Karl Marx And Sigmund Freud Essay - 1476 Words

Among the most controversial figures of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries are Karl Marx and Sigmund Freud. The rhetoric of the first of these men, Karl Marx, both inspired revolutions in China, Russia, and Cuba, as well as led to his expulsion from Germany, France and Belgium. As for Freud, Yale history professor Peter Gay notes in his biography of the psychologist: â€Å"[He] has been called a genius, founder, master, a giant among the makers of the modern mind, and, no less emphatically, autocrat, plagiarist, fabulist, the most consummate of charlatans.† (xvi). Though Marx is perhaps best described as a political theorist and Freud a psychologist, there is a great deal of overlap in the work of the two intellectuals. Most importantly, Sigmund Freud and Karl Marx shared a fervent dissatisfaction with society and its oppressive mechanisms. Yet the source of this oppression was not a point of agreement among the two thinkers. Where Marx advocated class struggle and bourgeois domination as the main obstacles to a harmonious, peaceful society, Freud contended that the fundamental barrier to such a society is human nature itself, which, in his opinion, consists of a constant struggle between a desire for pleasure and the constraints of reality; while Marx believed that Communism could bring about societal contentment, Freud held that the pleasure which man derives from aggressiveness precludes the possibility of collective peace and, concurrently, the restraint withShow MoreRelatedHuman Nature And Four Types Of Determinism1551 Words   |  7 Pagesthe works of Sigmund Freud, Karl Marx, Fredrick Hegel, B. F. Skinner, Charles Darwin, and David Eagleman, it becomes clear that humans are mainly influenced through social determinism, human evolution, and neurology, but evolutionary determinism has the most impact on human nature. Sigmund Freud, Karl Marx, Fredrick Hegel, B. F. Skinner, Charles Darwin, and David Eagleman were all men who were inte rested in what particular part of a human beings life is determined for them. Sigmund Freud, born in 1856Read MoreA Comparison Of Faith And The Future Of Religion1539 Words   |  7 Pageswhich is widely disputed. Comparison of Sigmund Freud’s The Future of an Illusion and Paul Tillich’s Dynamics of Faith, fully displays the discrepancies in points of view on the function of faith, as well as the necessity of faith, in society; while the comparison of Viktor E. Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning and Karl Marx’s â€Å"on the Future of Religion,† demonstrate both similarities and differences on the purpose of faith. In order to understand how both Freud and Tillich would respond to each otherRead MoreThe Differences Between Extrinsic And Intrinsic Religious Expression854 Words   |  4 PagesJames’ is more interested in the self-surrender type of conversion. Extrinsic and intrinsic religious expression is related to James’s notion of conversion because James believes God is found in more inner personal experiences making it intrinsic. 2. Marx: religious suffering, â€Å"opium of the people†, â€Å"the heart of a heartless world,† Religion is a necessity for the poor to cope day to day, also believed Religion was used to control people. Religion is an evil that existed in society. Nietzsche: GodRead MoreEssay on The Goal of Functionalism in Religion1748 Words   |  7 Pagessociety. Sigmund Freud, Emile Durkheim, and Karl Marx were all functionalist who developed theories as to why religion was such a major part of their society. Their views are very different from the two theorists E.B. Tylor and James Frazer, as they believed humans were using religion to try and explain the unknowns in the world. Though all three of the men took a fundamentalist approach to religion, their theories to explain religion have some major differences between them. Sigmund Freud, who isRead MoreMarx, Mill And Freud s Critique Of Political Economy And The Communist Manifesto Essay1133 Words   |  5 Pagessometimes merely implicit) notions of freedom and unfreedom we find in the texts we have read by Marx, Mill and Freud. Use the esoteric traditions we have examined thus far (from the Book of Job to Plato) as a comparative yardstick, or point of reference, but without letting th em take over the foreground in your paper -- the latter should be reserved for these three figures. Karl Marx, Sigmund Freud, and John Stuart Mill are three authors who tackle the topic of freedom in unique ways, but theirRead MoreFight Club By Chuck Palahniuk1442 Words   |  6 PagesMarxism is based on the concepts of Karl Marx’s theories that focuses on class relations and social conflict. On the other hand, psychoanalytic criticism stems from Sigmund Freud’s theories of psychology. The novel is best interpreted from a Marxist point of view because Palahniuk uses Fight Club as a means of expressing his opinion regarding capitalism as a whole. Karl Marx was a German philosopher and revolutionary socialist from Prussia who lived from 1818-1883. Marx was a firm believer that economicsRead MoreSocial Determinism And Its Impact On Society Essay1674 Words   |  7 Pagessubconsciously. Social determinism has distinctly shaped mankind over time with a high degree of influence on our minds. 1. Historical Determinism Fredrick Hegel’s philosophy initially defined historical determinism and strongly influenced Germany and Karl Marx. Hegel is highly recognized for his ideas of Geist and human progression over generations with raised consciousness (Twelve Theories). With this view, he saw that throughout history humans had advanced mentally and culturally to reach full developmentRead More Freud Essay1234 Words   |  5 PagesManifesto, Karl Marx and Frederick Engels present their view of human nature and the effect that the economic system and economic factors have on it. Marx and Engels discuss human nature in the context of the economic factors which they see as driving history. Freud, in Civilization and Its Discontents, explores human nature through his psychological view of the human mind. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Marx states that history quot;...is the history of class strugglesquot; (9). Marx views historyRead MoreModernism Vs. Modernist Modernism1335 Words   |  6 Pagesnoteworthy thinkers such as Karl Marx and Sigmeud Freud played important roles in this time. Therefore, we discussed some of their more important works in class. For instance, you cannot study Marx thought without mentioning The Communist Manifesto. Similarly, Freud cannot be mentioned without his Outline of Psychoanalysis. Marx and Freud, after World War I, began to question the rationality of mankind. The difference being Marx focused primarily on political issues and Freud on psychology. Still,Read MoreAn Analysis of Cultural Influences in the 19th and 20th Centuries734 Words   |  3 Pagesphilosophical influences in that time period, Marx, Darwin, Freud, Nietzsche, and Dostoevsky each represents a decisively different view of history than the view of history previously dominant in Western culture. This paper will discuss the historical and cultural events surrounding these five thinkers and show how they shaped, concurrently with scientific developments, the course of human thought in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Karl Marx, for instance, reacted powerfully against Hegels