1. On page 15, it states that "life is not determined by consciousness, but consciousness by life". I would like to know if you agree or disagree with that statement and why. I agree with it. Life happens all around us, but there are certain events in our lives that make us more aware or more conscious than other events. I'm curious as to if anyone disagrees or sees a different side (agreeing or disagreeing) than mine.
2. I think this article is somewhat contradicting. On page 16/17 it says that "the second fundamental point is that as soon as a need is satisfied, new needs are made; and this production of new needs is the first historical act", and on page 30 it says "the real production of life seems to be beyond history, while the truly historical appears to be separated from ordinary life". I think that meeting every day needs is a part of life and the production of life, but they're claiming that it's not. Is he saying that meeting every day needs is not something truly historical? Or is he saying that the production of life goes beyond basic needs and fulfillment?
Hey Audrey! I found your second question very interesting as it was something that I did not pick up on the first time I read the piece. I think that the needs that are being talked about in the first quote are not every day needs, but rather broad overarching needs. For example the need for a new political ideology as opposed to the need to eat lunch on a particular day. I believe that when the need for one of these broad ideas that affect all of mankind are realized, it does set history in motion and eventually becomes an individual point in time that you can look at and see as a significant moment in history.
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ReplyDeleteAudrey. On page 30, Marx is giving his assessment of how the people he is criticizing think of history. He is critical of those who don't take into consideration the basic things we all do to live on a day to day basis. Notice in the passage you quote, we have those clues that this is not his position: "seems" and "appears to be." It seems and appears to be to the Young Hegelians (specifically Feuerbach, who he is critiquing here). Marx's position is what you quote in the first passage.
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