The Communist Manifesto
Why should the capitalist state give way to communist society, according to Marx?
The main challenge of this essay consists in identifying the reasons according to which Karl Marx considered that the capitalist state should give way to communist society. The base text for answering this question will be Marx’s own work titled “The Communist Manifesto”, however this essay will rely on other works of Marx such as “The German Ideology” or “Preface to a critique on political economy” as well as secondary literature consisting of Jon Elster, Isaiah Berlin, Andrew Levine and H.B. Acton. The core argument of this essay is that according to Marx, class struggle and the “march of history” will inevitably lead to the demise of the bourgeoisie …show more content…
Furthermore he put forward an identity of humanity, which states that because the labour of the worker is the means for maintaining individual life and at the same time a manifestation of species-being, it must hold that the means for maintaining individual life must be the same as the manifestation of species-being, thus making Marx’s emphasis on labour, production and human essence …show more content…
The very first line in the first part of the “Manifesto” states that: “The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles.” By that he underlines his dialectic view of society and after a discussion on how production and commerce evolved in the last centuries he concludes that the modern bourgeoisie itself is a product of “a series of revolutions in the modes of production and exchange” . He characterizes the capitalist society as having resolved: “personal worth into exchange value, and in place of the numberless indefeasible chartered freedoms, has set up that single, unconscionable freedom: Free Trade.” He associates bourgeoisie society with exploitation and sees it as one of the problems that would eventually lead to its demise. He views exploitation as a concept that refers to the subjection of producers (the proletariat) to work for passive owners (bourgeoisie) for less compensation than is equivalent to the actual amount of work done, a clear class antagonism. On the other hand, bourgeoisie society is, in his view, “the last form of this antagonism”. After its disappearance the entire class struggle will end forever. Isaiah Berlin interpreted that Marx considered that with this final clash, the prehistoric period will be
The main challenge of this essay consists in identifying the reasons according to which Karl Marx considered that the capitalist state should give way to communist society. The base text for answering this question will be Marx’s own work titled “The Communist Manifesto”, however this essay will rely on other works of Marx such as “The German Ideology” or “Preface to a critique on political economy” as well as secondary literature consisting of Jon Elster, Isaiah Berlin, Andrew Levine and H.B. Acton. The core argument of this essay is that according to Marx, class struggle and the “march of history” will inevitably lead to the demise of the bourgeoisie …show more content…
Furthermore he put forward an identity of humanity, which states that because the labour of the worker is the means for maintaining individual life and at the same time a manifestation of species-being, it must hold that the means for maintaining individual life must be the same as the manifestation of species-being, thus making Marx’s emphasis on labour, production and human essence …show more content…
The very first line in the first part of the “Manifesto” states that: “The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles.” By that he underlines his dialectic view of society and after a discussion on how production and commerce evolved in the last centuries he concludes that the modern bourgeoisie itself is a product of “a series of revolutions in the modes of production and exchange” . He characterizes the capitalist society as having resolved: “personal worth into exchange value, and in place of the numberless indefeasible chartered freedoms, has set up that single, unconscionable freedom: Free Trade.” He associates bourgeoisie society with exploitation and sees it as one of the problems that would eventually lead to its demise. He views exploitation as a concept that refers to the subjection of producers (the proletariat) to work for passive owners (bourgeoisie) for less compensation than is equivalent to the actual amount of work done, a clear class antagonism. On the other hand, bourgeoisie society is, in his view, “the last form of this antagonism”. After its disappearance the entire class struggle will end forever. Isaiah Berlin interpreted that Marx considered that with this final clash, the prehistoric period will be