675 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Common Ownership, Equal Opportunity, Class Consciousness
20 Jun 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Socialism and Communism
Karl Marx
Died pre-imperialism
Plato, Aristotle, Socrates first discussed classless society
Everyone should be looked after, shared etc.
Socialism
Emerges as a reaction to liberalism
Rejects central liberal principles
Overlaps with conservatism in some respects
Social being in relation with others
Rejection of contractual society
Co-operation not competition
Was a liberal but became a radical because people denied him a living
Was sponsored by Engle's to leave a legacy
Socialism
No particular value to tradition or private property
Private property is the root of all evil as it creates the source of class
divisions
Condemning some to powerlessness
Views on private property
Raises questions:
What does this mean
How much property should society own and control
Responses show difference between political ideology and differences
amongst socialists
All socialism united against unrestricted capitalism
Capitalism is believed to determine the distribution of power in society
The dominant form of economic exchange
'Freedom' and 'equality of opportunity' empty terms in capitalism
Core Themes
Community
Co-operation
Equality
Class politics
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Common ownership
Critique of capitalism
Human Nature and Freedom
Often thought socialism is against freedom
This needs to be considered and qualified
Are opposed to the liberal individualist understanding and freedom
Difference between conscience and consciousness
Alternative view
Also considered freedom important
Freedom is a public dimension
Individual in relations not abstract
Working Class:
Several goals
Need fulfilling work
Receive a fair share of profits produced
Some say in decisions that effect them
Equal opportunity to develop talents
Capitalism stunts this development
Creativity hard when earning a living
Division od society into classes
Unequal political power/economic wealth
Further entrenchment of class divisions
Inequalities from one generation to next
The rich and infrastructure
Barriers of education
Marx:
All are free or none are
What is free
What it means to be a social being
Obstacles include class division, economic inequality, unequal life
chances, false class consciousness
Socialism of Karl Marx
1. Came to realise the central importance of social and political
centrality of economics
2. Ceased to be a liberal and becomes a radical
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Plato, aristotle, socrates first discussed classless society. Everyone should be looked after, shared etc. Was a liberal but became a radical because people denied him a living. Was sponsored by engle"s to leave a legacy. No particular value to tradition or private property. Private property is the root of all evil as it creates the source of class divisions. How much property should society own and control. Responses show difference between political ideology and differences amongst socialists. Capitalism is believed to determine the distribution of power in society. "freedom" and "equality of opportunity" empty terms in capitalism. This needs to be considered and qualified. Are opposed to the liberal individualist understanding and freedom. Receive a fair share of profits produced. Some say in decisions that effect them. What it means to be a social being. Obstacles include class division, economic inequality, unequal life chances, false class consciousness. Came to realise the central importance of social and political.
