Instead, he argues that greater freedom develops in society by both reform and revolution. In Das Kapital Marx depends neither on the eventual collapse of capitalism in order for individuals to acquire greater freedom in society, nor does he propose a positive programme, explainable by dialectics, to overthrow capitalism. Marx argues that it is because of the sale of labour-power that capitalism comes into existence, and once the intense accumulation of nineteenth century European capitalism is completed then a new social form will have to replace capitalism. Social freedom is concerned with how individuals labour in each changing social form, and in capitalist society it is primarily concerned with the lack of freedom of those who sell their labour- power in acquiring a fair distribution of the benefits and burdens of society.

It is an expanded consideration of non-interference associated traditionally with the ideal liberal notion of negative freedom, and it has its basis in the universal condition of existence where individuals labour in order to survive. The account of the individual freedom involves the concern of individuals who want to be free of the interference of capital. Neither the thesis nor substantial extracts from it may be printed or otherwise reproduced without the author's permission.Ī concise statement of the nature of freedom, which contains aspects of individual freedom and social freedom, can be extracted from the economic discussions that form the substance of Karl Marx's Das Kapital (Capital, volume 1). PDF (Migrated (PDF/A Conversion) from original format: (application/pdf))Īvailable under License - The author retains copyright ownership and moral rights in this thesis. Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

Karl marx das kapital