Development of Man

Refers to the development of various abilities of man, and the free and all-round development of mankind is the ideal goal pursued by Marxism.

The theory of the development of man is an important part of Marx’s theory of social development, and also the focus of Marx’s life-long concern. Based on the contradictory movement of capitalist society and the inevitable trend of development of human society, Marx systematically elucidated the thought of development of man, and formed a scientific theoretical system of development of man. In his Theses on Feuerbach, Marx put forth that “the human essence is no abstraction inherent in each single individual, in its reality it is the ensemble of the social relations.” Therefore, in its essence, the development of man is actually the development of all social relations of man. For, “the development of an individual is determined by the development of all the others with whom he is directly or indirectly associative”, and the social relations “in reality determine the extent to which an individual can develop.” Real individual can achieve self-development only through interactions of social nature and a socialized construction.

The fundamental difference between Marx’s examination of the historical process of human development and that of all the old philosophers of the past lies in the fact that, starting from the real, historical individual, he regarded the development of man as a dynamic development in the process of socio-historical development. The development of man is the process of the continuous realization of his essential powers, that is, the process of the development of his free and conscious creative activity under certain social relations. Marx held that the development of human beings consists of three main aspects: First, the subjectivity of man, i.e., the development of his self-consciousness. As an independent person, he must be his own subject, his will is able to dominate his own practical activities, choose his own destiny, be responsible for his own conduct, i.e., he becomes his own master, which is manifested in his agency, creativity and autonomy in creating his own historical activities. Second, the essential powers of man, i.e., the development of man’s abilities. Human abilities are the embodiment of the essential powers of man, and the development of all aspects of human abilities refers to all the capabilities and powers of man to engage in all kinds of creative activities, and to the universal and all-round nature of the development of human abilities, all of which occupy a central position in Marx’s theory of the development of man. Third, the development of the social relations of man, i.e., the development of the essence of man. The social relations of man refers to the relationship between man and nature, society and other humans. Human’s social relations refers to the relations of man to nature, society and to other men. Social relations are the real manifestation of the essence of man.

Marx held that the development of man roughly goes through three stages: The first stage is the stage in which human dependence is dominant and is the initial historical form of human development. This stage of human development consists mainly of natural needs, primitive activities, dependent social relations and the absence of individuality. The second stage is the stage of human independence based on material dependence, the second major historical form of the development of man. It consists mainly of commodified needs, dynamic and one-sided activities, materialized social relations and independent and materially enslaved individuality. The third stage is the stage of free and full human development—the communist stage—the third major historical form of human development, which consists mainly of a real abundance of needs, free and autonomous activities, free and all-round social relations and free individuality. Marx emphasized that the basic conditions of the development of man are productive forces and relations of production.

Marx pointed out: “The multitude of productive forces accessible to men determines the nature of society”, and the development of productive forces contributes to the abolition of the old division of labor and saving labor-time and directly promotes the development of man. The division of labor and labor time are the two main factors that condition human activities and even the quality of existence. The capitalist division of labor has promoted the progress of production, but has also bound man, not only subordinating him to machinery, but also worsening the conditions of work, making work devoid of “all provisions to render the production process human, agreeable, or at least bearable”, and thus leading to a one-sided and passive human activity that lacks freedom and autonomy. Therefore, Marx particularly emphasized that through revolutionizing the social relations (social system) and abolishing private property, making the society consciously regulate production, achieving distribution according to contribution and ultimately achieving distribution according to needs, the constraints of unreasonable economic relations upon man will be eliminated, man will be liberated from the whole social relations in their work, thus achieving the development of man.

With regard to the goal of human development, Marx, in response to the one-sided, instrumental and limited nature of the development of workers under the conditions of capitalism, put forward the idea that the goal of the development of man should be all-round, free and full development, and emphasized the extensiveness, autonomy and degree of development in the development of man. Marx’s theory of the development of man is not only the ideological crystallization of an in-depth critique of the capitalist society, but also a forward-looking revelation of the essence of future communist society (including socialist society), which is of great significance in guiding the scientific development of socialist society.