All-round Development of Man

All-round development of mankind embodies harmonious, free and all-round development and perfection of each individual as a social subject in terms of personality, morality, and ability, as opposed to one-sided and deformed development of man.

The full and free development of man is a process of continuous development and perfection along with the development of productive forces and the relations of production. The all-round development of man does not only manifest itself as the all-round development of human activities, needs and abilities, but also as the all-round abundance of man’s social relations, the universality of social intercourse and man’s all-round appropriation and joint control of social relations, as well as in the all-round improvement of man’s qualities and the free development of his individuality. “The all-round realization of the individual will only cease to be conceived as an ideal, a vocation, etc., when the impact of the world which stimulates the real development of the abilities of the individual is under the control of the individuals themselves, as the communists desire.”

The all-round development of mankind is no longer a one-sided development of local, national and class character. With the abolition of all classes, people will no longer be subordinated to a certain class; with the universal development of productive forces and the establishment of universal intercourse among humans, individuals restricted within narrow scope of local life will be replaced by the world-historical and truly universal individuals; after the elimination of the distinction between town and country and between workers and peasants, it will be the same people who engage in industrial and agricultural labor. The conditions for realizing the all-round development of mankind are the abolition of all classes and exploitation and the elimination of the antithesis between town and country and between physical and mental labor.

The all-round development of man is both historical and an actual progress. “Universally developed individuals… are no product of nature, but of history.” All-round development of human is the highest ideal of man and is rooted in man’s real life and is always conditioned by the conditions of the times in which he lives, as Marx pointed out: “The universality of the individual is not thought or imagined, but is the universality of his real and ideal relationships”. Marx placed the all-round development of man on the basis of historical materialism: the level of development of the productive forces of society and economy and culture is a gradually improving and never-ending historical process, and the degree of all-round development of mankind is also a gradually improving and never-ending historical process. The realization of communism is not the “end” of all-round development of mankind, but a new “beginning” of it.

The all-round development of human beings is an objective requirement of human civilization and its continuation, a need for progress in social production and life, and an important hallmark of civilization and progress in socialist society. Making full use of the favorable conditions of socialist society to carry out moral, intellectual, physical and aesthetic training in a planned and purposive manner and to promote the all-round development of mankind as soon as possible is the responsibility of socialist society, an honorable task for every citizen, and a condition for the transition to communist society. The level of development of the productive forces of society and economy and culture is a gradually improving and never-ending historical process, and the all-round development of mankind is also a gradually improving and never-ending historical process. At present, the promotion the all-round development of mankind as an important goal among all causes of socialism with Chinese characteristics reflects the urgent requirements of China’s economic development and social progress, and it is also an inheritance, enrichment and development of Marx’s theory of scientific socialism.