Third footnote to the post titled “Avant-garde”

In essence, and in truth and in reality, the choice or the difference between Hegelian historical determinism on one hand and Marxist historical materialism on the other hand is the choice between predestination and free will. It is actually the choice or the difference between predestination and free will which happens to be the end all be all for us. Hegel contended that the universal mind and universal consciousness is what determines everything. This is an entirely deterministic and theocentric view of history and of all things in general. Marx, on the other hand, dismisses any secrets of God or thoughts of God as being the arbiter or the overriding factor of things as amounting to superstition and a denial of human choice and free will. Humans, according to Marx, make their own history. And human history is defined and shaped by human intercourse and social relations. Human history is therefore made by human intercourse and social relations, as Marx argued. It follows that the choice between Hegel and Marx is actually a choice between a theocentric view of history on one hand and anthropomorphic view of history on the other hand, with theocentrism leaning towards predestination and anthropocentrism leaning towards free will.