The Poverty of Philosophy

Karl Marx, a notable revolutionary, historian and economist, was one of nine children, who was educated in law and philosophy at the University of Berlin, where he became acquainted with the dominate Hegelian doctrines. He joined a group called the Young Hegelians who would be disbanded by a Prussian government fearful of its latent subverting tendency. The fact that Marx favored revolutionary tactics over reform policy (see Communist Manifesto) led him to spend a sizeable portion of his life outside Germany - in fact, his major work, Das Kapital, was actually written in London. Although he drew heavily upon Hegel for his theory of dialectical materialism, he broke with him by denouncing his theory of a history that tends toward an absolute freedom based on reason. Instead history is a struggle, operating dialectically or revolutionary in terms of economic forces. He influenced (among many others) the Russian Communist Leader, Vladimir Lenin.