1. Human nature is realistic and concrete.
Before the emergence of Marxism, there was a fundamental mistake in the theory of human nature and the theory of human nature, that is, talking about human nature and human nature without specific historical conditions and specific social relations. Starting with the analysis of Feuerbach, Marx criticized the abstract theory of human nature of historical idealism, completely denied the obliteration of human sociality, class nature and history, and based on this abstract, general and isolated individual, he attributed the essence of human beings to the viewpoint of "abstract things inherent in a single person". Marx does not completely deny that human beings have some kind of * * * homosexuality, but opposes abstracting this kind of * * * homosexuality and examining human nature from specific historical conditions and social relations. As Marx pointed out when criticizing Feuerbach: "Feuerbach did not criticize the essence of this reality, so he had to: (1) set aside the historical process, fixed religious feelings as independent things, and assumed that there was an abstract-isolated-human individual. (2) Therefore, essence can only be understood as' class'. As an inherent and silent universality, it naturally connects many individuals. " (Selected Works of Marx and Engels, vol. 1, People's Publishing House, 1995, p. 56)
2. Human nature is determined by social relations.
From the viewpoint of historical materialism, Marxism put forward the proposition that social relations determine human nature for the first time, which provided a scientific way of thinking for us to understand human nature. Marxism believes that labor creates people. At the same time, in the process of labor, human beings are not separated and isolated from each other in the activities of transforming nature, but form certain social relations, and it is in the social relations that human nature is formed. Social relations is a complex system. According to Lenin's understanding, social relations are divided into material social relations and ideological social relations, which are multi-level and multi-faceted. Material social relations generally refer to the economic relations formed by people in the production activities of material means of subsistence, that is, production relations, including production relations, distribution relations, exchange relations and consumption relations. The social relationship of thought refers to the social relationship based on material, including political, legal, moral and religious relations. In class society, relations of production are concentrated in class relations, so in class society, human nature has distinct class nature. As Marx said, everyone is the personification of economic category and the undertaker of certain class relations and interests. ..... No matter how detached an individual is from various relationships subjectively, he is always the product of these relationships in the social sense "(The Complete Works of Marx and Engels, Volume 23, People's Publishing House, 1972, 12). Everyone is born in a certain social relationship, and only in social relationships can a person be a real person. Otherwise, once he is divorced from social relations and loses his social attributes, he will be like a wolf child in human form, and no matter how developed his brain and sound body are, he can't have human nature.
3. The sum of all social relations is the organic unity of many social relations.
"The sum of all social relations" is the organic unity of many social relations, including two meanings. First, it shows that the connections between various social relations are not mechanical, but organic. They influence, restrict and penetrate each other, forming a crisscross unity. The essence of man is "the sum of all social relations", which shows that the essence of man is the organic unity of various social relations, rather than the simple addition of various social relations or the repetition of some social relations. This requires us to grasp the essence of human beings systematically and comprehensively from the organic connection of various social relations as a whole. As Marx said: "Society does not have.
It is composed of individuals, not the sum of the connections and relationships between these individuals. "(The Complete Works of Marx and Engels, Vol. 46, People's Publishing House, 1979, p. 220)
The second meaning means that all kinds of social relations are not juxtaposed and equal in the organic and unified connection, and they play different roles in determining human nature. Among all kinds of social relations, material relations, especially production relations, are the most basic and important, which determines and restricts all other social relations, so it is also of the most important significance to human nature.
4. Human nature is historical and developing.
The essence of human being is not only abstract, but also eternal, which develops with the development of history. This is because social relations are not fixed, but constantly develop and change with the contradictory movement of social productive forces and production relations. "The social relations on which individuals depend for production, that is, the social relations of production, develop and change with the changes and development of material means of production and productivity. The relations of production together constitute a so-called social relationship, a so-called society, and a society with unique characteristics at a certain historical development stage. " (The Complete Works of Marx and Engels, Volume 6, People's Publishing House, 196 1, p. 487) Therefore, human nature, as "the sum of all social relations", is bound to be historical and developing. As Marx said, human nature "changes historically in every era". So far, human society has experienced five social forms, and the "summation" of social relations has also undergone major changes. Social relations in different social forms determine the nature of different people.
5. Man's natural attribute is the material undertaker of man's social attribute, but it is not the essential attribute of man.
Marxism holds that human nature is "the sum of all social relations", which does not deny the natural attribute factors contained in human nature, but emphasizes that social attribute is the fundamental difference between human nature, animalism and divinity, thus drawing a clear line with old materialism. Therefore, Marxism recognizes and attaches importance to man's natural attribute, which is the material undertaker, foundation and premise of man's social attribute. Without natural attributes, that is, biological instincts such as physiological structure, appetite and sexual desire, it is impossible to talk about human survival and development. The essence of human beings mainly embodies the fundamental characteristics that distinguish human beings from animals. In this sense, human beings are not only natural beings, but also social people. Therefore, human's social attribute is human's essential attribute. In addition, although people's social attributes are based on natural attributes, people's natural attributes in history and reality are all baptized by their social attributes and contain corresponding social contents. The biological instinct of human survival and reproduction is different from that of animals. For example, human beings not only have an appetite, but also a food culture. People's sexual desire is also related to the feelings between the two sexes, which leads to family. The reason for this difference is that human social attributes inject social content into natural attributes. Therefore, if we deny that the essence of human beings lies in their social attributes and regard the natural attributes of human beings as their essential attributes, we will confuse human beings with animals, society and nature.