Views on Capitalism: Adam Smith v. Karl Marx, Essay Example

Both Karl Marx and Adam Smith are considered as some of the most influential and respected persons in the globe over the past millennium, mainly for their views for generating a perfect society that can assure every person of his/her happiness. Adam smith bad the objective of perfect liberty for each and every individual  through the capitalistic approach, whereas Marx believed in personal freedom for the society and logically disapproved capitalism citing justifications such as to why it would crumble plus its irrationality. Their key philosophical problem was to figure out what form of state will guarantee the greatest liberty and freedom of individuals (Meiksins 34). They disagreed on in their views regarding the function of competition, effects of labor division on human beings and human nature (Arthur 65).

Smith based his capitalism philosophy on the thought that most or all people operate for their personal interest wherever an opportunity arises. He argued that the most favorable economic system would be arrived at if these actions were left to follow the natural development emanating from their human nature without being hampered through government interference. Adam idealized the view of the world such that an economy that was capitalistic would regulate itself through a mechanism where every individual was acting in his/her self-interest. Stabilization of prices would be realize at the lowest possible rates, a shift in employment to the regions that are in most need of it, and that supply would rapidly react to demand (Resnick 54).

The philosophy by Marx was formed the challenging times in England, France and Germany. At this period, capitalism progression generated hostility between classes and poor living conditions. This influenced Marx to develop his personal dialectic that postulated that to be “human” was as a result of varying means of production plus class structure that was changing parallel to it. In 1948, while working-class revolution failed, this made Karl to aggressively advocate for violent and more radical revolution (Meiksins 108).

Works Cited

Arthur, Seldon. Capitalism: A Condensed Version. London: Institute of Economic Affairs, 2007.

Meiksins, Wood E. The origins of capitalism: a longer view. London: Verso, 2003.

Resnick, Stephen. Knowledge & Class: a Marxian critique of political economy. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1987.