economic power
What is the illusion of the epoch?
- the ‘false’ consciousness that proletariats have socialised into believing that capitalism is the only viable system
- this false consciousness legitimises the existence of different social classes, justifying the exploitation of the working class and control of the ruling class
- According to Marx, we have created a reality where we have enslaved our consciousness
What is Marx’s critique of Feuerbach’s Thesis Eleven?
“The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways. The point, however, is to change it.”
Feuerbach argues that the societal circumstances shape us –> very idealistic and abstract ideas
Marx argues that while the material conditions shape us, we are able to shape our sociopolitical reality too
