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