REL 2000 Chapter : Religion And Alienation Karl Marx
Document Summary
Influenced by hegel (flipped his theory: hegel stresses an underlying universal spirit . Co-authored the communist manifesto with friedrich engels (1848) Two main theme: 1) economic realities determine human thought and behavior, 2) history of humanity is a history of class struggle. Material concerns are primary, thought is secondary. Capitalism requires our very nature to be undervalued: we give away a part of who we are, capitalism requires this, even among those who resist it. Base= the economic system: driving force in history, foundation for social life, creates class struggle, causes human alienation. Superstructure = everything else: structures whose main role is to contain or provide a controlled release (130, law, politics, art, literature, philosophy, religion, theology- ideologies , come from the base and reaffirms it- change accordingly. Describes religion as an illusion with evil consequences: evil consequences because religion always reaffirms the base which for us is capitalism. It is a result of class struggle (economic structure)
