Karl Marx: Grounding Hegel’s View of History

I've written about Hegel's view of history in previous posts in this blog with Title Hegel dan Sejarah yang Terus Saja Begitu. Little thing that I wrote earlier that Hegel's view of history rested on a dialectical view. He simpled history with term; thesis, antithesis and synthesis. For more you can read directly to my previous post. But now, in this paper I try to give a little of what I read about Karl Marx.

I'm not saying that I know and understand a lot thing exactly about Marx's thinking. And this is just a small note, only small note, from book that i read about Marx. Before going any further, in this articel I am not trying to write down all Marx's thinking because, i know this one short article that i will share here not be enough to break down the various dimensions in Marx's view. So this short article gives a little view or at least a flash of Marx thought in looking at the phenomenon of history.

When we hear Karl Marx we will be immediately drawn to terms such as revolution, socialism, critic for capitalism, or an ideology used by social movements, in other times called the revolution.

Genealogically, Marx thought is another form of the dialectical view introduced by Hegel (though not yet a student of Hegel) that I wrote on this blog before. Hegel argues that nature is governed by a certain law which is dialectically understood. A thing has a negative element that interacts one another into a higher form which is then called Synthesis. The dialectic method used by Hegel is the basis of an event and the continuation of human history. As a whole philosophy explains the dialectical pattern in an event of the thesis, antithesis and synthesis.

Hegel's philosophy of the dialectical view has had a profound effect on Marx's conception of history. I can even be said to be the basis of Marx's conception of history. Marx's view of history is different from Hegel. Marx is one step closer to Materialism than Hegel's more Idealist. Marx understood that all sensual perceptions are a central reality. Marx's view, known as dialectical Materialism, rests on the view that matter is an essential reality that always occurs in the process of change. The changes and conflicts happen in the real world and can be observed. This view of course we can see and understand different from Hegel who considers that the contradictions occurred in ideas that he called the concept. In this case it can be said that Marx did the grounding of Hegel's view of history becoming more realistic and more concrete in life.

Grounding Hegel's view about history, Marx begins to enter into human existence in life. A man, according to Marx view, keep trying to distinguish himself from animals by making or producing differentiation between them such as language and any physical form. Humans are the product of the products that they produce themselves. Change continues to be done in an attempt to distinguish himself from others. Change keeps on going and keeps growing to make the distance between one and the other. Human capabilities are different, some of them attain to a state that makes it better than others and the others in a state more subordinate to the other. This understanding is understood as a social class in Marx's terminology.

The social class of society existing in Marx's terminology is the driving force of history. The interaction between classes is an ongoing process of history. The lower classes (ploretars) continue to strive to the up grade and the upper classes (bourgeoisie) keep trying to ascend the class or at least not down to the lower class. The way that can be done by pressing and blocking the lower class to ride. This fact will continue with the course of human history. Because in Marx's view, the interaction between the lower and upper classes is the historical driving force that continues in the journey of human life.

Then a question arises. When will the interaction end? When does history end? What is the ultimate goal of Marx's philosophy of history. In simple terms, what is the ultimate goal of the journey of human life in a Marx perspective?. According to Marx, human history will end when there is no more conflict between classes. according to his human history aimed at the word freedom, melting human beings without the existence of a segment of society class. And in Marx view of History will come to its final destination when there is no longer a society divided by class. The birth of a freedom and it is the birth of a classless society.

Sketch by @ajibskr

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