The Early Life Of Karl Marx Essay — страница 2

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like inventing new things that are useful to people. Marx had no interest in any science or inventions. Marx focused more on what he liked in school. Marx liked literature and rhetoric. He read tirelessly because he thought reading was the most necessary thing for a good education, which helped him become more knowledgeable on all types of things. Karl decided to write poetry for a while in his late teens. He enjoyed writing essays and poems. Karl was very undecided at this time in his life. He didn t know whether he d follow his dad s wishes or his own wishes. Marx wrote this quote later in his life which really describes this point in his life. We cannot always take up the profession we feel ourselves suited for; our social relations have begun more or less to crystallize

before we are able to determine them (Karl Marx, Passionate Logician, pg.12). Karl s first college experience at the University of Bonn was not a great one. He was not the diligent student of his early years in elementary and high school. He ran up debts quickly and became very careless about money. He had one arrest for drunkenness and noisiness. He was also involved in a duel with pistols which he admittedly says was the stupidest thing he ever did in his life. He had to leave the University of Bonn for being caught dueling. Marx s parents were extremely disappointed in him because of his actions while at college. After Marx left the University of Bonn he fell in love with the girl he liked in high school. Her name was Jenny and she was known as the most beautiful girl in

Trier. She also had some noble lineage. She and Karl decided to get married. Marx s parents were shocked and not very enthused with the idea of him being married so soon. Before marrying Jenny he decided to finish college to please his father. This time he went to the University of Berlin which was far away from his family and Jenny. He didn t come back until he was finished, which was three years. His father wanted him to study law at the University which Karl didn t mind. Karl was a much more diligent student this time around mostly due to his new found love and responsibility in marrying Jenny. Karl did not pay much attention to politics while he was at college. He actually conformed superficially to the social customs of the university and the customs of the city. Karl made

no lasting ideas or impressions while at college though he was more inclined to a mild form of liberalism . Around this time Heinrich s health began declining. He could no longer make enough money to support his family which made Karl think about dropping out and becoming a poet to support his family. At the age of 19 Marx is alone in Berlin, dependent on an allowance from his ailing father and he had no idea of what he was going to do. Nothing was going well for the Marx family. Many bad things were happening; his brother died after a fight with tuberculosis. His five sisters were married off without substantial dowries, which didn t help the Marx s in their financial situations. On top of all these happenings Karl claimed he had done more at college than he had actually done.

This made Heinrich upset and didn t help his condition. Heinrich s life came to an end under increased sadness. He didn t know about Karl and thought he might not amount to anything. Heinrich Marx died in March of 1838. Karl s father s death made him very sad. He didn t know what to do because his father was his greatest friend. His father s death put Marx in a spiritual limbo for a while. Around this time Karl s political philosophy began to change. He read more and more of the philosopher Hegel s work. This was a sort of haven for him in these tough times. Karl s father s death made him search for a haven and this seemed to be the one he liked most. Karl called Hegel the world philosopher of our age at one point (Karl Marx, The Passionate Logician, pg.20). Marx focused on

Philosophical Rationalism which was popularized by the French and English. Marx read many works by French and English writers. The Marxist Philosophy, as Marx puts it, came from Hegel and is indebted to Hegel s thoughts. Karl was definitely in need of money. He had no real job and he realized he was not fully trained and could not make money without some sort of training. He decided to get a doctorate degree. He got his P.H.D. from the University of Jena. He studied Jurisprudence while at the university. He also spent a lot of time at the British Museum to document class struggle. Marx finally made attempts at writing articles for newspapers and periodicals. He published his first article at the age of 24. He used this article to attack the Prussian Government and it s policies.