Marx: An Introduction

Karl Marx was born in the German town of Trier. He spent his student years studying philosophy under the famous German philosopher Georg Hegel. Marx was a member of a group called the 'young Hegelians'; a group of intellectuals who were attempting to revise and develop Hegel's theory of History. Marx rejected Hegel's idealism but retained many of the latter's ideas, most notably the idea of history as a social process involving change and contradictions.
Marx was concerned to understand the politics, culture and economics of the then newly emerging industrial nations of Europe.
In particular Marx was eager to explain why the immiseration and poverty of thousands of workers across Europe was persisting alongside the Enlightenment belief of the 'Emancipation of Man'. Marx's aim was to explain this contradiction.
His theory was generated by his radical politics. Marx's politics meant that he had to leave his homeland and live in exile for most of his adult life in London.
In order to fully appreciate Marx's work it must be understood that his general objective in his writings was the emancipation of the working classes. As Marx himself put it: 'The point is not to interpret the world, but to change it'.
Finally, although he was influenced by the writings of Comte, Marx was never to describe himself as a sociologist. Marx did in fact perceive sociology as a 'bourgeios science' in the service of the ruling classes.