Karl Marx and the Social Doctrine of the Church
Marx’s Materialist Philosophy and Critique of Society
Karl Marx sought the causes of social problems and proposed methods to overcome social inequality. A materialist philosopher, Marx believed that matter constituted the only reality. He assigned a leading role to the state, believing it necessary for the collective interest to prevail over individual interests.
Marx held a critical view of society, believing that history was marked by a class struggle between the owners of the means of production
Read MoreEarly Labor Movements: Origins, Impacts, and Ideologies
Early Labor Movement: Causes and Consequences
The working conditions in early factories were harsh: 14-hour workdays without rest and low pay. Mechanization led to increased unemployment, particularly among manual workers and weavers. As a result, workers formed associations to protect their income, but these were soon banned in England and France (e.g., the 1791 Le Chapelier Law).
Early Worker Movements
Luddism
Luddism was a radical labor movement that opposed machines and industrialization, blaming
Read MoreCultural Anthropology: Evolution of Societies and Human Culture
Contribution to Cultural Anthropology
Cultural anthropology studies the evolution of human life and the life of various human groups. Culture, expressed through symbolic language, is fundamental and often subconscious. Different cultures manifest through different languages. Myths, rituals, and power structures (e.g., monogamy, polygamy) are present in every culture. Anthropology interprets these manifestations to understand their meaning. By examining these expressions, we can comprehend the cultural
Read MoreThe Communist Manifesto: Class Struggle and Proletarian Revolution
I) Bourgeois and Proletarian
In all societies, social classes are always at war. These wars end with the complete transformation of society or the collapse of the contending classes.
The colonies, circumnavigation, and markets in India and China helped the bourgeoisie grow. Feudalism disappeared as manufacturing supplanted union operations, and later, the manufacturing industry and the middle-class bourgeois industrial system emerged.
“The government does nothing but manage the affairs of the bourgeoisie,
Read MoreInterlanguage Development: A Deep Dive into UG and SLA Theories
The Role of UG in Interlanguage Development
The role of UG in IL development: Adjemian, departing from a Chomskyan approach, considers interlanguage (IL) systems as natural linguistic systems, like any other language or linguistic system. These intermediate systems should receive the same attention as any other grammar in its final stage. L2 learners, like native speakers, can generate an infinite number of structures, but they may not be grammatical. Adjemian highlights the difference between IL
Read MoreA History of Socialist Thought and Movements
Pre-Marxist Socialism
While pre-Marxist socialism began organizing workers, intellectuals developed theories offering social and political alternatives to contemporary society. Many of these theories constitute what’s called utopian socialism, contrasting with Marx and Engels’s scientific socialism. Early socialist theories drew heavily from Enlightenment ideas and Romanticism. Moral considerations often overshadowed capitalism’s negative impacts, focusing on ideal societies without exploitation
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