Fundamental Contradictions due to Historical
Materialism
This essay will be firstly looking at what Engels means by exploring historical materialism. I will implement what it is and show how it changed the feudal society. I will show how it connects to alienation, capital, and the individual production and individual appropriation. Second I will be touching on the advancement of technology and private ownership of production in regards to the fundamental contradictions in capitalism and I will explain how the contradictions came about. Third I will be explaining the two contradictions that arise from the fundamental contradiction, some of the things I will consider are the means of production and the mode of production. Lastly, I will show what Engels envisions as the ultimate outcome of the historical development of capitalism.
“The materialist conception of history starts from the principle that production, and with production the exchange of its products, is the basis of every social order; that in every society which has appeared in history the distribution of the products, and with it the division of society into classes or estates is determined by what is produced and how it is produced and how the product is exchanged.” Production is the way to support human life and with production, the way products are exchanged is the key to all social structure. To Engels, historical materialistic approach is tracing feudalism to capitalism. Some of the ideas that characterize this shift from feudalism to capitalism are individual production and social production. Back in the feudal days when individuals produced something they called it “theirs” they owned it. Now in capitalism they cannot call a product “theirs”. There is no such thing as individual appropriation because what we produce or what we make is owned by the owner, either an individual of a large corporation or the corporation itself. After they have made the product it is then given to someone else who sells it. Alienation can play a part in this production
“The materialist conception of history starts from the principle that production, and with production the exchange of its products, is the basis of every social order; that in every society which has appeared in history the distribution of the products, and with it the division of society into classes or estates is determined by what is produced and how it is produced and how the product is exchanged.” Production is the way to support human life and with production, the way products are exchanged is the key to all social structure. To Engels, historical materialistic approach is tracing feudalism to capitalism. Some of the ideas that characterize this shift from feudalism to capitalism are individual production and social production. Back in the feudal days when individuals produced something they called it “theirs” they owned it. Now in capitalism they cannot call a product “theirs”. There is no such thing as individual appropriation because what we produce or what we make is owned by the owner, either an individual of a large corporation or the corporation itself. After they have made the product it is then given to someone else who sells it. Alienation can play a part in this production