Glossary of Marxist Philosophy
Labour "Labour is,
in the first place, a process in which both man and nature participate, and in
which man of his own accord starts, regulates, and controls the material
reactions between himself and nature." (Marx, Capital, Vol. 1, p.
177.)
By acting on
external nature, man changes both nature and himself. In changing nature he
achieves his conscious purpose, adapts natural objects to his requirements. The
L. process includes three things: (1) man's purposeful activity, or L. proper;
(2) the object of L.; (3) the instruments of production with which man acts on
this object.
Labour is the
primary condition of human existence. L. supplies man with the necessary means
of subsistence and, moreover, it created man himself. It was thanks to L. that
man raised himself out of the animal world. One of the essential distinctions
between man and the animal is that the animal makes use of ready products of
nature, whereas man makes nature serve his purposes thanks to his labour,
changes it and subordinates it to his needs.
In different socio-economic
formations (q.v.)[1][2]
L. appears in different forms which indicate the level of the development of
the social relations at the given epoch. In the primitive-communal
system (q.v.) L. is common, collective by its nature and ownership of the
means of production and its fruits is also common. Under this system there is
no exploitation of the labour of others. In all the subsequent antagonistic
socio-economic formations man's L. is subjected to exploitation: the slave's L.
in slave society, the serf's L. under feudalism
(q.v.), and the worker's under capitalism (q.v.). Under communism L. has
genuine purpose—to serve not only as the source of existence, but also as the
source of creative inspiration and enjoyment (see Antithesis of
Mental and Physical Labour;).[1]
[1] Source:
“A Dictionary of Philosophy”, Edited
by M. Rosenthal and P. Yudin, Progress Publishers, Moscow 1967, page 235.