Karl Marx And Immanuel Kant Essay

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Immanuel Kant and his contemporary Karl Marx share similar ideologies on the ethical principles on which society is based. Immanuel Kant, born in Konigsberg of northeast Germany in 1724, belonged to a Pietist family who led puritanical lives. At the age of forty six he taught as a professor of logic and metaphysics at a local university. His entire ideology was based on ethical obligation in society; something that Marx had a materialist view on. Karl Marx, one of the greatest sociologists’ in history was also born in Germany in the year 1818. His ideologies reflect his antipathy towards the capitalist based society he was living. Kant’s deontological ethics and Marx’s theories of socio- capitalism have many similarities, but also differ …show more content…
Marx believes in a Utopia which all societies would be able to accomplish by “…work[ing] through certain conflicts” (Gabler, 2010:296). His vision of an ideal society is the harmonizing between classes instead of class conflict where everyone has more than enough to share for the common good. His Utopian view of society is based on the capitalistic, class-based world he was living in. Like Marx, Kant believes in attaining the good and proposes doing so by following the moral maxims. The most important maxim that really focuses on the common good through work ethics is the second maxim. In it, Kant states that one ought to “act in such a way that [he/she] always treats humanity, whether in [his/her] own person of another, never simply as a means” (Kant, 1993:30). Kant’s principle is to never misuse a person for one's own benefit but rather treat all human beings with dignity and respect. Kant’s second maxim is a prevention of social conflict in society; but rather a Utopia where everyone is treated equal. He emphasizes that society must treat others as an end because it is a moral or ethical thing to do. Thus Kant and Marx both have similar viewpoints in regards to obtaining the
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