How Did Karl Marx Contribute To The Enlightenment

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The Enlightenment period in Europe was a time of philosophical and cultural innovation during the 18th century. It revolutionized how European thinkers perceived and explained the world around them, which led to exceedingly influential scientific and social theories. Karl Marx and Charles Darwin were two European intellectuals whose works were greatly influenced by the theories set forth during the Enlightenment period. Marx’s “Wage Labour and Capital”, which was an introduction into the argument he would later pose in his book Das Kapital, focused on exposing the flaws in the free market and capitalist ideals which were established by thinkers such as Adam Smith during the Enlightenment. Meanwhile, Darwin’ The Origin of Species was influenced by the scientific method of observation, which was established during the Enlightenment. In his book he opposes the belief that God had created all creatures on earth as …show more content…
Although urbanization was seen as a positive influence on the economy, it led to a decrease in the quality of life the working class in England experienced. Influenced by Adam Smith’s free market theory, capitalism became the guiding force behind English economy. When Karl Marx visited Manchester, which was the centre of industrialism during that time, he observed, “…both the miserable lives of factory workers and the patent inequities of industrialism.” From his observation of industrial culture in England and the negative lifestyle it promoted, Marx and his friend Frederich Engels developed the theory of scientific socialism. Both Marx and Engels disagreed with capitalism because it had led to the dehumanization of the working class, turning them into nothing more than a commodity. They believed that the working class needed to unite and overthrow the capitalist system that controlled
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