The Function of Ideology According to Marx
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The Function of Ideology, According to Marx
In developing a novel conception of history in The German Ideology, Karl Marx proceeds “from earth to heaven” (The Marx-Engels Reader, p. 154). That is, he begins with a focus on the everyday life of human beings and from these observations exposes the function of the prevailing social mores and ideologies of the day. He posits that the dominant ideology of any time period is in fact designed with the sole purpose of representing and protecting the interests of the dominant class. I will present in this paper my interpretation of the reasoning Marx employs with regards to the function of ideology and its contrived nature and I will provide a defense of my interpretation. The first premise of history, according to Marx, is the “existence of living human individuals” (The Marx-Engels Reader, p. 149), or the material conditions and activities that real people live in and undergo. To survive, people must produce sustenance, and it is these basic economic acts of production that mold the types of lives they lead. Material conditions thus correspond to a definite “mode of life” (The Marx-Engels Reader, p. 150). The fundamental difference, then, between people in America in 2014 and people in China in 1000 B.C.E. is their respective material conditions and relations. The degree of this difference is due to the degree of division of labor that has occurred in the given society. In this view, the society I see today is so radically different from ancient Chinese society because the economic conditions of today call for a much higher degree of the division of labor.
The division of labor creates such different societies and drives history by influencing the nature of social relations. So long as labor is somewhat specialized – even within a family, labor can be divided – individuals must engage in intercourse with each other. The nature of this intercourse defines the social
The Function of Ideology, According to Marx
In developing a novel conception of history in The German Ideology, Karl Marx proceeds “from earth to heaven” (The Marx-Engels Reader, p. 154). That is, he begins with a focus on the everyday life of human beings and from these observations exposes the function of the prevailing social mores and ideologies of the day. He posits that the dominant ideology of any time period is in fact designed with the sole purpose of representing and protecting the interests of the dominant class. I will present in this paper my interpretation of the reasoning Marx employs with regards to the function of ideology and its contrived nature and I will provide a defense of my interpretation. The first premise of history, according to Marx, is the “existence of living human individuals” (The Marx-Engels Reader, p. 149), or the material conditions and activities that real people live in and undergo. To survive, people must produce sustenance, and it is these basic economic acts of production that mold the types of lives they lead. Material conditions thus correspond to a definite “mode of life” (The Marx-Engels Reader, p. 150). The fundamental difference, then, between people in America in 2014 and people in China in 1000 B.C.E. is their respective material conditions and relations. The degree of this difference is due to the degree of division of labor that has occurred in the given society. In this view, the society I see today is so radically different from ancient Chinese society because the economic conditions of today call for a much higher degree of the division of labor.
The division of labor creates such different societies and drives history by influencing the nature of social relations. So long as labor is somewhat specialized – even within a family, labor can be divided – individuals must engage in intercourse with each other. The nature of this intercourse defines the social