Legal Philosophy

Marxist Law


Submitted by:
Campo, Arvic Robert
Cagampan, Merrissa

Submitted to:
Atty. Dacanay

I. Introduction

Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels are both Germans who founded the Marxism.
As such Karl Marx views the notion of Marxist Law from the following
perspective, Law, morality, religion, are to the proletariat so many
bourgeoisie prejudices, behind which lurk in ambush just as many
bourgeoisie (are the rich elite of the world) interests. (Karl Marx and
Frederick Engels, Collected Works. 1976.)

Basic assumptions on Marxist theory to wit; (V.I. Lenin, On Socialist Ideology
and Culture.1969 and USSR: Foreign Languages Publishing House. 1981)
That God does not exist
That humans are evolving animals consequently deny both the
possibility of an absolute moral code and the existence of any law
grounded in any authority other than human authority.

Therefore, Marxist Law cannot be based on anything other than human
rationality. (Lenin, On Socialist Ideology and Culture. 1932) In addition,
Marxist Law believes in laws which advance socialism and communism.

Socialism is common ownership and the resources of the world being
owed in common by the entire global population.

Communism is the doctrine of the conditions of the liberation of the
proletariat (are the average workers).

Law and human rights arise from the interactions of human beings within
social structures that certain economic class distinction. Class divisions in
society create to deal with these conflicts. Hence, Marxist solution to the
unjust society and lawlessness is to overthrow the bourgeoisie, thus allowing
the proletariat to make the laws. According to Marxist Theory the working
class may break capitalistic law if such action is in pursuit of equality.
According to the views of the proletariat, heed for law will dissolve once a
communist is established since there is only one class exist.






II. Origin of the Marxist Law
Marxists explain that law and human rights arise from the interactions of
human beings within social structures that contain economic class
distinctions. Class divisions within societies create conflict and disorder and
therefore law and the State comes into existence to deal with this conflict.
According to Engels, In order that these classes with conflicting economic
interests, may not annihilate themselves and society in a useless struggle, a
power becomes necessary that stands apparently above society and has the
function of keeping down the conflicts and maintaining order. Hence, this
power, the outgrowth of society, but assuming supremacy over it and
becoming more and more divorced from it, is the State. (Frederick Engels,
The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State. 1902)

The State that rises to maintain order within society perpetuates the conflict
as a dominant class wielding power over classes with less power. Laws are
thus imposed by the state to quell these disturbances.

In the Marxist view of law, the bourgeoisie and the proletariat are the two
classes involved in the struggle for power. Societies that allow the
bourgeoisie to make moral decisions and formulate laws are unjust societies.
Proletariat and Bourgeoisie are the one who owns the social means of
production as their private property.

Marx denounces bourgeoisie law as nothing more than a reflection of the
desires of that class. Speaking to the bourgeois, he says, [Y]our
jurisprudence is but the will of your class made into a law for all, a will, whose
essential character and direction are determined by the economic conditions
of existence of your class. (Marx and Engels, Collected Works. 1976)

Marxism so often accused of seeking to eliminate moral considerations from
human life and history emphasizes rather than the moral issues involved in
every situation. Marxist Law is based on the will of the proletariat as flexible
rather than inconsistent, a flexibility that denies a need for a comprehensive
legal system.

Marxist believes that when classes are abolished, all people will create and
live in an environment that promotes harmony. Criminal activity will be almost
non-existent since the catalysts for anti-social activity injustice and
inequality will no longer exist.

III. Conclusion
Marxist Law is in a denial of the existence of God and belief that we and our
social systems are evolving. Marxists rely on legal positivism as the basis for
law. The Marxist version of legal positivism adds the unique feature of class-
consciousness to the States role as the will of the ruling proletarian class.
Furthermore, the working class must rule under the guidance of the Marxist-
Leninist political party, giving the party final authority on morality and law.
When those adhering to a specific ideology arbitrarily determine a system of
laws will be created that is prejudiced against those with opposing views. In
such a society, freedom disappears, as each citizen is held hostage by the
arbitrary laws of the State.

Marx and Engels left behind the Marxist ideology, which has practically
touched everyone alive in the 20th and 21st centuries, not excluding people
living in capitalist countries. Regardless of whether Marxism is applied today,
capitalism made significant concessions in people's exploitation in order to be
more worker-friendly, thus ensuring its image as a viable system that people
do not really need to overthrow.

References
Karl Marx and Frederick Engels, Collected Works, 40 vols. (New York, NY: International
Publishers, 1976), 6:4945.

V.I. Lenin, On Socialist Ideology and Culture [Moscow, USSR: Foreign Languages
Publishing House, 1981], 512. Cited in James D. Bales,Communism and the Reality of
Moral Law (Nutley, NJ: The Craig Press, 1969)

Lenin, On Socialist Ideology and Culture, 512. (1932)

Frederick Engels, The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State (Chicago, IL:
Kerr, 1902), 206.

Marx and Engels, Collected Works, 6:501. (1976)