TITLE:
The Subjective Dimension of Historical Materialism—From the Perspective of “Need”
AUTHORS:
Yuyao Kang
KEYWORDS:
Need, Historical Materialism, Subject
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Social Sciences,
Vol.11 No.2,
February
24,
2023
ABSTRACT: The thought of need always occupies an important position in Marx’s
theory. Through the literature review of Marx’s need thought, we can conclude
that it is a central clue running through Marx’s thought, but also the basic
category of historical materialism. The position of need thought in historical
materialism lies in the need of people to promote the development of productive
forces. The need of people is the source of promoting social development, and
the targeted activities to meet the needs are the driving force of social
development. In the classical historical materialism, it emphasizes the
objective dimension of historical materialism, while ignoring the subjective
dimension of the dominant factors of the social and historical process, which
Marx also attaches great importance to. For the study of needs, it can be
further found that social history is not only “a natural historical process”,
but also a specific historical process based on the reality of human subjects.