Marx on Ideology 1818-1883, economist and philosophy with ideology combining the two with politics. Writing as a journalist who was born in Russia but soon became stateless, wealthy middle class family. He also collaborated with Engels. Marxism states society progresses through class struggle. States run for interests of the ruling class [in this case the middle class/bourgeois]. Capitalism would result in internal tensions and eventual collapse. Two stages of thought: Pre 1848 - discussion of normative subjects, problems created by capitalism, unemployment, alienation, exploitation and role of religion. Post 1848 - new economic science of political economy, less humanistic and more scientific. Ideology as a class interest. It is the product of a particular class opposed to humanity as a whole unit. The ideology is what defends the interests of that ruling class. Ideologies are essentially wrong - 'false consciousness' is formed as a result. Capitalist bourgeois dominant class. Looked for explanation to justify them as ruling class - Adam Smith writing gave them an ideological justification for capitalism. He discussed why societies are organised as they are with the particular structures and features as well as how societies change over time - theory of history. Influential to Marx. Labour is the most important human activity. The essence of being human is to be able to engage in free creative labour and transform both one's environment and oneself. History is the story of the development of this capacity. History is economic. Rejects the idea of a fixed human natures. Labour of work makes us human but not when we are forced to do so instrumentally. Capitalism is not work for our own good as it is expected. Alienation is key to his critique of capitalism. It explains why capitalism adversely affects human beings. Alienation is the most important consequence of capitalism. Workers who work for wages are alienated from the product and the activity of labour - it results on the de- skilling of the labourer. This alienates us from the human race or our 'species being' and what we have the potential to become because of our conditions of work. Ultimately, we are alienated from each other as a result. Capitalism takes a liberal approach - the individual is free and will prosper if s/he works hard. Individual rights needed in to protect ourselves from one another. 'Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the souls of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people.'