Intersecting Perspectives: Darwin and Marx's Material World

In The German Ideology, which was written in 1846, Karl Marx examines what he considers to be human history, which is governed by the human mode of production for subsistence. Charles Darwin was a naturalist and published his theory of evolution in his famous book On the Origin of Species in 1859. Similarly, Darwin viewed the material struggle for survival of organisms to be a governing force of evolution. Despite their dissimilar fields of study, their findings were often complementary, or at least relevant to the findings of the other. One of the most significant areas of overlap in the works of Darwin and Marx concerns the place of humans in relation to the material world. Many theologians, philosophers, metaphysicians, and scientists during

Both Marx and Darwin overturn the notion of mind-body dualism, which is most famously articulated by Rene Descartes. Cartesian dualism rests on the basis that “…the natures of mind and body [are] not only different from one another, but even, in a manner of speaking, are contraries of one another” (Rene Descartes, Synopsis of the Following Six Meditations, 8 - 9). Descartes further posits, “…the mind by its nature is immortal…[because] the idea of God which is in [the mind] must have God himself as its cause” (Descartes, 9). While there are many different variations of mind-body dualism, this essay will remain focused on Cartesian dualism for the purpose of establishing a consistent ground to compare and contrast the respective methodologies of Marx and Darwin in their rejections of Cartesian dualism. Through Marx and Darwin’s refutations of Cartesian dualism, they form an interwoven basis of history and science, upon which humanity is contextualized within the material

This fundamental truth has been concealed under prevailing theological and metaphysical doctrines. Marx addresses the process of deconstructing the abstract principles that govern much of human life: “where speculation ends, namely in actual life, there, real positive science begins as the representation of the practical activity and practical process of the development of men. Phrases about consciousness cease and real knowledge takes their place” (Marx, 112). Descartes would argue that man’s material existence is secondary to the immaterial human intellect, however, Marx sees it as the exact opposite, “Consciousness does not determine life, but life determines consciousness” (Marx, 112). Very similar conclusions can be derived from Darwin’s work. Like Marx, human consciousness is a product of the materialistic principles of survival. Darwin goes as far as explaining the existence of man’s high intellectual powers within the evolutionary process. He writes, “no one doubts that these faculties are of the utmost importance in a state of nature. Therefore, the conditions are favourable for their development through natural selection” (Darwin, 552). Within natural selection, an organism is governed by its need for material subsistence. In Marx and Darwin’s respective conclusions that man’s material subsistence is the