Daet, Jed Froilan T.

2LM1

October 11, 2012 PHL 7

Marx' understanding of human nature isn't really any different than the conventional understanding of human nature you find in liberal capitalism. Marx simply pointed out the problems that occur when you factor in class relationships

The essence of religion into the essence of man. The essence of man is no abstraction inherent in each single individual. In reality, it is the ensemble of the social relations. Criticism in religion is obliged in abstract from the historical process and to define the religious sentiment regarded by itself, and to presuppose an abstract isolated - human individual and the essence therefore can by him only be regarded as species, as an inner dumb generality which unites many individuals only in a natural way.

Man is directly a natural being. As a natural being and as a living natural being he is on the one hand endowed with natural powers, vital powers, he is an active natural being. These forces exist in him as tendencies and abilities as instincts. As a natural, corporeal, sensuous objective being he is a suffering, conditioned and limited creature, like animals and plants, the objects of his instincts exist outside him, as objects independent of him; yet these objects are objects that he needs essential objects, indispensable to the manifestation and confirmation of his essential powers.

Men can be distinguished from animals by consciousness, by religion or anything else you like. They themselves begin to distinguish themselves from animals as soon as they begin to produce their means of subsistence, a step which is conditioned by their physical

organization. It is true that animals also produce. They build nests and dwellings, like the bee, the beaver, the ant, etc. This clearly shows that Marxs idea of a human person to build his own objective world is necessary for him as a species-being. Humans differentiated themselves by manner in which they produce things using human essential activities. Productive activity is an essential human activity, and can be rewarding when pursued freely. Under capitalism, labor was something inhuman, and dehumanizing. labor is external to the worker Materialism connects to the way in which humans change their environments vice-versa. The first premise is the physical organization of the individuals and their consequent relations to nature. The precise character of human nature, 'real, living' humans, 'the activity of man pursuing his aims' is the very building block of Marx's theory of history. Marx conceives of as the driving force of history and the particular needs and drives of humans explain the class antagonism which is generated under capitalism. It talks about Marxs conception of human nature to explain the primacy thesis which is concerning the productive forces that drives life. In the line historical materialism itself is the whole distinctive approach to society and the idea of human nature, this phrase highlights the universal needs and capacities to which it would lead to the human productive process and organized transformation of mans environment. It is the most basic way to express the human essence, to mold the human world by the humans themselves. There are two kinds of creatures, one whose essence is created and another is not. Materialism in this sense would uphold the toilsome histories that wrap around the exercise of essential powers. The motivation most people have for the work they do isn't

the exercise of their creative capacity; on the contrary, labor is alienated by definition in the capitalist system based on salary, and people only do it because they have to. Alienation is the estrangement of humans from aspects of human nature, for example, religion. Human nature consists in a particular set of vital drives and tendencies; whose exercise constitutes flourishing, alienation is a condition wherein these drives and tendencies are stunted. Alienation substitutes disempowerment; for making one's own life one's object, one's life becoming an object of capital. Marx believes that alienation will be a feature of all society before communism. Private property is a necessity for certain industrial stages. The need for revolution talks about how the contradictions of instruments in a formation of an industry (big or small) are necessary. The only thing common here is that productivity of human beings existence or in other words self-activity but in the past it was separated because of different perspectives of other humans. Self-activity plays a big role in the industry and the life of human beings in order to attain liberation of their lives like what happened to the liberation of Germany.