Historical Forms Of Human Development And Its Contemporary Significance

Persisting in the basic position, viewpoint and method of historic materialism, this thesis analyses the historic evolution of the forms of Man development and its law by applying Marxist theory of the stage of Man development. And based on the contemporary Man development, this thesis analyses the contemporary form of Man development.It is the same process developing of mankind and society, which dialectically exists in the historical forms of Man development. In current China, with modernization process driven by socialist market economy, the global knowledge economy is springing up vigorously. As a result, China society is facing the double historical transition-from the traditional agricultural society to the modern industrial society, and from the modern industrial society to post-modern knowledge society. In the course of the transition, Man development has manifold historical character-"human dependence" derived from the natural economy, "material dependence" from the market economy, and "ability dependence" from the socialist economy and from the knowledge economy, which mankind has experienced successively in their development process up to now. And they coexist in the contemporary development of Chinese people. Among them, "ability dependence" is the transitional form from "material dependence" to "free personality", which symbols the advancing tendency of mankind development, and is the ideal form of mankind development."Human dependence" in fore-market economy is the first form of Man development. With one relying on others, the natural production stick out which strengthen blood relationship and power's influence in social life and individual development, and which also makes people live mainly depending on blood relationship or power. Therefore, a man becomes the one party of community, who has such historical connotation as: natural need; primitive, plentiful but dependent action; dependent social relationship; lost personality and no-oneself consciousness. "human dependence" still has its extensive and deep influence in the world today: power economy, family contract responsibility system and family enterprise manifest that power and blood relationship have penetrated into the economy; the centralized control system, the administration mold of society regarding human feeling as superior to law and varied bureaucracy, such as too concentrated power, appointing leader according to subjective feelings, manifest authority exists in the political field; the conception of "power standard" and "relationship standard" shows that people have been controlled by blood relationship, power in their ideas; the social character that regarding human relationship as superior to legal system, regarding God's will as superior to one's struggle, regarding dependence as superior to self-reliance, regarding subjective will as superior to reason spirit, regarding succession as superior to creation, all that show people have not free themselves from dependent life thoroughly. "Human dependence" makes people know that power is much of importance in the life, and makes people have a primitive but all-round life with real goal in groups. But it also has limitations, such as the excessive reliance on mankind nature, intense personal reliance, dependent personality, and the idea of "power standard", the special privilege mentality, social estate consciousness. All these result in which one's ability, creative personality and self-reliance are not realized fully, which the modern spirit of justice, equality, human rights and universal fraternity is too difficult to take shape, and reason spirit and system have no way established."Material dependence" from the market economy is the second historical form of mankind development. The industrial production based on the goods makes the material existence, such as technology, capital, machinery, goods and money become decisive force in the social production and life, which promotes people to be a material one, who has such historical connotation as: "material need", "activ...