more on this theme     |     more from this thinker     |     more from this text


Single Idea 5275

[filed under theme 24. Political Theory / A. Basis of a State / 1. A People / a. Human distinctiveness ]

Full Idea

Men begin to distinguish themselves from animals as soon as they begin to produce their means of subsistence.

Clarification

'Subsistence' is survival

Gist of Idea

Men distinguish themselves from animals when they begin to produce their means of subsistence

Source

K Marx / F Engels (The German Ideology [1846], §1.A)

Book Ref

Marx,K./Engels,F.: 'The German Ideology', ed/tr. Arthur,C.J. [Lawrence and Wishart 1985], p.42


A Reaction

This seems a rather external criterion. Presumably we can ask what biological or mental feature made it possible for men to produce their own means of subsistence, and why it evolved. Darwin puts a different perspective on this idea.