Chapter 13 - Hegel and Marx

From Vaughn Textbook, Topics: Hegel and Marx

Why is Hegel important?

He was one of the most important thinkers in 1800s Germany and was the biggest philosophical influence on Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels

What is the core of Hegel’s system?

Absolute idealism with Spirit or Absolute

How does Hegel see the history of the world?

He sees it as the continual development of Spirit towards greater self-consciousness and rationality → history going in a positive direction towards a better future

What is the guiding principle of the socialist view?

Equality → the wealth of society should be shared by all 

What is Marx’s formula for the ideal distribution of goods?

“From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs”

What does Marx think is the driving force behind philosophy, history, society, law, government, and morality?

Economics → it is the dominant system of economics in every age that determines how society is structured and how history will go

How does Marx think about class struggle throughout history?

He says it repeats itself through Hegel’s dialectic process, which in modern times is between the bourgeoisie and the proletariats 

How does Marx predict proletarian revolutions?

He says the bourgeoisie undermine themselves by creating a large, poor, exploited proletarian class that eventually will revolt to bring about a classless society

What is absolute idealism?

The doctrine that the universe is an objective reality consisting of ideas in the universal mind

What is panentheism?

The view that God is in every part of the universe but is also more than the universe

What is socialism?

The political and economic view that the means of production (property, factories, businesses) should be publicly owned, but still allows some amount of personal property

What is communism?

An economic system that is classless and stateless with all property being communally owned → personal property and government are completely eliminated

What is the difference between socialism and communism and how does Marx think of them?

Socialism:

• Can exist under different political systems (such as democracy)

• Still allows for some personal property

• Accepts the existence of classes while aiming to diminish disparities between them

Communism:

• Functions in a stateless society

• Does not allow for personal property

• Is classless

Marx:

• Saw socialism as a transitional step towards communism, with communism being the true end goal

What is capitalism?

A socioeconomic system in which wealth goes to anyone who can acquire it in a free marketplace

What is the Spirit/Absolute according to Hegel?

The universal mind that contains the universe and reality

What is Hegel’s dialectic?

1. Thesis → a historical staring point

2. Antithesis → state of affairs directly opposed to the thesis

3. Synthesis → this conflict yields a new situation, and then the pattern repeats with the synthesis as the new thesis

How do the bourgeoisie and proletarian fit into the dialectic?

The bourgeoisie are the thesis, the proletarian are the antithesis, and the communist society created by a proletarian revolution is the synthesis

How does conflict occur between the bourgeoisie and proletarian?

To increase profits, the bourgeoisie hire more and more workers, paying them less and less, replacing workers with machines whenever possible → proletarian wages decline, unemployment rises, and exploitation continues, with the worsening situation increasing alienation

What is alienation according to Marx?

The sense felt by a proletariat that they are no longer valued as a person, just as a cog in the capitalist machinery → no longer take pride in their work as it devolved into mindless assembly-line motions

What are the criticisms of communism?

• People are required to do jobs that suit their skills rather than their interests → cooperation potentially requiring coercion by the state

• People must accept benefits that fit to their needs rather than desires

• Lack of incentive to work since people are provided for according to their needs, not in response to their performance