Karl Marx Essays -- essays research papers

Karl Marx was the creator of Marxism and a new type of economy and government. His ideas were appealing to the working class people and emphasized the community rather than the individual. His theories spawned communism and his ideas still remain in effect in some modern day countries. Marx’s ideas originate from his experiences in Europe and his collaboration with Frederich Engels. In addition, Marx's work seems to be more of a criticism of Hegelian and other philosophy, than as a statement of his own philosophy. While Hegel felt that philosophy explained reality, Marx felt that philosophy should be made into reality, a hard thing to do. He thought that one must not just look at and inspect the world, but must try to transform the world, much like Jean Paul Sartre's view that "man must choose what is best for the world; and he will do so." Marx is unique from other philosophers in that he chooses to regard man as an individual, a human being. This is evident in his Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844. There, he declares that man is a "natural being" who is endowed with "natural [and] vital powers" that "exist in him as aptitudes [and] instincts." Humans simply struggle with nature for the satisfaction of man's needs. From this struggle comes man's awareness of himself as an individual and as something separate from nature. So, he seeks to oppose nature. He sees that...