Marx on Human Nature

[nvm]

What does Marx say on Human nature? Did he write any books on it?

[Niccolò Rossi]

The work that stands out in my mind as being the most relevant to what you're looking for is Marx's Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844. (I would post a link but due to my meager post count I can't. The whole text is available from Marxist.org, you'll have to find it on the site yourself)

I should note however the manuscripts are highly controversial. They are seen by Humanist Marxists as the foundation of their thought, however, many Orthodox Marxists would insist they are contradictory to Marx's later "Scientific" works.

What ever your opinion of them they are definitely worth the read and really help one get a good feel of not only Marx's early thought but also the progression of his views throughout his life.

[renegadoe]

You should check out this wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Species-being

Essentially, Marx argued that humans are a species-being. As my signature quotes, we as a species began to distinguish ourselves from animals when we began to produce our means of subsistence rather than scavenge them (the transition between hunter-gatherism and barbarism). Thus, human beings indirectly produce their consciousness as a reflection of their material surroundings, which they themselves produce. The effect of this is that "human nature" (in the common bourgeois use of the term) is dynamic and determined by the material conditions the individual human in question is raised in. This is why we human beings "create our own history, although not under the conditions of our choosing" - we have free will in respect of the options infront of us today, but we are dialectically bound by the conditions of yesterday.

The article above elaborates more clearly, but I would also recommend the 1844 Manuscripts (at least the short section in the beginning entitled 'Estranged Labor').

[Raúl Duke]

The effect of this is that "human nature" (in the common bourgeois use of the term) is dynamic and determined by the material conditions the individual human in question is raised in. This is why we human beings "create our own history, although not under the conditions of our choosing" - we have free will in respect of the options infront of us today, but we are bound by the conditions of yesterday.

In more simpler words: Being determines Consciousness

We are social beings and our behavior depends on our environment and situation, both current, past, and predicted.

[Bilan]

I actually found a text on this yesterday, I didn't buy it though (I got the Poverty of Philosophy instead).
It's under "The alienation of man" in a Marx's collected works.
I'll try get the name for you.

[INDK]

@ renagadoe and JohnnyDarko

Exactly. To sketch briefly how this relates to Socialism, For instance; Capitalism creates alienated material conditions in which, especially in the higher classes, economic aggression and domination are a necessity to the survival of members of society and their own wealth. Adversely, in Socialism domination and aggression are much less necessitated and therefore aggression in the economic structure disappear, relatively. Further, crime, especially crime towards monetary or material gains, as a product of alienated conditions and social grievance, would lessen very significantly. The nature of man is a situational factor.

[renegadoe]

JohnnyDarko hit the nail on the head: being determines consciousness, the central assertion of historical materialism. We are only capable of conceiving things that our material conditions allow - hence, why a feudal peasant cannot conceive of a real communist society; they're generally concerned with issues of land distribution and often seen promoting their choice great leader.

But, continuing on EA's point, communism will liberate us from the tyranny of our material conditions, and thus when all our material needs are met, our consciousness will evolve further.