Karl Marx Essay, Research Paper

The late 1800’s was a time period where new ideas, theories, and philosophies ran through the minds of many young people. Amongst them was a man be the name of Karl Marx who stood out in the crowd. Known as a man of great integrity and intelligence, Marx was thought to be one of the greatest thinkers of all time. "Philosophy and Myth in Karl Marx: 2nd Edition" by Robert C. Tucker is a book about Marx and his philosophies. Robert C. Tucker in this book ventures out to critique and give an interpretation of Marx’s philosophical thoughts. Marx’s was the man who was responsible for the well known and highly acclaimed philosophy of Marxism also known as Communism.

Karl Marx was born in the German Rhineland to a well-cultured family, one that was not revolutionary. As a young man he received a classical education. Marx entered the University of Berlin where he read law, majoring in history as well as philosophy. His years at the university was the time period that was a turning point in Marx’s life. From his early school days, philosophy had been a subject that sparked interest in Karl Marx. He was greatly concerned with humans’ freedom and reviving the ancient concept of communism. The University of Berlin was where Marx had first become acquainted with the philosophy of Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel. Hegel’s ideas known, as Hegelianism was the concept where the main focus was a self- alienated man. Man should worship himself as a Superior Being. What attracted Marx to Hegel was his "surmounting of the characteristic difficulty of idealism." However, when Marx was later introduced to the philosophies of Feuerbach, his thoughts completely changed. According to Feuerbach,"man has so far in history lived primarily a life of religion, and that the essences of religion is man’s estrangement from himself," At the same time of Marx becoming acquainted with these thoughts, he was jumping from one place to another causing his family to live in wretched poverty. Later on, using both the concepts of Hegelianism and of Feuerbach, Marx arrived at the formulation of his own philosophical anthropology. He first states that the primary determinant of history is economics where the history of society is viewed as the history of class struggle between the bourgeoisie and the proletariats. The bourgeoisie are successful by extracting money from the proletariats for profit. Marx’s theory predicts that the contradictions and weaknesses will cause economic crisis and deepening poverty of the working class. However, Marx’s Communist Manifesto will eliminate all the problems that are the cause of the downfall of social classes. This in turn eliminates the need for a revolution. The idea of his philosophy comes directly from his life. The elimination of social classes is derived from his experience of poverty. The elimination of a revolution comes from the was he was raised, His family was on that did not belief in revolutions.

In the" Philosophy and Myth in Karl Marx: 2nd Edition’ by Robert C. Tucker, Tucker originates Marxism to the earlier German philosophers, Georg Wilhelm, Friedrich Hegel and Luswig Feuerbach. The prime focus of Hegelianism was man. Where" Man shall worship himself as the Supreme Being" Tucker explains Hegel created these terms to find peace with himself by conceiving himself as the particular man known as God. Feuerbach’s focus was religion and how it is the determinant of history. Feuerbach’s ideas originate from Hegel’s but add the concept of religion. Tucker also introduces his view on how there may be two types of Marxism, original Marxism and mature Marxism. The main difference between the two is that a self-alienated man is the central subject of original Marxism, but it is seen that the self-alienated man is absent from the mature Marxism. Original Marxism’s persuasive idea is the idea of self, which seemed to originate from the philosophy of Hegelianism. Whereas the idea of self seems to disappear from mature Marxism and the central is society.

Karl Marx became interested in philosophy from an early age. Because of his high interest in philosophy, Marx read extensively in anthropology and economics, arriving at his own formulation of "philosophical anthropology." Also according to Tucker, Marx’s studies did not come from direct study in society. He had no knowledge or workers or conditions. In fact, he developed his theories after his introduction to Hegel and Feuerbach. Both theories of both German philosophers contributes and served as the building blocks to the birth of Marxism. Although, Marx’s philosophy was similar to those of Hegel and Feuerbach, he was still thought to be a radical who went against the political ideas of his time. His beliefs caused him to get in trouble with superior beings as well as being banished from Paris a number of times. His persistency was that which made him stronger and more interesting to others.