Marx's Materialism and the Theory of Praxis

Marx's Materialism and the Concept of Praxis

Marx's materialism has a controversial practical meaning. He opposes both the idealism of Hegel and classical materialism. Against Hegel's idealism, he affirms the priority of being over thinking; the fundamental problem of philosophy is the relationship between thinking and being. What comes first: the spirit or nature? This is not to deny one of the two terms, but to determine the priority of one over the other. The priority of thought over being is idealism, while the priority of being over thought is materialism. The relationship between being and thinking is this: being is the subject and thinking is the predicate; thinking comes from being and not the reverse.

Marx directed these accusations against classical materialism:

1. It is an abstract and mechanistic materialism that reduces the subject to mechanical laws.
2. It lacks a dialectical and historical perspective.

More importantly, he objects to the materialism of Feuerbach: it views reality as an object of contemplation. If thinking is reduced to being and ideas are a reflection of reality, man becomes a passive-contemplative being. Marx's materialism affirms the independence of external nature from thought, but argues that it is not possible to separate nature from man. Man is an active being that transforms nature. The concept of Praxis allows Marx to overcome the opposition between idealism and materialism and bring the matter to another terrain. Praxis is an activity that man develops to transform social reality and, through it, is released from his alienation, reaching completion.

Historical Materialism and Social Structure

Historical materialism implies the negation of the autonomy of ideas regarding the conditions of human existence, based on a dialectical and historical material foundation. It is a sociological theory with the following details:

1. Economic structure is the real basis of society.
2. Such a structure is constituted by the relations of production. These are legally expressed by the ownership structure, where the employee only possesses the labor force.
3. The concept of productive forces: this includes work and the means of production.
4. The economic structure determines a superstructure consisting of ideological forms.
5. Conflict breaks out through the normal development of the productive forces.
6. In conclusion, history is not driven by the "cunning of reason," but by the development of productive forces, the main of which is human labor. In short, man is the main player in history.
7. The direction of history leads to the disappearance of classes and the establishment of communism.