Marxist philosophy provided an excellent opportunity to look at familiar things in a completely different way. The contribution that Karl Marx made to the development of not only philosophy, but also of world history, is truly invaluable. Marxist philosophy also includes the works of such a great figure as Frederick Engels. Marxism itself is a fairly broad doctrine. It also includes Marxist-Leninist philosophy, which acquired its completed form in the thirties of the last century.
Philosophy of marxism
The emergence and development of Marxist philosophy dates to the end of the century before last. This doctrine includes socio-political issues, as well as political economics.
The philosophy of Marxism was able to answer the most important questions of its time. It received distribution immediately and over a large territory. In some countries, this philosophy was recognized as the official dogma, on the basis of which social and political ideology was built.
Marxist philosophy would never have been as it is, without the materialistic philosophy of Epicurus, Democritus, Locke and many other thinkers. The rapid growth of various technical and scientific discoveries contributed to its development and appearance. These include the discovery of the law of conservation of energy, the development of a theory of evolution, the invention of a car, photography, and so on. Marxist philosophy appeared at a time when new ideals appeared, but society was not ready to bring them to life, when class contradictions were as acute as possible, when the crisis of traditional bourgeois values began.
In general, the whole of Marxist philosophy can be divided into two parts. The first includes everything that is connected with dialectical materialism, the second - everything that is connected with historical materialism.
The materialistic understanding of history is the innovation of Engels and Marx. Its essence is as follows:
- At various stages of the development of society, people have to interact with each other - the only way they can properly provide for their livelihoods. These relationships are industrial. They are objective and do not depend on the desire of their subjects.
- The economic system is formed precisely on the basis of industrial relations. In itself, it is a definite basis on which various kinds of institutions of public relations and the state are built.
- The institutions mentioned above are a kind of superstructure of the economic base.
- The superstructure and basis are interconnected. Based on them, one can distinguish various kinds of socio-economic formations.
- The course of history is determined by material production, the level of the economy, and production relations.
The means of production according to Marx - this is what allows you to produce a new product using labor. As a rule, they are alienated from wage workers, that is, concentrated in the hands of the owners. The thing is that the bulk of people for survival must allow themselves to be exploited.
Produced goods are more expensive than expended means of production and wage labor. The difference is called surplus value. The capitalists take part of it for themselves, and part of it is directed to obtain new surplus value.
Hegel’s dialectic is the basis of dialectical materialism. Marx and Engels took some ideas of the great philosopher and presented them in their own way.
Dialectical philosophy says that consciousness is determined by being, matter is constantly evolving and changing, the laws of dialectics are the basis of development, God does not exist, and practice is the most important development factor.