Marx, Karl (Heinrich) 1818 -- 1883
Philosopher, economist, revolutionary
leader. Born May 5, 1818 in Trier, Rhenish Prussia, the son of Heinrich Marx, a lawyer, and Henriette Presburg Marx. Barred from the practice of law as a Jew, Heinrich Marx became converted to Lutheranism about 1817, and Karl was baptized in 1824, but later became an atheist and materialist. It was he who coined the aphorism "Religion is the opium of the people" .
Karl attended the Friedrich Wilhelm Gymnasium in Trier, graduating at the age of 17. Karl became proficient in French and Latin. In later years he taught himself other languages, so that as a mature scholar he could also read Spanish, Italian, Dutch, Scandinavian, Russian, and English.
In October 1835 Marx matriculated in Bonn University. He, however, was more interested in philosophy and literature than in law.
Marx's father took him out of Bonn and had him enter the University of Berlin. In that city, a galaxy of brilliant thinkers was challenging existing institutions and ideas. The spirit of the great philosopher G. W. F. Hegel was still palpable there. Marx soon became a member of a group known as the Young Hegelian and was deeply influenced by its prevailing ideas.
Marx spent more than 4 years in Berlin, completing his studies there in March 1841. On April 15, 1841, the University of Jena awarded him the degree of doctor of philosophy.
Marx's hopes of teaching philosophy at Bonn University were frustrated by the reactionary policy of the Prussian government. He then turned to writing and journalism for his livelihood. Marx then moved to Paris, where he first came in contact with the working class, gave up philosophy, and undertook his serious study of economics.
In January 1845, Marx was expelled from France. He moved to Brussels, where he founded the German Workers' party and was active in the Communist League. It was for the latter that he, with his friend and collaborator Friedrich Engels, published, in 1848, the Manifesto of the Communist Party (known as the Communist Manifesto). Expelled by the Belgian government for his radicalism, Marx moved back to Cologne. He returned to Paris, but in September the French government expelled him again. He finally settled in London, where he lived for the rest of his life.
In London, Marx's sole means of support was journalism, which, however, was paid wretchedly; Marx was saved from starvation by the continuous financial support of Engels. In 1864 Marx helped to found in London the International Workingmen's Association (known as the First International). In 1872 he dissolved the International, to prevent it from falling into the hands of the anarchists.
Marx, often impatient and irascible, antagonized people by his sardonic wit, bluntness, and dogmatism. His enemies were legion. Yet, despite his deserved reputation as a hard and disagreeable person, he had a soft spot for children; he deeply loved his own daughters, who, in turn, adored him. Marx was married to Jenny von Westphalen, on June 19, 1843. She died at the age of 67.
The Marxes had seven children, four of whom died in infancy or childhood. The three surviving daughters were Jenny (1844-1883), Laura (1845-1911), and Eleanor (1855-1898).
Marx spent of his working time in the British Museum, doing research both for his newspaper articles and his books. In preparation for Das Kapital, he read virtually every available work in economic and financial theory and practice.
Marx wrote few books. He published only five books during his lifetime. Two of them were polemical, and three were political-economic. The first, The Holy Family (1845), was written in collaboration with Engels. The second was The Poverty of Philosophy, written by Marx himself and published in 1847.
Marx's third book, The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte, was published in 1852. The remaining two books, both on economics, are the ones on which Marx's worldwide reputation rests: Critique of Political Economy and, more particularly, Das Kapital (Capital).
The central idea in Marx's thought is the materialistic conception of history. This involves two basic notions: that the economic system at any given time determines the prevailing ideas; and that history is an ongoing process regulated by the economic institutions which evolve in regular stages.
In Hegel's view, history is determined by the universal idea (God), which shapes worldly institutions. Marx formulated the reverse: that institutions shape ideas. This is known as the materialistic interpretation of history. Marx's second notion, that of historical evolution, is connected with his concept of dialectics. History is a continuing dialectical process, each stage of development being the product of thesis, antithesis, and synthesis.
Thus thesis corresponds to the pre-capitalist period. Antithesis corresponds to the era of capitalism and labor exploitation. Synthesis is the final product--communism.
To Marx, capitalism is the last stage of historical development before communism. The proletariat, is the last historical class. The two are fated to be in conflict, until the proletariat is inevitably victorious and establishes a transitional order, the proletarian dictatorship. The proletarian dictatorship, in turn, evolves into communism, or the classless society, the final stage of historical development.
In the final dozen or so years of his life, he could no longer do any sustained intellectual work.
He died in London on March 14, 1883.
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