Karl Marx's philosophy of capitalism was based on the notion of modes of production which was associated with the historical period. The various modes of production at a general level are:
(i) Primitive communism
(ii) Slavery
(iii) Feudalism
(iv) Capitalism
At a specific level, the base of production is economic and includes productive forces and production relations. The productive forces include land, labour, technology and sources of energy. Production relations refer to economic relationships and forms of labour organisation that are involved in production. Property relations are based on the ownership of means of production.