How “Free, Conscious Activity” Leaps to
“the Ensemble of the Social Relations”?
—An Analysis of the Missing Logic Link in the Evolution of Marxs
Statement about the Human Essence
Han Rui
School of Marxism, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing 102488, China
Abstract：“The ensemble of the social relations” is a classic definition of the human essence made by Karl Marx in “Theses on Feuerbach” . However, this is not the first definition of the human essence by Marx. In fact, in the “First Manuscript” of Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844, Marx said that “free, conscious activity is mans speciescharacter”.It seems that there is a key transition link missing between these two definitions. In “Comments on James Mill”in the “Paris Notebooks”, Marx used “human nature is the true community of men” as the link that seems missing. In a sense, this key link ushered in Marx's new materialist worldview.
韩蕊. “自由的自觉的活动”如何飞跃到
“一切社会关系的总和”
——关于马克思人的本质演变的逻辑缺环问题分析[J]. 江苏大学学报（社会科学版）, 2016, 18(2): 42-46.
HAN Rui. How “Free, Conscious Activity” Leaps to
“the Ensemble of the Social Relations”?
—An Analysis of the Missing Logic Link in the Evolution of Marxs
Statement about the Human Essence. Journal of Jiangsu University（Social Science Editi, 2016, 18(2): 42-46.
2016, Vol. 18 
