by Christina Pomoni

Created on: September 22, 2008

One of the most important philosophers of the 19th century, Karl Marx was also an historian, sociologist and economist. He was the philosopher, who influenced more than anyone else the practical politics. However, all his ideas should not be uncontrollably considered what was baptized "Marxism" after his death. For Marx, historians claims that he became a "Marxist" in 1845 and that in whole his life he disliked this characterization. In the configuration of what was later named "Marxism" considerably contributed from the beginning his friend and fellow student Friedrich Engels. During the 20th century, Lenin, Stalin, Mao and many others claimed that they contributed in the development of Marxism. In the Eastern countries, after Lenin's emergence, they developed the movement of "Marxism-Leninism".

Marx was not a philosophical materialist like the individualists of antiquity and mechanic materialists of the 17th and 18th century. He had, however, the opinion that the material conditions of existence in a society are those that shape our thought and our conscience and that are decisive for the historical development. Also, he believed that the intellectual progress of a society is not a condition for the development of material conditions of existence. On the contrary, the material conditions of existence determine the intellectual situation of society. The economic forces in a society cause changes in all the sectors of social life and influence the wheel of history.

According to Marx, the material, economic and social conditions in a society are the base of the society, while its perceptions, way of thinking, political system, laws, religion, ethics, arts, philosophy and science are the structure of the society. The base and the structure influence one another. Society is divided in three levels. Under is what Marx calls the natural conditions of production, meaning the conditions determined from the nature. These constitute the foundations of the society and set evident and explicit limits in regards to the production of society and henceforth in regards to the civilization that the society will develop. The middle level is what Marx calls the productive forces. Here Marx classifies the working force of man, machines and means of production. In the top level, Marx identifies the conditions of production meaning who possesses the means of production in a society and how the work is organised. According to Marx the production system of a society determines its

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