Arranged Labor Marx Analysis

On page 76 of Estranged Labor, Marx explains his theory of human nature by describing the differences between animal production and human production. Although animals do in fact produce, they do not express themselves through what they produce. Rather, they only “produces what it immediately needs for itself or its young” (Tucker 76). Therefore, Marx argues that animals are “immediately identical with its life-activity” (p. 76). It follows the normal standards of survival and social needs within the species to which it belongs. Humans, on the other hand, are more complex. Life is considered an object to humans and their life activity is referred to as conscious life-activity. Humans have the ability to “produce even when he is free from physical need and only truly produces in freedom therefrom” (p. 76). This means that with this conscious state of being, humans have the freedom to think, imagine, and interact with our cognitive abilities to create things not only for survival, but to express ourselves though what we produce such as art. Human production can be in

This includes artists, literature writers, researchers, architects, inventors, entrepreneurs, and the list goes on. These positions all fall in line with self-expression. Marx argues that “the object of labour is, therefore, the objectification of a man’s species life” (p. 76). But if the meaning of life is happiness, reaching tranquility, or pursuing pleasures (depending on your philosophical views), I can see how someone can argue that this “object of labour is the objectification of a man’s species life” is not entirely true. Rather, putting in work into doing something you love in which brings you happiness such as designing buildings or being an inventor indicates that self-expression can be the object of