Philosophy Series: Hegel, Marx, & Modern Life (Part 1)

The Night of the Iguana is a play by Tennessee Williams that explores themes of fading youth, mental health, and the desires of lonely individuals. Set in a rundown Mexican hotel, the story revolves around characters like the defrocked Reverend T. Lawrence Shannon and the artist Hannah Jelkes, amidst a backdrop of personal crises and emotional connections. The play is known for its hopeful ending and its departure from Williams's typical Southern settings.

Karl Marx's Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844 are a collection of writings that explore the nature of alienation, private property, and communism. These essays delve into Marx's early critique of capitalism, focusing on the dehumanizing effects of industrial labor. He examines how capitalism alienates workers from their labor, the products of their labor, their fellow workers, and ultimately, themselves. Marx's analysis lays the groundwork for his later, more mature works, such as Das Kapital. The manuscripts offer a profound and enduring critique of the social and economic structures of capitalism.

In 'The End of History and the Last Man', Francis Fukuyama posits that with the ascendancy of Western liberal democracy following the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union, humanity has reached the end point of its ideological evolution. Fukuyama draws on the philosophies of Hegel and Marx, arguing that history is a linear progression towards liberal democracy, driven by the mechanisms of natural science and the human desire for recognition (thymos). He contends that liberal democracy satisfies every man’s thymotic longing for dignity and recognition, making it the final form of human government. However, Fukuyama clarifies that this does not mean the end of historical events or conflicts, but rather that all future developments will be within the framework of liberal democracy.