Karl Marx

Das Kapital

19:03 min

Economics, Philosophy, Politics, History, Classics

356 pages, 1867

Why does capitalism seem so natural and inevitable when it's actually a recent historical development? Marx's 'Das Kapital', one of history's most influential economic texts, presents a revolutionary philosophical framework that reinterprets our current economic system as a complex web of exploitation hidden beneath everyday market transactions. Marx's work details how capitalists extract surplus value from workers while wage systems conceal this exploitation, and how capitalism emerged through violent primitive accumulation rather than entrepreneurial merit. His philosophical analysis identifies capitalism's internal contradictions between labor and capital that generate recurring crises, making the system inherently unstable. This short introduces readers to a philosophy that has profoundly shaped modern institutions worldwide, framing capitalism as inherently exploitative and containing the seeds of its own transformation.

Karl Marx

Karl Marx (1818-1883) was a 19th-century German philosopher, economist, and sociologist who developed influential theories about society, economics, and class relations. He spent years studying political economy and social structures while living in exile in London, where he conducted extensive research at the British Museum Reading Room. His analysis of capitalism, class struggle, and historical materialism fundamentally shaped modern social, political, and economic thought, influencing numerous movements and thinkers across the globe.

Chapters

Capitalism represents a historically specific economic system driven by capital accumulation, not an eternal natural order, requiring dialectical analysis to reveal its internal contradictions and potential for transformation.

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