Materialism: What does it mean in Marx?

Marx's writings and philosophies extend through various disciplines of history, economics, political science, literature, philosophy, political economy, sociology and even - arguably - mathematics. There are several common strings throughout his writings, many of which we have explored this semester, but a constant beacon, a constant guideline, is Marx's concept of historical materialism.

In historical materialism, economics is key. Economics has always motivated people through history, and can be isolated as an independent force, separate from the religious or ideological.

For Marx, social necessity is uniform: What differs among men is economic power, ability and desire. One gets what one deserves, and in the ideological or religious, this is not necessarily the case, but in the economic, it certainly is, or at least should be.

In "Historical Materialism and the Economics of Karl Marx" by Benedetto Croce, Croce writes, "Historical materialism is what...
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