Political ideologies Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Political ideologies - Article Example Engel was the only user of this phrase, and not even once by Marx. He used it in a private epistle to Franz Mehring in 1893. In this letter he wanted to talk about how little or no effort was invested in thinking about the influence of the state of mind in determining social action. He and fellow philosophers had only thought of the reverse. False consciousness refers to the knowledge that a working class character should have but are yet to possess due to lack of consideration of how they should be paid, their working conditions, their rights and privileges (Lukacs 4). Simply it is the lack of knowledge of one’s own best interests. Self-sacrifice is a form of false consciousness. It is likened to working for free yet one is entitled to pay as well as privileges since one is cut out for that particular job. That one is needed by the owner of the mode of production but fails to see the fact that since they are needed, they should be getting a wage, not only as pay for the work but also privileges to ensure that they are ever available and to make their life as comfortable as possible in order for them to undertake their scheduled task as efficiently and as to the maximum profit achievable. Lukà ¡cs introduced this idea in the 1920s with a bid to comprehend ‘how come the working class is made of the less of social revolutionaries.’ ... mployer should ensure he has health insurance, or his pay may be too low compared to the amount of labor, and in case of errors because of being human, and not deliberate sabotage, his pay is safe from deductions. A paralegal who works in the archives is also entitled to the same health benefits as those of the legal superiors she works for. The dust id hazardous and the working hours are long for someone who is on their feet three quarters of the time. That due to the fact that they know the content and location of the files, they too are needed and their pay deserves to reflect that. 2. Specifically how has mechanical reproduction compromised our ability to think critically? (Walter Benjamin) Mechanical reproduction takes away the authenticity of art. It no longer becomes the property of the original artiste but becomes of the masses. They get to own the product even though they did not contribute to its composition, neither did they contribute to its creative works. Mechanical rep roduction also takes away the autonomy of the artwork itself. It seizes to be the only one of its kind and it becomes a mass production which anyone can have at their will. This reduces its exchange value and therefore the artwork becomes less of an attraction to own. The mechanical reproduction of a photograph of a human model or actor, for example, loses value as it is transferred from one person to another from the original photographer. The ideas of the original photographer are disseminated throughout and they become less interesting when seen too many times. If a certain company wants to use that picture and they happen to find it in circulation, they will want to use a picture that has never been seen by the public. In any case, they wanted to make an impression that was unique to