A Study On Marx's Category Of 'Real Individual'

This paper tentative provides a systematic explanation to the category of 'Real Individual' proposed by Marx in his masterpiece German Ideology in the context of Historical Materialism.Based on relevant original works or texts written by initiator of Marxism, in the scope of the history of philosophy, considering the issue of starting point of modern and contemporary Marxism' theories in Historical Materialism, namely different explanation to 'Real Individual' as clues, this paper gradually provides the textual research into such a category and thus expounds what it means. What' more, a pertinent analysis of the difference between 'Abstract Individual' and 'Real Individual' is also provided. According to the author, if it is assumed that the contemporary philosophy has been undergoing the process of clearing up human beings' self-dissimilation in 'divine image' and of replacing God with rational knowledge, with its nature lying in the theoretical expression of human individuality which is build upon the living conditions relied upon materials, Marxian category of 'Real Individual' has played an important role in the process of the transformation of human beliefs from being abstract to being worldly . At the same time, the existence of human beings began to show the contradiction between the abstractness and practicability and that between the existence of genus and the existence of individuals. How to address such a contradiction must have recourse to what Marx has proposed, that is to say, human beings should seek their emancipation in the real society, or more specifically, in fights pertinent to politics, economy, and culture, not the reachless hypothetical world. This thesis consists of five chapters. The first chapter is the introduction to the whole thesis, describing the current research situations concerning this issue and the method I will employ in this thesis. In Chapter Two, a survey of'Abstract Individual' will be conducted, and it will be considered as the background of basic theories concerned with Marxian theories about human beings. As far as the third chapter is concerned, in the context of correlation between Marx and Hegel and that between the school of young Hegel and the school of Feuerbach, based on Marx's Ph. D thesis, it will gradually provide the thorough examination of the category of 'Real Individual' and tentatively give its definition. The third part will be the basis of the whole thesis. In Chapter Four, the comparison between theoretical basis,methodology and historical significance concerned with 'Abstract Individual' and that of "Real Individual' will be presented. The last chapter, namely the fifth chapter will discuss about the significance of category of Marxian 'Real Individual'.