In the past, academic research on Marx’s social-historical development theory mostly focused on the categories of productivity and production relations, economic foundation and superstructure, and did not give full attention to the category of individual and community. In fact, the discussion of the individual and the community and their relationship runs through Marx’s thinking about the development of social history.Through the analysis of the nature and relationship between individuals and communities in different historical stages, Marx revealed the basic characteristics of different historical stages: In the stage of pre-capitalist, the community is a “natural community” built on the basis of “natural connection”. The individual is a “dependent individual” living on the community, and the relationship between individuals and the community is directly unified. In the stage of capitalism, the community is a “formal community” constructed with the “currency-capital” as the link. The individual is an “abstract individual” ruled by objects, and the relationship between the individual and the community is mutually opposed; In the stage of communist, the community is a “true community” constructed on the basis of “free people’s union”. The individual is a completely independent “comprehensive and free development individual”, and the relationship between the individual and the community is dialectical and unified. This research perspective of Marx profoundly reveals the inherent logic of the historical development of human society and demonstrates the multidimensionality and richness of his historical development theory.

Editor: Zhong Yao、Zheng Yifan

From:Studies on Marxist Theory.2021.No.2.