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Feuerbach resolves the essence of religion into the essence of man [menschliches Wesen = 'human nature']. But the essence of man is no abstraction inherent in each single individual. In reality, it is the ensemble of the social relations. Feuerbach, who does not enter upon a criticism of this real essence is hence obliged: 1.
2. Essence, therefore, can be regarded only as 'species', as an inner, mute, general character which unites the many individuals in a natural way." [1] Geras maintains that the concept of human nature is compatible with historical materialism, and criticized Louis Althusser and his followers for popularizing a belief to the contrary. [2]
The intellective soul is hence the form by which “man is a being in act, a body, a living thing, an animal and a man” (Summa theologiae I a, q. 76, a. 6, ad 1). By the act of intellection, which, in its exercise, is independent of the body, Thomas tried to demonstrate that the soul is capable of existing without the body: “Hence the ...
It is through nature that Man satisfies the needs and drives that constitute his essence. [155] Man is an "object" that has other "objects": [156] he needs objects that are independent of him to express his objective nature. [155] Humanism is the view that Man is a being of praxis who both changes nature and creates himself. [154]
In Marx's Concept of Man, Erich Fromm provides a detailed analysis of Karl Marx's ideas about human nature and how those ideas informed his economic and political theories. Fromm shows how Marx's conception of man as a "species-being" who is fundamentally social and cooperative, rather than selfish and individualistic, shaped his vision of a ...
Conceptually, in the term species-essence, the word species describes the intrinsic human mental essence that is characterised by a "plurality of interests" and "psychological dynamism," whereby every individual has the desire and the tendency to engage in the many activities that promote mutual human survival and psychological well-being, by ...
Man thus creates according to the laws of beauty. [34] This transformation of inorganic nature is what Marx calls man's "life-activity", and it is man's essence. Man has lost his species-being because his life-activity has been turned into a mere means of existence. [35] Finally, Marx discusses alienation in social relations.
As spoken by Marx, self-estrangement is "the alienation of man's essence, man's loss of objectivity and his loss of realness as self-discovery, manifestation of his nature, objectification and realization". [2] Self-estrangement is when a person feels alienated from others and society as a whole.