MARX, KARL

Karl Marx (1818–1883) was born in Trier, Prussia on May 5 and died in London on March 14. He was educated in Trier and at the universities of Bonn and Berlin, thus coming under the influence of Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (who he later radically criticized) before receiving his doctorate in philosophy from the University of Jena in 1841. Throughout most of his adult life, he was assisted both financially and intellectually by Friedrich Engels (1820–1895), with whom he coauthored such works as The German Ideology (1845–1846) and "The Communist Manifesto" (1848).

Marx wrote mainly on capitalism as an economic system, and is most closely identified with the multivolume Capital (Vol 1 [1867]; Vol. 2 [1885]; Vol.3 [1894], Vols. 2 and 3 published by Engels after Marx's death). This massive 2,500 page work explores the capitalist system in terms of the logic of its functioning, its historical progression, and its fate. Marx's writings on science are scattered and fragmentary, and his discussions of technology, though more detailed, are largely unsystematic. Therefore this entry will concentrate more on his views on ethics and morality, the implications of which are enormous.

Technology and Science

Technology and science played an important role in Marx's thought. His general theory of human history, historical materialism, gave technology a major role in forming the foundation of society and in the process of historical change. Every society rests on an economic base or mode of production, which includes both forces and relations of production. The forces of production consist mainly of the level of technological development a society has achieved and of the features of the natural environment in which it is located. Relations of production are the social and economic relations people enter in the process of production and involve the ownership of the productive forces. The productive forces might be owned and controlled by the entire society, or, more commonly, by a relatively small segment of society. Those who own the productive forces dictate their operation and often subject the mass of the population to conditions of severe exploitation and oppression. The other major part of every society is the superstructure, which consists of politics, law, family life, religion, and the mode of consciousness, or collective forms of thought and feeling. The superstructure rests on the economic base and is largely determined by it.

Marx regarded the earliest societies as constituting forms of primitive communism. Here people lived by using simple technologies of hunting, fishing, agriculture, and animal husbandry. Because of the communal nature of such societies and the absence of class divisions and exploitation, they would have been idyllic except for their low level of technological development, which prevented people from adequately satisfying basic needs. Gradually, however, progress in technology enhanced human power to manipulate the environment, but in ways that led to the formation of private property and class divisions. European society passed through a slave mode of production in ancient times and then a feudal stage. Capitalism succeeded feudalism.

Despite his savage criticisms, Marx appreciated the great achievements of capitalism, the foremost being its enormous capacity for the development of technology in the form of modern industry. In his general theory of history, Marx saw capitalism as a prerequisite for the development of socialism because the latter, in order to meet basic human needs and allow for everyone's self-realization and self-fulfillment, requires material abundance. Capitalism developed technology to a level sufficient for the creation of this abundance. But socialism would develop technology even further, thus allowing for the elimination, or at least the reduction, of the most unpleasant and burdensome forms of work.

Marx had much less to say about science than he did about technology, but he was a major proponent of science, both because of its ability to produce intellectual knowledge and its capacity for the development of industry. In the section of the "Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts" (1844) devoted to private property and capitalism, Marx writes that "natural science has invaded and transformed human life all the more practically through the medium of industry; and has prepared human emancipation" (Marx 1978b, p. 90). Also "Natural science will in time subsume under itself the science of man, just as the science of man will subsume under itself natural science: there will be one science" (Marx 1978b, p. 91).

Indeed Marx regarded historical materialism as a scientific theory that could be empirically verified (Husami 1980). He was also a great admirer of Charles Darwin and highly commended Origin of Species (1859) to Engels, saying that it served as a basis in nature for their theory of history. Later, in his speech at Marx's grave, Engels was to say, "Just as Darwin discovered the law of development of organic nature, Marx discovered the law of development of human history" (Engels 1978, p. 681).

Ethical Perspective

Marx did not have an ethical theory, or a theory of justice, in the sense of such great moral philosophers as Immanuel Kant or John Rawls. In fact Marx explicitly disavowed all talk of justice and rights, in part because they belong to the juridical superstructure rather than the technoeconomic base. In capitalist society, juridical notions are part of the way in which the capitalist mode of production and its ruling class are maintained. In "Critique of the Gotha Programme" (1875) he argues that, in discussions of socialism, notions of justice and rights are obsolete verbal rubbish and ideological nonsense. Under socialism there will be no need for rights and liberties, their raison d'etre having disappeared. The rights and liberties found in capitalist society only exist because capitalism is a highly inadequate mode of production from a human point of view (Buchanan 1982).

In his famous essay "On the Jewish Question" (1843), Marx drew an important distinction between political freedom and human freedom. Political freedom consists of the constitutional liberties that people have in capitalist society: the right to property, speech, and assembly, equal treatment before the law, and so on. Political rights are a cover for an absence of human rights. Human freedom involves the opportunity of all individuals not only to have the full satisfaction of their basic needs, but also the opportunity to realize their essential nature as human beings through creative and self-fulfilling work. In capitalist society, everyone has political freedom but only a few can achieve true human freedom. Only in socialist society can human freedom become commonly achieved. This vision of freedom is intimately tied to Marx's views on technology, because true human freedom requires a very advanced level of technology, which a fully realized socialist society will have.

Nevertheless although Marx did not develop an ethical theory and rejected its need or desirability, he did have moral or evaluative notions that guided his critique of capitalism and his advocacy of socialism. Marx was a moralist who had no moral theory, that is, he "advocates principles that are supposed to guide present-day social and political choice in the same way as a political morality" (Miller 1984, p. 51). In various writings, Marx refers to the misery and sufferings of the working class under capitalism, of the deadening and degrading nature of work created by the capitalist division of labor (and thus of the alienation and dehumanization of the worker), and of how capitalism "enforces on the laborer abstinence from all life's enjoyments" (Husami 1980, p. 43). The capitalist class receives all the material and intellectual benefits of society while the proletariat assumes all its burdens. Capitalism exploits the worker, and exploitation is variously described as robbery, embezzlement, plunder, and theft. Husami argues that these evaluative notions are tantamount to a conception of justice despite the fact that Marx formally rejected all talk of justice.

Marx also seemed to have a theory of distributive justice (Husami 1980). As set forth in Critique of the Gotha Programme (1875), the first phase of the new socialist society will be guided by the principle to each according to his abilities. Workers receive from society payment in accordance with the labor contribution they make. Individuals differ in their mental and physical endowments and some contribute more labor than others; those who contribute more receive more in return. But inequalities never become significant because society provides for every person's social needs (healthcare, education, and so on). Whatever inequalities do exist are not the result of power and class differences because private ownership of the means of production has been abolished.

But this first phase of socialist society, having just emerged from capitalist society, is still stamped with defects. There will emerge a higher phase of socialist or communist society, and "only then can the narrow horizon of bourgeois right be crossed in its entirety and society inscribe on its banner: From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs" (Marx 1978b, p. 531). In this phase, society takes into consideration the fact that individuals differ not only in their talents and abilities, but also in their needs. Because some individuals have greater needs than others, they should be rewarded accordingly. This highest form of socialist society is guided by the principle of full individual self-development, and as such must provide each person with the resources necessary for that development. Inequalities therefore remain. Again, however, these inequalities do not arise from class position (because there are no classes) and do not involve any exploitation. Moreover the inequalities are not great and do not affect the satisfaction of basic needs related to physical well-being and education, because these are automatically provided to everyone. (See Wood [1980] for a very different interpretation of Marx on justice. For an interpretation partway between Husami's and Wood's, see Brenkert [1980].)

Historical Failures and Legacy

The implications of Marx's thinking on science and technology are relatively minor, but his thought has enormous implications for an ethical assessment of society. Marx's predictions concerning future socialist revolutions and the content and nature of socialist society have been overwhelmingly repudiated by the past 100 years of history. Socialist revolutions occurred where Marx did not expect them, and utterly failed to occur in those places where he thought they would. And the so-called socialist societies that did develop were for the most part a grotesque deformation of what he expected. These failures lie both in a flawed theory of history—Marx badly misunderstood the historical trajectory of capitalism—and in a failure to appreciate the importance of a theory of justice and morality. Marx's view that political rights and liberties are merely expressions of a defective bourgeois mode of production, and as such will be irrelevant and unnecessary in a socialist mode of production, opened the way for, and gave license to, some of the most brutal dictatorial regimes in human history. Marx did not foresee this outcome, and certainly would have vehemently rejected it. The ideals may have been noble, but their actual implementation proved to be an entirely different matter.

Many different kinds of Marxism have developed since Marx's time, including the critical theory of the Frankfurt School (Adorno, Horkheimer, Marcuse, Habermas), the Italian Marxism of Antonio Gramsci, French existentialist Marxism (Sartre), Wallerstein's world-system theory, and anticolonialist theory. Some of these are as different from one another, and from classical Marxism, as they are similar. Critical theory, for example, is highly critical of modern science and technology in a way that would have been inconceivable to Marx. In terms of ethics, a wide range of complex positions can be found.

STEPHEN K. SANDERSON

SEE ALSO Alienation;Capitalism;Communism;Critical Social Theory;Freedom;Hegel, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich;Marxism;Political Economy;Socialism;Sociological Ethics;Work.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Brenkert, George G. (1980). "Freedom and Private Property in Marx." In Marx, Justice, and History, eds. Marshall Cohen; Thomas Nagel; and Thomas Scanlon. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. An attempt to map out a position on Marx and justice part way between the positions of Husami and wood.

Buchanan, Allen E. (1982). Marx and Justice: The Radical Critique of Liberalism. Totowa, NJ: Rowman & Allanheld. Takes the position that Marx had no formal theory of justice or rights and disdained any discussion of such with respect to the virtues of socialism.

Cohen, Marshall; Thomas Nagel; and Thomas Scanlon, eds. (1980). Marx, Justice, and History. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. An important collection of essays on the role of justice in Marx's thinking.

Engels, Friedrich. (1978). "Speech at the Graveside of Karl Marx." In The Marx-Engels Reader, ed. Robert C. Tucker. Text originally published in 1883.

Husami, Ziyad I. (1980). "Marx on Distributive Justice." In Marx, Justice, and History, eds. Marshall Cohen; Thomas Nagel; and Thomas Scanlon. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Sets forth the position that Marx had a theory of justice (including two principles of distributive justice) and judged capitalism to be unjust.

Marx, Karl. (1967 [1867]). Capital, Vol. 1, trans. Samuel Moore and Edward Aveling. New York: International Publishers. The most important volume of Marx's great work in which he sets forth the laws of functioning of capitalist society and its evolution.

Marx, Karl. (1967 [1885]). Capital, Vol. 2, ed. Friedrich Engels. New York: International Publishers.

Marx, Karl. (1967 [1894]). Capital, Vol. 3, ed. Friedrich Engels. New York: International Publishers.

Marx, Karl. (1978a). "Critique of the Gotha Programme." In The Marx-Engels Reader, ed. Robert C. Tucker. Text originally published in 1875. An important discussion by Marx of the place of human abilities and needs in the future socialist society.

Marx, Karl. (1978b). "Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844" In The Marx-Engels Reader, ed. Robert C. Tucker. Text originally published in 1844. Youthful essays written by Marx on such topics as alienation, private property and communism, and Hegelian philosophy.

Marx, Karl. (1978c). "On the Jewish Question." In The Marx-Engels Reader, ed. Robert C. Tucker. Text originally published in 1843. A famous essay in which Marx draws an important distinction between political freedom and human freedom. The famous early essay on the coming of communist society, including a brief sketch of its principles of organization.

Marx, Karl, and Friedrich Engels. (1970 [1845–1846]). The German Ideology, ed. C. J. Arthur. New York: International Publishers. The work in which Marx and Engels lay out their general theory of society and history, historical materialism.

Marx, Karl, and Friedrich Engels. (1978). "Manifesto of the Communist Party." In The Marx-Engels Reader, ed. Robert C. Tucker. Text originally published in 1848.

Miller, Richard W. (1984). Analyzing Marx: Morality, Power, and History. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. An extremely important book that critically examines the nature of historical materialism and the extent to which the concept of justice played an important role in Marx's critique of capitalism.

Tucker, Robert C., ed. (1978). The Marx-Engels Reader, rev. edition. New York: Norton. An excellent collection of selections from all of the important works of Marx and Engels.

Wood, Allen W. (1980). "The Marxian Critique of Justice." In Marx, Justice, and History, ed. Marshall Cohen; Thomas Nagel; and Thomas Scanlon. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Argues that Marx had no formal theory of justice and did not condemn capitalism as unjust.