Marxism

Michael Lacewingenquiries@alevelphilosop

hy. co.uk

On ideology

• Political ideologies– Provide plan of action for creating

political institutions– Seek to justify political arrangements– Bind individuals to society

• Freeden: ideologies are structured interpretations of political concepts

Political concepts

• Political concepts are ‘essentially contestable’– E.g. liberty: absence of coercion, absence of

interference, opportunity, autonomy, rational choice, self-determination…

• Two reasons for disagreement– Political concepts are evaluative– Component structure

• Different ideologies start from different key concepts, ‘decontesting’ them

Marxist theory of history

• We are alive– We produce our ‘means of subsistence’

• Satisfying original needs leads to new needs, e.g. tools

• We reproduce• Both production and reproduction are

not only natural, but social, involving particular ‘modes’ of cooperating with others

Marxist theory of history

• Economic sub-structure (= modes of production + modes of cooperation) determines nature of society

• Modes change as society develops, esp. involving division of labour– Within the family– Mental v. physical– Agriculture v. commercial v. industrial

• Superstructure (= customs, laws, education, religion, culture, state institutions) evolves out of substructure

Marxist theory of history

• The state is based on power relations between classes– Modern state based on capitalism:

capitalists own the means of production, and take profit, workers get salaries

• Power of dominant class supported by the state and by an ‘ideology’– State is biased, not neutral– Ideas are product of sub-structure

Alienation

• Alienation: estrangement resulting in loss– From products of labour– From meaningful, creative work– From ‘species-being’– From other people

• Alienation need not be conscious or felt, but life is objectively less fulfilling

Emancipation

• Liberal ideas of rights and justice are not emancipating, but alienating– Emphasis on individual rights (as basis

for justice) in conflict with communal nature of human beings

– Illusion of equality glosses over power differences between classes

• Genuine equality would abolish the state: a communist revolution

Five core concepts

• Equality: needs are met• Welfare: fulfilment of species-being• Importance of meaningful, creative

work• Community• History: of sub-structure and

super-structure

Marx on justice

• Marx does not call capitalism ‘unjust’– Conflict not described in ‘liberal’ terms;

communism is beyond justice– Capitalism is a necessary stage of

human development– Argument is not primarily moral, but

historical – social change will be driven by developments in sub-structure, not ideas

Objections

• Super-structure is not determined by sub-structure– State is partly independent of capitalism

• Prediction of communism turned out false, ‘welfare state’ developed, and classes evolved– But has this led to emancipation?

• Theory of human nature is wrong– What is necessary for human happiness to increase?

• Communism is impossible