In What Ways Has Marxism Developed Since Marx’s Death

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In what ways has Marxism developed since Marx’s death? “All I know is that I am not a Marxist” – Karl Marx The father/pioneer of Marxism, Karl Marx passed away 14th March 1883, his death however did not stop his ideas and concepts from developing and changing. He was a German philosopher/revolutionist and one of the cofounders along side Fredrick Engles of scientific socialism. In my essay I will try to explain the difference between his concepts when he was alive and now by looking at the different forms of Marxism such as; Classical, Orthodox Communism and Modern Marxism. I will explore how significant his main idea of a ‘revolution’ was and how it affected other theorists who agreed with his concepts. The success of Marxism will also be one thing I will address during my essay. “The revolutionary ideas of Karl Marx rescues the revolutionary tradition of Marx and demonstrates conclusively the relevance of his ideas today for everyone who wants to end poverty, unemployment and war and see humanity progress” Marxism is a mix of different ideas, this includes German philosophy, mainly the dialectics of Hegel, French socialism, and British Political economy. We understand from the quote above that Marx held material circumstances to be fundamental to all forms of social and historical development. This specific Marxism ideology was largely influenced by Hegel’s dialectical method; it suggested that history is a contradictory progression of ideas passing through different stages, which would finally arrive at the truth, or the Absolute Idea. The Absolute Idea is his other word for God. Marx agreed with this statement apart from the end, which he thought was very idealistic. He went on to develop the idea that in order to properly understand the real driving force of history we must look at society, the world, nature and the universe. Marx argued that the real
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