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Marx and Capital

This page delivers no verdict; it presents claims and evidence with their sources. No theory in science is absolute. Method

For everyone

Marx argued that the capitalist economy rests on "surplus value" extracted from workers' labour, that history advances through conflicts between classes, and predicted that capitalism would give way to a classless society because of its own contradictions. His ideas inspired political movements that shaped much of the world in the 20th century; whether his predictions came true is still debated.

For specialists

Volume I of Capital (1867) examines the labour theory of value, commodity fetishism and capital accumulation. The "transformation problem", how values become prices, was the subject of criticism beginning with Böhm-Bawerk (1896). The law of the tendency of the rate of profit to fall is empirically disputed. Historical materialism was criticised by thinkers such as Weber for understating the influence of ideas and religion on economic structure.

Claims

Capitalist profit arises from surplus value produced by workers but not paid to them.^[1]

Positions

Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk: The labour theory of value cannot consistently explain how prices form; the third volume of Capital contradicts the first.^[2]
Max Weber: Religious ideas (e.g. the Protestant ethic) also shaped the economic order; history cannot be explained by material conditions alone.^[3]

Connections

Parent

Society, history and economics

Argues against

Adam Smith and The Wealth of Nations

Ibn Khaldūn's Muqaddimah

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Sources

BookMarx, K. (1867). Das Kapital. Kritik der politischen Oekonomie, Band I. Otto Meissner, Hamburg
BookBöhm-Bawerk, E. von (1896). Zum Abschluss des Marxschen Systems. Haering, Berlin
ArticleWeber, M. (1905). Die protestantische Ethik und der Geist des Kapitalismus. Archiv für Sozialwissenschaft und Sozialpolitik 20–21

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Cite this page

APA

Athena contributors. (2026). Marx and Capital. Athena: The tree of human knowledge. Retrieved November 1, 2026, from https://latifkedi.github.io/athena/en/d/marx/

BibTeX

@misc{athena_marx,
  title        = {Marx and Capital},
  author       = {{Athena contributors}},
  year         = {2026},
  howpublished = {\url{https://latifkedi.github.io/athena/en/d/marx/}},
  note         = {Athena: The tree of human knowledge. Accessed: 2026-11-01}
}

Added: September 27, 2026 · Last changed: September 28, 2026 · Page history

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