Year Two, Lecture One

So another year of higher education has begun, and for this blog it begins with the topic of socialism with particular attention paid to Karl Marx.

Chris lectured us on the works of German idealist philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel and his theory of dialectical argument to convey how change occurs. Hegel developed the formula for change that went as such:

• Thesis
• Anthesis
• Synthesis

Chris showed us how this formula could be used to describe any sort of change. He gave the example of:

• Thesis - Home team
• Anthesis - Away team
• Synthesis - Football match

Interestingly enough he also showed us how Hegel's works anticipated atomic theory:

• Thesis - Electron
• Anthesis - Proton
• Synthesis - Matter

German socialist philosopher Karl Marx, best known for his Communist Manifesto, supported Hegel's ideas and adapted and incorporated them in his own works. He embraced Hegel's theory for change. Marx described the 'story of history' as such:

• Thesis - Ruling Class
• Anthesis - Slave Class/Working Class
• Synthesis - Revolution

Marx's vision of historical change came true most memorably in 1917 through the Russian Revolutions. The ruling class of Tsar Nicholas II was victim of an uprising from organised workers (Soviets) and this resulted in revolution. True to Marxist theory the workers had 'nothing to lose but their chains' and they claimed state control of Russia.

Looking at things with a modern day hat on, the British government were recently accused of adopting socialist policy during the nationalisation of banks during the credit-crunch bail outs. The government insisted this was a crucial step to ensure the stability of the country's economy, but critics were quick to throw out the comparison of 2009 Britain to Leninist Russia where all banks were immediately nationalised.