Part 2, Chapters 5-6 Summary and Analysis

Karl Marx grew up in Trier, Germany. In a theme for his final exams for gymnasium he wrote of selecting an occupation which he could serve humanity. He learned of the ideas of Saint-Simon from his neighbor Baron von Westphalen. As a student at the University of Bonn, he came under the surveillance of the political police for his subversive ideas. He studied law in Berlin but his passion was philosophy. He read the works of Hegel.

In Chapter Six, Marx reads German philosophy and came to agree with Engels that German philosopher didn't provide social principles for men. He wrote his doctoral thesis on Hegel and hoped for a teaching position. The lack of reforms by Friedrich Wilhelm IV led to an increasing need for political action. Marx began writing articles about the social and political...