The Concept of the Individual in the Thought of Karl Marx

This book reconstructs the concept of the individual in Marx as the key to a fresh interpretation of Marxian philosophy. Marx moved from an examination of the contingency and indeterminacy of individual consciousness in his early years to a critique of the atomistic individual and materialised social relations in his later years. His thought proposes that ‘real individuals’ are the basis for an understanding of human society that promotes the emancipation of humankind. Marx’s philosophy has often been misunderstood as lacking a concept of the individual. In China, this misunderstanding not only relates to cultural and linguistic particularities (the word ‘individual’ is seldom used in Chinese), but also relates to a misleading view of socialism and communism. This book helps remedy this misunderstanding and draws important comparisons and contrasts between Marx’s concept of the individual with that of liberalism, and between Western and Eastern Marxism. Titles Published Titles Forthcoming Preface Contents 1 Introduction 1.1 Introduction to the English Edition Part I Dialectics, History and Marx’s Concept of the Individual 2 Dialectics as a Methodological Principle 2.1 Hegel’s Dialectics 2.2 Vico’s Approach in the Philosophy of History 2.3 Comte’s Method of the Sociology of Science 2.4 Marx’s Dialectical Method 3 History as the Object of Totality 3.1 Views of History That Marx Rejected 3.2 Marx’s View of History 3.2.1 Activities of Individuals 3.2.2 Unity of Nature and Human Being 3.2.3 A Spiral Development 3.2.4 From the Future to the Past 3.2.5 World History 3.3 Marx’s Study Is More Than a Historical Science Part II The History and Logic of Marx’s Concept of the Individual 4 The Concept of the Individual in the Context of the Young Hegelian School 4.1 The Common Ground of the Young Hegelians 4.1.1 Religious Criticism 4.1.2 Political Criticism 4.2 The Atomistic Individual 4.2.1 The Basic Position of Marx’s Critique of Religion 4.2.2 The Core Category of Religious Criticism—The “Atom” 4.2.2.1 The Atom that Deviates From the Straight Line 4.2.2.2 The Individual as the “Atom” 4.2.2.3 The “Philosopher” as the “Atom” 4.2.2.4 “God” as the “Atom” 4.3 The “Individual” as a Burgher and the “Man” as a Citizen 4.3.1 The State with Universal Reason is Supreme 4.3.2 The Existence of Individuals is the Foundation of a State 4.3.2.1 The State and Civil Society 4.3.2.2 Political Emancipation and Human Emancipation 5 The Concept of the Individual in Marx’s Theory of Estrangement 5.1 Feuerbach’s Philosophy of Humanism 5.1.1 The Split and Opposition Between Existence and Essence 5.1.2 The Uniqueness of Man is Based on Species-Nature 5.2 The Species-Nature of Man and Estranged Labour 5.2.1 The Concept of Externalisation Within the Fichte-Hegelian Tradition 5.2.2 Marx’s Concept of Estranged Labour 5.3 The Concept of the Individual as Defined by the Standard of the Species 5.3.1 The Species-Nature of the Individual 5.3.2 The Species-Existence of the Individual 5.3.3 The Individual as Species 5.3.3.1 The Concept of the Individual Before The German Ideology 5.3.3.2 The Individual as Species and “The Real Individuals” 5.3.3.3 The Existence-Essence Dichotomy and Its Sublation 5.4 Max Stirner’s Criticism 5.4.1 Stirner’s Criticism of Feuerbach 5.4.2 The Individual as the Ego 6 The Concept of the Individual From the Perspective of History 6.1 Sensuousness, Activity and Sensuous Activity 6.1.1 The Concept of Sensuousness 6.1.2 The Concept of Reason 6.1.3 The Sensuous Activities of Individuals 6.2 Historical Determinations of the Individual 6.2.1 The Historical Connotation of Human Nature 6.2.1.1 The Essence of Man Is Social Relations 6.2.1.2 The Relation Between Essence and Existence 6.2.1.3 The Philosophical-Historical Significance of the Concept of Relation 6.2.2 History Trilogy of the Individual 6.2.2.1 Theory of “the State of Nature” and Its Criticism 6.2.2.2 From Individuals in Natural Relationships to Free Individuals 6.3 Individuals in the All-Pervasive Materialisation 6.3.1 The Materialised Social Relations 6.3.2 Materialised Existence of Individuals 6.3.2.1 The Atomic Existence of Individuals: Appendant of “Things” 6.3.2.2 The Homogenous Existence of Individuals: “Thinghood” Instead of Individuality 6.3.2.3 The Proletarian Individuals Who Become “Things” 7 The Concept of the Individual and Marx’s Philosophy 7.1 The Individual: An Important Theme of Marx’s Philosophy 7.2 The Individual: The Dividing Line Between Marx’s Philosophy and Other Western Philosophies Part III The Normative Significance of Marx’s Concept of the Individual 8 Theoretical Criticism and the Concept of the Individual 8.1 The “Bystander” Perspective: The Defects of Traditional Theory 8.2 The “Participant” Perspective: The Historical Practice of the Ordinary Individual 9 A Critical-Based Theory of Individual Emancipation 9.1 Marx’s Critique of the Idea of the Individual 9.2 The Emancipation and Freedom of the Individual 10 Moral Criticism and the Good 10.1 The Limits of Moral Criticism 10.2 The Individual and the Moral Good Part IV Situating the Marx’s Concept of the Individual in the Present 11 Chinese Socialist Practice and the Revival of Marx’s Concept of the Individual 11.1 Marxist Anthropology in the Context of Soviet and Eastern European Socialism 11.2 Chinese Socialist Practice and the Rise of Marxist Anthropological Research 12 Studies on Marx’s Concept of the Individual and China’s Modernisation 12.1 Theory and Practice 12.2 Reformation of Ownership Rights and Individual Freedom 12.3 The Better Life and Individual Needs 12.4 Cultural Change and Individual Consciousness Translators’ Afterword Bibliography Index