Karl Marx, he could not strictly consider a philosopher, since he was rather an economist and sociologist who devoted his life to other fields such as politics, law, history, aesthetics and, of course, philosophy. And in this sense, it is necessary to mention historical materialism as the theoretical framework that will sustain his thinking.
;Historical materialism: Historicalmaterialism is called the doctrine supported by Marx and Engels according to which it is not the spirit that determines history (as in Hegel) but that the whole spirit life is a superstructure of the fundamental structure represented by the economic relations of production.
From a gnoseological point of view, it cannot be said of Marx that he was a metaphysical materialist capable of asserting dogmatically that 'everything is matter', his materialism is limited to a polemic and practical significance that will oppose Hegel, but also the classical and mechanistic materialism of Fuerbach.
Marx's political theory has been the center of a permanent debate that has confronted 'orthodox' and 'revisionists'. The debate focuses on the transformation of socio-political and economic conditions, which does not seem to trigger the collapse of capitalism that Marx had predicted. Marxists will discuss the crisis of capitalism, imperialism, the future role of the state and whether revolution is inevitable or not.
From a philosophical point of view, the debate will focus on the Marxist dialectic conception. On the one hand, the 'scientist' tendency that will give dialectical priority to Nature over History and conceives dialectical and historical processes as necessary, while on the other hand, they will recognize the importance of the historical processes of the superstructure but reject a deterministic conception of dialectics.