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SOCY 151: Foundations of Modern Social Theory

Lecture 10 - Marx's Theory of Historical Materialism (1). We review Marx's theory of alienation and pick up with the transition from the young Marx to the mature Marx who breaks with Hegelian thought and the Young Hegelians. Reflecting on the disappointed hopes of the French Revolution, Hegel wrote that the civil servants in France represent the universal class. In direct contrast, Marx writes that the state only appears to be the universal class. He then goes about writing his theory of exploitation to argue that the workers, as the only fully alienated class, represent the universal position. He responds to Feuerbach with his eleven theses arguing for his own brand of historical materialism. Many of his "Theses on Feuerbach" remain very famous and widely-associated with Marx's oeuvre, including the last thesis, thesis eleven: the point of philosophy is not only to understand the world, but to change it. (from oyc.yale.edu)

Lecture 10 - Marx's Theory of Historical Materialism (1)

Time Lecture Chapters
[00:00:00] 1. The Importance of Marx's Theory of Alienation
[00:15:06] 2. Intellectual Developments towards the Theory of Alienation
[00:27:27] 3. On the Jewish Question: Universal Emancipation
[00:30:21] 4. Introduction to Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Right
[00:37:51] 5. Historical Materialism

References
Lecture 10 - Marx's Theory of Historical Materialism (1)
Instructor: Professor Ivan Szelenyi. Transcript [html]. Audio [mp3]. Download Video [mov].

Go to the Course Home or watch other lectures:

Lecture 01 - Introduction
Lecture 02 - Hobbes: Authority, Human Rights and Social Order
Lecture 03 - Locke: Equality, Freedom, Property and the Right to Dissent
Lecture 04 - The Division of Powers- Montesquieu
Lecture 05 - Rousseau: Popular Sovereignty and General Will
Lecture 06 - Rousseau on State of Nature and Education
Lecture 07 - Utilitarianism and Liberty, John Stuart Mill
Lecture 08 - Smith: The Invisible Hand
Lecture 09 - Marx's Theory of Alienation
Lecture 10 - Marx's Theory of Historical Materialism (1)
Lecture 11 - Marx's Theory of Historical Materialism (cont.)
Lecture 12 - Marx's Theory of History
Lecture 13 - Marx's Theory of Class and Exploitation
Lecture 14 - Nietzsche on Power, Knowledge and Morality
Lecture 15 - Freud on Sexuality and Civilization
Lecture 16 - Weber on Protestantism and Capitalism
Lecture 17 - Conceptual Foundations of Weber's Theory of Domination
Lecture 18 - Weber on Traditional Authority
Lecture 19 - Weber on Charismatic Authority
Lecture 20 - Weber on Legal-Rational Authority
Lecture 21 - Weber's Theory of Class
Lecture 22 - Durkheim and Types of Social Solidarity
Lecture 23 - Durkheim's Theory of Anomie
Lecture 24 - Durkheim on Suicide
Lecture 25 - Durkheim and Social Facts