Marx argued that class struggle is a historical constant, not unique to capitalism. He famously stated in the Communist Manifesto that 'the history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles,' citing examples like freeman and slave or lord and serf in pre-capitalist societies. Therefore, claiming it only occurs under capitalism contradicts his core historical materialist framework.

Karl Marx defined the proletariat as the social class of wage earners who do not own the means of production and must sell their labor power to survive. This class stands in direct opposition to the bourgeoisie, the ruling class who own the factories, land, and capital. Marx argued that the exploitation of the proletariat by the bourgeoisie is the fundamental conflict within capitalist society.

While Max Weber is famous for 'The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism,' the source identifies Karl Marx as the answer. Marx extensively analyzed the bourgeoisie as the ruling class in capitalist society. Because the question conflates Weber's specific work on Protestantism with Marx's focus on the bourgeoisie, this entry is flagged for potential conceptual ambiguity regarding the attribution of these specific theoretical contributions.

Marx famously described religion as the 'opium of the people,' suggesting it serves as a tool for the ruling class to maintain control by pacifying the working class with promises of future rewards, thereby discouraging them from challenging their current oppressive social and economic conditions. Note: The provided answer key (C) conflicts with standard Marxist theory, which views religion as a tool for oppression rather than business success.

Karl Marx is the central figure in conflict theory, specifically regarding class struggle. He argued that the history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat, which serves as the primary engine for historical development.

The 'means of production' refer to the physical, non-human inputs used in the production of economic value, such as factories, machinery, tools, and raw materials. Marx argued that control over these means is central to the power dynamics within a capitalist society.

The term 'species being' (Gattungswesen) refers to Marx's concept of the essential nature of human beings. It suggests that humans are inherently social, creative, and purposeful beings who find fulfillment through free, conscious activity. When this activity is controlled by others, as in capitalist labor, humans become alienated from their 'species being.' Self-actualization represents the realization of this inherent potential, which Marx believed could only be fully achieved in a communist society.

Karl Marx was a multifaceted intellectual whose work spanned philosophy, economics, and political theory. While he is a foundational figure in sociology, he is historically recognized primarily as a German philosopher and a political economist whose critiques of capitalism shaped modern social science.

Marx predicted that the internal contradictions of capitalism would lead to the simplification of class structure, where society increasingly splits into two hostile camps: the bourgeoisie (owners) and the proletariat (workers). This polarization, he argued, would heighten class consciousness among the workers, eventually leading to a revolutionary overthrow of the capitalist system.

Marx argued that in capitalism, commodities are produced primarily for exchange in the market rather than for direct use. Exchange value represents the quantitative relationship between commodities, which Marx identified as a defining feature of the capitalist mode of production.