Marxism and Human Nature

214 Pages·2013·1.861 MB·English

by  Sayers, Sean

MARXISM AND HUMAN NATURE
‘Sayers’ book is an articulate, sophisticated and clear discussion of human
nature as a historical phenomenon.’
Professor David McLellan, University of Kent

Is there such a thing as human nature? In Marxism and Human
Nature, Sean Sayers defends the controversial theory that human
nature is a historical phenomenon. Those who disagree with this
theory counter that it leads to forms of scepticism and relativism
which are at odds with morality; Sayers argues that this need not be
the case. Drawing on the work of Marx and Hegel, he develops a
historical account of human needs and powers which provides the
basis for a distinctive form of Marxist humanism.
According to this view, human beings are not merely passive
individual consumers: they are active, social and productive beings.
The first half of the book explores the essential role work plays in
our lives and how it contributes to our fulfilment. The moral and
social implications of these ideas are analysed in the second half in
the context of current work by both analytic and post-modernist
thinkers.
Marxism and Human Nature gives an ambitious and wide-ranging
defence of the Marxist and Hegelian historical approach. In the
process, the book engages with a wide range of work at the heart of
the contemporary debate on social and moral philosophy. Clearly
and engagingly written, Marxism and Human Nature will illuminate
the debate for anyone engaged in politics or philosophy. It will be
especially relevant for researchers studying Marx, Hegel or Gorz.
Sean Sayers is Reader in Philosophy at the University of Kent at
Canterbury. Well known for his work on Marx’s philosophy, he is
the author of, among other books, Reality and Reason (1985) and
Hegel, Marx and Dialectic (1994). He is also a founding editor of
the journal Radical Philosophy.
ROUTLEDGE STUDIES IN SOCIAL AND
POLITICAL THOUGHT
1 HAYEK AND AFTER
Hayekian liberalism as a research programme
Jeremy Shearmur
2 CONFLICTS IN SOCIAL SCIENCE
Edited by Anton van Harskamp
3 POLITICAL THOUGHT OF ANDRÉ CORZ
Adrian Little
4 CORRUPTION, CAPITALISM AND DEMOCRACY
John Girling
5 FREEDOM AND CULTURE IN WESTERN SOCIETY
Hans Blokland
6 FREEDOM IN ECONOMICS
New perspectives in normative analysis
Edited by Jean-Francois Laslier, Marc Fleurbaey, Nicolas Gravel and Alain Trannoy
7 AGAINST POLITICS
On government and order
Anthony de Jasay
8 MAX WEBER AND MICHEL FOUCAULT
Parallel life works
Arpad Szakolczai
9 THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF CIVIL SOCIETY AND HUMAN RIGHTS
G.B.Madison
10 ON DURKHEIM’S ELEMENTARY FORMS
Edited by W.Pickering, W.Watts Miller and N.J.Allen
11 CLASSICAL INDIVIDUALISM
The supreme importance of each human being
Tibor R.Machan
12 THE AGE OF REASONS
Quixotism, sentimentalism and political economy in eighteenth-century Britain
Wendy Motooka
13 INDIVIDUALISM IN MODERN THOUGHT
From Adam Smith to Hayek
Lorenzo Infantino
14 PROPERTY AND POWER IN SOCIAL THEORY
A study in intellectual rivalry
Dick Pels
15 WITTGENSTEIN AND THE IDEA OF A CRITICAL SOCIAL THEORY
Giddens, Haberman and Bhaskar
Nigel Pleasants
16 MARXISM AND HUMAN NATURE
Sean Sayers
MARXISM AND
HUMAN NATURE
Sean Sayers
London and New York
First published 1998
by Routledge
11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2010.
To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s
collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001
© 1998 Sean Sayers
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical,
or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including
photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or
retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication Data
Sayers, Sean.
Marxism and human nature/Sean Sayers.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Socialism. 2. Humanism. I. Title
HX36.S385 1998
335.4–dc21 98–11835
CIP
ISBN 0-203-20041-1 Master e-book ISBN
ISBN 0-203-26572-6 (Adobe eReader Format)
ISBN 0-415-19147-5 (Print Edition)
To the memory of my mother
Tana Sayers (1909–1990)

CONTENTS
Preface viii
Acknowledgements ix
PART I
Work and human nature 1
1 Introduction: human nature as a historical phenomenon 3
2 Two concepts of human fulfilment 14
3 The need to work 36
4 The role of leisure 60
5 Alienation and economic development 79
PART II
Values and progress 93
6 The actual and the rational 95
7 Analytical Marxism and morality 111
8 Moral values and progress 130
9 Marxism and human nature 149
Appendix: Gorz on work and liberation 169
Notes 179
Bibliography 189
Index 198
vii
PREFACE

In this book I am attempting to work out some of the social and
moral implications of the historical approach of Marx and Hegel.
Although the book has been a long time in the writing, I am aware
that it is still tentative and exploratory in nature. It records a set of
interim results rather than a fixed and finished theory. I hope to
resume work on these issues in better times and a more hospitable
intellectual climate.
In the course of writing this book I have received valuable help
and encouragement from many people. In particular I would like to
thank the members of the Hegel reading group in which I participated
for many years for their intellectual stimulus and support: Chris
Arthur, Andrew Chitty, Filio Diamanti, Susan Easton, David Lamb,
Joe McCarney and Joan Saffran. I am also grateful for comments
and criticisms over many years to generations of students; to
colleagues including David McLellan, Tony Skillen, Richard Norman,
Anne Seller and Simon Glendinning; and to friends, particularly
George Márkus, Danny Goldstick, Peter Caws and Caroline New. I
would also like to thank Carole Davies for typing up some of the
manuscript so cheerfully and efficiently. I owe a special debt of
gratitude for help and support of all kinds to my wife Janet. The
original inspiration for these ideas was planted long ago by my mother,
Tana Sayers, to whose memory this book is dedicated.
Canterbury
October 1997
viii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Some of the chapters of this book are revised versions of pieces which
were first published as follows. They are reprinted with permission
of the original publishers.
Chapter 2: ‘Higher and Lower Pleasures’, in B.Lang, W.Sacksteder
and G.Stahl (eds), The Philosopher in the Community, Lanham, MD:
University Press of America, 1984, pp. 112–29.
Chapter 3: ‘The Need to Work’, Radical Philosophy 46, 1987,
pp. 17–26.
Chapter 4: ‘Work, Leisure and Human Needs’, Thesis Eleven 14,
1986, pp. 79–96.
Chapter 6: ‘The Actual and the Rational’, in D.Lamb (ed.), Hegel
and Modern Philosophy, Oxford: Croom Helm, 1987, pp. 143–60.
Chapter 7: ‘Analytical Marxism and Morality’, Canadian Journal
of Philosophy, Supplementary Volume, 15, 1989, pp. 81–104.
Chapter 8: ‘Moral Values and Progress’, New Left Review 204,
1994, pp. 67–85.
Appendix: ‘Gorz on Work and Liberation’, Radical Philosophy
58, 1991, pp. 16–19.
ix