Marx's theory of human nature

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In his works, Karl Marx does not refer to "human nature" as such, but to Gattungswesen, which is generally translated as "species-being" or "species-essence". According to a note from Marx in the Manuscripts of 1844, the term is derived from Ludwig Feuerbach's philosophy, in which it refers both to the nature of each human and of humanity as a whole. In the sixth Thesis on Feuerbach (1845), Marx criticizes the traditional conception of human nature as a species which incarnates itself in each individual, instead arguing that human nature is formed by the totality of social relations. Marx describes Gattungswesen as neither permanent nor universal, as in classical idealist philosophy, but always determined in a specific social and historical formation, with some aspects being biological.

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