Abstract

BOLTVINIK, Julio. Marx’s Theory of Human Prehistory. Estud. sociol [online]. 2022, vol.40, n.120, pp.755-787.  Epub Mar 17, 2023. ISSN 2448-6442.  https://doi.org/10.24201/es.2022v40n118.2226.

Marx’s theory of prehistory is configured, whose beginning (anthropogenesis) is marked by the manufacture of tools, making human work a vital activity aimed at the mediated satisfaction of needs, which projects it as a being that can convert the entire nature in object of its activity, a universal being. For this beginning the article follows the philosophical anthropology of Marx-Márkus. The end of prehistory becomes possible when human beings create the conditions to overcome scarcity and alienation. This is supported by a passage from Grundrisse that explains the objective limit of capitalism. Abundance and overcoming capitalism: prerequisites for the beginning of the history of the fully creative human being.

Keywords : prehistory; work; mediated activity; general intellect; overcoming scarcity; post-capitalism.