Karl Marx (1818 – 1883), a German
philosopher, social scientist and historian is considered to be one of the most
influential conflict theorists to
emerge in the 19th century. In order to critically evaluate his paradigm
it will be useful as an initial starting point to briefly outline the origins
of is line of reasoning. Marx was considerably
influenced by Hegel a German ideologist and theological philosopher who
regarded the social and natural world as a product of objectification (reducing the complexity of the social world into
concrete images or processes or the
manifestation of human activity into materially existing forms). Hegel argued that everything that
is material is a product of thought and
consciousness or spirit which is
ultimately independent and separate from this world. Karl Marx did not agree with his predecessor
and
suggested that objectification is
rather a product of human beings activities as their action is materially
motivated. In other words spirit was a human product and
not the other way around as suggested by Hegel.
Marx expressed this idea as follows:
“Is not the consciousness of man that
determines their existence, but on contrary, it is their social existence that
determines their consciousness”
(Marx, K, 1844: 47)
This quote clearly illustrates
the way in which Marx takes over and uses Hegel’s method to move ‘down’ from
the condensed and abstract, to the concrete specificity of ‘animated’ change
and human activity. He stated that
individuals in order to survive need to firstly satisfy their material needs
such as eating, sleeping and clothing and therefore, the production of material
goods and means of subsistence constitutes the basis of human action. In other words human
beings create forms of life in response to economic needs.