Historical conditions for the emergence of Marxism

Marxism as a system of philosophical, economic and socio-political views arose in the middle of the 19th century, its founders were the German scientists Karl Marx (1818-1883) and Friedrich Engels (1820-1895).

Marxism is a direction economic theory, the purpose of which is to study the laws of capitalism and determine its historical place, "the discovery of the economic law of motion modern society". The emergence of Marxism as an integral theoretical system reflecting the interests of the proletariat was prepared by the entire course of the development of society, preceding the development of capitalism.

The material prerequisite for the formation of Marxism is the development of productive forces and further changes in the system of production relations of capitalism.

The industrial revolution that took place at the beginning of the 19th century, first in England and then in other countries of Western Europe, led to the fact that the basis of the economy was machine production, the rapid growth of factories, plants, a change in the old forms of production relations, the class structure of society. The development of machine production in the early stages caused a deterioration in the position of the working class and an aggravation of the contradictions between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie, which manifested itself in the uprising of the Lyon weavers in Germany (1844).

The aggravation of social and economic contradictions predetermined the need to rethink a number of provisions of economic theory, which were associated with industrial revolution social progress and the growth of the well-being of the people. The deepening of the contradictions of capitalism and the inability of the old bourgeois economic theories to find ways to resolve them are also prerequisites for the formation of Marxism. In addition, the proletariat entered the arena of historical struggle, and its class struggle against the bourgeoisie in the most developed countries of Europe came to the fore. There was a need for a theoretical substantiation of the economic and political demands of the working class. These tasks were realized by Marxism. The creative heritage of the founders of this doctrine includes several dozen volumes, among which the priority belongs to the four-volume "Capital" by K. Marx. The first volume of "Capital" was published in 1867. After the death of K. Marx, F. Engels edited volumes II and III, Volume IV was published by the leader of the German Social Democracy K. Kautsky in 1905-1910 and is called The Theory of Surplus Value.

The creative heritage of K. Marx has much in common with the achievements of his predecessors in the "classical" school of economic thought, especially A. Smith and D. Ricardo. K. Marx also belongs to the classics of political economy, who brought the science of wealth production to perfection.

Subject political economy K. Marx, like all the classics, considered the historical study of the problems of the sphere of production. Only the production relations of people in relation to production, he gives a class character and considers them from the standpoint of the interests of the proletariat, substantiating its historical mission.

5.2. Methodology of K. Marx

According to K. Marx himself, as a scientist, methodologically, he proceeded simultaneously from three scientific sources: English classical political economy of A. Smith and D. Ricardo, German classical philosophy of Hegel and Feuerbach and French utopian socialism.

From other directions and schools of economic theory, the Marxist school differs, first of all, in the peculiarity of its methodology. One of them is the historical approach to the analysis of the studied phenomena and processes.

Marx's historicism lies in the conclusion that capitalism will inevitably be replaced by a more progressive social system. However, in the works of K. Marx and F. Engels, criticism did not turn into a complete denial of the achievements of bourgeois science. On the contrary, the scientific elements of existing theories have been preserved and developed.

The representatives of the classical school of political economy borrowed and creatively developed the labor theory of value, the provisions of the law of the downward trend in the rate of profit, productive labor, etc.

Critical analysis was carried out on the basis of the method of materialistic dialectics.

Materialism, as a direction of philosophy, was known in antiquity and as a method of cognition proceeds from the primacy of the material and the secondary nature of the spiritual.

The dialectical approach, in addition to the principle of historicism, presupposes, according to K. Marx, the clarification of the causes of the emergence, evolution and disappearance of phenomena, the development from simple to complex, from lower to higher, in the study of the transition from concrete to abstract, the presence in them of contradictory principles, which seemed to be class interests of the proletariat and the bourgeoisie.

The name of K. Marx is associated with the widespread use of the abstraction method, by means of which the most typical, stable essential features of a phenomenon are singled out, categories and laws of science are formed.

The method of abstraction involves, in the study, a distraction from secondary phenomena, the selection of the main, essential and its analysis. So, when analyzing the structure of class society under capitalism, K. Marx singled out two main classes of this society - the proletariat and the bourgeoisie, abstracting at this stage of the study from the other classes and social groups society.

In the theory of K. Marx, such an element as a systematic analysis is manifested. Empirical, statistical, mathematical methods play the role of auxiliary tools of knowledge. This set of methodological principles of analysis was used by K. Marx in the development of his economic doctrine.

K. Marx defined the subject of economic economy as a science that studies the production relations of people and the laws of their development. The creative heritage of K. Marx has much in common with the achievements of his predecessors in the "classical school" of economic thought, especially A. Smith and D. Ricardo. K. Marx, like all classics, considered the priority study of production to be the subject of political economy. In his words, political economy, beginning with W. Petty, explores the internal dependencies of bourgeois relations of production.

Thus, political economy, as defined by K. Marx, in the broadest sense is the science of the laws that govern the production and exchange of material, vital goods in human society. The subject of political economy are relations of production, that is, certain economic relations between people that arise in the process of production, distribution, exchange and consumption of material goods and services.

History of Economic Doctrines: Marxism. Economic views of K. Marx. Proof of the labor theory of value.

One of the most interesting trends in economic thought in the second half of the nineteenth century is Marxism, which can be seen as a kind of development of classical political economy. This applies both to the problems studied by Marxist theory and to the methodology

The founder of this doctrine is Karl Marx (1818-1883), a German economist, journalist and philosopher. Taking the statements of Smith and Ricardo as the starting point of his research that the value of all commodities is based on the amount of labor spent on their production, K. Marx tried to create a coherent theory describing the laws of functioning and development of the capitalist economic system. However, Karl Marx failed to complete his theory before his death...

Marx outlined his ideas in the well-known work "Capital", which he wrote for 40 years, and only the first volume was published during the author's lifetime (1864), the remaining volumes were edited by Marx's friend and colleague F. Engels.

Let us say in more detail about the method of economic research by K. Marx and the prerequisites he made. First, the basis of Marx's method was abstraction and simplification; i.e., one might say, the construction of an economic model. Other representatives of the classical school also built simplified models, but Marx built the most simplified model of the economy for his theoretical constructions. Secondly, Marx analyzed the resulting model by deducting the structure of the provisions of his theory. Thirdly, Marx's analysis is mainly macroeconomic in nature, and it uses the concept of equilibrium in the economy. In some places, K. Marx uses the mathematical analysis of his models, but his mathematical method is not developed, in particular, Marx does not use the limiting analysis of the economy. In some of his constructions, Marx uses the historical method of economic analysis, i.e. examines the history of the economy in development. This causes him to occasionally apply dynamic model analysis.

Karl Marx showed how from simple commodity production, the purpose of which is consumption, and where money is only an intermediary in exchange, capitalist production follows quite logically, where the goal is the increase of money, profit. Like the representatives of classical political economy, Marx distinguishes between two aspects of a commodity: use value and exchange value.. The first is understood as the ability of a thing to satisfy any human need, regardless of whether it is caused by "stomach or fantasy", the second - the ability of a thing to be exchanged in certain proportions for another commodity. Marx argues that the proportions of exchange are based on the costs of labor, which determine the value of the commodity. But it is quite obvious that a homogeneous commodity is produced by various commodity producers and each of them spends different amount time to produce a unit of goods. However, the proportion of the exchange of this product for others in the market will be the same. Marx answers that the value of a commodity will be determined by the costs of the group that produces the bulk of the output. To illustrate this point, the following example can be given. Suppose there are three groups of commodity producers who produce a certain product at different costs:

Group 1 - the cost of producing a unit of goods - 4 hours,

Group 2 - the cost of producing a unit of goods - 6 hours,

Group 3 - the cost of producing a unit of goods - 10 hours.

Suppose that the group that produces the vast majority of products is the second group of commodity producers, whose costs are equal to 6 hours, and it is their costs that will determine the proportions of the exchange of this product for other goods. What will happen to the first and second group of commodity producers? The first will receive in exchange more than they spent, that is, enrich themselves, the second - less, that is, go bankrupt. Next, we need to turn to the logic of A. Smith, to his concept of selfish interest as the main engine of economic development and the condition for the prosperity of the nation. The natural desire to receive additional income will push commodity producers of the second and third groups to reduce labor costs for the production of goods, that is, to increase labor productivity. How? The best organization of labor, the introduction of new processing methods, etc. Let's assume it succeeded. But what's the bottom line? The vast majority of production will be produced at a cost equal to 4 hours, and it is they who will determine the proportions of the exchange. This means nothing more than a reduction in the price of this product relative to others. Could there be a better illustration of Smith's position on the beneficence of self-interest. After all, it is he who makes people improve production, contributes to the development of the productive forces of society. But this is only one side of the coin. The reverse side is the stratification of commodity producers. In our example, the third group of commodity producers, whose costs exceed the socially necessary ones, go bankrupt. Critics of the capitalist mode of production, in particular S. Sismondi, paid attention to this process. However, it should be noted that this is the inevitable price of technological progress. It was Marx who first clearly formulated this position.

Note that Marx himself, having stated the ruin of the second group of producers, did not deduce from this that these producers would leave the market, which would lead to a decrease in production and an increase in the price of goods. As a result, it will turn out that the price is determined by the marginal producer, and not by the average one.

Having pointed out that the value of commodities is equal to the average amount of labor expended on production, Marx thereby proves that in production that does not require tools or an object of labor, the value is equal to the amount of labor expended. alive labor. Those. there can be no profit here. After this, Marx argues that the value of the means of production is also equal to the amount of labor expended on them. And in the process of production reified in the means of production, labor is transferred to the product. Since profit cannot arise with such a transfer, profit should not arise under the capitalist mode of production either (i.e., capital should not be a factor of production).

But where does the profit come from then? K. Marx claims that it is a product of exploitation, i.e. robbery of the working class by the capitalist class. The cause of exploitation for Marx is the separation of the direct producer from the means of production. As a result, the direct producer, i.e. the worker is forced to sell his labor power, the value of which is lower than the value created by the worker in the labor process. The cost of labor power is lower than the cost of labor because the first is determined by the cost of reproduction of the worker, and the second is determined by the productivity of labor, which, by the way, increases with the growth of the capital-labor ratio. Those. will increase with the development of capitalism.

Economic theory of K. Marx

One of the greatest philosophers and economists of the 19th century in terms of its influence on social thought. was Karl Marx (1818-1883). He was a lawyer by training, a journalist and a professional revolutionary by occupation. His closest assistant and co-author of a number of his works was Friedrich Engels (1820-1895). A certain milestone in the life of Marx were 1847-1848. By this time, his philosophical theory of historical materialism had already been developed. In 1847, with the participation of Marx and Engels, the International Union of Communists (the forerunner of the First International) was organized, for which Marx and Engels wrote the programmatic work Manifesto of the Communist Party (1848). After the European Revolution of 1848, Marx and Engels moved to England, where they lived until the end of their days. Here Marx finally set about developing his economic theory. In the late 1850s he prepared the first version of his main work Capital and in 1859 published the first short edition of this work under the title On a Critique of Political Economy. But then Marx stopped publication, deciding to finalize the manuscript. Two more draft versions of Capital were written, until finally, in 1867, the first volume appeared, the only one published during Marx's lifetime. The second and third volumes of Capital were published by Engels in 1885 and 1894 based on Marx's drafts. Subject and method The subject of study in the economic theory of Marx, like all representatives of classical political economy, was the sphere of production. Marx attached such paramount importance to it that he called all economic relations production relations. The method was based on his philosophical theory of historical materialism. Marx's materialistic approach to social relations was as follows. Marx calls a certain set of social relations "social formation". The "basis" of these social relations, he considers the economy, which, in turn, is determined by the level of development of technology ("productive forces"). All social relations that are not related to economic (political, cultural, etc.) are a "superstructure" over the "basis". Thus, technology ("productive forces") determines the nature of the economy ("relations of production"), and the economy determines the nature of all other social relations. At the same time, unlike other representatives of classical political economy, who considered certain social (and economic) relations to be “natural” (capitalist, small-scale or socialist), Marx used a historical approach, arguing that social formations naturally replace each other in a revolutionary way. True, the idea of ​​“naturalness” is still present in him latently, since the communist formation is the last and final in his scheme. Marx used his theory of social formations to prove the historically transient nature of the capitalist economy, which, in his opinion, will inevitably have to be replaced by a socialist economy. Basic theoretical provisions Just like Mill, Marx systematized the theoretical provisions developed by previous representatives of classical political economy. The structure of "Capital" was as follows. In the first two volumes, Marx dealt with capitalist industry, with the first volume dealing with the problems of production and the second with the problems of circulation. In the third volume, the spheres of trade, credit and agriculture are connected to the consideration. In addition, in all sections of Marx's economic research there is a "super task" - to show the "unfair", exploitative essence of the capitalist economy as proof of the need to eliminate it. 1. Cost. In his study, Marx resorts to a special methodological device - the consideration of economic categories with varying degrees of abstraction. In particular, in the first two volumes, value is considered in the most general view as a result of labor costs of the worker. Marx divides value into three parts: "constant capital" (c), i.e. the cost of material costs, "variable capital" (v), i.e. the cost of labor power, and "surplus value" (m). The division of capital into fixed and variable was new; before Marx there was only a division into fixed and working capital. The appropriation by the capitalist of the "surplus value" created by the workers, Marx calls "exploitation". The ratio of the income of the capitalist to the income of the workers m/v he calls the "rate of surplus value" and an indicator of the degree of exploitation of the workers. In the third volume, Marx introduces a new concept - the "price of production", interpreting it as a converted form of value. It consists of the cost of purchasing means of production and labor and the average profit for all industries. The concept of "price of production" has sparked a debate among economists. Recall that after Smith, the theory of labor value and the theory of value determined by costs were opposed within the framework of classical political economy. Therefore, after the release of the third volume of "Capital", a statement appeared about the contradiction between the first and third volumes of "Capital", since different theories of value are used there - labor theory and cost theory. The Marxists (Marx himself had already died by the time the third volume of Capital was published) responded by repeating that one category is a transformed form of another; the famous German economist W. Sombart argued that labor value is only a logical prerequisite for the real concept of value, determined by costs, but in general the discussion did not have a large scope, since classical political economy had already left the stage. Among other economic categories of "Capital", modern economic science considers the biggest contribution Marx's theory of social reproduction and the theory of intersectoral competition and the overflow of capital. 2. Social reproduction. In his theory of social reproduction, Marx returned to scientific circulation the problem of the redistribution of the gross national product, the study of which was begun in F. Quesnay's "Economic Table" and lost due to the advent of "Smith's dogma". In contrast to the three-sector model, Quesnay Marx built a two-sector model, dividing the sphere of production into the production of means of production, i.e. elements of constant capital, and the production of consumer goods for workers and capitalists, and derived a formula for the exchange between sectors of that part of the product that goes beyond intra-sector turnover. I(c + v + t) - the cost of the product of sector I. II(c + v + t) - the cost of the product of sector II. In physical terms, the product of sector I is intended for Ic and IIc, therefore, after replenishment of Ic, the remaining product of sector I, equal in value to I(v + m), is sent to sector II to replenish PS. The result is a formula for the exchange of sectors I and II: I(v + m) = IIc. Another difference between Marx's theory and Quesnay's "table" was that Quesnay considered only simple reproduction, while Marx presented both simple and extended reproduction. Marx's schemes of expanded social reproduction are, in fact, the first model of economic growth. 3. Intersectoral competition and capital outflow. Marx introduced the concept of inter-industry competition, which, unlike intra-industry competition, is not competition for the sale of homogeneous goods, but competition for the most profitable investment capitals. Here (in the third volume of "Capital") Marx no longer operates with the concept of "surplus value", but with its "transformed form" - "profit". Since different branches of the national economy have different rates of return, i.e. the ratio of profit to advanced capital (m/c + v), then capital flows from less profitable industries to more profitable ones. This is reflected in the fact that enterprises in less profitable industries are closed, and new ones are built in more profitable ones. As a result, in less profitable industries, supply decreases, while prices and profits rise, while in more profitable industries, the opposite process occurs. In general, the economy tends to form an average profit for all industries.

Introduction

1. Economic theory of K. Marx

2. Criticism of Marx's theory

3. The intellectual significance of Marxism

4. Features of the application of the theory of K. Marx in the conditions of the financial crisis

Conclusion

List of used literature

Introduction

The relevance of studying this topic is directly related to the growing interest in the theoretical heritage of K. Marx at the present stage of economic development.

The global financial crisis around the world caused an unprecedented surge of interest in the main work of Karl Marx. In Great Britain and Germany, for example, the demand for "Capital" for Lately tripled. Throughout Europe, the book is published by publishing houses that do not share the principles of Marxism.

In Japan, a comic book based on "Capital" got into the bestseller list, and in China, a fundamental creation will be put into the language of song and dance. Meanwhile, on the pages of capitalist newspapers more and more often appear positive reviews of the doctrine that rejects private property in the name of the human good.

The Guardian opines that communism is perhaps a viable alternative to capitalism in today's economic climate.

Based on the foregoing, the purpose of this work is the need to characterize the main provisions of the teachings of K. Marx and the possibility of its application in the current conditions of the financial crisis.

The object of the study is the development of the financial crisis in the current conditions of economic development.

The subject of the study is the main provisions of the theory of Marxism:

Means of production - a unique product, a higher-level function of labor, allowing the production of a new product. For the production of a new product, a service force is also needed - labor force.

capitalism, there is a process of alienation of the main working mass from the means of production and, consequently, from the results of labor. The main commodity - the means of production - is concentrated in the hands of a few owners.

The value of the product produced by the labor force is higher than the value of its labor (wages), the difference between them, according to Marx, is surplus value, part of which goes into the pocket of the capitalist, part is invested in new means of production, in order to obtain even greater surplus value in the future.

The founders of Marxist philosophy saw a way out of this situation in the establishment of new, socialist (communist) socio-economic relations.

1 . Economic theory of K. Marx

Karl Marx was born in Germany, where he received a philosophical education, but most of his independent life was spent in exile: first in France and Belgium, then in England, where he lived and worked from 1849.

Marx's ideas had a powerful impact on many areas of social science - history, sociology, political science, political economy

Based on these ideas, influential political parties and social movements that had a significant impact on the history of the 20th century. In the Soviet Union, a simplified version of Marxism was used as the basis of state ideology; in China, it still fulfills this role today.

For Marx, economic theory was never an end in itself. He turned to her as a social philosopher who was looking for the springs of social development in the economy.

This happened in the 40s of the 19th century, when classical political economy was synonymous with economic science, although the highest point in its development had already passed, and the epigones set the tone in it. Marx was not satisfied with what he found in the economic literature, and this prompted him to his own political and economic research.

He considered his theory as an alternative to the classical school, however, in historical retrospect, it was Marxism that turned out to be the most consistent guardian of its intellectual tradition in the 20th century.

The combination of continuity and originality in Marx's economic thought reflected the main feature of its origin: it was formed as a synthesis of the political economy of D. Ricardo and the philosophy of G. Hegel.

In his conception of the economy as an object of knowledge, Marx followed Ricardo; in his approach to understanding this object, he was guided by the Hegelian method.

The theory is based on reproduction schemes - abstract theoretical models built on a number of simplifying assumptions.

In the very way definition of value is the first fundamental feature of the theory of K. Marx.

Cost of goods breaks up, according to Marx, into three parts, of which only one has a direct equivalent in Smith's price formula:

where c is the cost of constant capital, corresponding to the cost of the means of production used up in the production of this commodity;

v - costs of variable capital, corresponding to the costs of wages workers;

m is the surplus value, which is the final income of the capitalists themselves.

While the standard division of capital into fixed and circulating associated with the way capital costs are recovered in the price of the product.

Within the framework of the economic theory of K. Marx, the division of capital into constant and variable follows from his theory of surplus value.

Permanent Capital – it is a part of the capital, the value of which is reproduced in the price of the product in a constant amount - we are talking about capital costs for the means of production, whether it be equipment or raw materials and materials.

Variable capital - it is the portion of capital advanced to hire labor; it is this part of the capital that draws into production the living labor of the workers, the source of all newly created value, and thereby ensures not only the covering of the corresponding capital outlays, but also the increment of the original capital value.

Thus, for standard capital in the sphere of production, the following relation will be valid:

Rice. 1 Capital structure

Secondly, The economy is divided into two sectors: the production of means of production and the production of consumer goods, within which the entire social product is created. Thus, the value of the social product can be represented as the sum of the value of the products of the two departments:

Q 1 \u003d C 1 + V 1 + M 1

Q 2 \u003d C 2 + V 2 + M 2

Third, Marx distinguishes between advanced capital and consumed capital only in cases of particular importance to him.

As a rule, it proceeds from the assumption that the annual costs constant and variable capital coincide in size with their stock as of the beginning of the corresponding period.

The main theme of Marx's research was the accumulation of capital, so the abstraction of a simple reproduction was for him nothing more than an intermediate logical step on the way to a more important goal - the analysis of an extended reproduction.

However, winning in realism, the scheme of expanded reproduction is noticeably inferior in visibility. Here there is no clear link between departments and types of income: surplus value is exchanged for the products of both departments, and the net product covers not only the consumption fund, but also the accumulation fund.

In the theories of surplus value, reproduction, and in general in the first two volumes of Capital, Marx proceeded from the premise that each unit of average labor time creates an equal amount of surplus value, regardless of the sphere of production.

At the same time, he shared the general belief that market competition tends to average profit rates across industries.

Both of these conditions can be met simultaneously only on the assumption that the ratio of wage costs to other capital costs is also the same in all sectors of the economy. However, such an assumption is obviously unrealistic. In Volume I of Capital, Marx limited himself to stating the importance of the problem and promising to deal with it in detail later, in the third book of his work.

The solution to the problem proposed by Marx in Volume III of Capital stemmed from the general logic of his analysis of capitalism: the initial object of such an analysis was only the basic structure of society, the relations between its main classes, and only at subsequent stages did the consideration move to more specific levels, in particular included in its orbit the internal structure of capital and, accordingly, relations within the capitalist class.

The crises of overproduction, one of the clearest testimonies of the inconsistency of capitalism, could not fail to attract the close attention of Marx. The constancy with which they were repeated in the middle of the 19th century, and the social upheavals with which they were accompanied, served Marx as evidence that capitalism, as a carrier of social progress, had exhausted itself, and the era of its domination was coming to an end.

Analysis of various aspects of economic crises can be found in many of Marx's works, including all volumes of Capital.

Although these scattered fragments remained, in the words of I. Schumpeter, "an unwritten chapter" in Marx's theoretical legacy, they subsequently became the starting point for many researchers on the topic of economic crises and cycles.

2 . Criticism of Marx's theory

Criticism of the main provisions of the theory of K. Marx was formed almost immediately after the publication of his works.

One of the main sources of the theoretical and practical errors of Marxism is the fallacy of the labor theory of value in general and the theory of surplus value in particular.

According to these theories, the wage worker produces a necessary value equal to the cost of reproducing his labor power and a surplus value alienated by the owner of the means of production.

Since the necessary value - according to Marx - is entirely used for the reproduction of hired labor, the source of accumulation of any kind of wealth can only be surplus value. And surplus value in Marxism is initially criminal: it is born exclusively through exploitation through an increase in the duration of working time beyond the necessary, outside of which surplus value is produced.

In addition, from the produced hired labor force surplus value, according to Marx, the main means of exploitation, capital, is born not without the help of exchange.

Hence the main ideological postulates of Marxism: the destruction of the inseparable pair - private property and wage labor, the destruction of market relations in general, the establishment instead of all this crime of the dictatorship of the proletariat, which was supposed to ensure an honest and fair - according to labor - distribution of goods in society.

MARXIST ECONOMIC THEORY

(Marxist economics) A branch of classical economics developed by Karl Marx (1818–1883), who gave economic thought a strong political connotation. Developing Adam Smith's concept of labor as a source of economic value ( see: labor theory of value, Marx argued that in the course of the production process, capitalists receive additional wages for workers, leaving them only the wages necessary for their existence. From Marx's point of view, the capitalist economy must experience more and more deep crises, which will eventually destroy, and then go under the workers. Marx's predictions were largely inaccurate: although crises continued to occur, there was an increase in the capitalist countries, which led to support for capitalism by many workers. Moreover, since after the writings of Marx his economic theories did not receive significant development, their importance has decreased.

Business. Dictionary. - M.: "INFRA-M", Publishing house "Ves Mir". Graham Bets, Barry Brindley, S. Williams et al. Osadchaya I.M.. 1998 .

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Marxism is the philosophical, political and economic doctrine, developed by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels with the aim of transforming society and its transition to a higher stage of its development. Marxism is not just an ideology or a peculiar view of the world, it is a whole scientifically based doctrine that explains the development of society and the possibility of a transition to new model public relations - communism. The popularity of this doctrine 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 will call Marxism, was the German journalist, economist and philosopher Karl Heinrich Marx. The public figure was born in the city of Trier in 1818, possessed brilliant abilities for science, and in 1841 he graduated from the University of Berlin, so to speak, externally. At the age of 23 he defended his doctoral dissertation in ancient philosophy. He was fond of the teachings of the classic of German philosophy G. Hegel, who was an idealist. Over time, Marx took a materialistic position, but borrowed from Hegel the philosophical method of dialectics. Thus, the theory of Marxism appeared, the provisions of which were originally spelled out in the "Manifesto of the Communist Party" (1848). Peru of this brilliant thinker and public figure owns the following works: "Capital", "German Ideology", "Criticism 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 all social processes. But this system can be conditionally divided and its main components, as well as sources, can be determined. The well-known Russian revolutionary Marxist V. I. Lenin in one of his works singled out three sources on which the ideas of Marxism are based.

English political economy

Marx's teaching is first of all the doctrine of economic theory. Therefore, the source of this teaching is the economic ideas that precede Marxism, among which is English political economy. Adam Smith and David Ricard initiated modern political economy with the labor theory of value. K. Marx took the works of English economists as the basis of 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 not even true. Marx develops a new method by combining the philosophy of materialism and dialectics. As he himself stated, "We have put Hegel's dialectics upside down...".

Utopian socialist thought

Long before the emergence 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 out of the utopian stage into the scientific stage.

Thus, the comprehensiveness of the theory gave it enormous popularity. The development of Marxism was conditioned by the broad working-class movement during the years of the birth of political ideology.

The main postulates of the theory of Karl Marx

In Marxism, it is almost impossible to single out an idea that could be considered the main one. Marxism is a multifaceted, clearly structured doctrine.

Dialectical materialism

The entire teaching of Marxism is based on the philosophical position of materialism, the main position of which is the assertion that matter is primary in relation to consciousness. Consciousness is just a 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 the general laws and 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 considers man not as something separate, but as a social being, as a product of social relations and connections. All types of human activity create a person only insofar as he himself creates them.

The principles of historical materialism are as follows:

• the primacy of material life over cultural life;
• It is production relations that are fundamental in any society;
• the whole history of human society is the history of class struggle (that is, one social group against another);
• recognition that history is a constantly moving process of changing socio-economic formations (primitive, slave, 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 hired workers (the proletariat). Classes are in constant struggle, and, as Marx suggested, the proletariat must overthrow the exploiters and establish its own dictatorship. As a result, a new just society should arise and the next social formation - communism. It should be noted that Marxism is not always communism, many people use this doctrine not for political, but for scientific purposes.

Political Economy of Marxism

The political economy of Marxism studies the historical, successive modes of social production, or the system of production relations. All the ideas of Marxism, and political economy is no exception, are based 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 devoted his main work, Capital, to this concept and its study. In the work, he revealed the basic laws of the existence of modern society and criticized them as inhumane and exploitative. It is rather difficult to challenge this position of Marx to this day. Many people are forced to work day in and day out in order not to die of hunger, while others live from this work, while they themselves practically do not work.

We have considered Marxism briefly, and many of its provisions have been left without attention. 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.

Economic theory means totality economic principles sentences and facts that are more or less changeable and diverse, the typology of which is based on methods economic analysis, understanding the subject of research, research objectives in a general conceptual approach to analysis and development economic problems modernity.

Economy- This is an economic system that provides satisfaction through the creation and use of the necessary life.

The origins of economic science should be sought in the teachings of the thinkers of the ancient world, primarily the countries of the Ancient East. Ancient Indian " Laws of Manu"(IV-III centuries BC) noted the existence of a social division of labor, relations of domination and subordination.

Economic thought was further developed V Ancient Greece . The views of the ancient Greek thinkers, Xenophon, can be described as the starting points of modern economic science. Economic views of thinkers ancient rome became a continuation of the economic thought of Ancient Greece.

Economic schools

Distinguish early and late mercantilism.

At the heart of early mercantilism is the increase in monetary wealth by legislative means. The Englishman W. Stafford believed that the solution of many economic problems is based on the prohibition of calling precious metals, limiting imports, and encouraging economic activity.

During late mercantilism, it was believed that need to sell more than buy.

Close to mercantilism is economic policy aimed at protecting from other states through the introduction of customs barriers.

The most famous representatives of mercantilism:

• Thomas Man (1571-1641)
• Antois de Montchretien (1575-1621)

Montchretien coined the term political Economy.

With the publication of his book A Treatise on Political Economy (1615), economic theory has been developing for more than 300 years and is still developing as political Economy.

The appearance of this term is due to the growing role of the state in primary accumulation and foreign trade.

Physiocrats

A new direction in the development of political economy is presented, which were the spokesmen for the interests of large landowners.

Physiocrats studied the influence of natural phenomena on. They considered that the source of wealth is labor only in agriculture.

The main representatives of the school were:

• François Quesnay (1694-1774)
• Anne Robert Turgot (1727-1781)

Classical school of political economy

Further development economics received in writings (1723-1790) and (1772-1823).

Adam Smith became the founder of classical political economy.

main idea in the teachings of Adam Smith - the idea of ​​minimal government intervention in the economy, market self-regulation based on free prices.

Smith laid the foundations of the labor theory of value, showed the importance of the division of labor as a condition for increasing productivity. His research has become a bible for Western economists.

David Ricardo continued A. Smith's theory and improved it a little. He claimed that the value and price of a commodity depends on the amount of labor expended on its production; is the result of the worker's unpaid labor. His teaching formed the basis of utopian socialism.

Economic School of Utopian and Scientific Communism

Based on the highest achievements, Karl Marx (1818-1883) and Friedrich Engels (1820-1895) created theoretical concept which received the generalized name of Marxism.

Marxism or the theory of scientific socialism (communism) is represented by the formation of socialist principles: public ownership of, the absence of exploitation of human labor, equal pay for equal work, universal and.

The name of K. Marx is associated with an attempt by people to build a society without society, regulated from the center.

Marxist ideas were deeply accepted in Russia by the populist Mikhail Bakunin, the theoretical economist and philosopher Georgy Plekhanov, and the professional revolutionary and founder of the Soviet state Vladimir Ilyich Lenin.

main idea economic school of utopian and scientific communism: In the process of labor, a person alienates the results of his labor, as a result of which the cost characteristic decreases sharply.

marginalism

In the second half of the XIX century. the theory of marginalism was formulated, which arose as a reaction to the economic teachings of Karl Marx, his critical understanding. It is marginalism that underlies the modern neoclassical direction of economic thought.

Representatives of marginalism (school of limit analysis) are:

• Carl Menger
• Friedrich Wieser
• Leon Walras

• Eigen-Böhm-Bawerk
• William Stanley Jevons

main idea- the use of limiting extreme values ​​or states that characterize not the essence of phenomena, but their change in connection with a change in other phenomena. The cost of any good or product depends on it for the consumer.

For example: theory marginal utility explores the aspect of pricing in relation to the efficiency of consumption of products and shows how much customer satisfaction will change when a unit of the product being evaluated is added, in contrast to the cost concept.

neoclassical school

Arises on the basis of the synthesis of the ideas of David Ricard and Marginalism.

Representatives of the neoclassical school:

• Alfred Marshall
• Arthur Pigun

It is considered by representatives of this direction as a set of microeconomic agents who want to obtain maximum utility at minimum cost.

Keynesianism

Keynesian direction of economic theory, whose founder is John Keynes (1883-1946), serves the most important theoretical justification by increasing or decreasing

The main problem, according to Keynes, is market capacity, the principle of demand efficiency, an integral part of which is the concept of a multiplier, general theory employment and the marginal efficiency of capital.

Economic School of Institutionalism

The study of all economic phenomena from the side of political methodological and legal issues.

It is characterized by a departure from the absolutization of technical factors, great attention to the person, social problems.

The main idea of ​​modern- in asserting not just the growing role of man as the main economic resource, but also in arguing the conclusion about the general reorientation of the post-industrial system towards the comprehensive development of the individual, and the XXI century. proclaimed the centenary of man.

Representatives of the school of institutionalism:

• T. Veblen
• J.Commons
• W.Mitchell
• J. Galbraith

School of Neoconservatism ()

Main principle: The economy is capable of self-regulation and the main task of the state is the regulation of cash flows

The founder of the neoconservatism school is Milton Friedman.

In his opinion, he studies large-scale economic phenomena, as well as those economic elections made by small economic units such as households, firms, and economic markets.