Muhammad Zain Abbas 20-10098

Question 1

In the study of philosophy, such words as pragmatism, idealism, materialism, etc. they occur

frequently and it can sometimes be a challenge to keep them all correct. This is partly because

some of their meanings are separated by refined distinctions, and partly because some of them

have a technical philosophical meaning and a more common meaning that seems to conflict.

First, they are often related to one of the most basic philosophical dualisms – mind and matter.

At least since the ancient Greeks, there has been a mind and a matter, a thought and a thing, a

spiritual and a material problem. And as long as this dualism exists – and the record is

dramatically out of its grace – the fundamental question that needs to be addressed is: “What is

more real? Mind or matter?”

Idealism is the belief that the mind and ideas are the primary structure of reality and that

physical or material reality is secondary. Materialism is the opposite of idealism, and considers

matter as the primary reality, and all other things, including thoughts, as the product of the

interactions of matter.

Rationalism is the belief that the rational mind is the best way to learn something. Rationalist If

thinks his mind is more reliable than his senses. A stick can look crooked in water, but the mind

says it looked bent because it’s in the water.

Empiricism is the opposite of rationalism and it is the belief that the senses are the best way to

know something. You might think something is true, but you only know it is true if your senses

confirm it.

In consideration of the above it is good to keep in mind that you can’t be an Idealist and a

Materialist and you can’t be a Rationalist and an Empiricist. On the other hand, you can be an

Idealist and a Rationalist or an Idealist and an Empiricist. You can also be Materialist and a

Rationalist or you can be a Materialist and an Empiricist.

Empiricism is quite opposite of rationalism and is the belief that the senses are the only way to

know something. One may think something is true if his or her senses confirm that its true.

In consideration of the above, it is good to keep in mind that one cannot be an idealist and a

materialist and one cannot be a rationalist and an empiricist. On the other hand, one can be an

idealist and a rationalist or an idealist and an empiricist. One can also be a materialist and a

rationalist or can be a materialist and an empiricist.

Idealism and Materialism are statements of ontology which means they are statements about

what one believe is real. Rationalism and Empiricism are statements of epistemology which

means statements about what is the best way to know what is real.

Existentialism is a philosophy that emphasizes individual existence, freedom and choice. It is

the view that humans define their own meaning in life, and try to make rational decisions

despite existing in an irrational universe.

According to William James pragmatic rationality looks towards consequences rather than

causes integrate facts and values and reject the search of ultimate foundations.
Karl Marx (1818–1883) is often treated as a revolutionary, an activist rather than a philosopher

whose work inspired the founding of many communist regimes in the twentieth century. It is

certainly difficult to find many thinkers who can be said to have had a similar effect on the

creation of the modern world. However, Marx was made a philosopher, and although he is

often described as having moved away from philosophy in the mid-twenties — perhaps toward

history and the social sciences — there are many points of contact with modern philosophical

debates in his writings.

The philosophy of Marxism is how Marxism looks at past history as of its current political

conceptions and of its perspectives and programme for revolution. The essential thing is that it

is a rationalist philosophy. And, like all rationalist philosophies, the Marxist philosophy of

history provides itself, in advance, with the answers to all the problems it raises.

Marx maintained that in order to liberate humanity from economic domination, a social

revolution was needed. The envisioned result would transform the existing economic

structures, and create a society in which property, particularly the means of production would

no longer be held privately.

Not only, from the standpoint of Marxism, is the contradiction between capital and labor the

beginning as well as the end of present-day society, but the progressive development of that

society is to be seen only in the growth and sharpening of that contradiction. Capital being the

result of the exploitation of labor power, so with the growth of capital, that is, in the course of

the human progress under way in this historical period, the exploitation of the workers must of

necessity be more and more intensified. If the possibilities of the exploitation of labor power in

the present system were unlimited, there would be no reason to expect an end of capitalist

society. But with the growth of the proletariat, the class struggle also increases, since at a certain
point of development the productive forces of the workers can no longer be applied

capitalistically. At that point, the proletariat, of its own accord, develops into a revolutionary

force, which strives for and brings about an overthrow of the existing social relations.

A proletarian revolution is a social revolution in which the working class attempts to overthrow

the capitalists and change the previous political system. Proletarian revolutions are generally

advocated by socialists, communists and anarchists. Marxists believe proletarian revolutions

can and will likely happen in all capitalist countries, related to the concept of world revolution.

Marxism argues that a proletarian revolution must be led by a vanguard of "professional

revolutionaries", men and women who are fully dedicated to the communist cause and who

form the nucleus of the communist revolutionary movement. This vanguard is meant to

provide leadership and organization to the working class before and during the revolution,

which aims to prevent the government from successfully ending it.