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Sociological Thought Sukanya Das, Lovely Professional University

notes unit-7: Karl marx : intellectual background

contents
Objectives
Introduction

7.1 Intellectual Background
7.2 Summary
7.3 Keywords
7.4 Review Questions
7.5 Further Readings

objectives

After studying this unit, the students will be able to:
y Know about the life of Karl Marx.
y Will gain knowledge about the Intellectual background of Karl Marx.
y Study the influence of contemporary environment on the thinking of Karl Marx.

introduction

Karl Marx is considered all over the world the father of modern and scientific Bolshevism and most
socialistic ideologies. While scholars like Plato, St. Simon, Fourier, Louis Blanc, Robert Owen, etc
have been discussing about Bolshevism from ancient times, laying stress on presenting plan for a
new system in which there was equitable distribution of national wealth, and amity between the
different classes. But the thinking of these socialist thinkers was based mainly on political or religious
foundations. Marx was the first to give bolshevism a new and unique/separate form, but based it
on strong respected scientific foundation, that is becoming stronger day by day. Today there will
hardly be a country that will not have people who believe in this ism. The whole world’s labour and
revolutionary movements have been influenced by Marx’s influential thinking. Therefore he is called
‘the great teacher and leader of internation’. From this view–point, Marx is this world’s not only great
but age–changing thinking. It is the claim of Stepanova that Marxism is “the polar–star that guides
humanity on the right path of Communism’.

7.1 intellectual background

‘Great teacher and leader of the international proletariat, Karl Marx was born in the town of Tieyer in
the Rhine province of Prussia on 5 May, 1818. His father, a lawyer, had embraced Chris Tianity. Marx
th
was educated in a good school of Trieyer – Trieyer Gymnasium – from 1830 to 1835. For the passing
out examination, he choose to write an essay which was title – “the thoughts of Youth on selecting
a profession”. From this essay, we realize that even at the tender age of seventeen, this youngster
thought that in the selfless service of mankind, lay his life’s fulfilment. After passing the last school

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