Karl Marx: Life In The 20th Century

Although Karl Marx lived in the mid 1800’s, his theories, philosophies, opinions and viewpoints are utilized and studied by today’s society and remain as significant today as they were nearly 150 years ago. As the son of an educated lawyer, Karl grew up in a middle class family and was able to attend school him self, eventually earning a Doctorate Degree. The statement “Karl Marx was a social theorist with philosophy rooted in science and humanist prophesy comes from his formal education and studies of other philosophers before and during his time, as well as the various political movements that occurred. As editor of a German newspaper he was exposed to the conditions that the poor class had been subjected to by the governments and the …show more content…
Advances in technology helped the transportation; communication and manufacturing industries grow enormously. From that growth, modern capitalism was born and there was a huge change in domestic and work lives of the various classes. Marx would theorize that one social class has a direct impact on ones social life. Those who were in the upper class lived the life of luxury, while those in the lower class lived a life of hardship and poverty. (Applerouth/Edles, pg 22-23) …show more content…
It allows humans the ability to create meaningful relationships with others. (Applerouth/Edles, pg 29)

Marx theory of history was captured in his German Ideology writings. Marx examined the German philosopher Hegel and came up with several contradictions and differences. He agreed with Hegel that successive periods of evolution were necessary for social change. Whereas Hegel believed consciousness led to social change, Marx examined the historical materialism and argued that life was determined by material and economic conditions together. (Applerouth/Edles, pg 32-33)