The Ideas of Karl Marx and The Communist Manifesto Essay -- Karl Marx

The Ideas of Karl Marx and The Communist Manifesto It has been shown by many historians, scientists, and psychologists that people are affected by the world around them. This is exactly what caused Karl Marx to write his Communist Manifesto. The living conditions of the working class-his proletariat, as well as that of the bourgeoisie (the upper class) must have had a profound effect on his views and ideals. In France the living conditions spawned from the actions of the current economy and ruling body. Some of these conditions included poor waste management and the spreading of diseases.[1] Enlightenment ideas developing in France brought him to the theory of socialism, a radical change to self-rule. While maybe not as influential as his Communist Manifesto, Enlightenment ideas also begged Marx to answer questions about what it means to be human. He came up with an answer to go with these questions and he put those answers in his revolutionary Communist Manifesto. Marx’s conceptions of what it means to be h uman were in direct correlation to the world in which he was living in. The proletariat, bourgeoisie, economy, ruling body, and Enlightenment all affected the views he had on what it meant to be human. A small historical background on Marx is beneficial to understanding the views he holds. Marx was born in 1818 during the destabilizing effects of Industrial Revolution and by the ideological and political forces unleashed by the Enlightenment and the French Revolution. His commitment to radical social change and atheism were still unpopular to the authorities of his home, Trier, Prussia. Marx then moved to France, where he married his childhood friend, Jenny von Westphalen, daughter to ... ...Charles H. Kerr Publishing Company, 1989. [1] Friedrich Engels, The Condition of the Working-Class in England in 1844. (London: Swan Sonnenschein & Co., 1892), 45. [2] Lawrence J. Flockerzie and others. Sources from the Humanities: History & Religious Studies. 1st ed. Dayton: University of Dayton, 1999. [3] Dennis Sherman, Joyce Salisbury. The West in the World. (Boston: McGraw Hill), 2: 616. [4] Karl Marx, The Manifesto of the Communist Party. Translated by Samuel Moore. (Chicago: Charles H. Kerr Publishing Company, 1989), 16. [5] Karl Marx, The Manifesto of the Communist Party. Translated by Samuel Moore. (Chicago: Charles H. Kerr Publishing Company, 1989), 13. [6] Karl Marx, The Manifesto of the Communist Party. Translated by Samuel Moore. (Chicago: Charles H. Kerr Publishing Company, 1989), 35.