Marxism is a social determinist doctrine. is this true or false?

This is a very detailed question, as there are lots quotes in Marx's writings that could be used to support either the determinist view, or the opposite ';social action'; perspective. And later marxist commentators have also fallen into both camps.





Ultimately, Marxism could be labelled as social determinism in that it argues that the economic infrastructure of society shapes the cultural ans political superstructure. Our cultural practices - religion, ideology, philosophy, art, etc - are all shaped by the requirements of the economy. This is a crude reading of Marx, however. He also said ';Men make their own history...but they do not make it under conditions chosen by themselves...';. The first part of the quote is clearly libertarian, and anti-determinist. He means that we have free will, and can make history, but the material conditions of production are the ultimate constraints upon action at any given historical juncture. We might therefore say that in pre-literate societies, people are not free; but that historical progress consists in progressive emancipation as we develop the material circumstances and productive capacity to totally liberate ourselves as a species.





Hope this helps a bit!

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