Essay:On the Hegelian Influence on Marxism

Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels are two names that have rippled throughout the pages of history ever since the establishment of the Paris Commune in 1871. Together, the two men founded a political movement known as Marxism, a branch of Communism. From Marxism were founded many other Communist movements such as Stalinism, Leninism, Maoism, Trotskyism, and others. These various movements have caused the formation of brutal dictatorships and vicious terrorist organizations.

One part of Marxist theory is a concept that Marx and Engels called the "March of History." The March of History is a Marxist concept which states that Capitalist societies eventually becomes Socialist and Socialist societies eventually become Communist, similar in theory to Accelerationism, which teaches that in order to bring about economic reform, it is crucial we make society even more extreme in its Capitalist convictions, there about putting the March of History in motion. Of course, the Marxist March of History is much more complex than that, but that is the best way to explain it to the average person.

Previously, I stated that the Marxist March of History, and therefore Marxism, is similar to Accelerationism, but Marxism is also very similar to Hegelianism, specifically, Hegel's concept of the Hegelian Dialect. In short, the Hegelian Dialect states that when a negative event is caused by an idea, a counter-idea emerges, then the counter-idea takes power and causes another negative event, then, a new idea emerges that takes power, and actually creates a stable government. Reading that summary of the Hegelian Dialect makes the similarities between Marxism and Hegelianism very obvious.

Because of this, I would like to make the case that not only are Marxism and Hegelianism similar but that Hegelianism directly influenced Marxism.

First of all, as I said, Marxism and Hegelianism are very similar. In fact, the Marxist concept of the March of History could actually be considered an example of Hegelianism. The Hegelian Dialect teaches that history swings from one idea to another until it finds the best idea, which usually comes at the third swing. The Marxist March of History teaches that societies go from Capitalism to Socialism, to Communism. The similarities are obvious.

Secondly, Marx lived from May 5, 1818, to March 14, 1883, and Engels lived from November 28, 1820, to August 5, 1895, and during the teenage and early adulthoods of both men, which was the time they became Communist, which Marxism is a branch of, Hegel, who himself lived from August 27, 1770, to November 14, 1831, was a very popular philosopher, almost what we would consider a celebrity today. Because of this fact, there is a great chance that Hegelianism really did influence Marxism. It is very common for contemporary philosophers to influence aspiring philosophers. Take, for example, the great Friedrich Nietzsche, who lived from October 15, 1844, to August 25, 1900. Nietzsche cited the influence of Arthur Schopenhauer, who lived from February 22, 1788, to September 21, 1860.

Third and finally, Hegel is one of the most influential philosophers in human history. Hegel has influenced Bruno Bauer, Edgar Bauer, Simone de Beauvoir, Soren Kierkegaard, Friedrich Nietzsche, and many, many others. Two of the people influenced by Hegel were Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels.

Communism, specifically it's Marxist branch and the branches of Marxism has killed at least 128,000,000 people. Itis so weird yet intriguing to imagine a long line of philosophers beginning with d'Hupay, then Hegel, then Marx, then Engels, then Luxembourg, then Kropotkin, and then erupting into a group of tyrants such as Lenin, Stalin, Pol Pot, Mao, and other brutal dictators. All this leaves the question: Should we blame the intellectuals or the dictators?