Marx's Economic & Philosophical Ideas

For Karl Marx, the study of philosophy and economics were both inexorably linked. In the study of his works, particularly those of an economic bent, it is necessary to understand a basic outline of the philosophy and ideas which came to be known as Marxism. Initially, one must remember that Marx was clearly a product of his time, and his economic and philosophical ideas are focused toward the perceived evils of industrialization and capitalism. Marx's philosophy is derived from many sources, most notably the influence of Georg Friedrich Hegel and Ludwig Feuerbach.

Leon Trotsky, or to be more precise, Lev Davidovich Bronstein, was a pragmatist and interpreter of the doctrines of Marxism. From an early age, he espoused the revolutionary doctrine of change in Russia, and eventually became one of the preeminent figures in Lenin's Bolshevik Party. In brief, after successfully reorganizing the Red Army during Russia's Civil War after the 1917 Revolution, Trotsky more vocally espoused the doctrine of "Permanent Revolution." This led to conflict with Josef Stalin, and Trotsky's eventual ouster from the Soviet Union and assassination in 1940.1

This paper will analyze Trotsky's philosophical thought in comparison with that of Karl Marx. It will be divided into two major sections, the first dealing with Marxian thought, the second on Trotsky's interpretation of Marx. Since Marx wrote such a voluminous amount of material, this paper will concentrate on WageLabor and Capital, Va

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that the value of a commodity will remain the same, with the only change the rate or type of currency. In this he means that the exchangeable value of things are more a social function, but that the real value of the product is its inherent measure of "labour power" the amount of labor it took to make or prepare the product. Thus, the productive powers of labor depend on the natural conditions of labor and the relationship that man has between his labor power and capital. "Every one of your relations to man and to nature must be a specific expression, corresponding to the object of your will, of your real individual life."9 The key to capitalism thus arises with the surplus value of labor, or the means by which the capitalist pays wages which still allow a profit to be made and the perpetuation of the system. Marx uses the example that a person may work for an hourly wage by producing a certain commodity. It may take onequarter of the work day in order to produce what the capitalist pays the worker, with the additional threequarters forming the amount of surplus labor the worker has given to the capitalist owner. 10 In its inherent form, capitalism must exist on profits. If there is only limited value in any given commo

Category: Economics - M