"Notes on James Mill" is a text written by
Karl Marx
Karl Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, political theorist, economist, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. He is best-known for the 1848 pamphlet '' The Communist Manifesto'' (written with Friedrich Engels) ...
in 1844, originally part of the so-called "Paris Notebooks". In it Marx criticizes parts of
James Mill's ''Elements of Political Economy''. It forms the foundation for what later became his ''
Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844''.
"Notes on James Mill" is particularly important to the development of Marx's overall project because it gives insight into the concept of non-alienated labor. Marx here describes unalienated labor as labor in which one's personality is made objective in one's product and in which one enjoys contemplating the features of one's personality in the object one produces. As one has expressed one's talents and abilities in the productive process, the activity is
authentic to one's character. It is not an activity one loathes. Marx further claims that one gains immediate satisfaction from the use and enjoyment of one's product - the satisfaction arising from the knowledge of having produced an object that corresponds to the needs of another human being. One can be said to have created an object that corresponds to the needs of another's
essential nature. One's productive activity is a mediator between the needs of another person and the entire species. Marx suggests that this confirms the "communal" character of
human nature
Human nature comprises the fundamental dispositions and characteristics—including ways of Thought, thinking, feeling, and agency (philosophy), acting—that humans are said to have nature (philosophy), naturally. The term is often used to denote ...
, since individuals play an essential role in the affirmation of each other's nature.
See also
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Marxism
Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflict, ...
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Marxist theory
Marxist philosophy or Marxist theory are works in philosophy that are strongly influenced by Karl Marx's materialist approach to theory, or works written by Marxists. Marxist philosophy may be broadly divided into Western Marxism, which drew f ...
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Marxist philosophy
Marxist philosophy or Marxist theory are works in philosophy that are strongly influenced by Karl Marx's Historical materialism, materialist approach to theory, or works written by Marxists. Marxist philosophy may be broadly divided into Wester ...
Footnotes
References
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External links
"Notes on James Mill"
Communist books
Books by Karl Marx
Social Democratic Party of Germany
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