Karl Marx

Karl Marx

Karl Marx was a 19th century German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, and revolutionary. He is most famous for his collaboration with Friedrich Engels in developing the theory of Dialectical Materialism, which forms the basis of the ideology now known as Marxism.

Marx was born in Trier, Germany in 1818 to a middle-class Jewish family. As a child his father trained him in 18th century poetry, and as a young man he aspired to be a poet. Though he gave up on this prospect, he never lost his love of the art. Every year he read through the works of Aeschylus in Greek, and his literary background is clear both in his references (Goethe, Heine, Shakespeare, among others) and his own electric prose. He studied law and philosophy at the universities of Bonn and Berlin, where he became involved in radical political circles. After completing his studies, Marx worked as a journalist and became increasingly interested in the plight of the working class. He moved to Paris in 1843, where he met Engels, and the two began their collaboration.

Marx and Engels developed the theory of dialectical materialism, which holds that history is driven by the conflict between opposing social forces. According to this theory, society progresses through a series of stages, each characterized by a particular mode of production. Marx argued that capitalism, the current mode of production, is characterized by the exploitation of labor of the working class by the Bourgeoisie, and that this exploitation would eventually lead to a revolution in which the working class would overthrow the Bourgeoisie and establish a socialist state.

Marx's most famous work is Das Kapital, a three-volume analysis of capitalism that remains a seminal text in the field of economics. In Das Kapital, Marx argues that the capitalist system is inherently exploitative, and that the value of a commodity is determined by the amount of socially necessary labor-time required to produce it. He also introduces the concept of surplus value, which is the difference between the value of the goods produced by workers and the cost of their labor.

Marx's ideas inspired a number of socialist and communist movements around the world, including the Russian Revolution of 1917. His influence extends beyond politics and economics, however, such as in sociology, history, and mathematics.