The philosopher Hegel is an idealist, while Marx is a materialist. Hegel came from the period of German idealism and revolutionized Europe with his idealistic ideas, which were strongly criticized by his counterpart Marx. Hegel, however, had many people who admired his work and followed his theory of idealism. Marx was also very influential in his theory of historical materialism. Marx's materialist ideas were developed from the struggle of the working class to achieve a higher status in society. These concepts have redefined history and its development. Hegel's philosophy of history is idealistic, meaning that reality depends on the mind or spirit. His philosophy is based on the concepts of idealism, spirit and unity. Hegel's philosophy is based on absolute idealism; God is a self-realizing spiritual entity and is the origin of all material things (Hegel 22). Philosophy is therefore the self-knowledge of the spirit. In particular, he developed the concept that history occurs through a dialectic or clash of opposing forces. Some of these opposing forces are nature versus spirit and transcendence versus immanence. He believed that ideas could be the driving force of world development. Hegel locates ultimate reality in ideas rather than in material things. Hegel's philosophy of idealism is very much concerned with the conscious state. In the Reason of History it is written that two things must be distinguished in consciousness, What I know and What I know (Hegel 23). Hegel argues that the nature of reality, knowing reality occurs through consciousness (Hegel 35). One must be aware of reality to know reality and that is when perfection is achieved. Hegel's philosophy is based on the study of logic, which investigates the fundamental structure...... middle of paper ......that governs society while the group that provides for society, the working class (Proletariat) is that be governed. The ruling class essentially lives off the surplus of the working class. Hegel and Marx were two philosophers with competing philosophical ideas. Hegel is an idealistic philosopher, basing everything on ideas of competing forces. Marx's philosophy on the other hand is based on the idea that class relations determine people's will or how they think. For Marx, the conception of history depends on the capacity of human nature to produce (Tucker 164). Marx completely rejected Hegel's religious and idealistic theories due to their unrealistic nature. However, these two philosophers influenced the development of world history through their opposing ideas. These two concepts have provided a theoretical basis for how present history is viewed.