Marx and the Problem of Ideology

 

 

In the 20th century, there's been a lot of talk about how what we know depends on where and when we are and our personal viewpoint. Some people take this to mean that there's no such thing as objective knowledge, while others think it just means our access to truth is limited and conditional. This idea poses a challenge when it comes to understanding Marx's concept of ideology.

 

Marx, despite contributing to doubts about objective knowledge, believed in the existence of objective truth. He thought that ideologies, or false beliefs about the world, could be judged against this objective truth. However, his ideas about how thoughts relate to reality seem to suggest that there can't be objective knowledge.

 

Marx didn't explicitly lay out a theory of knowledge, but his writings suggest he was influenced by empiricism, which says that all knowledge comes from our senses. However, he also criticized this view, particularly the idea that humans are passive in shaping the world. Instead, Marx believed that humans actively change the world through their labor, merging the active role of the mind with the material world.

 

This fusion of ideas forms the basis of Marx's materialist view of history. He believed that studying history meant looking at how people produce and reproduce their material conditions of life, including the tools they use and the social structures they create. According to Marx, people's consciousness, including their thoughts and beliefs, is shaped by their material conditions. In other words, what people think is influenced by what they do.

 

Marx believed that people's thoughts and beliefs are shaped by their social circumstances. In other words, what people think is influenced by the world they live in. However, if Marx had stopped there, there would be no need for the concept of ideology. Ideology refers to the distortion or misrepresentation of reality in people's consciousness.

 

To explain how this distortion happens, Marx pointed out two main factors:

 

The separation of mental and material production in society's division of labor.

The division of society into ruling and ruled classes.

Marx and Engels used the term "ideology" in different ways, but two main meanings stand out. First, ideology involves distorting reality to fit certain beliefs or ideas. Second, it involves turning a specific historical situation into a universal truth.

 

According to Engels, ideology happens when someone thinks consciously but with false beliefs. They don't understand the real reasons behind their thoughts, so they make up false reasons instead. They base their ideas on other people's thoughts without questioning them. This happens because they're disconnected from the real world due to their role in society.

 

The difference between objective and ideological thinking is that objective thinkers understand the social influences on their thoughts, while ideologists don't. Objective thinkers are aware of how their social context shapes their thinking. Ideologists, on the other hand, mistakenly believe that everyone's lives are ruled by ideas, like theirs are.

 

Ideologists make this mistake because they're isolated from the real world of labor and production. They base their understanding of the world on their own limited experiences, assuming everyone else is like them. They don't realize that their ideas are shaped by their social position, and they misunderstand the true causes of historical events.

This idea of ideology raises some challenges. According to Marx's theory of consciousness, it's unclear how consciousness could be "false" if it's supposed to reflect existence. Engels' explanation doesn't fully solve this problem; it suggests that thinkers are forced to distort reality due to their place in society. However, this implies that objective knowledge is impossible until society becomes classless, which contradicts the idea of critiquing ideology rationally.

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Now, let's explore the second meaning of ideology. Marx believed that the beliefs and values of a class are shaped by its position in society's production systems. The dominant class's outlook tends to be the prevailing one, as it reflects the material conditions of that class's life. However, Marx considers this process ideological because the ideologists aren't aware they're doing it. They believe their ideas are universally true and timeless, even though they're shaped by specific historical and social contexts.

 

Essentially, ideologists turn the beliefs of a particular class into universal truths, making a historical order seem like a natural and absolute one. They attribute characteristics of a specific class to all of humanity, making the existing social organization seem like the only possible one.

Marx believed that ideology arises from the tendency to present specific, temporary circumstances as universal and necessary truths. This illusion justifies the rule of a class to both itself and others, but what makes it effective is that the ideologist is unaware of the illusion. Each class, whether ruling or not, has its own ideology and ideologists, but only the ruling class's illusions justify its actual rule.

 

According to Marx, ideology is inevitable in societies with class divisions. However, in a classless society, ideology would be unnecessary and impossible. This presents a problem: if society naturally blurs the line between what's necessary and what's contingent, objective knowledge becomes impossible. Critiquing ideology also becomes problematic because it requires distinguishing between necessary and contingent aspects, which might not be possible. Marx didn't resolve this dilemma, as accepting relativism would weaken his critique of class society, while affirming objective knowledge would undermine it. As a result, Marx left his followers with an ambiguous tool compromised by its epistemological uncertainties.

Louis Althusser, a French Marxist philosopher, offers a different perspective on ideology compared to Marx. While Marx sees ideology as false knowledge that disappears with the removal of social divisions, Althusser views ideology as a fundamental part of society that cannot be eliminated. He argues that ideology is a system of representations through which people understand and interact with their world. This understanding may not directly reflect reality but expresses how people experience their conditions of existence.

 

According to Althusser, ideology is ingrained in every social structure and cannot be eradicated. Even the idea of eliminating ideology is itself a form of ideological thinking. He illustrates his point by referencing Marx's own view on historical action, where people adopt past ideas and symbols to navigate revolutionary changes. Althusser believes that ideology is not a mistake or a temporary aspect of history but an essential part of how societies function.

 

In contrast to Marx, who suggests that a classless society would eliminate ideology, Althusser argues that ideology is inherent to social life and will persist even in future societies. He sees ideology as a necessary component of how people understand and navigate their world, suggesting that it will continue to shape human societies indefinitely.

Althusser's perspective presents a step forward from Marx's ideas in some ways. Firstly, it acknowledges the potential for objective knowledge (science) to develop even within a society divided by class. Secondly, it recognizes that ideology is a fundamental aspect of society that cannot be eliminated entirely, unlike Marx's belief that a classless society would abolish ideology.

 

However, Althusser's viewpoint raises challenging questions. Firstly, if science is considered a form of consciousness influenced by the economic structure, how does it distinguish itself from ideology? Althusser admits that science also has an ideological history, which complicates its status as objective knowledge. Additionally, while Althusser separates the functions of science (knowledge) and ideology (praxis), the fundamental issue remains: how do these functions emerge from a socially determined consciousness?

 

In summary, Marx's theory of knowledge suggests that consciousness merely reflects reality, leading to the concept of ideology to explain false consciousness. However, this explanation does not address how true consciousness (objective knowledge) is possible without a classless society. Consequently, Marx faced a dilemma: either abandoning the materialist theory of consciousness or accepting the notion of universal ideology without the possibility of critiquing it rationally.