Marx’s Philosophy: Man, Alienation, Materialism
Marx’s View of Man and Alienation
Alienation, in Marx’s anthropology, is a historical situation resulting from a specific socioeconomic organization. This organization related to work constitutes human essence.
Characteristics of Man
- Man is a natural being with natural needs for subsistence. Work is the means to satisfy these needs.
- Man is not the only being that separates itself from nature through work; through work, man seeks to transform nature to serve his purposes.
- The consideration of work as involving a natural transformation distinguishes this anthropology from previous ones. Reason and the essence of being human lie in transforming nature. The work product humanizes the worker; it is where he is projected. Objectification is realization.
- Man is a historical being, the subject of history. He produces history and is the result of historical tradition.
- Man is a universal being. By producing tools that transform nature, he always meets his needs not just as a single individual, but socially. Man is a social animal.
Humanistic Aspect
Marx’s perspective is humanistic because it is oriented towards achieving a historical-political objective: transforming society beyond capitalism and ending alienation, enabling the creation of a social order in which man can realize himself.
- The priority is ending alienation, given that it is a phenomenon that dehumanizes man.
- Marx places man at the center of reality because there are no transcendent realities. Only men can give meaning to history, as history itself has no inherent meaning. Only by modifying the means of production and the methods of work can history be transformed.
Historical Materialism
Historical materialism is the Marxist science of history, affirming man as its protagonist.
It asserts two key ideas:
- The relationships man establishes with nature and with other men are material relations. Men ‘extract’ from nature what they need (ore from the mine, iron ore from the fields, wheat, etc.).
- Men produce and exchange material goods to satisfy their material needs (food, drink, shelter, etc.). Marx calls this the social production of life.
These material relationships ultimately give rise to the ideology and legal-political structure of the state. Therefore, it is a dialectical and historical materialism.
Marxist materialism asserts that the production, distribution, exchange, and consumption of goods are the root of why men develop specific mentalities, laws, and ways of governing society.
Marxist Historical Materialism
An interpretation of history through material conditions. These material conditions, through a dialectical process, shape history. These ‘material conditions’ refer to the ‘system of production of material goods’ or the ‘economic relations of production’.
Historical materialism therefore means that what determines human history are the economic relations of production, as the mode of production of material life conditions the process of social, political, and intellectual life.
Materialism is a scientific theory about the formation and development of society. The development of society can be explained from the economic base, from the production of material goods.
The basis of all social order is production, and from this, the whole story can be explained. Production is the activity that creates material goods for subsistence.
Key Concepts of Historical Materialism
Factors of Production
These are the elements involved in production:
- Process of Work: That by which an object is transformed into a useful product. It consists of:
- Object of Labor (Raw material)
- Means of Labor (Tools)
- Labor Force (Human energy expended)
- Social Relations of Production: The relationships established between the owners of the means of production and the workers. These relationships are:
- Conflictual: Oppressor – Oppressed (Master – Slave, Capitalist – Worker). These are relations of exploitation because the worker sells his labor power at the price and conditions established by the owner of the means of production.
- Antagonistic: Some defend the exclusive ownership of the means of production, while others defend these means as collective property.
Economic Infrastructure and System
- Economic Infrastructure: The set of relations of production.
- Economic System: The global economic process of production, distribution, exchange, and consumption.
Superstructure
The set of ideas, beliefs, institutions, rules, etc., that shape social consciousness. It includes:
- Legal-Political: Institutions and norms that regulate society as a whole.
- Ideological: Set of ideas, beliefs, customs, etc., that shape social consciousness.