This paper offers a short genealogy of the early Marx's claim that humans are essentially 'species-beings' (Gattungswesen). I argue that this claim can be traced back to Kant's claim that we have a capacity for pure apperception, or pure self-consciousness, via Hegel's account of self-consciousness as at once individuating and non-individuating in his lectures, and his account of the will as both particular and universal in the Introduction to the Philosophy of Right. Finally, I argue that Marx, in his conception of humans as species-beings, transposes the idea that we are capable of such non-individuating self-consciousness into a practical key, resulting in his claim that we are 'species-beings'. I ask what light this genealogy throws on the concept of species-being, and on Marx's use of it in 1844 to provide a philosophical justification of communism.
Dr. Andrew Chitty taught philosophy at the University of Bristol, Birkbeck College, London, and the University of Sussex, specializing in political philosophy and the history of political thought. He has authored numerous publications on Hegel and Marx and was a leading figure in the Master's/PhD program in Social and Political Thought at the University of Sussex for around 20 years.
FZ Social Theory Guest Lecture Series: From Kant to Marx
From Kant to Marx. Pure Apperception, Transpersonal Self-Consciousness, and Species-Being
Mittwoch 09:00-10:30 Uhr, SOWI, 2. Stock, Institut für Soziologie, Besprechungsraum (Sekretariat)
Chair: Frank Welz (FZ Social Theory)