UPSC Prelims 2011 · GS Paper I

Question 26: Polity and Governance

Karl Marx explained the process of class struggle with the help of which one of the following theories ?

aEmpirical liberalism

bExistentialism

cDarwin's theory of evolution

dDialectical materialism

AnswerThe answer is (d).

Marx took Hegel's dialectic, in which change comes from the clash of opposing forces, and rooted it in material conditions instead of ideas. In his view the mode of production gives rise to opposed classes, owners and workers, and their conflict drives history through successive stages towards a classless society. That is dialectical materialism, applied to history as historical materialism. Darwin's theory is about biology, and existentialism and liberalism are separate schools of thought.

Why each option is right or wrong

(a) Empirical liberalism is not Marx's framework; he criticised liberal political economy.
(b) Existentialism is a philosophy of individual existence, not Marx's theory of class conflict.
(c) Darwin's theory explains biological evolution, not class struggle.
(d) Right: the clash of opposites rooted in material conditions explains class struggle.

Explanation: written by UPSC Grade, not by UPSC.

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Source: UPSC, Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination 2011, General Studies Paper I, Series A. The paper on upsc.gov.in.