Kant and Marx on the Movement of History

Introduction

In whatever the concept may hold from the metaphysical point of view, with regards to the freedom of the will, the appearances of the human actions are determined from the universal laws. Despite the fact that these laws could be obscure, their causes concerning their appearances gives the opportunity for playing for the freedom of the human will. From the human will, it is possible to determine the regular movement that seems complex in an individual. “It may also be seen from the position of the human race as it is steady and slow though it is slow from its original endowment” (Kant 1784).

Discussion

Human free will has influence on different events in life. For example it has influence on marriages, births, deaths which are subject to no rule of nature therefore it is not easy to know how many of them should be reckoned at a time. However, the data collected from major countries indicate that these stages in life occur according to laws similar to the laws of unstable weather which cannot be determined in advance, but “maintain the growth of plants and other natural events in a distinct course” (Kant 1784). People have different perceptions about the events of life and in most of the instances they follw specific purpose which is often in opposition to the other people. These events are like following of a guiding thread to go to a natural unknown goal. The human events all work together towards the realization of a common goal.

Men in their daily endeavors behave not only through instincts but also as rational citizens of the preformed world as there is no history of any mankind which is conceived according to the plans.  It is not possible to suppress certain level of indignation when observing the wisdom born in the men’s actions and find that besides the wisdom in men there is a certain degree of childish behaviors and malice. The philosophers have no ability to prepurpose the purpose of an individual in the world, as it only lies on the responsibility of the men to discover their natural purpose. In accordance to the discovery of this purpose it can be possible to have a history which can define the plan for all the creatures who have failed to identify their natural purpose in their lives. According to Kant 1784, “no history of man conceived according to plan is possible.”

All the natural capacities of all the creatures are destined to evolve completely to their end. On the observation of the physical form of all the creatures it is clear that all the living things were destined to evolve to their full capacity. The presences of organs in the bodies of all the living things which are not functional are a contradiction to the laws of nature. However, giving in to this course of nature means that there will be an aimless course of nature which is a blind chance which takes place through the course of nature. On the other hand according to Marx, human beings are bound to the state and the state is the fundamental proposition which forms the nucleus of the existence of men.

 In human beings the natural capacities directed to the use of reasoning capacity are fully developed in the race and not the personality or the individuality of a person. The reasoning capacity in man is the faculty within a person with the responsibility of expansion of the rules and the purposes of an individual to use all the powers beyond the natural instincts. Reasoning   goes far beyond the limits of its projection. Furthermore, reasoning does not work independently but for it to work effectively it needs constant practice and trial as well as constant instructions for it to make gradual progress from one level to another. Thus, in this case a human being needs to live for many years with constant experience in order to develop fully the reasoning capacity within naturally. However, nature has set for all men only short period of time for their existence on earth, therefore, human beings need to utilize series of generations to ensure that the level of reasoning advances to the full development of the degree of reasoning to the required goals of the man’s efforts. Otherwise the natural capacities of the man will be counted as vain and aimless. This is because it would destroy all the principles the nature and the wisdom which has to serve as the fundamental principle of judging all the off springs arising from the individual. On the other hand, according to Marx view point, the political and the   intellectual history is composed of the struggle by the human beings to survive. “The history of society involves history of class struggles” (Curtis, 159). The struggle to survival is the   order of the day. Without reasoning, there is no chance for any of the individual to rise above their classes. The society of class struggles to succeed.

 The nature as made it possible for the men to produce all the mechanical orders of the animal existence and that as a man they are not entitled to other happiness   than the happiness that they have created themselves.  This happiness should have been created independently of the instincts created by his reasoning. Nature has a purpose for all its deeds. This is exemplified by its allocation to man of the reasoning and the freedom of the will which is a clear indication of the purpose. The purpose of nature was not to give man readymade knowledge; rather provide the basis through which all the human beings can realize the epitome of knowledge and resources. This knowledge will give them the opportunity to secure their food and shelter as well as other basic needs that they require. All the activities besides the basic needs requirements, which make life pleasant, should be the work of the humans.  Nature in this way has only provided the humans with the most stringent needs of a beginner to existence as the humans advance from their lowest points of their life to the epitome of realization of their full capacity. It seems not to have concerned the nature that the man should live comfortably, but that he should work hard in order to attain the highest of ranks. The human beings have been given less by nature so that they could work hard to develop self esteem through their actions which makes life worth living. It is strange the way in which the earliest generations carry through their toilsome laboring only to prepare themselves for the later lives and the foundations which the generations could have for good fortune and the nature’s goals. The later generations feel lucky to have to inhabit and inherit the belongings which their fore fathers worked so hard to ensure that they work.   As weird as it sounds it is necessary if an individual assumes that an animal species need to have a class of rationale as all the immortal species have to develop their capacities to perfection.

According to Kant the highest purpose of nature is the achievement of a universal civic society which is led by laws and orders. The highest purpose of nature can only be attained in a society which is full of freedom. This society is the society with mutual opposing groups of people with the acceptance of the difference in the view points amongst people. It is rare for human beings to live in a place where there are no laws and orders.  The society with freedom under the external laws is associated with a high degree of power that is irresistible. According to the theory of class, the struggle of men to rise in the social class in the society has increased over the years.  Marx proposes that whether an individual is a freeman or a slave or even a master or an oppressed. In all the periods of history, there is a constant arrangement of the society into various orders and the social ranks. The society that has risen from the ruins of the society has established new classes and the new conditions of oppression and the new conditions of oppression (Curtis, 2008).

 Man is like any other animal that lives amongst men as it requires a master. The master will ensure that he does not abuse the freedom that is allocated to him, through respect to others. The master plays an important role in breaking the will of man and like laws set by the civic government, the master ensures that he maintains justice to himself and others. To achieve this it requires a constitution, with correct conception as possible. The constitution is important in the creation of a common wealth. The opposing viewpoints among the men are an inevitable antagonism which marks the largest of all the societies and the political bodies. Working towards a society with the freedom among countries to trade freely is the need of most nations. The friction among men and the inevitable antagonism which is the mark of the largest societies and the political bodies is used by nature to establish the condition of quietness and security. Most of the countries struggle to gain power over other nations.  The war and the increase in the development of amours to be used in war are part of the creations of mankind to proof power. For instance to proof power over Germany, the strong nations formed the League of Nations. After the world war, the countries formed the League of Nations where they took away all the belongings of the Germans and their land.

 According to Marx, the utopian socialists struggle to make their ends meet.  Most of the countries which were colonized have not been able to bounce back and therefore most of the people living in the group lack economic conditions which could be used to for development. The significance of the critical utopian socialism and the communist also bear inverse relationships to their historical developments.

According to Kant, the society is in a phase of evolution. The first phase shows that all creatures have the ability to undergo evolution and finally reach their natural end. Initially an animal posses structures and organs that are useless and do not fulfill its function but if we assume these facts then we are not guided by reason. Kant acknowledges man as the only rational creature on earth whose capacity to use reason can only be fully developed when placed in a society. Hence, man cannot develop fully as an individual because reason needs practice and instruction so as to move from one level of insight to the other. For a man to develop his natural capacities to the fullest, one has to live for a very long time on earth and pass this knowledge from one generation to the other. This is the reason why reason is developed from one generation to the other and what has been learnt in one generation will be passed down as enlightenment for the next generation. Nature has recognized man as the only rational creature and has been given a chance to partake in the perfection of the world order and create a suitable world to live in. Man was therefore to use the available resources around him to construct a suitable world. Man is expected to use his own reason to create a world which he himself deem happy with. There is need to create lawful order in the society. When man has developed his capacities to the fullest, there is always the need to isolate oneself and hence break the society. This is because man always wishes to do things and incline the world according to his wish.”The unsocial sociability of men Curtis 162” this fact is what leads to the development of a society guided by laws and orders. Man has several wishes but nature controls them and confines man within some definite principles to abide by. Man wishes to live in comfort while nature brings in the need to labor and be troubled so as to acquire the daily needs.  According to Kant, the greatest problem for man is achieving a universal society that is guided by rules and regulations in its daily activities.  Yet in all these nature puts it that man can develop fully his capabilities when given freedom to work in the universe and create a perfect environment for his livelihood.

The establishment of a civic society makes man a restricted creature without the ability to exploit all available opportunities. But due to man’s nature there is need for a set of rules to be set up. The importance of man living within a society is associated with trees in a forest where because of competition for sunlight they grow straight and healthy. At the same time the trees that grow alone in a vast environment get many branches are crooked and stunted. The link between such trees and those that grow together in a forest are a direct link between men that stay in isolation with those that are restricted within a society. “ It is just like trees each need the other, Kant 1728” The problem that Kant establishes among men is the need to have a master as opposed to plants that have no master and do not even in any case require a master. Man is in most cases tempted to disobey. He then needs a master to control his will and desires and force him to act within a universal code of conduct. The need to have a master is a difficult task yet there is need to set up a straight man. Kant says” man is a piece of wood and getting something straight from it is a taunting task even when there is a master.” Since man is in a step to a fully evolved individual it is perceived that this target may be achieved by the coming generations. The journey towards setting up a constitution lies solely on the ability to resolve issues that form the basis of the problems. Therefore for Kant the history of mankind is seen as the realization of natures plan to set up a perfect state which gives man a chance to develop their capacities to its fullest and set up relations between states.

Like Kant, Marx emphasizes the need for relations between men in their need to accomplish the means of production. Psychological nature of an individual is very crucial but this consciousness can only be understood in the context of class relations. It is clear that it is not the will of man that determines their existence but it is their existence in the society that plays a key role in determining their consciousness. The movement in history of mankind arises due to the presence of conflicts and differing views. At one point in time the material productive forces conflicts with the already set up relations of production. “Each class is struggling to improve the instruments of production” (Curtis 162). The society according to Marx is in a period of evolution. The earlier society was greatly shown through elements of social ranks within the society. That society has developed into a society of bourgeoisie but is still categorized to different classes. The current society is as a result of a course of development that has taken place for so many years that have involved revolution and exchange of ideas between societies and states. Unlike the society stated by Kant which is kept under a certain boundary, the bourgeois class move around the globe looking for new markets for their production.

The structure of this class of people is only broken down by the availability of new industries that do not only process products for home consumption but those that are required globally. This for the bourgeoisie is a life and death situation. They have to restructure their needs to survive in such a competitive environment. According to Marx, the world undergoes revolution where man has to attain certain heights in their means of production. There is a highly developing capitalism around the world where people are more concerned about what benefits them most as opposed to what is important to the society. The rise of capitalism shows such acts of individualistic nature of human beings. People who have risen to power are overwhelmed by greed and they in turn convert the means of production to only a few people who are powerful. Unlike the society described by Kant where an individual has to be  controlled by a set out rules and regulations so as to act within a certain moral conduct, the society described by Marx do not put out such rules and those that exist guard people in classes. The last force of a society is described by a withering of the state. It is like a combination of the society to the capitalist mode of production. This society is one that seeks to find a solution to the existing problem of owning the means of production. One of the solutions is to give up the forces of production to be controlled by the state. This is only achieved through the realization of the social nature of the forces of production. This realization allows social regulation of the means of production. The power of the state underrates the need for social classes as they all fall under one umbrella.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the society according to both Marx and Kant is in a movement in history. They have both undergone revolution where they have emerged from one generation to the other. The current generation will pass down its level of developments to the succeeding generation. The generations in question today are at a stage of enlightenment. This is because they have been given freedom to enlighten themselves in nature according to Kant. For Marx the capitalist society should embrace the forces from outside to be able to attain a social means of production. It is therefore evident that the society is moving in stages and the view of the coming generation might be so civilized as they will take up from the already civilized society. We live in an enlightened age. While Kant is involved with the ability of people to make decisions, Marx talks of political developments that are witnessed in history.