If the only experience that someone had of Karl Marx’s philosophy was communist Russia, that person might be shocked when I claim that I find some of the philosophy of Karl Marx (1813-1883) attractive. In the book “Religion and Atheism” (Duquesne University Press, 1971), authors William A. Luijpen and Henry J. Koren begin their treatment of Marx’s philosophy with the following paragraph:
“Karl Marx’s philosophy is predominantly a philosophy of history, an attempt to ‘understand the heart of history,’ to determine ‘what makes it tick,’ and thus to discern the fundamental pattern underlying the course of history. Knowledge of such a pattern makes it possible to understand why past events occurred and to predict, to some extent, the future course of human history” (p. 62).
What do I find attractive in Marx’s philosophy? Several insights. Marx’s philosophy seems to me to resemble a secularized version of Christianity. Of course, I do not accept Marx’s atheism, but I think his teaching that in a communist society everyone will contribute according to their talents and receive according to their needs is a beautiful idea. What Marx is presenting in his philosophy is a vision of a kind of love community in which people will live like brothers and sisters. Because everyone will receive according to their needs, the evil of capitalism will disappear. There will be no need to try to advance economically beyond others because everyone will receive according to their needs. If we had an opportunity to interview Xi Jinping and ask him why communist China under his leadership does not seem to be a loving community, he probably would say the perfect communist state has not yet arrived. Until it does, some people who do not conform will have to be punished.
Economists have told me that communism has not worked anywhere. Perhaps it is too confident about the goodness and unselfishness of people. The one place where something like Marx’s vision has worked is in religious orders in which men and women take vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. For such a community to exist and seem to be a great force for good, it is because at the center of the community is a belief in God. Commitment to God is also the ultimate reason why the vows are so fruitful.
Marx thought that philosophers spent too much time in a kind of an ivory tower studying thought instead of dealing with the material conditions that greatly influenced thought. Luijpen and Koren provide a brief but accurate summary of Marx’s basic outlook on history:
“History doesn’t walk on ideas in the head but marches on its feet, and these feet, says Marx, are the material conditions of life. In other words, to understand the course of history, we must pay attention to the development of these material conditions, and this development, Marx claims, is determined by a single factor — work. Work is the very heart of history” (p.63). Marx thought that work was the factor that made history tick.
For Marx, the entire history of the world can be understood by studying the conditions under which people have worked. Marx was the first philosopher to stress the truth that human persons coexist and exert an enormous influence on one another. There is a philosophy called “Sociologism” that claims persons are the product of the groups to which they belong. In other words, there is no freedom; we are totally shaped and formed by the groups to which we belong. When I teach Sociologism in class, I announce that I disagree with it because I believe that persons are free. However, I add immediately that those who accept Sociologism are almost correct because the groups to which we belong do exert a strong influence on us.
I also think Marx’s view of work, while extreme, is correct in stating that our work can influence every aspect of our existence as persons, for example, where we live, whom we marry, what schools parents send their children to, and just about every other aspect of our lives. Of course, I think Marx’s view that poor work conditions account for belief in God is another example of Marx going too far.
One of the exceptionally good programs at St. John’s is “Academic Service Learning.” The program invites students to translate what they are learning in class by volunteering to engage in a service program and then writing a paper about what they have learned through service learning. I have been delighted to discover through reading their essays the impact that service learning has had on almost every student in my classes who volunteered. No student criticized the program. The vast majority claimed that service learning changed their lives. I plan to do what I can to encourage other professors to incorporate service learning into their courses.
Like many influential atheistic philosophers, Marx had some insights that can be accepted by thinkers who believe in God.
Father Lauder is a philosophy professor at St. John’s University, Jamaica. His new book, “The Cosmic Love Story: God and Us,” is available on Amazon.com and at Barnes & Noble.