EDUC 604

ANALYSIS OF AN IDEOLOGUE TEMPLATE

Introductory Information
Ideolog Karl Marx
ues
Name
1818-1883
BirthDeath
Years
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ue: Find
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Most
Noted
For

German philosopher and revolutionary socialist

Published The Communist Manifesto and Das Kapital

Ideologue Profile Report

Biograp Karl Marx was born in the city of Trier, Germany on May 5, 1818. His father was a prosperous middle-class lawyer who served in the Russian
government. After finishing his conventional education in the schools of Trier, he moved on to higher education at Bonn, where he studied
hical
Inform jurisprudence, and later in Berlin. After studying law, his interests moved to history and philosophy. He was awarded a doctorate in 1941
(Engels, 1869) (Gutek, 1995).
ation:
Include
life
One individual that an intellectual influence on Marx was Moses Hess. Hess was a critic of industrial capitalism and where Marx acquired his
experien belief that private property was the source of all human ills (Gutek, 1995 p 284). Marx became editor of Hess publication, Rheinische
ces that Zeitung, and used it to attack the Prussian government and the unenlightened ruling classes. Due to his defying the governments attempts to
impacte censor his writings, the Rheinische Zeitung was ordered to cease publication (Gutek, 1995) (Engels, 1869).
d
thoughts Another person to influence Marx during his years at the universities was Georg Hegel. He was influenced by Hegels conception of history as
and
consisting of a succession of ideological conflicts. Marx reflected the beliefs toward spirituality of Hegel and believed that heaven would be

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impact
built on this earth and not in some spiritual, supernatural world. The Hegelian view of history as a dialectical process, however, was transferred
on
to the material realm by Marx. The brought about Marxs view of history as the struggle between conflicting economic classes (Gutek, 1995).
educatio
n.
In 1843, Marx married Jenny von Westphalen and moved to Paris. He had already accepted the ideas of a materialistic universe, dialectical
processes of social change, economic determinism, and class struggle. Each of these would become an element in his theory of scientific
socialism. Marxs belief in a small elite which comprised the vanguard of the proletariat which would lead the revolution he saw as coming,
was from his study of Claud Henri, comte de Saint-Simons doctrines. (Gutek, 1995)
It was during this time that Marx came upon a pamphlet written by Peirre Joseph Proudhon entitled What Is Property. Marx agreed with
Proudhons assertion that competition would concentrate wealth in to fewer hands, but rejected his belief that capitalism could be reformed.
Marx believed that capitalism had to pass away and bring about a classless society. (Gutek, 1995)
Marx had, also, come in to contact with Mikhail Bakunin, a Russian anarchist, who wanted to destroy all social restraints that he saw as limiting
personal freedom. Marx did not look favorably on the anticollectivism of Bakunin and his anarchists, but he did believe that violent methods
could be used to advance the revolutionary cause. (Gutek, 1995)
Francois Guizot expelled Marx from France in 1845. Marx moved to Brussels and pursued the same studies as in France. It was before the
revolution in Germany of 1849 that Marx issued the Manifesto of the Communist Party with his associate Friedrich Engels. Marx was expelled
from Germany after the revolution failed and moved back to France at the invitation of the provisional government of France. His expulsion
was predicated on the pretext that he was no longer a Prussian subject. This may have been due to his using his paper, the Neue Rheinische
Zeitung, to encourage people not to pay their taxes, a charge he was twice accused and acquitted of. (Engel, 1869)
Marx was expelled from Paris again during the summer of 1849 and moved to London. He studied the rest of his life there and wrote his book,
Das Kapital. (Engel, 1869)(Gutek, 1995)
Historic German socialists, during Marxs university years, were protesting what they saw as the victimization and exploitation of the factory workers
al/Politi from industrial capitalism. This paralleled the critique of capitalism from Moses Hess, which drew heavily on traditional Judaism,
humanitarianism, and Hegelian philosophical idealism (Gutek, 1995 p 284).
cal
Context
Hegelian philosophical idealism came from the beliefs of George Hegel. One of the concepts of Hegelian philosophy was that history consists
:
Explain of a non-ending succession of ideological conflicts. It, also, holds that every idea contains both a partial truth, or thesis, and its contradiction, or
the
antithesis. The conflict of the thesis and antithesis brings about a synthesis that becomes a thesis which generates new conflict. This is what,
broader according to Hegelian philosophy, drives human history (Gutek, 1995).
historic
al
Another influence of this time was Ludwig Feuerbach, who authored Theses on the Hegelian Philosophy. This thesis rejected the concept that
events
historical events are determined by a spiritual force, or Absolute Idea. Feuerbach claimed that human history is the totality of material
that
conditions that appear at any given time in history. To Feuerbach, society, thought, religion and politics are all products of the physical
shaped
environment (Gutek, 1995).
the
characte These belief systems which were popular during the time of Marx were fueled by the revolutions that were occurring during this time. From

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rs era.
This is
not
about
the
persons
accompl
ishments
.
Beliefs
on
Educati
on:
Describ
e what
beliefs
were
promote
d about
educatio
n.
Impact
on
Educati
on:
How did
this
persons
beliefs
and
actions
affect
educatio
n?
Others
Criticis
ms:
Summar

the effects of the anarchists to the fight for social reforms in Germany, France and elsewhere, these forces acted together to form the era of Karl
Marxs life.

Marx wrote about the concept of class struggle. Though he never wrote specifically about education, he did tie education into his idea of the
differences between different economic classes of people. (Burke, 2000)
To Marx, the solution to overcoming the dominance of what he called the ruling class was to abolish child labor first. Then, free state-funded
education needed to be introduced. He promoted a combination of education and industrial production, what is now called vocational training
(Clark, 2012). Likewise, Marxs belief that technology would have a large impact on the division of labor and his vision of a classless society
leading to a classless society seem almost prophetic. This would lead to a breakdown of traditional and vocational education and lead to
individuals having several careers from which they would pass from one to another through education. (Clark, 2012)

After Karl Marx expressed his beliefs, and the attention on economic processes on which he focused, the way different subjects were studied
changed. As an example, history can no longer be taught or interpreted on military or political terms alone. Also, culture cannot be studied
without paying attention to economic agencies and productive processes. (Gutek, 1995)
With the resurgence of the educational theories of Lev Vygotski, the role of teachers, collaborative learning, and the belief that social context
are at the center of problems being experienced in education. It is through these theories and Marxist social constructive theory whereby Marx
is still having a profound effect on educational theory today. (Clark, 2012)
Another belief of Marx was that education should be free to all children. It should be free from any influence from the church, state, class or
political party. Those discussions should be left to adults and occur in public meeting halls. (Smith, 1980 p. 109)

Marxs system was seen as controverting all productivity theories. According to Marx, if one item uses one unit of labor and ten units of capital
in its production, then it would trade at the same value as an article that takes one unit of labor and one unit of capital. This was explained as an
illusion by Marx with no part in reality. Market reality; however, prove this wrong as these two articles will not trade at the same value due to
the larger expenditures in the production of the first article. This idea was changed in later works by Marx, to which his critics pointed as an

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ize the
criticism
s of
contemp
oraries,
historia
ns, and
scholars
.
Your
Critiqu
e: What
ideas or
actions
do you
support
or
reject?

admit ion that his theory was a fallacy. (Clark, 1898)

In education, fault was found with the thought that everything is converted into a commodity, to include knowledge and education. This idea
was transformed in later years by Marxist to form a movement towards a push for free, state-funded education as a right for every citizen.
Again, a change from the original statement of beliefs. (Clark, 2012)

I can support the move for state-funded education. Through this form of education, all children can attend a public school regardless of the
ability to pay tuition. This gives them the opportunity to improve their income level through the obtaining of the knowledge necessary to gain
employment that can provide a higher level of income than what they could obtain without the requisite education. That education level can be
extended through the many programs which provide grants, scholarships, and loans to pay for a higher degree of education at public colleges
and universities.
My one big question, which lies at the base of Marxist theory, is why the different socio-economic classes must always be in conflict with one
another. Only through those who desire to divide people into subsets and use the means of class envy can this type of conflict be fomented.
While there are many who are of higher economic status than what I am, I have no envy which makes me think that I should have some of what
they have earned given to me under the premise of fairness or equality.
I believe in a system which provides for equal opportunity. I do not, however, subscribe to a theory of thought which seeks to guarantee
equality of outcome with no regards paid toward effort or responsibility.
Reference List

List at
least 3
referenc
es using
proper
APA
format.

Burke, B. (2000). Karl Marx and informal education. Retrieved 19 July 2013, from The encyclopedia of informal education: http://infed.org/mobi/karlmarx-and-education/
Clark, D. (2012, March 28). Marx (1818-1883-education for all but the educated became the enemy. Retrieved 19 July 2013, from Donald Clark PlanB
Learning: http://donaldclarkplanb.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/marx-1818-1883-education-for-all-but.html
Clark, J. (1898, December 1). Karl Marx and the close of his system: A criticism by Eugen v. Bohm-Bawerk; Alice M. Macdonald; James Bonar. Political
Science Quarterly, 13(4), 720-723. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/2139988
Gutek, G. (1995). A history of the western educational experience. Long Grove, Illinois: Waveland Press, Inc.
Miller, D. E. (1961, October). Troeltsch's critique of Karl Marx. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 1(1), 117-121. Retrieved from
http://www.jstor.org/stable/1385183
Smith, M. C. (1979). Karl Marx's philosophy of education: A reconstruction of Marx's ideas on education. Retrieved from
http://media.proquest.com.ezproxy.liberty.edu:2048/media/pq/classic/doc/749235551/fmt/ai/rep/300PDF?hl=&cit%3Aauth=Smith%2C+Michael+Clark&c

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