Why Karl Marx is INTJ
March 11, 2011
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Posted by admin
A dialogue between Ryan (admin) and Aleksey (author of ‘Principles of Typology’):
Aleksey: Marx – When he did not hold a job and was supported by Engels led a very non-structured lifestyle and showed few if any tendencies towards an attempt to establish a clear-cut organized schedule. I’d say INTP, not INTJ.
Ryan: I think that dispassionate analysis is very much an INTP thing, whereas willful analysis is more of an INJ thing. (Schopenhauer’s ‘The Will’, Nietzsche’s ‘Will to Power’, Hegel’s ‘Will to the Absolute Idea’, Marx’s will to the destined Communist phase of history. The contrast is the dispassionate will-less analysis of the NTP.
INJs generally have a strong will and operate by waves and impulses whereas Ti (for NTPs) is more constant. As such, it is easier for Ti dominants, especially neurotic, schizoid/schizotypal INTPs, to adopt a certain regimentum in their daily lives whereas INTJs are liable to be governed by shifting moods.
Marx seems to be to be very Will-ful. Take, for example, his belief in his own historical prophecies: In ‘Das Capital’, Marx prophetizes that captialistic society must collapse upon itself due to the unrestrained exploitation of the proletariat. This exploitation, he says, will only increase until the workers revolt and install a communist society.
Towards the end of his life, Marx saw that the exploitation of the workers was actually beginning to lessen. – Capitalist democracies have the power to slowly amend themselves. In Europe today, for example, there are very strict laws concerning minimum wages, maximum work hours and prohibitions of child labour.
The very thing Marx had thought impossible was beginning to happen, even in his own lifetime. But this did not lead him to accept that his theory was wrong as he was strong-willed, with no inclination for dispassionate analysis.
Aleksey: As a general rule, Ni does tend to be impulsive and Ti consistent for the reasons that you mentioned. However, your inquiry appears to overlook the distinction between external and internal world activity. Ni people tend to appear put together and organized because their leading extroverted function is much more similar to Ti than to Ni on the account that it is a judging faculty rather than a perceiving one.
You cite interesting biographical facts about Marx where he appeared to be guided more by steadfast amorphous hunches rather than by dispassionate analysis. Certainly nothing and no one was forcing him to behave in this way, hence, it would be a reasonable conjecture that he behaved in a way that was the most natural to him. I will concede the point here. INTJ.
Categories: Psychology
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Marx can’t be an intj!I’m an intp and although I don’t have an organized lifestyle,I can become obsessed with things I consider worth my attention.This willpower you attribute to intjs comes with discipline.In case of intps,willpower must come through the process of idealization of a concept.The more marx saw potential in his work for a perfect society,the more time he spent on his work.I can assure you it is absolutely typical for intps to be this way.plus intjs don’t take risks exploring things outside of a framework.intps however are very risky and very rebellious when it comes to ways of thinking and always try to do things their own way.Marx’s “radical” ideology makes it crystal clear he’s intp.
I have a question-where do intj’s get all the informations they use they make connections with(Ni)? For example with INTP’s(like myself) we look out in the external world and gather information by Ne that is then rationalized(Ti). Being that intj’s function is an introverted one and their auxiliary is a judging one I dont understand where they get all their information that is synthesized. Technically for them to get the ideas that are synthesized by Ni they had to use Ne to get them. Is the Ne subconscious or something? there only extroverted function is Se which is concrete. This goes for infj’s too
also ive noticed in some of your pictures of the cognitive funcions of a certain type show that a large part of an dominant extraverted function is still introverted and vice versa. For example, in the INTP functions picture that is provided in your website you have the dominant,introverted thinking function crossing the extraverted side a good amount. In the picture the Te is almost equal to Si and larger than Fe. Why isnt Te then described as a tertiary or inferior function? How are the shadow functions used? this is annoying me cause no mbti place seems to address this.
Surely Marx wasn’t an INTJ? Marxism isn’t logical and would never work
@ Michael . As an INTJ when I was younger I used to ask myself the same question. My intuition appeared to be correct almost everytime. Now older I think it may be as an introvert and observer I seem to see, hear, read things, people’s actions and situations that other people miss. Sometimes it is really subtle things that on their own may not mean anything. I then find patterns which I analyse without even knowing I’m doing it.
When my son was at nursery school when he was two, the staff told me he had a strong intuition and instinctively knew what was going on around him.
It was ‘logical’ enough to sway most Western intellectuals for almost a century. But at any rate, INTJ ins’t *just* about logic. Its an intuitive-dominant type after all.
These aren’t enough reasons to prove that Marx was an INTJ. I don’t even think this is a reason because any type can be willful. I need examples of Ni-Te functions at work.
True enough. Check the date. It was written many years ago (and even years before it was published here). Knowledge of the functions was not as widespread back then as it is now. We will probably get around to updating it sooner or later, but right now, we’re working on other articles.