ABSTRACT
Marx is convinced that a violent class war between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat is virtually inevitable, because the bourgeoisie is incapable of accepting the truth that capitalism is an obsolete system. The Marxian critique of ideology, and Marxian historical materialism more generally, may be viewed as themselves aiming at a certain kind of liberation. People may be considered unfree as long as they are doing something without knowing that they are doing it, especially when, if they knew they were doing it, they would choose to stop doing it. A materialist theory may attempt historical explanations of greater or less detail. But however detailed they may be, they are concerned with the thoughts and actions of particular individuals only insofar as these individuals happen to be especially influential or to represent some important social type.
