Naturalistic interpretation of sensuality in the early writings of K. Marx

Abstract

Today, new versions of materialism based on flat ontologies lead to a revision of the legacy of Karl Marx. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the renewed poten­tial of Marx’s texts based on a study of the relationship between his early anthropological project and the atomistic version of ancient naturalism. The common point here is the cat­egory of sensuality (Sinnlichkeit). The formation of sensuality as a central category is traced in the works of Marx of the period 1835‒1844. General meanings of sensuality that are characteristic for naturalistic interpretation are exposed. The early anthropologi­cal ideal set forth by Marx in his gymnasium works is related to the naturalistic turn in the understanding of sensuality. It is shown that his interest in the ancient naturalism was not accidental and had been conditioned by the ethical preferences of young Marx. It is argued that the subsequent development of Marx’s thought was influenced by the naturalistic understanding of sensuality. Based on a naturalistic interpretation of sen­suality, Marx developed a project of an exoneration of human sensuality. He thus intro­duced both the mechanism of emancipation and the role of liberation. The authors show how the naturalistic interpretation of sensuality influenced the formation of the meaning of such fundamental concepts of Marxism as property, appropriation, possession.