Materialistic understanding of history

In the middle of the 19th century a completely new philosophical doctrine was created, created by Karl Marx and subsequently received the name "Marxism". The essence of the exercise was interpreted differently by various political movements and parties.

For a long time, Marxism was the leading ideology in the Soviet Union and defined the worldview of millions of people.

The materialist understanding of history, like the whole philosophy of Marx, is based on the idea of a material understanding of the world, which consists in the fact that the world is the matter and laws governing its movement.

From this point of view, the historical process and its impact on people's lives are examined.

Within the framework of his approach, Marx proves that the main condition determining the majority of historical processes is material production. The main idea on which the philosophy of Karl Marx is built, including his understanding of history, is the assertion that humanity as a whole creates the historical conditions that are the source of its development. No other factors, including the peculiarities of the geographical situation and climate, can not be the cause of the historical development of peoples.

The main role in the development of mankind was assigned to productive forces by the forces of Marx.

Materialistic understanding of history is based on the fact that man, in the understanding of Marx, has a material nature and develops, mastering new means to meet his needs.

Public being, according to Marx, is the only reality of human life. The basis of social life is economic relations. From this point of view, a person embodies social relations. They are laid in the basis of the formation of social and individual consciousness.

That is why the development of man in the historical understanding is due to the struggle of opposites. The class struggle is a specific engine that guides development.

In the course of historical development, Marx identifies several periods (or formations) on the basis of the concept of the level of development of the productive forces, which become more perfect than the production relations, as a result of which revolutions arise and a change of formations takes place.

Marx saw the communist revolution as a means of liberation from classes and a new level of human existence.

Marxism in the economy and in history pays special attention to the means of production. One of the most important concepts in Marx's philosophy is the concept of productive forces. They determine the attitude of man to nature, to society, and also are the source of development.

The productive forces of each formation have new properties. So a slave differs from a serf peasant, and a wage worker from a toiling socialist society.

In the course of production, people enter into a special kind of relationship that defines all the others, and are the cause of the emergence of crises leading to the transition to the next level of development.

Thus, the materialist understanding of history was based on such concepts as production relations and productive forces. Marx, unlike the idealists, considered history based on the economic basis of society, from people searching for new, more convenient or profitable ways of satisfying their needs.

Marx's philosophy is a huge and well-built system of scientific knowledge about politics, economics and man. The materialist understanding of history, and at the present time, is crucial for understanding the essence of historical development, since there are few theories that could explain the course of history in such detail and thoroughness.

Marx's philosophy is an integral system that in many ways determined the development of our country and its current position in the world.