Philosophical Contrasts: State, History, and Human Essence

Plato, Aristotle, and Kant: Political Society and Human Development

Shared Perspective: The Necessity of Political Society

• All three philosophers agree that political society is essential for integral human development. For them, man only becomes fully human within a political society or the State.

Key Differences in Political Philosophy

1. Origin and Nature of the State

• Greek Thought (Plato, Aristotle): Man is inherently a social and political animal. Society is considered natural, responding to human nature.
• Modern Thought (Kant): The State originates from an agreement or arrangement among individuals.

2. The Ultimate Purpose of the State

• Greek Thought: The primary end of the State is ethical.
  • Plato: To cultivate just and virtuous citizens. Only within a just and harmonious state can man achieve the virtue of justice.
  • Aristotle: The polis aims for living well and achieving happiness for its citizens.
• Kant: To ensure the coexistence of free and equal individuals under universal laws.

Kant and Marx: Divergent Conceptions of History

Shared Aspects in Historical Philosophy

• Centrality of History: History is fundamental to both Kant's and Marx's philosophies. Historical materialism is central to Marxist humanism, while in Kant, history is deeply integrated into his entire philosophical system.
• Transcendent End of History: Both envision a transcendent goal for history.
  • Marx: History culminates in the disappearance of the capitalist mode of production and the establishment of communism.
  • Kant: History should progress towards a state of perpetual peace among nations.
• Role of Contradiction and Antagonism: Both recognize the presence of contradiction and antagonism in historical development.
  • Kant: This is manifested in unsocial sociability, the inherent tension between man's inclination to associate and his self-interest.
  • Marx: This is seen in contradiction and class struggle, the driving force of historical change.

Key Differences in Historical and Human Philosophy

1. Philosophical Approach and Purpose

• Kant: A quintessential representative of the Enlightenment, advocating its ideals of reason and progress.
• Marx: Sought to break with philosophy understood as mere theory or contemplation of reality, emphasizing praxis – applying philosophy to change the world. Marx critiques Kant for merely contemplating the world.

2. Conception of Man and His Role in History

• Kant: Man is endowed with reason and moral freedom, which are meant to be fully developed through history.
• Marx: Man works to transform nature and thereby develops fully. Work is the essence of man.

3. Understanding History and Its Ultimate Purpose

• 3.1. Nature of Historical Conception

  • Marx: His conception of history is fundamentally materialist, driven by economic forces.
  • Kant: Interprets history from a teleological perspective, focusing on the purposeful development of nature and man as rational and moral beings, rather than economic categories.

• 3.2. The Ultimate Goal of History

  • Kant: The full development of man's natural disposition as a rational and morally free being within a just civil society and an international order of perpetual peace.
  • Marx: The destruction of capitalism, which produces the alienation of man, and the establishment of communism, where man is master of himself and the product of his work, living in harmony with others and with nature.

• 3.3. Guarantee of History's End

  • Kant: The end of history is, in a sense, guaranteed because nature does nothing in vain. Thus, the natural disposition of man will be fully developed, if not at the individual level, then at least at the level of the species throughout history.
  • Marx: The end of history is the result of the revolutionary action of the proletariat against bourgeois society.