Essay --

The Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844, critique the effects of private property, division of labor, and capitalism. With the industrial revolution in full swing, Marx argues history is a progressive process of â€Å"the struggle of men to realize their full human potentialities† (Berlin 118). The transformation from feudal to capitalist societies is the beginning of â€Å"the story of man’s alienation in his life as a producer† (Reader, 66). In the Manuscripts, Marx discusses human nature and four types of alienation with which he uses as a platform to argue that estrangement from labour, estranges species from man and makes man individualistic. First and foremost, human nature, as described by Marx in the form of species being, is the understanding that the self is social and lives for the purpose of the species. It is human nature to realize full human potential. Hence, unlike animals, humans have a will and consciousness, which allows for freedom of physical need and ability to produce. Marx defines nature as man’s â€Å"direct means of life [as well as] the material, the object, and the instrument of his life activity† (Reader, 75). Nature is thus the means of both survival and invention. In this respect, humans are capable of shaping nature and therefore creating new wants and desires along with new outlooks and relationships towards nature and the people around them. Though, because needs are beyond survival, the immediate need of nature is lost and alien. Moreover, this human capacity to invent and produce creates division of labor. Berlin declares that the division of labor increases productivity and thus creates wealth beyond immediate needs. Therefore, the manifestation of excess accumulation is withheld from the laborers ... ...are alienated from the product that is given to the species. In other words, â€Å"Capitalism, under which the labour power of human beings is bought and sold, and the workers are treated merely as sources of labour, is plainly a system which distorts the truth about what men are and can be, and seeks to subordinate history to a class interest†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Berlin, 133). In conclusion, the Manuscripts of 1844 connect Marx’s earlier philosophical work to his future as a political economist. He describes how capitalism, a necessary stepping-stone, is a system that creates large disparities between two classes: the proletariat and the bourgeoisie. The division of labor during the industrial revolution produces various forms of alienation for the workers of the proletariat. The result of this estrangement is the deviation of man from his human essence, or in other words species being.