Basic Rules

FIRST: generate both your own posts and comments on each other's posts. Posts cannot be anonymous. Comments can.

SECOND: experiment with what you say and how you say it, but be sure to respect your fellow classmates.

THIRD: reference your classmates' posts and comments in your own posts and comments. When at all possible, link back to posts.

FOURTH: reference specific portions of the texts we are reading by including the author's last name and page numbers.


Monday, October 1, 2007

After reading the Social Theory reader about Marx, there was a reference to animals and laborers and human beings as laborers that I found to be somewhat innaccurate. In the last section, "Marx: Economic and Philosphical Manuscripts", it was written that "they [animals] produce only their own immediate needs or those of their young; they produce one-sidedly, while man produces universally..." It continues, but I don't think that claim holds true. Animals produce for us, and it may sound silly, but they don't know they are doing us favors by providing for us food, clothing, and even comfort (in pets, etc.) Therefore, in the modern world, would Marx's theories have to be re-examined? To fit with modern times and the way that humans now see much more importance in animals. They are used as testing for medicines, vaccines, etc. That was never done before, but we must think of those things now-a-days.

2 comments:

Liz DeWolf said...

That is a very good point; I didn't even consider that when I was reading. In this sense, one could say that indirectly through business and capitalism, the bourgouisie exploit animals in a similar manner that they do the proletariat. The difference is that the proletarian has the capacity to realize his/her oppression if he/she chooses to do so. This comprehension can, and usually does, amount to dispair and anguish. Perhaps Marx would suggest that due to the cognitive abilities of the human mind, exploited humans are at more of a disadvantage than their animal counterparts who are not aware of their misfortune.

oscar said...

Did you know that the American Sociological Association has section for "Animals and Society"? See http://www2.asanet.org/sectionanimals/