Karl Marx's Historical Materialism and Social Transformation
Marxist Philosophy: Transforming the World
Marx's philosophy posits the social element and material conditions as the constitution of reality, denouncing the existing social order as unfinished. He argues that humanity currently resides in its prehistory, and our task is to jump into history. This requires the overthrow of the existing social (natural) order. Marx's philosophy is fundamentally thought designed to transform the world, unlike the purely theoretical approach of philosophers like Feuerbach, with whom he otherwise agrees.
Dialectical Materialism and the Role of Labor
Marx inherited the dialectical method from Hegel—the process of evolution through affirmation and negation leading to a synthesis. For Marx, however, the only reality that evolves is matter. The man of flesh and blood is the one who works and makes himself through history by transforming society and nature. Man is thus an active and practical being, with work as his main activity. This system is therefore called Marxist Materialism.
Human Essence and Social Relations
Work unites man with nature and with other men, thereby building society. The human essence is defined as the set of social relations. These social relations determine consciousness.
The Problem of Alienation
In capitalist society, where the worker is employed, the opposite occurs, leading to alienation. The product, which becomes the capital of others, appears to the worker as an alien being that he neither owns nor dominates. Consequently, the subject of production (the worker) becomes a mere commodity. Marx understood production as the work of man, forming the basis of the social organization system.
Infrastructure and Superstructure
With the production system established, everything else is explained. Production is the activity that creates goods to meet needs. It consists of the work process and the resulting product, determined by the relations of production.
These relations:
- Determine social class.
- Constitute the economic structure of society, which Marx calls the Infrastructure.
Upon this Infrastructure rises the Superstructure—a set of ideas, beliefs, customs, and norms that shape social consciousness. The Superstructure may be legal-political or ideological.
Historical Development and Class Struggle
The historical development of humanity, shaped by specific production relations, is dialectical. It is governed by a logic that determines causes and effects, making it recognizably scientific.
The Social Engine of Historical Progress
The production system contains a fundamental split that serves as the social engine of historical progress:
- A division into social classes: the classes that dominate the production system (and the Superstructure) and the dominated class.
- The contradiction between productive forces and production relations.
When tensions within a production system are exacerbated, it leads to social revolution, destroying the existing mode of production. This revolutionary process is observed as class struggle, which is the motor of history. The ultimate goal is the realization and freedom of man, which will happen in a communist society through the disappearance of classes.