Status Updates From A Ideologia Alemã

Relationships between the state, law, and private property are drawn here, perhaps serving as the bedrock for Engels' text on the same matter. From here, the next section on 'proletarians and communism' starts, with the first section covering how class shapes communities. In short, individuals of a given class who find themselves threatened by external factors will form communities to stand together.

An expansion of the division of labour is introduced in the form of the separation of town and country, described as 'the greatest division of material and mental labour'. Characterizations of the two during the Middle Ages are provided, which leads into further delineation of production and commerce. This segues into a recounting of the industrial revolution (AKA the rise of manufacturing) and its preceding history.

Feuerbach's approach to materialism is thoroughly critiqued. Marx & Engels take umbrage with the aloofness of core concepts to the approach, such as 'essence' and 'liberation'. An examination of how the ruling class imputes its ideology to society writ large (laying the groundwork for Gramsci's cultural hegemony) follows. The division of labour is recontextualized as a division of 'mental' versus 'material' labour.

Communism is namedropped, in the context of how private property is an 'identical expression' of the division of labour (rooted in the family structure, reifies the contradiction between individual and community). The revolution's outcome is sketched, decrying man's alienation, before segueing into the next section on 'civil society and the conception of history'. In sum, the former is the 'theatre' for the latter.

The 'first premises' of the materialist method are laid out thoroughly, all rooted in a manner such that they can 'be verified in a purely empirical way' in contrast to German philosophy. After these details have been provided, the 'fundamental conditions' of history are detailed to lead into a discussion of consciousness as a social product, one which in turn informs the division of labour and forces of production.

Being realistic about my reading capabilities by starting on these summary notes instead of tackling the whole book. Perhaps in another life...

Regardless, this is some absolutely hilarious writing right here. Marx & Engels launch their explosive critiques by poking fun at 'The Illusions of German Ideology', into where their philosophical contemporaries (the Young Hegelians) have retreated from material reality.

I’m such a predictable mf I’ll read a TOME of a history novel and then juxtapose it with some theory and see what shakes out on the other side of the sifter. lol. Anyway I’ll probably be so sick of theory by the end of this. So far I’m loving it, per usual. But give it a minute because it is so fucking hard to read theory the way these dudes wrote holy smokes.

Breaking news: Marx DESTROYS German Idealism in ONE AWESOME pen stroke!