Karl Marx

Karl Marx

1. Biography and Social Background

   • Paris and Brussels
   • Exile in London
   • 1818 - 1883

2. Early years: the critique of Hegel's idealism

   • Hegel's idealism and philosophy of history
     • Change as a dialectical process
     • The concept of alienation
     • The state and civil society
   • The Young Hegelians and the critique of Hegelianism
     • Feuerbach and the critique of religion
     • The critique of Hegel's view of the state
   • Turning Hegel the right way up

3. The critique of political economy

   • The elements of political economy
     • Alienated labour

4. The partnership with Engels

5. The materialist conception of history

   • The priority of society
   • Economic production and social organisation
   • The material basis of social organisation
   • The shaping of consciouness
   • The sources of social change
   • The nature of social change
   • Social revolution
   • The economic sources of social change
     • Historical materialism and the critique of Hegel

6. Issues of interpretation

   • The material foundations of social life and ideology
   • Base and superstructure
   • Historical change as a dialectical process
   • Capitalist society
     • The theory of surplus value and exploitation
     • The hidden dynamic of the structure of capitalism
     • The development of capitalism
     • Competition among capitalists

7. Changes in the nature of capitalism

   • The conflict between capital and labour
   • The problem of class consciousness

8. Conclusion: Marx's legacy