Hegel (left) and Marx (Right)
Dialectical materialism is a philosophical and naturalistic view on the distribution of material wealth amongst the people and the physiognomy of the idealised society in which the cultural and economic capital for society is distributed with egalitarian and equitable principles directly in mind so as to allow for economic productivity, capitalist gains and personal wellbeing to all function mutually exclusively and in direct support of each other (something that is rarely observed in many other economic theories. This post sets out to observe this theory in greater depth and compare and contrast the naturalist and idealistic perspective of Hegel on this matter with Marx's more dogmatic approach to the conflicting and yet effective coexistence of the major components of this theory in facilitating social and economic growth and development within a society which has in both past and present times been ruled by capitalist principles.
Hegel, according to his own reflection of himself appears to be very much an idealist as opposed to a realist in his view of the relative merits of a society in which dialectical materialist principles are adopted considering his position as a prominent figure in the "German idealist" and described himself as an "absolute idealist" (Ameriks, K, 1991). However, according to Ameriks' interpretation based on other recent interpretations on the subject on which he based his research, the opposite appears to be the case in that Hegel's brand of idealism appears to be perhaps more generalised and somewhat assisted by the observation and taking into account of more realist ideas. This is reflected in his three claims on the subject shown below:
(1) An "idealist" is one who holds that "the finite" is ideal.
(2) To hold this is to hold that the finite "has no veritable being."
(3) All significant philosophy holds and has held this, even if it has not developed the claim adequately and hence there is no genuine conflict of "idealistic" and "realistic" philosophy.
His view that the idealistic philosophy is not in any genuine conflict with realistic philosophy and has been set about to support economic gains for the future and beyond what is considered as "the finite" clearly explains this more objective and generalised way of thinking, especially considering that he disproves the alternative and less realist form of idealism that is Kantianism (the theory in which all members of society are considered to be of equal worth and so worthy of the same treatment and level of respect in spite of their differing social standing and economic positions, as well as presenting materialism to not be such a natural way of society functioning as Hegel presents it to be). Equally, Hegel views materialism as being very much a natural state of consciousness as opposed to something which the population have been conditioned to support through their lived experiences and the influence of governance by a plutocratic society led by the bourgeois to which monetarist and capitalist ideas are central. The principle of distributive justice is hugely important in assisting this equitable and idealist society stabilised by appropriate use and access of material wealth. This is the criterion by which wealth, resources and opportunities are fairly and equitably spread out amongst the population with no central group of greater power being present to influence and control this resource distribution to support their own needs. Entitlement to resources is perhaps somewhat determined by meritocracy and hard work, as well as the individuals' needs reflected by personal situations and experiences to be effectively understood and assessed on a case by case basis in a just manner. However, as clearly put by Robert Nozick, "the fact that a thief's victims voluntarily could have presented him with gifts, does not entitle the thief to his ill-gotten gains. Justice in holdings is historical; it depends upon what actually has happened". This means that the fact that a situation of wealth distribution cannot be considered as just purely because it had been acted on using systems intent on preserving justice on this respect, as well as that many situations are very much dealt with in a corrupt manner not using this system, and this can prove to be potentially difficult to police (Nozick, R, 1973).
Kant (above) and Bacon (below)
Marx and Engels, however, have a very different take on the dialectical materialist theory and how materialism came to be ingrained within culture and society. The Marxist perspective does not consider materialism to be down to human nature and the model in which humans always considered to develop society from, with this perspective perhaps appearing to be closer to the Kantian view of idealism and how materialism came about to be as a result of this. It is widely considered that capitalist needs and the ideas of the elite overrule all others and have been the reasons for the preservation of a materialist society, perhaps that has come to light within the rest of the world through Westernisation and globalisation. Engels' ideas on the subject very much support and have a lot in common with Bacon's economic principles. These are that naturalism appears to be the main and only means for true philosophy to be developed (this clearly linking back to Hegel's points) and that ideas developed by observing human behaviour and conditioning heavily detract from this. Capitalism would not be natural or a philosophy but a product of the experiences that one has gained in this case. Materialism would be a product of capitalism and is less about one's development as a person and sense of achievement, but mainly just shows the physical and material rewards of their labour. This leads to the increased prevalence of misanthropic ideas and lack of personal fulfilment in society.
This is reflected through Jacob Bohme's analysis of this perspective and the common view in Bacon's materialist theory which Engels references:
"In its further evolution, materialism becomes one-sided. Hobbes is the man who systemises Baconian materialism. Knowledge based upon the senses loses its poetic blossom, it passes into the abstract experience of the mathematician; geometry is proclaimed as the queen of sciences. Materialism takes to misanthropy."
While both outlooks on the rise of the materialist society globally appear to recognise the means in which this functioning effectively and supporting both socialist values and economic gains prove to be very much idealised and theoretical, it is clear that the more philosophical and naturalistic Hegelian view considers materialism to be human nature and naturally considered favourable by individuals in a society thriving economically. This starkly contrasts with the Marxist perspective on this in that, despite linking back to naturalist ideas having some role and acknowledgement of the presence of material driven workers in a society experiencing rapid economic development, considers this to not be the main reason that people are increasingly adopting these values and relate more to its detrimental impact on the functioning of society and its means in reducing the success of the forms of idealism which are more socially driven and receive greater support by Marx and Engels compared to Hegel's form of idealism.
Ameriks, K (1991). Hegel and Idealism; published in The Monist , JULY 1991, Vol. 74, No. 3, Hegel Today (JULY 1991), pp. 386-402 Published by: Oxford University Press. https://www.jstor.org/stable/27903249
Engels, F (1940). On Historical Materialism; published in PRISM: Political & Rights Issues & Social Movements. 546(1) https://stars.library.ucf.edu/prism/546?utm_source=stars.library.ucf.edu%2Fprism%2F546&utm_medium=PDF&utm_campaign=PDFCoverPages
Nozick, R (1973). Distributive Justice; published in Philosophy & Public Affairs , Autumn, 1973, Vol. 3, No. 1 (Autumn, 1973), pp. 45-126. https://www.jstor.org/stable/2264891
Stalin, J (1938). Dialectical and Historical Materialism. 1(1) C21 - Dialectical and Historical Materialism & Questions of Leninism - 1st Printing.indd
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