Literary Criticism

Marx and Marxism

Philosophical Background

Joseph Hegel was a strong philosophical influence upon Marx. Hegel's contribution begins with "panlogism."

panlogism

meaning, literally, "all reason" seeks to justify the idea of God.

Thus: Man created God.

Humanity

(acc. To Hegel) advances and progresses only through conflict (struggle).

Hegel's notion of dialectic

Similar to Socratic dialectic, served to inspire Marx to question society, economics, and ethical systems.

Frederich Engels

Was a companion, financier, friend and collaborator. Together they wrote The Communist Manifesto as a manifesto for the "Communist League." The Manifesto contains the seeds of ideas that make up the school of thought that we call Marxism.

In many ways it was Engels money that kept Marx afloat.

Without Engles support, Marx would never have been able

to have written his philosophies.

Engels

The Marxist World View:

• Step 1: The development of class struggle:
  • The development of a priestly caste.
  • The development of faith in afterlife.
• Philosophy divides into two factions
  • 1. Idealism (assumes God exists)
  • 2. Materialism (nothing exists past nature)
• Step 2: Dialectical Materialism
  • Questioning Idealism and the world
    • "Work alienates the worker...how and why?"

The alienation of the worker is expressed thus: the more he produces, the less he can consume; the more value he creates, the less value he has. . . . labor produces fabulous things for the rich but misery for the poor. Machines replace labor and jobs diminish while other workers turn into machines.

-Karl Marx Manuscripts of 1844

Thus, according to Marx, "the deepest essence of Man, his creative act, has been transformed into a possession. The worker's labor becomes merchandise in the hands of the owner."

Thus the greater the capitalist's property-the more impoverished the worker.

Marx singled out the existence of a new class the Proletariat...which arose as a result of the industrial revolution...replacing the individual artisan of the past.

The proletariat has nothing but Philosophy, and through Philosophy they will eliminate all classes through Communism. From Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Right.

Marx knew that this war would not be bloodless. That the proles would have to combine metaphysics and economics into a proletariat philosophy:

• The owner makes, in one day, what all the workers earn combined (without working).
• The worker works to survive...the worker spends the best years of their life doing something they do not enjoy to make the boss richer and richer

Salary-the price of a given commodity (work) determined by 3 types of competition:

1. seller v. seller
2. purchaser v. purchaser
3. seller v. buyer

Price

is set by the owner of the Capital (who controls the means of production and the value of labor power.

Surplus Value

is the basis of Capitalism (buy low and sell at a profit)

Marx sees labor unions as the only way for the proletariat to protect the value of their labor. The Communist Manifesto was published as the platform of just such a union.

Marx believes that all systems carry the seeds of their own destruction.

Historical Materialism

• History is man made.
• Each new generation perfects new tools.
• Labor never exists in a vacuum-it has a social character.
• To get better work, the owner needs to squeeze the human-ness the social character out of the work: Alienation.

Mode of Production(The combination of productive forces)

Man's history is a history of production:

1. primitive
2. slave
3. feudal
4. capitalist
5. socialist

5 Keys to Marxist Analysis of Text:

1. Alienation
2. Modes of Production
3. Historical Materialism
4. Class Struggle
5. Surplus Value

Questions? Email me at Sophist@Bigfoot.Com.