The Age of Enlightenment (1685-1815) brought a new wave of thinkers who sought to explain the conditions of human life through scientific rather than religious methods and folklore that questioned traditional authority. The philosopher Karl Marx (1818-1883) attempted to develop a critical social science that has been praised for influencing the development of sociology as an academic discipline. It could also be argued that commonly theoretical perspectives within human science are forced to engage with Marxist ideas and there are many who consider Marx to be a founding father of modern sociology. Marx and Friedrich Engles (1820-1895) were members of a group who called themselves the "Young Hegelians" and were dedicated to the cause of revolutionary socialism. In this essay the first chapter of the "Communist Manifesto", written by Karl Marx, will be explored and the themes of capitalism, social change and alienation will be addressed, trying to explain what Marx meant by "everything that is solid melts into the air." ' and the relevance this still has in the contemporary world. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay The Communist Manifesto was written by Marx and Engels in 1847 and formed the basis of the modern communist movement. The manifesto expressed the idea that capitalism would eventually destroy itself and be replaced by communism which was already recognized as a power. Communism refers to a society where private property does not exist, instead property is mutually owned and divided among society based on who needed what. This would avoid the production of a surplus of goods, the exploitation of a subject class through greed and power. This was opposed to the current capitalist society where there were tensions between the bourgeoisie and proletariat groups, the bourgeoisie was the dominant class that owned the means of production therefore the employers of wage labor. The proletariat was the subject class of modern wage workers who did not own the means of production, so were forced to sell their labor to live. Marx considered human history as a source of divisions, thus creating conflicts, Marx and Engels published the first edition of the "Communist Manifesto" in 1848, in which he explains how modern bourgeois society was created from the feudal society that had previously rebelled in previous history. . Marx suggested that these groups be defined as epochs. These eras were created through the ideas of the ruling class, thus leading to the creation of new classes to promote oppression and struggles that replaced older forms while still creating conflicts between opposing groups. If Marx's ideas of communism were to succeed, this would reinforce "all that is solid melts into air" as it would influence past traditions, including the creation of eras and class antagonisms, to disappear and be replaced by connected communities..