Policy Press
4 Two tests of Marx’s Philosophical Anthropology (MPhA)
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Julio Boltvinik
Abstract
1st Test. Palaeoanthropology. Human work distinguishes itself from animal activity, as the form of the product is prefigured in the human mind before it is produced. Toth proves that Achulean tools required producers to have a mental template of what they wanted to produce: they intentionally imprinted this form into the material. Bipedal walking was a precondition for brain growth and tool manufacturing. Mediated work is the transformation of the world in a conscious and systematic way and with a purpose oriented to other time and place. This shows that some scientists concur with Marx definition of mediated work.
Second test. Thomas Hurka’s (TH) Perfectionism.MPhA is perfectionist (PF); it and its specification have moral appeal and thus pass the two tests set by TH. MPhA includes what people ought to pursue, the development of N and capacities, regardless of their desire and the pleasure this might entail. In contrast to TH who require the presence of all HE properties in all individuals for PF to be valid, Márkus distinguishes the species from the individual and asserts the possibility of a rift between them. There are more differences, but MPhA passes the PF test.
Abstract
1st Test. Palaeoanthropology. Human work distinguishes itself from animal activity, as the form of the product is prefigured in the human mind before it is produced. Toth proves that Achulean tools required producers to have a mental template of what they wanted to produce: they intentionally imprinted this form into the material. Bipedal walking was a precondition for brain growth and tool manufacturing. Mediated work is the transformation of the world in a conscious and systematic way and with a purpose oriented to other time and place. This shows that some scientists concur with Marx definition of mediated work.
Second test. Thomas Hurka’s (TH) Perfectionism.MPhA is perfectionist (PF); it and its specification have moral appeal and thus pass the two tests set by TH. MPhA includes what people ought to pursue, the development of N and capacities, regardless of their desire and the pleasure this might entail. In contrast to TH who require the presence of all HE properties in all individuals for PF to be valid, Márkus distinguishes the species from the individual and asserts the possibility of a rift between them. There are more differences, but MPhA passes the PF test.
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents v
- List of figures and tables vii
- List of abbreviations viii
- Acknowledgements xii
- Foreword xv
- Introduction 1
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Negative and positive bases of the new paradigm
- Negative bases: a synthesis of the critique of the political economy of poverty (CPEP) 11
- Positive bases: Marxian Philosophical Anthropology I – work and the human essence 30
- Positive bases: Marxian Philosophical Anthropology II – human essence and history 45
- Two tests of Marx’s Philosophical Anthropology (MPhA) 64
- Positive bases of the New Paradigm II: concepts and theories of human needs 90
- Comparative analysis of human needs’ theories 109
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The new paradigm: perspectives for its development
- A new approach to poverty and human flourishing 129
- Development challenges to the new approach to poverty and human flourishing 147
- Enriching the New Paradigm with Maslow’s and the subjective well-being currents of thought 180
- Thomson, Gill, and Goodson’s Happiness, Flourishing and the Good Life: challenging the Flourishing/Well-being approaches 217
- Final remarks 229
- References 232
- Index 242
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents v
- List of figures and tables vii
- List of abbreviations viii
- Acknowledgements xii
- Foreword xv
- Introduction 1
-
Negative and positive bases of the new paradigm
- Negative bases: a synthesis of the critique of the political economy of poverty (CPEP) 11
- Positive bases: Marxian Philosophical Anthropology I – work and the human essence 30
- Positive bases: Marxian Philosophical Anthropology II – human essence and history 45
- Two tests of Marx’s Philosophical Anthropology (MPhA) 64
- Positive bases of the New Paradigm II: concepts and theories of human needs 90
- Comparative analysis of human needs’ theories 109
-
The new paradigm: perspectives for its development
- A new approach to poverty and human flourishing 129
- Development challenges to the new approach to poverty and human flourishing 147
- Enriching the New Paradigm with Maslow’s and the subjective well-being currents of thought 180
- Thomson, Gill, and Goodson’s Happiness, Flourishing and the Good Life: challenging the Flourishing/Well-being approaches 217
- Final remarks 229
- References 232
- Index 242
