Marxism - what is it? Basic ideas of Marxism (briefly). Marxist theory on the origin and essence of the state

Marxism is a theory that explained the development of society and nature.

Ideas of Marxism

It outlined ideas such as the revolution of the oppressed masses, the worldwide acceptance of socialism and the creation of a society whose main ideology would be communism. Marxism was most widespread in the second half of the 19th and 20th centuries.

Economic theory

The founders of Marxism were Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Their theory is a unique continuation of classical political economy. In particular, one can observe this connection in the problem of the emergence of value, since Marxism distinguishes value from costs, and to be more precise, based on labor. This theory set out in the main work of K. Marx “Capital”, which he wrote for more than 40 years.

Research methods

Abstraction and simplification formed the basis of the study. In other words, Marx built a unique economic model. Many scientists classical school used this method, but Marx’s feature was the maximum simplification of the economic model. Next, Marx analyzed his model using deduction. Thus, he deduced the main provisions of the theory.

It is worth noting that much of Marx's work applies exclusively to macroeconomics. The above analysis applies the concept of economic equilibrium. Of course, sometimes Marx resorts to mathematical analysis, but this method has not received much development. Also, the economist does not apply marginal analysis of the economy.

Periodically, Marx resorts to considering historical development economics, that is, uses the historical method of analysis. Therefore, it cannot do without dynamic analysis.

Basic provisions of Marx's theory

Marx revealed that from the primitive production of goods aimed at their consumption, and where money is just a thing that is used in exchange, production under capitalism appears quite logically. The main goal is to make a profit. Marsk's research begins with understanding the production of goods. A product has two sides – use value and exchange value.

The first implies the possibility of satisfying a desire or need, no matter whether it is physical, social or otherwise. The second concept is the ability of a thing to be replaced in certain sizes by some other product. The proportion of exchange labor is based on the amount of labor expended, from which its ownership follows. However, we understand that the same items are produced different people, and each one spends a different amount of time on production.

Marx sees the solution to this problem in calculating the socially necessary labor costs for the production of goods, taking into account average level qualifications of producers and labor intensity, that is, the costs of the group producing most goods. Why is Marx's theory not always correct? Of course, there are no contradictions in Marxism; everything is coherent, logical and holistic.

However, the theory cannot always be applied to the real economy, since the study is based on incorrect assumptions. First of all, Marx assumes the obligatory productive use of capital, in other words, it must have no fundamental value. Marx also did not foresee that in the economy it is not always possible to maintain absolute balance and immutability. Without this it is impossible to justify labor theory cost.

Organic theory of the origin of the state

Representatives: G. Spencer (1820-1903).

Content: According to this theory, humanity arose as a result of the evolution of the animal world - from lower to higher. Further development led to the unification of people in the process natural selection, struggle with neighbors into a single organism - a state in which the government performs the functions of the brain, controls the entire organism, using, in particular, law as impulses transmitted by the brain. The lower classes implement the internal functions of the state (ensure its vital functions), and the ruling classes implement external functions (defense, attack). Thus, the state is equivalent to to the human body, as it is the result of the forces of nature. It is also endowed with independent will and consciousness. Greatest development theory received in late XIX- early 20th century

Representatives: K. Marx (1818 -1883), F. Engels (1820 - 1895), V. I. Lenin (1870 - 1924).

The state arises as a result of natural economic development primitive society. In accordance with the Marxist-Leninist approach, the decisive role in the origin of the state is given to the emergence of classes. The state arises as a product of class intransigence, as an apparatus for the suppression of other classes by the ruling class.

In accordance with the general materialist approach, the decisive importance was not the class structuring of society, but the economic development of society, the development of its productive forces and distribution relations, which required the improvement of management and led to the emergence of the state.

States of all times and types are characterized by a number of the following stable general historical signs.

1. The presence of public authority, consisting of a special system of bodies and institutions performing the functions of management and enforcement. Power is exercised by the state apparatus, which is separated from the rest of society. The methods of coming to power may be different, depending on the established form of government. These are, first of all, election, appointment and inheritance.

2. Territorial organization of the population. The population is divided based on residence in a certain territory, which facilitates management and control over public life.

3. Lawmaking - the state authorizes or issues generally binding rules of conduct, the implementation of which is ensured by government coercion.

4. State sovereignty:

a) internal – supremacy state power in relation to any other authorities and organizations within the country;

b) external – independence from other states in international relations.

5. Collection of taxes and fees to provide material support for the activities of the state.

6. State symbols – coat of arms, flag, anthem, capital.

Thus, state - this is one political organization society, which extends its power over the entire territory of the country and its population, has for this purpose a special administrative apparatus, issues orders binding on everyone and has sovereignty.

Along with the state, there are other forms of association in society and joint activities people like non-profit organizations: political parties, trade unions, movements, creative associations, etc.

Any state solves the internal problems of its society and external problems. Both may relate to the sphere of politics, economics, culture, maintaining law and order, ensuring peace, etc. The tasks of the state determine its functions.

Functions of the state – the main directions of the state’s activities, expressing its essence and social purpose.

Classification of state functions .

1. By areas of distribution: internal and external. Among internal functions It is customary to highlight the following:

- protective– protection of law and order, rights and freedoms of citizens;

-economic– formation of the state budget and control over its use; determination of general programs for the economic development of the country; stimulating the highest priority sectors of the economy;

- social– providing social assistance to members of society in need; allocation necessary funds for healthcare, education, culture;

- taxation - collection of mandatory payments by government authorities at various levels from organizations and individuals in order to financial security activities of the state and (or) municipalities.

The external functions of the state include:

- defense– protection of state sovereignty from external encroachment;

- maintaining peace and peaceful coexistence ;

- cooperation with other states(economic, political, cultural);

Joint authorization function with other states global problems modernity: energy, demographic, environmental.

Such a function of the state as environmental can be attributed to both internal and external: this manifests itself in the system state events aimed at preserving, restoring and improving natural conditions human life within the country and in international cooperation to overcome global environmental problems modernity.

2. The duration of action is constant, i.e. carried out at all stages of the existence of the state (defense, law enforcement) and temporary, i.e. carried out at certain stages of the existence of the state (for example, support for refugees; liquidation of the consequences of an accident)

The functions of the state should not be identified with the functions of its individual bodies, which have a relatively narrow, local character.

Social purpose state shows what the state does in society, determines the role of the state in society, determines the degree of state intervention in the life of society. The social purpose of the state is revealed in its tasks. Currently, we can name the following most pressing tasks of the state:

Ensuring self-preservation of society and the state;

Ensuring security and strengthening the state;

Promoting social, economic and cultural development of society;

Overcoming contradictions that exist in society (social, national, religious, etc.).

The history of the 19th century is rich in various philosophical ideas, movements that subsequently changed the entire social structure right up to the present day. Among the outstanding philosophical ideas stand as a separate doctrine (especially for our country) ideas of Marxism. The influence of the theories and philosophy of Karl Marx on world historiography is undeniable and among many prominent historical figures is considered the most outstanding in the history of society, not only in the 19th and 20th centuries, but throughout the entire period of the existence of civilization.

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The emergence of Marxism

The theory of a new economic mode of production arose as a natural phenomenon production processes and the economic structure of Europe at that time.

The emergence and significant spread of a new class - workers in factories and plants - significantly changed the type of social and.

The development of capitalism was expressed in the active exploitation of workers starting in the 30s of the 19th century. This phenomenon was accompanied not by an improvement in the standard of living of the working class, but by the desire to obtain as much profit as possible and increase production productivity. Capitalism, with its main goal of making profit, did not take into account the rights and needs exploited class.

The social structure itself and the presence of insoluble contradictions between classes required the emergence new theory relationships in society. This is Marxism. Followers of Marx naturally were called Marxists. The most famous followers of this movement were V.I. Lenin, I.V. Stalin, Mao Zedong, F. Castro. All these politicians contributed to the active development of the idea of ​​Marxism in society and the construction of socialism in many countries.

Attention! Marxism is the primacy of economic relations over all other aspects of development public relations– materialism.

Philosophy of Marxism

Marx's ideas were consolidated in the mid-19th century. It was an era of rapid development of capitalism, a giant leap forward in German industry (Karl Marx was German) and increasing complexity public relations between different segments of the population.

As a bright and unsurpassed philosopher, Marx consolidated the basic principles of the theory in his work "Capital".

This work consolidated the basic ideas of materialism and economic justification a new social system that subsequently changed the world - communism. Classical Marxism was characterized by special postulates. Basic the provisions of Marxism are brief and clear:

• The thinker's teachings were based on the materialism of society. This theory meant the primacy of matter before consciousness, and is a purely philosophical category for understanding existence. However, not excluding, but supplementing its views with theories of dialectics in the future, the philosophy of Marxism acquired a materialistic-dialectical character.
• The division of society is not into social groups and classes, as was previously accepted in most sociological teachings, but into strata, that is, classes. It was Karl Marx the first to introduce this concept, as a type of division of the entire social structure. This term is closely related to materialism, and is expressed in a different classification of social relations between various representatives of society. The sociology of Marxism in this teaching is understood, first of all, by two main types - the class of workers (exploited) and the class of capitalists (exploiters) and the interaction between them on the basis of commodity-money conditions;
• A new way of understanding economic relations between classes, based on dialectical materialism, as the application of production relations of a new formation (with the direct participation of workers).
• Economy makes up society. It is economic (production relations) are the basis for the whole society, the primary source human relations. Simply put, commodity-money and production relations between people (production, distribution, sale) are the most important thing in relations between different classes and layers of people. This postulate was subsequently consolidated and actively developed in a new doctrine - economic communism.

Division into economic formations

One of the most important postulates in Marx’s teaching was the division of the entire historical period of human development into several main economic and production formations.

Some historians called them classes, some stratification.

But this did not change the meaning - the basis of economic philosophies is the division of people into classes.

It is also noteworthy that the formations are based on the principle of production of goods, devices on the basis of which society developed. It is customary to highlight 6 such formations:

• Primitive communal system. The very first historical period of development human society. With the formation of the initial period of accumulation, there is no division into any classes or estates. All property of the community (collective) is universal and does not have a specific owner. At the same time, taking into account only the initial stage of development of human society, the tools of extraction and production were at a purely primitive level and did not allow producing or collecting enough products other than those necessary only for survival. This formation was named primitive communism It was precisely because property was in the hands of the community and there was no exploitation of the population that the whole society participated in gathering.
• Asian formation. Also such a period in history sometimes called the state-communal system, since subsequently, with the development of mining tools and the improvement of production methods, people managed to obtain a surplus product, that is, accumulation took place in society and surplus values ​​began to appear. In order to distribute products and exercise centralized control, a management class began to emerge in society, which performed only management functions and was not involved in the direct production of products. Subsequently he (nobility, priests, part of the army) formed the elite of the state. This formation also differs from the previous one in the presence and appearance of such a concept as private property, subsequently it was under this formation that centralized states and an apparatus of control and coercion began to appear. This meant the economic and subsequently political consolidation of population stratification and the emergence of inequality, which served as prerequisites for the emergence of a new formation.
• Slave system. Characterized by strong social stratification and further improvement of mining tools. The accumulation of initial capital ended, and the size of the additional product increased, which led to the emergence of a new class of people - slaves. The position of slaves differed in different states, but the common thing was complete lack of rights. It was during this era that the idea of ​​the exploited class as mute instruments for carrying out the will of the masters was formed. Despite the fact that it was slaves who were engaged in production in that era, they did not have any property and did not receive any privileges or dividends from the work performed.
• Feudalism. A period in history that distinguished by the appearance of different classes, however, the main division was no longer between slaves and masters, but into dependent peasants and representatives of the nobility and clergy. During this period, the dependence of the peasants was legislatively consolidated, however, during this era, the peasants had a minimum set of rights and received a small part of the product they produced.
• – characterized by significant development of the means of production and the development of social relations. At that time there is a significant stratification of society and distributed benefits in social structure. Appears new class- workers who, having public consciousness, will and self-perception do not have social rights and are alienated from the distribution and use of basic public goods. The capitalist class is small in number, but at the same time dictates its will and enjoys the absolute majority of the additional product. Power is reformed and transformed from the power of the monarchy, as in the period of feudalism to various forms elective Also, the situation of workers was distinguished by the impossibility of accumulating initial capital without forced labor;
• Communism – highest form development of society. The essence of this formation was that the means of production should reach a level at which all property, regardless of its value, becomes public (general), however, the level of production can meet the needs of all citizens. Classes disappear with this formation, all people have the same rights and social status while performing its function. These were the main features of the communist system.

Important! No one in history has managed to achieve communism, despite numerous attempts by various states, which is why it is often called a utopia.

What is Marxism, briefly

Philosophy and approaches of Marxism

Conclusion

The emergence and subsequent development of Marxism served as one of the clear reasons for global social changes in the life of mankind. With the advent of the USSR, Marx’s theories received their applied significance, which were improved and within 70 years our the country was moving towards building communism, however, such attempts were unsuccessful. Overall, Marx's ideas had a positive impact on the condition of workers around the world, despite social order, and forced the capitalists to improve their social status, albeit to a small extent.

Marxism is a philosophical, political and economic doctrine developed by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels with the goal of transforming society and its transition to a more high level of its development. Marxism is not just an ideology or a unique view of the world, it is an entire scientifically based doctrine that explains the development of society and the possibility of transition to new model social relations - communism. The popularity of this teaching today is very insignificant, but its followers actually predetermined the history of the entire twentieth century. Marxism will be briefly described in this article.

Karl Marx as the founder of the doctrine

The author of the theory, which followers would call Marxism, was the German journalist, economist and philosopher Karl Heinrich Marx. The public figure was born in the city of Trier in 1818, had brilliant abilities in science, and in 1841 he graduated from the University of Berlin, so to speak, as an external student. At the age of 23 he defended his doctoral dissertation in ancient philosophy. Was interested in the teachings of the classics German philosophy G. Hegel, who was an idealist. Over time, Marx took a materialist position, but borrowed the philosophical method of dialectics from Hegel. Thus, the theory of Marxism appeared, the provisions of which were initially spelled out in the Manifesto Communist Party"(1848). Peru this brilliant thinker And public figure The following works belong to him: “Capital”, “German Ideology”, “Critique of the Gotha Program”, “Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts”. Karl Marx died on March 14, 1883 in London.

Sources of Marxism

Marxism is complete system views on everything social processes. But this system can be divided conditionally and its main components, as well as sources, can be determined. The famous Russian revolutionary Marxist V.I. Lenin in one of his works identified three sources on which the ideas of Marxism are based.

English political economy

Marx's teaching is, first of all, a teaching about economic theory. Therefore, the source of this teaching is economic ideas that precede Marxism, including English political economy. Adam Smith and David Rickard laid the foundation for modern political economy by creating the labor theory of value. K. Marx took the works of English economists as the basis for his theory.

German classical philosophy

In the idealistic dialectic of Georg Hegel, Marx saw the basis of his philosophical thinking. But after reading the works of Ludwig Feuerbach, the philosopher begins to understand that the idealistic position is very shaky and is not even correct. Marx develops a new method, combining the philosophy of materialism and dialectics. As he himself stated, “We have turned Hegel’s dialectic upside down...”.

Utopian socialist thought

Long before the advent of Marxism in Europe, there were many utopian teachings. Their representatives tried to find a way out of the current situation of total social injustice. Among the more famous utopian socialists are Robert Owen, Charles Fourier, Henri Saint-Simon and others. Karl Marx critically analyzed their works and brought socialist thought from the utopian stage to the scientific stage.

Thus, the comprehensiveness of the theory gave it enormous popularity. The development of Marxism was determined by a broad labor movement during the birth of political ideology.

Basic postulates of the theory of Karl Marx

In Marxism it is almost impossible to single out an idea that could be considered fundamental. Marxism is a multifaceted, clearly structured teaching.

Dialectical materialism

The entire teaching of Marxism is built on the philosophical position of materialism, the main position of which is the assertion that matter in relation to consciousness is primary. Consciousness is just the property of organized matter to reflect reality. But consciousness as such is not matter, it only reflects it and also changes it.

Materialistic dialectics considers the world around us as a whole, where absolutely all phenomena and objects are interconnected. Everything in this world is constantly in constant motion and change, birth and death.

The theory of Marxism understands by dialectics general patterns and the development of nature, human thought and society.

Fundamental to the philosophy of Marxism (dialectical materialism) are three dialectical laws: the unity and struggle of opposites, the transition of quantitative changes into qualitative ones, and the negation of negation.

Materialistic understanding of history

Marxism views man not as something separate, but as a social being, as a product of social relations and connections. All types human activity They create a person only insofar as he himself creates them.

The principles of historical materialism are as follows:

• primacy material life over cultural life;
• production relations are fundamental in any society;
• the whole history of human society is the history of the struggle of classes (that is, some social groups with others);
• recognition that history is a constantly moving process of changing socio-economic formations (primitive, slaveholding, feudal, capitalist).

In every socio-economic formation there is a class of oppressors and a class of the oppressed. These antagonistic classes are defined by their relation to the means of production (land - under feudalism, plants and factories - under capitalism). Under the capitalist formation, there is a bourgeois class and a class of wage workers (proletariat). Classes are in constant struggle and, as Marx envisioned, the proletariat must overthrow the exploiters and establish its own dictatorship. As a result, a new just society and the next social formation should arise - communism. It should be noted that Marxism is not always communism; many use this teaching not for political, but for scientific purposes.

Political economy of Marxism

The political economy of Marxism studies historical, successive modes of social production, or the system of production relations. All ideas of Marxism, and political economy is no exception, are built on a dialectical understanding of the nature of society.

The central theme of K. Marx's criticism in the field of economics was the theme of the capitalist mode of production. Marx dedicated his work to this concept and its study. main work- “Capital”. In the work he revealed the basic laws of existence modern society and criticized them as inhumane and exploitative. It is quite difficult to challenge this position of Marx to this day. Many people are forced to work day after day in order not to die of hunger, while others live from this work and practically do not work themselves.

We have examined Marxism briefly, and many of its provisions have been ignored. But it is already quite clear that this is not only not an empty and utopian doctrine, but a whole scientific method for solving many social contradictions. Marxism is not the dogma of Soviet textbooks, it is a living, dynamically developing thought. In the West and in Russia, many intellectuals adhere to the teachings of Karl Marx and his many successors.