Outline the main elements in Karl Marxs social theory and examine the Essay

Outline the main elements in Karl Marxs social theory and examine the strengths and weaknesses of his theory. Explain why Marxs social theory has had such a - Essay Example Ideologies in this context refer to the values, feelings and ideas by which people perceive their particular societies which the upper-class controls so as to prevent people in the lower-class from knowing how society truly operates. For example, literature can be used to form a society’s ideology as was prevalent in eighteenth century England. The fundamental conception behind Marxism is identified as materialism, socialism and the unification of action and structure. Marx’s idealistic view of socialism involved actions that would better serve society within the realm of unselfish inspiration, a society not interested in existing social inclinations. The wealth of a nation should be divided not according to greed but to need. He sees the technological advances as the basis for entire societies to be redistributed in accordance to the requirements of the upper class. Marx â€Å"sees the source of these changes in changing technologies, ‘productive relations,†™ which bring changes in the way people are organised or ‘social relations.’† (Sowell, 1985: 70). His theory does not suggest philosophical concerns or the study of social structures alone but the actions necessary to implement social change as well. One of the most often used axioms in the Marxist ideology is that their ambition is ‘not to study society but to change it.’ According to Applebaum (1988: 15), society should â€Å"understand how Marx sought to bridge the concerns of both philosophy and science in developing a theory that operates simultaneously at the levels of structure and action [†¦] the philosophic critique of consciousness, the ‘scientific’ analysis of capitalist economic institutions, and the historical study of politics and society.† This is the intent of this discussion along with identifying various strengths and weaknesses of the theory and to examine the reasons why Marx’s social theory has