Whilst the greatest effort has been made to ensure the quality of this text, due to the historical nature of this content, in some rare cases there may be minor issues with legibility. The Holy Family formulates some of the basic princi ples of Marxist political economy. In contrast to the Utopian Socialists Marx bases the objective inevitability of the vic tory of communism on the fact that private property in its economic motion drives itself towards its downfall. The Holy Family dates from a period when the process of the formation of Marxism was not yet completed. This is reflected in the terminology used by Marx and Engels. Marxist scientific terminology was gradually elaborated and defined by Marx and Engels as the formation and develop ment of their teaching progressed.