Karl Marx

Karl Marx (1818-83)
There are two essential components to Marx's theoretical work. On the one hand there is his theory of history which is referred to as Historical Materialism. Secondly there is his theory of society which is referred to as Dialectical Materialism.
In due course and for the bulk of these notes I will examine each of these two components in turn. Before doing so however I want to highlight the fact that the names of both these components contain the word materialism. This is indeed significant because it demonstrates the extent to which all of Marx's ideas are framed within what we can call a 'philosophical materialism'.