“Theses on Feuerbach” by Karl Marx is an eleven theses piece on philosophical thinking of Feuerbach, but Marx also gave the readers his perspective as well. For example, Feuerbach is about subjectivism and idealism, whereas Marx is about the physical existence of human beings and things around us. “…That the thing, reality, sensuousness, is conceived only in the form of the object or of contemplation, but not as human sensuous activity, practice, not subjectively” (143). Sensuousness here is referring to our physical bodies, our physical existence. Feuerbach said that the material world is separate from the idealistic world, but Marx argued that they exist concurrently.
This brings us to the topics of “thinking versus taking action;” men …show more content…
This brings me back to the topic of self-alienation; once we, humans, starts projecting our ideals onto external/material ideas and objects, we start detaching from ourselves; People turns towards religion as a getaway as a way to escape this harsh reality and the hardships that comes with it. Like Marx said, “Feuerbach does not see that the ‘religious sentiment’ is itself a social product, and that the abstract individual who he analyses belongs in reality to a particular form of society” (145). People are religions, and religions are people.
In addition, Marx emphasized consciousness and the materialistic recognition in “The German Ideology”. He asked the readers what differentiate humans from animals. The answer he gave was consciousness; our abilities to question, reason, and think separates us from animals. “Men can be distinguished from animals by consciousness, by religion or anything else you like” (150). Correspondingly, what categorize a master from a slave? It’s the power to control, to exert dominance over others, but it also depends on the others’ submission. The less conscious one becomes, the less …show more content…
To sum up the chapter, Marx pointed how the capitalistic society is working in favor of the bourgeoisie not the proletarian (capitalist owner vs. workers, parallel to master vs. slave). Therefore, the more laborers there are, the more the bourgeoisie profits. If the production line becomes more efficient, then the profits will increase as well the pocket size of the bourgeoisie. As the wage labor market grows, the number of workers entering the job market will expand, until machine replaces them. Products, then, will be produced at a lower price, where the owner will keep their products at the old price, but their profit still accrued. That is, until the competitors switch to machinery and follow the same procedure. Then the new product price will be significantly lower since all the companies are competing for customers (capitalism). This cycle would just repeat itself in all aspects of the business world. Marx offered the readers the idea of progression of society, freedom of movement, expansion, etc., but all the exploitation and corruption aspects of capitalism. Employees will be forced to work at a lower salary, the job market will shrink, and the gap between the rich and the poor will only get bigger. “Therefore, as labour becomes more
This brings us to the topics of “thinking versus taking action;” men …show more content…
This brings me back to the topic of self-alienation; once we, humans, starts projecting our ideals onto external/material ideas and objects, we start detaching from ourselves; People turns towards religion as a getaway as a way to escape this harsh reality and the hardships that comes with it. Like Marx said, “Feuerbach does not see that the ‘religious sentiment’ is itself a social product, and that the abstract individual who he analyses belongs in reality to a particular form of society” (145). People are religions, and religions are people.
In addition, Marx emphasized consciousness and the materialistic recognition in “The German Ideology”. He asked the readers what differentiate humans from animals. The answer he gave was consciousness; our abilities to question, reason, and think separates us from animals. “Men can be distinguished from animals by consciousness, by religion or anything else you like” (150). Correspondingly, what categorize a master from a slave? It’s the power to control, to exert dominance over others, but it also depends on the others’ submission. The less conscious one becomes, the less …show more content…
To sum up the chapter, Marx pointed how the capitalistic society is working in favor of the bourgeoisie not the proletarian (capitalist owner vs. workers, parallel to master vs. slave). Therefore, the more laborers there are, the more the bourgeoisie profits. If the production line becomes more efficient, then the profits will increase as well the pocket size of the bourgeoisie. As the wage labor market grows, the number of workers entering the job market will expand, until machine replaces them. Products, then, will be produced at a lower price, where the owner will keep their products at the old price, but their profit still accrued. That is, until the competitors switch to machinery and follow the same procedure. Then the new product price will be significantly lower since all the companies are competing for customers (capitalism). This cycle would just repeat itself in all aspects of the business world. Marx offered the readers the idea of progression of society, freedom of movement, expansion, etc., but all the exploitation and corruption aspects of capitalism. Employees will be forced to work at a lower salary, the job market will shrink, and the gap between the rich and the poor will only get bigger. “Therefore, as labour becomes more