202306260808 Status: #person #🧍 Tags: #economics #sociology #communism # Karl Marx Karl Marx (1818-1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, and socialist revolutionary. Born in Trier, Prussia, Marx studied law and philosophy at university. Marx is best known for developing the theory of historical materialism, which posits that society and culture evolve out of economic and material conditions. Together with his collaborator Friedrich Engels, he wrote the "[[Communist Manifesto]]" in 1848, a political pamphlet that succinctly presented their theories about the nature of society and politics. Marx's magnum opus, "Capital", a critical analysis of capitalism, was published in three volumes, the first during his lifetime and the remaining two posthumously. His critical analysis of capitalism, particularly his understanding of its inherent exploitation and alienation, led him to believe that it would be overthrown via a proletarian revolution and replaced by a classless society, a state of affairs he termed communism. # Key Ideas 1. **[[Communism]]**: Marx’s communism is a classless, stateless society where the means of production are communally owned, work is freely associated, and the principle of "from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs" is realised. 2. **[[Class Struggle]]**: For Marx, all history is marked by class struggle. In capitalist societies, this struggle is between the bourgeoisie (owners of the means of production) and the proletariat (the working class). 3. **[[Historical Materialism]]**: The idea that the economic base of a society, including its modes of production and class relations, shapes all other aspects of it, such as politics, laws, and ideologies. 4. **[[Labor Theory of Value]]**: The value of a good is determined by the amount of socially necessary labor time required to produce it. 5. **[[Exploitation (of Labour)]]**: Marx argued that capitalists extract surplus value from workers by paying them less than the value of the goods they produce. This surplus value is the source of capitalists' profits. He called this “Separating the worker from the means of production” # Quotes > # Bibliography - [[The Communist Manifesto]] - [[Capital]] --- # References -