When Marx began to develop his theory of historical materialism, the philosophy that was prevalent then was idealism. Marx found himself in a situation when the dominant worldview was given by a philosopher named Hegel. Idealism holds that all our actions are the result of abstract ideas. This is contrary to what Marx would argue. Idealism holds that ideas are independent of the material world. They are not related to matter. Ideas exist before hand and there is, as Hegel believed, an absolute spirit that guides our actions. So, idealism holds that ideas are primary and matter is secondary and this world that we live in is simply a reflection of this idea/ideas. On the other hand Marx would argue that it is our material life that directs our actions, thoughts, beliefs way of living, i.e., culture.