Karl Marx :: essays research papers fc

KARL MARX: HIS WORKS This paper will be about the main elements of Karl Marx’s work, which includes the Paris Manuscripts, which will focus on alienation. The Communist Manifesto, which will focus on Marx’s political and economic theories and Capital Vol. 1., Marx’s final work about how profits are made by the capitalist. Karl Marx was a liberal reformist who believed that capitalism could be reformed and inequality and exploitation of the working classes could be addressed and abolished. (Stones, p.22) . In 1844 Karl Marx wrote and published â€Å"The economic and philosophic manuscripts of 1844†, better known as â€Å"The Paris Manuscripts.† This was Karl Marx’s first work, where he writes a study about alienation of workers. (Hughes p.27) What does one mean by alienation? Karl Marx states that the alienated person feels a lack of meaning in his life, or a lack of self-realization. (Hughes p.27) â€Å"One must understand, he argues, that there are three types of alienation. The first type of alienation is alienation from oneself. The second type of alienation is alienation from his fellow human beings. The third type of alienation is alienation from the world as a whole. These three forms of alienation are interconnected, and Karl Marx describes the connections between them. This is the core of his approach to the problem of alienation (Monthly Review, 2000, p.36-53). An example of alienation does not have to stem from the workplace, however. For example, I k now many persons who attend the same church as I do, but attend it for completely different reasons. I go to church to pray, to continue the family tradition, and to enjoy in the church functions. People go to church for a variety of reasons. People who attend the church only to be seen there and be superficially perceived as believers, are soon discovered and identified as such, and are usually alienated from the congregation.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In 1844 Karl Marx met Fredrick Engels, another intellectual, and they became good friends and collaborators for life.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Communist Manifesto was Karl Marx’s best-known work. The Communist Manifesto was intended to be a book easy to read and understand by the working class. (Manning, Lecture Notes) Karl Marx believed that if everyone understood what the bourgeoisie was doing in order to exploit the worker, the proletariat would unite and stage a revolution against the bourgeoisie. The Communist Manifesto was published in 1848, just before practically all of Europe became engulfed in revolution.