Compare and contrast Karl Marx and Max Weber
Two of the most eminent sociologist and constructors of the understanding of modern capitalism are Karl Marx and Max Weber. According to some sociologist they belong to the school of classical sociology, whereas according to the other they are distinguished representatives of modern sociological theories. Their work is important for understanding of capitalism and its impact of the Western society and civilization. Even though their understanding of capitalism differs in many aspects, one major similarity of Karl Marx and Max Weber is that they try to explain the reasons of appearing capitalism as a boom at the dawn of the Industrial Revolution.
The similarity in the sociologists Karl Marx and Max Weber is that they tried to explain the new form of society, capitalism, and through it to define the society of the modern world. They tried to define the society and analyze the process that lead to the rise of capitalism. Even though Weber wrote fifteen years after Marx, they were both from Germany under a large influence of German philosophers, especially Marx. The field of their work is similar, but the explanation of the criticism of their time is different.
Similarly, Marx and Weber saw "the little man" as a means of exploitation, producing a product that is not in his ownership. They believed that the workers are slaves in a modern age of capitalism. This state leads to alienation from the natural state and environment. As Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels observed in The Communist Manifesto, the modern world was built largely through the submissive attitude of Nature towards a man, and this state is not natural (Gison).
Karl Marx gave a description of capitalism and its doom that are explained in his book The Communist Manifesto. Karl Marks claims that capitalism leads people to alienation from themselves and the nature. Karl Marx tried to explain the society and analysed the reasons that led to the rise of capitalism. Furthermore, Marx was against capitalism. According to Lowy, "Marx's anti-capitalist critique is organized around five fundamental issues: the injustice of exploitation, the loss of liberty through alienation, venal (mercantile) quantification, irrationality, and modern barbarism." Marx believed that, at the end, the society where the goods will be shared equally and where the ownership of capital would be in the hands of all citizens will come. This state of society is called communism. However, the sarcastic irony lies that communism appeared in countries that did not experience capitalism, but the transition came from feudalism (China, Russia).
Compared to Marx's view of capitalism, Weber has a different understanding. In his work, he connected capitalism with religion, giving a significant role of religion in the process of accumulating capital. As cited by Day, "One of the Weber's greatest works, The Protestant Ethics and the Spirit of Capitalism, identifies religious ideas (obviously focusing on Protestantism) as a reason for the development of economic conditions". In order to contradict to Marx's theory, Weber stated that before the change in society, came the change of ideas. The true happiness of a man lies in accumulating capital and working. Respecting hard-work and modesty is incorporated in some of the major doctrines of Protestants. Weber connected these ethical principles with capitalism.
One cannot dispute about the importance of these two sociologists for the understanding of the world and the place of a man in the society and his interactions with the society. Karl Marx and Max Weber were people who saw far into the future and helped people to understand capitalism as social phenomena. Even though they had different understanding of a society and capitalism, their theories complement each other.
Works cited:
Lowy, Michael. "Marx and Weber: Critics of Capitalism". New Politics. 2007. Web. 21. October 2014. http://newpol.org/content/marx-and-weber-critics-capitalism
Day, Ryan. "Comparing Karl Marx and Max Weber" Humanities 360. 22. November 2007. Web. 21. October 2014. http://www.humanities360.com/index.php/comparing-karl-marx- and-max-weber-2-60775/
Gibson, William, James. "The Politics of Enchantment" In These Times 7. October 2009. Web. 21. October 2014. http://inthesetimes.com/article/4907/the_politics_of_enchantment
