Categories of the Humane and the Inhumane in Karl Marx’s Philosophy: A Formal Analysis of Texts

Based on a detailed analysis of Marx’s texts, the article for the first time systematically explicates such interrelated categories in his philosophy as man – the human/the non-human – the humane/the inhumane, and gives them formal definitions. The reconstruction of Marx’s ideas makes it possible to define man as a concrete historical, suffering, bodily-spiritual whole being, the mode of existence of which is praxis – a social consciously goal-setting transforming object-tool activity. In this process, man jointly with others transforms nature, creates its own artificial world of culture and forms an “ensemble” of social, interpersonal and existential relations, i.e. human society. This abstract definition of man allows us to formally define the human as everything that is inherent in a person as such and as everything that is done by a socialized person, both in terms of the activity itself and its results. Manifesting in specific forms, the human reveals itself in the socio-historical forms of the humane (truly human) and inhumane (inauthentic human existence). The article considers only two grounds for highlighting such forms: 1) subjective existential-emotional experience of one’s activity, one’s being-in-the-world, either as subject-subject pleasure from one’s free self-fulfillment in the world (the humane), or as alienation, aversion to one’s forced, unfree activity (the inhumane); 2) the objective role of activity, as a result of which the socio-ontological structures that create conditions for creative self-realization and are founded in subject-subject trust and intra-group solidarity are either productively reproduced or destroyed. It is emphasized that in specific social systems and situations, productive human activity can turn into its opposite and become inhuman practice, and, conversely, really inhuman forms of life organization in limited conditions can perform positive functions.

 Keywords: Marx, generic essence of man, praxis, dialectic of objectification and deobjectification, subject-subject relationship,concrete historicity, the human/the non-human, the humane/the inhumane, mutual trust, solidarity, humanism