Marxism is many things to many people. For some, it’s a buzzword used by the right-wing to denigrate their political opponents. For others, it's a comprehensive political ideology that has important and timely critiques of capitalism. However, ‘Marxism’ makes you feel, today we dig below the surface and look at the philosophy of Karl Marx that came before the politics- Dialectical Materialism. The philosophy is a combination of two distinct ideas. The first is Dialectics, which has European roots in Ancient Greece (Plato) and is understood in traditions all over the globe. Put simply, Dialectics is the principle that ideas are constantly in conflict with opposing ideas and this tension causes the birth of new ideas in a never ending process that drives human progress. Hegel, who was Karl Marx’ mentor, is often attributed as the author of this framework and the father of ‘modern’ Dialectics. Marx took Hegel’s Dialectic and applied it to the second idea, Materialism, to create Dialectical Materialism. In a break from Hegel’s idealism (the belief that consciousness gives rise to the material world), Marx believed in the primacy of the material world (materialism). Instead of ideas driving human progress, Marx explained the history of humanity as a material class struggle between the capitalist class and workers, which would end in a Communist worker’s paradise. In today's episode, we try to unpack Marx's ideas and interrogate the materialist worldview from a modern perspective. Subscribe to our Youtube TikTok Instagram -------------------- Topics: Karl Marx, Marxism, Leftists, Dialectical Materialism, Plato, African Spirituality, Buddhism, Capitalism, Revolution, Human progress, Hegel, Engels, Plato, Dialectics, Hoteps
