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Unit 11: Karl Marx: His Life and Works, Materialism and Dialectical Materialism

Marxist thought as a guiding force. Marx contended that the human mind was dynamic and Notes
capable of comprehending the external world, thereby criticizing those who argued that human
beings were incapable of understanding the world around, and therefore had to blindly accept
what appeared to be incognito phenomena. Marx was attracted by Epicurean philosophy for the
spirit of freedom and independence of thought that it advocated. By this time, Marx began to
perceive the transformative power of philosophy to change human society. Philosophy, in the
process, would cease to be pure theory, as it would manifest itself in practical activity.
Marx characterized Epicures as a genuinely radical and enlightened mind of antiquity. In contrast
to Democritus, Epicures provided energizing principles by introducing an element of spontaneity
in the movements of, atoms, rather than regarding nature as inanimate, governed by mechanical
laws. The two achievements of Epicures, according to Marx, were: (a) emphasis on absolute
autonomy of the human spirit, freeing men from all superstitions of transcendent objects; and
(b) emphasis on free, individual self-consciousness. Both these factors helped in circumventing the
limits imposed by a “total philosophy”. It was the liberating aspect of Epicures that Marx found
endearing. Marx tried to refute Plutarch’s critique of Epicures, examining each statement with a
view to formulating a diametrically opposite conclusion.

11.4 Dialectics

Dialectical materialism is the philosophical programme of Marxism as defined by later Communists
and their Parties (sometimes called “orthodox” Marxism). As the name signals, it is an outgrowth
of both Hegal’s dialectics and Ludwig Feuerbach’s and Karl Marx’s philosophical materialism,
and is most directly traced to Marx’s fellow thinker, Friedrich Engels. It uses the concepts of
thesis, antithesis and synthesis to explain the growth and development of human history. Although
Hegel and Marx themselves never used the “thesis, antithesis, synthesis” model to summarize
dialectics or dialectical materialism, it is now commonly used to illustrate the essence of the method.
The degeneration of Marxist method within the USSR to a pseudo-scientific language, referred to
as “diamat” (short for dialectical materialism) has led some Marxist theorists to re-assess the place
of Engels’ work Dialectics of Nature in the Marxist canon. They note that Marx preferred the term
“historical materialism”, which limits his method within a specifically human, sociological context,
distinguishing it from what follows here.
While dialectical materialism has been traditionally associated almost exclusively with Marxism,
the philosophy is applicable to a contemporary worldview as well. There is nothing in either the
concept of dialectic as elabourated by Hegel or in materialism itself which requires Marxism.
However, because Marxism is essentially free of traditional theological influences, it is particularly
well-suited to dialectical materialism, and a comparable political system based on the philosophy
has not yet emerged.
Dialectics was the key idea in Hegelian philosophy, though Engels credited Heraclitus with its
origins when he held that “Everything is and is not, for everything is fluid, is constantly changing,
constantly coming into being and passing away. All is flux and nothing stays still. Nothing endures
but change.” It was Hegel who offered a systematic exposition of the concept. In Hegelian
philosophy, dialectics applied to the process, evolution and development of history. Hegel viewed
history as the progressive manifestation of human reason, and the development of a historical
spirit. History recorded increasing awareness and greater rationality as exhibited in human affairs.
Human consciousness and freedom expanded as a result of conflicting intellectual forces, which
were constantly under tension. Hegel believed in a movement from a rudimentary state of affairs
to a perfect form.
The process of history, for Hegel, was marked by two kinds of causation : (a) the individual spirit
which desired happiness and provided energy, and (b) the world spirit which strived for higher

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