The document provides an overview of the key ideas of philosophers René Descartes and Karl Marx. It discusses Descartes' view that the essence of being was thinking, and his belief in mind-body dualism. It also outlines Marx's views on capitalism, class struggle, exploitation and alienation under capitalism. The document summarizes Marx's theories of different types of Marxism, criticisms of his ideas, and contributions of Marxism to modern society.

1. MODERN PERIOD

2. RENE DESCARTES (1596-1650)

3.  He was the father of modern philosophy
 Brilliant mathematician impressed by the precision
and certainty of mathematics.
 Started out full 0f doubt (scepticism) but wanted
certainty in life.
 He rejected everything he had previously believed
to look for a basis of certainty in his own rational
powers.
 He ditched God, the church, Aristotle and all
previous philosophers and literature in search of
rational principles from which to construct a secure
system of knowledge.

4. His two most important books are:
 Discourse on Method
(1637)
 Meditations (1642)

5. His system of Cartesian Doubt was based on
4 rules
1. Never accept anything
accept clear and distinct
ideas.
2. Order your thoughts from
the simple to the complex
3. Divide each problem into as
many parts as needed to
solve it.
4. Always check thoroughly for
oversights.

6. I think,
therefore I
am !
Or in Latin
‘Cogito Ergo
Sum !’

7. This lead Descartes to suppose that the
essence of being was thinking, and that the
mind was separate from the body - Dualism

8. He believed that all knowledge of external
things is in the mind
‘Bit isn’t that a bit
solipsistic?’
‘...and doesn’t that
just prove that only
I exist, not the
outside world?’

9. In order to escape the critique of solipsism
Descartes had to prove God’s existence since God
could be the only guarantee that:
1. Our clear and distinct ideas are true.
2. We are not being tricked by an evil
demon.
Descartes accepted the physical world but it was
inferior to the mental rational soul aspect of our
being.
Man was clearly and distinctly 2 things – Mind and
Body

10. This dualism is inherent in all Descartes’ thinking and
stems from his distinction between thought and
extension. Because he was convinced that thinking
had its own principle of motion and that things had a
separate physical motion he concluded that animals
were automata and the human body acted in a
mechanical way.

15. John Locke had three main interest:
1. Political interest
- He was against absolute monarchy
(opposed the divine right of kings)
- Believed the humans should protect their natural rights.
- Had a goal to prove that the government was unjust.
2. Epistemological interest
- The concept of epistemology is basically how our mind works and how to
improve it
- John Locke mentions and describes in-depth hoe people should live
- “ an Essay Concerning Human Understanding” is a good example in this
concept
3. Scientific interest
- Locke was influenced by Robert Boyle
- Locke argued the theory of matter in the “essay”
- Locke states that every physical thing is composed of sub-microscopic
properties, which are classified as two kinds
- Primary, shape and size
- Secondary, color and taste

23. KARL MARX

24.  Karl Marx was born on 5th May 1818.
 Marx is widely referred to as a Philosopher,
Political-Economist and a Journalist.
 Karl Marx died on 14th March, 1883.
 The message carved on his symmetry was
written as “WORKERS OF ALL LANDS,
UNITE”

25. Some important key Concepts
Capitalism: Marx believed that capitalism is not only an economic
system but it is also a political system.
Class Struggles: Marx believed that conflict produces class and
inherently class produces conflict.
Exploitation: Marx believed that Capitalism can only thrive exploitation
of the working class.
Alienation: The workers are forced to sell their labour to the Capitalists
in order to survive.

26. SOME IMPORTANT KEY IDEOLOGIES
 Capitalist society is divided into two classes:
The Bourgeoisie(wealthier ones) and the Proletariat(poor ones).
 The bourgeoisie increase their wealth by exploiting the
proletariat.
The richer ones exploit and make the poor more weaker to gain
wealth and power.
 Ideological Control:
Marx argued that the ruling classes used their control of social
institutions to gain ideological dominance. Thus, the proletariats
accepted this and didn’t fight back.
 The result of the above is false class consciousness:
The end result of ideological control is false consciousness –
where the masses, or proletariat are deluded into thinking that
everything is fine and that the appalling in which they live and
work are inevitable.

27. TYPES OF MARXISM
 Communism: is the end state of having key means of
production owned in common (communally) without class
 Socialism: is an intermediate transition state where a social
revolution (that is, of the workers, the vast majority of
society) is required to get to communism.

28. CRITICISMS OF MARXIST IDEAS
 Criticisms of Marxism have come from various political
ideologies which include ethical and economical criticisms.
 Democratic socialists and social democrats reject the idea that
socialism can be accomplished through class conflict and a
proletarian revolution.
 Some thinkers have rejected the fundamentals of Marxist
theory, such as historical materialism and the labour theory of
value, and gone on to criticise capitalism - and support
socialism - using other arguments.
 Some contemporary supporters of Marxism argue that many
aspects of Marxist thought are viable, but that the corpus is
incomplete or somewhat out-dated in regards to certain aspects
of economic, political or social theory.

29. CONTRIBUTIONS OF MARXISM IN THE MODERN
WORLD SYSTEM
 Elaboration of the conflict model of society, specifically his
theory of social change based on antagonisms between
classes.
 The idea that power originates primarily in economic
production.
 Concern with the social origins of alienation.
 Understanding of modern capitalism.
 Welfare State.

31. REFERENCES 
 https://www.slideshare.net/t0nywilliams/descartes
 https://www.slideshare.net/guest44e11b/locke-john