The Holy Family-Philosophical Book

The Holy Family book was written by Marx. Full name of the book is “The Holy Family
or Critique of Critical Criticism. Against Bruno Bauer and Company”. It was written in 1844 and 1st published in 1845.

The book shows Marx thought on Philosophical development and it is one of the most important book on philosophy. By the book Marx has criticized all the theory of the German philosophy which was on top of that time.

In the Preface of the book Engles has written,

“Real humanism has no more dangerous enemy in Germany than spiritualism or speculative idealism, which substitutes "self-consciousness" or the ''spirit" for the real individual man and with the evangelist teaches: "It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing." Needless to say, this incorporeal spirit is spiritual only in its imagination. What we are combating in Bauer's criticism is precisely speculation reproducing itself as a caricature. We see in it the most complete expression of the Christian-Germanic principle, which makes its last effort by transforming "criticism" itself into a transcendent power.

Our exposition deals first and foremost with Bruno Bauer's Allgemeine Literatur-Zeitung -- the first eight numbers are here before us -- because in it Bauer's criticism, and with it the nonsense of German speculation in general, has reached its peak. The more completely Critical Criticism (the criticism of the Literatur-Zeitung) distorts reality into an obvious comedy through philosophy, the more instructive it is. -- For examples see Faucher and Szeliga. -- The Literatur-Zeitung offers material by which even the broad public can be enlightened on the illusions of speculative philosophy. That is the aim of our book.

Our exposition is naturally determined by its subject. Critical Criticism is in all respects below the level already attained by German theoretical development. The nature of our subject therefore justifies our refraining here from further discussion of that development itself.
Critical Criticism makes it necessary rather to assert, in contrast to it, the already achieved results as such.

We therefore give this polemic as a preliminary to the independent works in which we -- each of us for himself, of course -- shall present our positive view and thereby our positive attitude to the more recent philosophical anti social doctrines.

Paris, September 1844

Engels, Marx”

Now, by the reading of the preface we can think the book Holy Family was how important. It was achievement of philosophy and after this Marx decided to write Economical book and to participate in revolutions.

Theses on Feuerbach-Notes for Philosophical book

I have already mentioned that Marx and Engles is a well known person who had written on various subject. In the initial stage Marx had written notes for further philosophical work. That note is very famous because says everything in short about whole philosophy and Marx‘s knowledge.

These Philosophical notes are here from Marx’s book,

“

1

The chief defect of all hitherto existing materialism – that of Feuerbach included – is that the thing, reality, sensuousness, is conceived only in the form of the object or of contemplation, but not as sensuous human activity, practice, not subjectively. Hence, in contradistinction to materialism, the active side was developed abstractly by idealism – which, of course, does not know real, sensuous activity as such.

Feuerbach wants sensuous objects, really distinct from the thought objects, but he does not conceive human activity itself as objective activity. Hence, in The Essence of Christianity, he regards the theoretical attitude as the only genuinely human attitude, while practice is conceived and fixed only in its dirty-judaical manifestation. Hence he does not grasp the significance of “revolutionary”, of “practical-critical”, activity.

2

The question whether objective truth can be attributed to human thinking is not a question of theory but is a practical question. Man must prove the truth — i.e. the reality and power, the this-sidedness of his thinking in practice. The dispute over the reality or non-reality of thinking that is isolated from practice is a purely scholastic question.

3

The materialist doctrine concerning the changing of circumstances and upbringing forgets that circumstances are changed by men and that it is essential to educate the educator himself. This doctrine must, therefore, divide society into two parts, one of which is superior to society.

The coincidence of the changing of circumstances and of human activity or self-changing can be conceived and rationally understood only as revolutionary practice.

4

Feuerbach starts out from the fact of religious self-alienation, of the duplication of the world into a religious world and a secular one. His work consists in resolving the religious world into its secular basis.

But that the secular basis detaches itself from itself and establishes itself as an independent realm in the clouds can only be explained by the cleavages and self-contradictions within this secular basis. The latter must, therefore, in itself be both understood in its contradiction and revolutionized in practice. Thus, for instance, after the earthly family is discovered to be the secret of the holy family, the former must then itself be destroyed in theory and in practice.

5

Feuerbach, not satisfied with abstract thinking, wants contemplation; but he does not conceive sensuousness as practical, human-sensuous activity.

6

Feuerbach resolves the religious essence into the human essence. But the human essence is no abstraction inherent in each single individual.

In its reality it is the ensemble of the social relations.

Feuerbach, who does not enter upon a criticism of this real essence, is consequently compelled:

1. To abstract from the historical process and to fix the religious sentiment as something by itself and to presuppose an abstract – isolated – human individual.

2. Essence, therefore, can be comprehended only as “genus”, as an internal, dumb generality which naturally unites the many individuals.

7

Feuerbach, consequently, does not see that the “religious sentiment” is itself a social product, and that the abstract individual whom he analyses belongs to a particular form of society.

8

All social life is essentially practical. All mysteries which lead theory to mysticism find their rational solution in human practice and in the comprehension of this practice.

9

The highest point reached by contemplative materialism, that is, materialism which does not comprehend sensuousness as practical activity, is contemplation of single individuals and of civil society.

10

The standpoint of the old materialism is civil society; the standpoint of the new is human society, or social humanity.

11

The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways; the point is to change it."

Our analysis says that Marx’s philosophy was different from others because his last note was different from others. All philosophers talk and write about the world but no one talk about changes of world. In the last not Marx has written about change of world.

Dilectical and Historical Materialism – Stalin Book

Stalin was the leader of Russia. He wrote on many theme that was published as book. His short book “Dialectical and Historical Materialism” is very interesting and useful. The short book contains many aspect of human life.

I think Stalin wrote the book in the reviews of that scientific thought which Marx was created. It is the review of Marx theory and wrote in 1938 by Stalin. It is in Volume 14 of Stalin books. But after some time it takes a new look in the form of book.

I am reviewing the book as its aspect. Its aspect is to cover up human life in scientific way. There are materialism and historical two aspect. 1st is dealt its materialistic aspect which is related to nature and how human survive with nature and how they arrange the nature according to them.

Its second chapter is related to historical aspect. How human being creates its history and run that. Human being makes its history and create its history also.

That is the essence of that book. From the scientific and historical point of view it is very good and knowledgeable book.