Philosophies of Marx and Engel

A detailed Summary of Philosophies of Marx and Engel

From the early to the late Marx, he remained a philosopher of human freedom. Marx envisioned freedom for all, not merely for the bourgeois, but for peasant as well. Marx strove to make individuals aware of their position in society, and to make the idea of emancipation sound like a possible means to a harmonious society.

For Marx, to truly be free, one must understand the realization of freedom and morality. But he does not see these as fulfilled in the modern state. Social contradictions and class antagonism produced by capitalistic production methods must be overcome to be free. In order to accomplish freedom and morality, the socially repressed and deprived must revolt against capitalistic production conditions. The goal of this revolutionary revolt is human freedom beyond the limits of mere peasant; Marx desires a solid and humane society of free individuals. Marx is fully aware of the fact that the economy is not determined, and that in principle, it can be over come by revolution and the solid action of individuals. While Marxism promoted freedom for all individuals, with everyone working together for the good of the country, Stalin sought to elevate himself to supreme r

who know directly of the relevant changes and of the resources

one of rapid adaptation to changes in the particular circumstances

From the beginning, Communist rule in the Soviet Union faced a variety of problems. The idea of Communism was challenged by many people within the country itself. However, when the Communist Party was eventually victorious, it was faced with the need to rebuild the nation's ruined economy. There were many formidable obstacles--particularly after the interruption of World War II. The Soviet leadership, therefore, was ruthless in acquiring all available resources for the job of modernization. The harsh discipline and economic severity that were necessary could be imposed only by an unrelenting dictatorship that could control all citizens' activities. Joseph Stalin arrives on the scene. His resulting system of total control is known as Stalinism. Stalinism, as stated earlier, in no way resembled the Communist utopia that Marx and Engels had envisioned. Three decades after Stalin's death, the USSR was still ruled by command, not consent. It was a society administered in an authoritarian fashion by a bureaucracy. Virtually every part of life remained substantially under the control of the ruling party.

Impermissible and foreign to the spirit of Marxism/Leninism is the idea of transforming a single person into a superman possessing characteristics similar to those of a god. Stalin saw himself, and others saw him in this way: as a man who supposedly knows everything, sees everything, thinks for everyone, and is infallible in his behavior. During the Revolution, Lenin's modesty is seen. He stressed the role of the people as the creators of history (how Marxian of him), and the role of Communism as a living and unified organism. Lenin's beliefs were clearly very similar to those of Marx, and on the opposite pole from those of Stalin.

Marx and Engels' ideas were (and still are) amazing.

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Approximate Word count = 1320
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English