ABSTRACT
The theory of historical development established in the middle of the 19th century by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels was the first coherent conception of history that accepted most of the main trends in philosophical thought of its time and seriously modernized the theory of social progress. The materialistic approach to the understanding of history is one of the determining principles of Marxist theory. Marx's periodization of social formations was not set down in any one work or cycle of works. Marx's theoretical constructs were riddled with inner contradictions between theory proper and theory as a means of changing life. The theory of post-industrial society is the result of the interaction and development of a considerable number of concepts from economics, social science and political science. Advocates of a theory of post-industrial society share a materialist approach to the study of social phenomena with the Marxians.
