Marx and Human Nature: Refutation of a Legend
 Cover of the first edition | |
| Author | Norman Geras |
|---|---|
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Subject | Karl Marx |
| Published | 1983 (Verso) |
| Media type | Print (Paperback) |
| Pages | 126 |
| ISBN | 978-1784782351 |
Marx and Human Nature: Refutation of a Legend is a 1983 book by the political theorist Norman Geras, in which the author discussed Karl Marx's Sixth Thesis on Feuerbach and argued against the idea that Marx denied the existence of a universal human nature.[1] Geras' work is a classic discussion of the subject, and his conclusions have been endorsed by numerous scholars.
Summary
Geras discussed Marx's Sixth Thesis on Feuerbach, which states of the philosopher Ludwig Feuerbach: "Feuerbach resolves the essence of religion into the essence of man. But the essence of man is no abstraction inherent in each single individual. In its reality it is the ensemble of the social relations. Feuerbach, who does not enter upon a criticism of this real essence, is hence obliged: 1. To abstract from the historical process and to define the religious sentiment by itself, and to presuppose an abstract - isolated - human individual. 2. Essence, therefore, can be regarded only as 'species', as an inner, mute, general character which unites the many individuals in a natural way."[2]
Based on his reading of the Sixth Thesis, Geras argued that Marx had a definite conception of human nature and did not hold the social constructionist view that human being can be reduced to its relation with others.[3] He maintained that the concept of human nature is compatible with historical materialism, and criticized Louis Althusser and his followers for popularizing a belief to the contrary.[4] Geras was also critical of the Hungarian Marxist philosopher István Mészáros, finding his work Marx's Theory of Alienation (1970) to be an example of the way in which Marxists have illogically denied that human nature exists even while engaging in analysis of Marx that depends on the concept of a human nature.[5]
Philosophers Geras took a more favorable view of include the Croatian Gajo Petrović, author of Marx in the Mid-Twentieth Century (1965), and the Canadian Gerald Cohen, author of Karl Marx's Theory of History: A Defence (1978). Geras called Cohen's book the leading philosophical discussion of the way in which the character of human beings in any setting depends upon the nature of the prevailing social relations.[6]
Scholarly reception
Geras' conclusions in Marx and Human Nature have been endorsed by scholars such as the political scientist David McLellan, the psychoanalyst Joel Kovel, and the literary critic Terry Eagleton.[7][3][8] McLellan reviewed Marx and Human Nature in Political Studies, writing that Geras' interpretation of Marx's Sixth Thesis on Feuerbach was convincing, and that his book showed "exemplary analytical rigour" and was a "most welcome and timely addition to the study of Marx."[9] The political theorist Terrell Carver, writing in an appendix to the 1995 version of Karl Marx: His Life and Environment, called Marx and Human Nature a classic study of the question of whether Marx believed in human nature.[10]
Joseph Fracchia discussed and criticized Geras' views in Historical Materialism, arguing that, like other authors who have attempted to offer a historical-materialist account of human nature, Geras' was unsuccessful because he was "not materialistic enough" and failed to base his depiction of human nature in "human corporeal organisation".[11]
References
Footnotes
- ↑ Geras 1983. p. 11.
- ↑ Geras 1983. p. 29.
- 1 2 Kovel 1991. p. 255.
- ↑ Geras 1983. p. 19.
- ↑ Geras 1983. pp. 53-54.
- ↑ Geras 1983. pp. 19, 39-40, 117.
- ↑ McLellan 1985. p. 267.
- ↑ Eagleton 2012. p. 80.
- ↑ McLellan 1984. p. 159.
- ↑ Carver 1995. p. 214.
- ↑ Fracchia 2005. p. 34.
Bibliography
- Books
- Berlin, Isaiah; Ryan, Alan; Carver, Terrell (1995). Karl Marx: His Life and Environment. London: Fontana Press. ISBN 0-00-686339-6.
- Eagleton, Terry (2012). Why Marx Was Right. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-18153-1.
- Geras, Norman (1983). Marx and Human Nature: Refutation of a Legend. London: Verso Editions. ISBN 0 86091 767 3.
- Kovel, Joel (1991). History and Spirit: An Inquiry into the Philosophy of Liberation. Boston: Beacon Press. ISBN 0-8070-2916-5.
- McLellan, David (1995). The Thought of Karl Marx: An Introduction. London: Papermac. ISBN 0-333-63948-0.
- Journals
- Fracchia, Joseph (2005). "Beyond the Human-Nature Debate: Human Corporeal Organisation as the 'First Fact' of Historical Materialism". Historical Materialism. 13 (1). – via EBSCO's Academic Search Complete (subscription required)
- McLellan, David (1984). "Marx and Human Nature (Book)". Political Studies. 32 (1). – via EBSCO's Academic Search Complete (subscription required)