A sense of revision is in the air: materialism and idealism (Hegel and Marx)

Question Four: Contrast your understanding of philosophical 'materialism' with 'idealism' with particular reference to Hegel and Marx.

Materialism considers that the world is made up of atoms and matter while idealism considers that everything happens in the mind. A good way to describe this difference is through the following sentences 'the world makes love go round' (materialists) and 'love makes the world go round' (idealists ...... and hippies).

Hegel is our number one idealist, he is the great teleological historian who believed that everything had a purpose, for example a seed becomes a plant, the acorn becomes the oak tree and society is always fighting wars and expanding towards a better society otherwise there is no point. His idealism is apparant through manifestation of the spirit, something other then physical matter. Hegel believe in something called Ghesit, a German word for which there is no direct English translation. In its simplest form Ghesit means ghost but it can also mean mind and because Hegel was a christian thinker it can also mean God.

Dialectical change involves the thesis, anti thesis and synthesis as an advantageous method for argument and persuasion between two opposing ideas.

Karl Marx was a follower of Hegel and 'stood Hegel on his feet' (often misquoted 'stood Hegel on his head' because he did disagree with his master on idealism). Marx criticises mechanistic materialists for he was a dialectical materialist.