Why does Marx favor materialist thinking over idealism?

Question

This is for an exam......it says note: to answer this question you must first define materialism and idealism and its for a SOCIOLOGY class...think soc

Answer 1

Ok, I will ruin your mind by giving you the answer. Since you're going to be a sociologist you won't be needing it anyway. ;)

Materialism is the view that matter is what ultimately exists (this is the view of most people today) and is in contrast with idealism, the philosophy that mind is what ultimately constitutes reality. The biggest influence on Marx was Hegel. Hegel was, ironically, one of the biggest idealists of all times. To him the evolution of the world and what we think of as matter is really only the rational progression of a cosmic mind towards absolute freedom and knowledge. This, of course, sounds like as far from Marx as you can get. Hegel's influence on Marx was his ideas of the dialectic and alienation. Hegels dialectic is that the progression of the universe is in the form of first a thesis, then its opposite, an antithesis, then the two become combined in a rational unification which is called the synthesis and where the extremes of thesis and antithesis get balanced out. The synthesis itself is the thesis of the next dialectic. In marx you can see this in his idea of the progression of (imperfect) Feudalism to (imperfect) capitalism to the synthesis in communism.

Marx was a "young hegelian." This was a group of Hegel's followers who rejecting the later works of Hegel, thinking he had become too conservative. Instead they embraced his earlier work (before he became a more orthodox christian and supporter of the prussian state.) They claimed that Hegel's later works were themselves alienating since they posited a mental or spiritual reality over and above the "real" world. Hegel had claimed earlier that Christianity had done this, placing everything good about humans in to the idea of God, then setting this God above and apart from the world, thus taking the best in man and making man nothing. The young hegelians claimed that Hegel's idealism did something similar. Hegel takes reality to be a mental reality, outside of the material reality in which people seem to live.

Hegel's philosophy is one intimately connected with progress, but in order to have progress, the young hegelians thought, you had to be active in the world (not just interpret it, but change it). This naturally leads toward a more materialistic approach and the mystifications of Hegel actually become an impediment. The Young Hegelians thought it was necessary to actually work in the material world, not remain stuck in thought. Marx was a Young Hegelian, and without their influence, I don't think a satisfactory account of why he favored materialist thinking can be given.

Idontcare about carbon emission: Yes it is great! Considering this is a sociology class and Marx is not only perhaps the most important social theorist of all time, but one of the most influential thinkers of all time. I don't think anybody who is ignorant of Marx really has an education. (And certainly not if you are getting an education in sociology.) It would be like claiming to know western history yet never have heard of Rome.

Answer 2

Well it's a good thing it's not for a philosophy class. The purpose of philosophy is to get you to think and reason on your own, and if you're asking others for the answer, then you've already failed the purpose.

Now since it's for sociology, I'm betting there's a particular answer your teacher's looking for. In that case, I can't help you, because it would depend on what context materialism and idealism were defined within your class. I could give you my definitions, but somehow I don't think those would also be your teacher's definitions.

On the one hand, Marx should be all for materialism insofar as it contrasts with spiritualism & religion. On the other hand, he should be all against it because materialism is a bourgeois capitalist concept and therefore evil in his eyes.

Answer 3

isnt it great that theyre giving an exam with question on marx? (sarcastic)
i wonder if these kids ever heard of john keynes...

Answer 4

Because one can prove materialism exists.