politics. On the other hand, we must be wary of identifying everything that
calls itself Marxism with Marx’s own thinking. It is said of Marx that he only
became a Marxist in the mid-1840s, but even after that he could at times feel
it necessary to assert that he was not a Marxist.”
“Was Jesus a Christian?”
“That, too, of course, is debatable.”
“Carry on.”
“Right from the start, his friend and colleague Friedrich Engels
contributed to what was subsequently known as Marxism. In our own century,
Lenin, Stalin, Mao and many others also made their contribution to Marxism,
or Marxism-Leninism.”
“I suggest we try to stick to Marx himself. You said he was a historical
materialist?”
“He was not a philosophical materialist like the atomists of antiquity nor
did he advocate the mechanical materialism of the seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries. But he thought that, to a great extent, it was the material
factors in society which determined the way we think. Material factors of that
nature have certainly been decisive for historical development.”
“That was quite different from Hegel’s world spirit.”
“Hegel had pointed out that historical development is driven by the
tension between opposites—which is then resolved by a sudden change.
Marx developed this idea further. But according to Marx, Hegel was standing
on his head.”
“Not all the time, I hope.”
“Hegel called the force that drives history forward world spirit or world
reason. This, Marx claimed, is upside down. He wished to show that material
changes are the ones that affect history. ‘Spiritual relations’ do not create
material change, it is the other way about. Material change creates new
spiritual relations. Marx particularly emphasized that it was the economic
forces in society that created change and thus drove history forward.”
“Do you have an example?”
“Antiquity’s philosophy and science were purely theoretical in purpose.
Nobody was particularly interested in putting new discoveries into practice.”
“They weren’t?”
“That was because of the way the economic life of the community was
organized. Production was mainly based on slave labor, so the citizens had
no need to increase production with practical innovations. This is an example
of how material relations help to affect philosophical reflection in society.”
“Yes, I see.”
“Marx called these material, economic, and social relations the basis of
society. The way a society thinks, what kind of political institutions there are,
which laws it has and, not least, what there is of religion, morals, art, phi-
losophy, and science, Marx called society’s superstructure.”
“Basis and superstructure, right.”
“And now you will perhaps be good enough to pass me the Greek
temple.”
Sophie did so.
“This is a model of the Parthenon temple on the Acropolis. You have
also seen it in real life.”
“On the video, you mean.”