A Comparison of the Writing of Marx and Merton



A Comparison of the Writing of Marx and Merton

Part 1:

Biography of Marx's life

Karl Marx was born on May 5, 1818 to Heinrich and Henrietta Marx in the city of Trier. Karl was one of seven children raised in a comfortable middle class home provided by his father. Marx's father worked as a counselor-at-law at the High-Court of Appeal in Trier. David McClellan believes that, "Trier first imbued Marx with his abiding passion for history”. (Callinicos, 1983 pp.25-30)

In 1830, Marx began school at the Friedrich-Wilhelm-Gymnasium, a Jesuit foundation that had become a respectable high school with a liberal headmaster. While in high school, Marx was known as a bully and acted more as a leader to the students than as a close friend. His marks were less than average in history related subjects, French, and mathematics.

After his engagement to Jenny Westphalen, Marx was enrolled into the University of Bonn on October 17,1835 as a student of jurisprudence. While in college, Marx spent much more time and energy focusing on his academics. Even in college, Karl and his father maintained a very close relationship.

In 1841, Karl Marx successfully submitted his doctoral thesis on the philosophy of Epicurus and Democritus to the University of Jena.

While living in France, Marx studied and read literature pertaining to the French Revolution. It was through these readings that Marx began to see the role of class struggles in social development. He intended to publish a journal that combined German and French ideologies concerning socialism, but instead found that the French were put off by the Germans advocacy of atheism and materialism.

In August of 1844, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels realized their similar political views and planned a meeting (Strathern 2001). Engels became his lifelong supporter and friend.

It took several years for Das Kapital to be accepted by the world. By the 1870s, Marx's reputation began to rise and copies of his work were nearly impossible to find. Unlike his reputation, Marx's health began to deteriorate.

During his life, Marx lived in the same manner as many philosophers of his time. Marx did not start any world shattering revolution; he simply published articles and philosophical papers. It was, however, the revolutionary ideas found in those papers that would live beyond him to change the world (Sekine 1986).

Writing of Karl Marx

Published in the time of European revolution, the "Communist Manifesto" was considered the Bible of socialism. This essay was written by Karl Marx, one of the most influential thinkers and writers of modern times as a cry for all those, who favor a communist world, to stand up and unite. The "Communist Manifesto" was published in 1848 and clearly explained the theories behind socialism. Marx argued that the society created by the bourgeoisie is so powerful and out of control that it can no longer be managed, ultimately leading to the overthrow of the ruling bourgeoisie society and the beginning of the proletariat ...