Who is Karl Marx: a brief biography and his philosophy

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Karl Marx is a German philosopher, public figure, writer, economist, historian. In addition, he was a poet, linguist, political journalist and a genius theorist.

Short biography of Karl Marx

His full name is Karl Heinrich Marx. He was born on May 5, 1818 to a Jewish family in Trier (Prussia). In the period 1830-1835. studied at the Friedrich-Wilhelm Gymnasium. Then he continued his studies at Bonn and Berlin universities, where he studied law, philosophy and history.

After completing his studies in 1841, Karl received his doctorate in philosophy. Together with his young wife, he moved to Bonn, hoping to become a professor and teach at the university. But he became an editor and journalist for the opposition Rhine Newspaper, where he boldly criticized the government.

The Rhine Gazette almost openly called for the overthrow of the Prussian monarchy and its replacement with democracy. In 1843, the authorities closed the editorial office, and the young family had to move to Paris. There Karl has friends – like-minded Friedrich Engels and Heinrich Heine.

Soon the French government also expelled the rebel journalist from the country for participating in the radical newspaper Vperyod. Marx left for Brussels (Belgium) for three years, where he published the Communist Manifesto, drawn up with Engels.

Then Marx traveled through Europe and finally moved to London. There he took up journalism, but then moved on to work on books. In 1859 his treatise On the Critique of Political Economy was published, and in 1867 the first volume of Capital was published.

Karl Marx in 1864 founded in London an international union of workers of all countries, later called the “First International”. This organization lasted until 1876.

In 1881, the beloved wife of the philosopher died, and in January 1883, the eldest daughter, Jenny, died. Karl Marx also died two months later. It happened in London on March 14, 1883. Cause of death: right lung abscess.

The greatest philosopher died as a stateless person – a person without citizenship or citizenship. He was buried in the same grave with his wife at Highgate Cemetery in London.

Personal life

In 1836, 18-year-old Karl was secretly engaged to the first beauty of Trier – Jenny von Westphalen. At that time, he just entered the university. The wedding took place seven years later. The born Baroness von Westphalen was from an aristocratic family. Jenny and Karl have known each other since childhood, their parents were friends.

The Marx couple lived together for 40 years, the couple had seven children. Sadly, four of them died in early childhood.

Karl Marx philosophy

The main ideas:

1. The philosophy of Marxism is dialectical materialism (the unity of dialectics and materialism).
2. Philosophy is materialistic because proceeds from the recognition of matter as the only basis of the world, considers consciousness as a property of highly organized matter, a function of the human brain.
3. It is called dialectical, because recognizes the universal interconnection of objects and phenomena of the world, movement and development as a result of internal contradictions acting in it itself.

What is Marxism in simple words

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