These notes were taken from my class with Dr. Reyes for Philosophy 118 last 12 December
.:In The Beginning...:.
… the bourgeois were the avatars of freedom. As a social mode of production evolved during the industrial age, though, this word took on a new meaning.
Because the social mode of production (the assembly line) exists, the fact that the factory owner gets the lion's share of profit is what has resulted in what Marx believes to be the peril of capitalism. That they have full ownership of products made in the assembly line would appear to be absurd. Marx labels this as the phenomenon of exploitation. We see a scenario where personal ownership is in clear conflict with surplus value.
Though the capitalist era produced great wealth, it also produced a new kind of poverty never before seen: the kind of poverty where people have absolutely nothing, yet still work their tails off. We see a slew of workers driven from the farmlands where they are already poor to be even poorer while doing cheap labor.
This class of people became known as the proletariat: a class of men who are no longer treated as human beings but merely a sa commodity. The man is, as such, reified, and dehumanized. This class is important because they suffer, which for Marx, purifies them of false consciousness, and they catch the vision of what has to be done. This is when the revolution emerges, but not a revolution where the oppressed subsequently becomes the oppressor, but a revolution towards a classless society.
This classless society is one where everybody works to their individual capabilities, and everyone shares. There is no need for ownership because all of one's needs will be provided for.
Marx's theory of humanity is very narrow. There is no transcendence, no metaphysics. Marx accounts for the masses, thus, in contrast to Nietzsche, he ignores individual issues and problems. The issues of suffering be it psychological or personal or even one's own death is ignored because of the many. Furthermore, “immortality” comes only in one's contributions to society.
.:Quotable Quotes:.
“Jesuits don't own anything. Not even their own toothbrushes. They also share everything... wait.”
- Dr. Reyes
“This class is more serious than my class last year. Last year, only 5 students showed up.”
- Dr. Reyes
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