marx economic and philosophic manuscripts of 1844 summary

MARX ECONOMIC AND PHILOSOPHIC MANUSCRIPTS OF 1844 SUMMARY SERIES

Historical changes grow out of the tendency humans have to develop their productive capacities and their ability to transform and control nature. While specific societies have different details, all societies have features of this framework. Legal and political forms of social consciousness, which is what we might refer to as social life of a culture.The first two form the economic structures of a society. ownership, slaveholders, slaves, lord, serf, employer, employee. Relations of production: social roles between people regarding the control of productive forces used in the process of production (i.e.

Productive forces used in the process of production: labor power and the means of production.

He gives a three tiered framework for classifying features of economic and social life that are essential to his understanding of social and historical change. Marx’s focus is on the ways that people make a living–labor–and how labor influences social and cultural life. Contrary to Hegel, Marx is a materialist, which means that progress is guided by human activity, particularly as such is related to economic and social factors. Hegel argues that progress is guided by Spirit, which is a form of idealism. Philosophically speaking, Marx is heavily influenced by Hegel. According to Smith, the division of labor eliminates lag time from technology maintenance, retraining workers, and the like. Labor is divided and workers’ productivity is much more efficient. The individual completing only one step of the production process will become a master at that one step. The key is that each individual take on only one step, so that each member of the group completes her individual step according to the production plan.

MARX ECONOMIC AND PHILOSOPHIC MANUSCRIPTS OF 1844 SUMMARY SERIES

However, if we divide the labor out into a series of 20 production steps, a work group could likely make around 50,000 pins per day. How many pins could one individual produce in a day? Maybe a couple. For instance, if I were in the pin making business, I could provide step-by-step instructions for my pin-maker to make pins. An Introduction to Marx’s Philosophic and Economic ThoughtĪn important concept to keep in mind when approaching the writings of Karl Marx is “the division of labor.” In Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations, he explains how the division of labor has caused the greatest improvement in work productivity.

Marx economic and philosophic manuscripts of 1844 summary