Marx’s Idea of Ecology

Marx held that man and nature are a dialectical relation of unity of opposites. Nature predates mankind and has objective laws independent of man’s will. As a physical being, man is a product and a component part of nature. Man is dependent on nature, and nature is the basis of the existence and activity of man. Meanwhile, man has subjective agency and is capable to know and change nature as an external object. It is only in the labor-process that man can achieve a connection with nature, and the productive practice is the basis of the dialectical unity of man and nature. Therefore, the relation of man to nature in a certain period of time hinges fundamentally on the nature of society determined by a certain mode of production of society; and the relation of man to nature is essentially a reflection of the social relations among men, and has a reaction thereupon. In other words, whether the relation of man with nature is harmonious or not is achieved through a certain form of society, and is determined by the development of the productive forces to a certain level. For example, in capitalist society, capital’s quest for the expansion of value impels men to exploit nature without restraint, resulting in the disruption of the ecological balance and the weakening of the self-healing function of the ecosystem, which ultimately leads to the onset of an ecological crisis. For Marx, capitalist private property is the fundamental cause of the deterioration of the relation of man to nature in capitalist society, while the ecological crisis of capitalist society also reflects the class relations between the capitalists and the workers under capitalist private property. As the negation and transcendence of the capitalist society, the communist society will achieve a harmonious co-existence of man and man and of man and nature. Marx’s idea of ecology shows that man is a part of nature and must cherish nature and protect the ecological environment, that men must give play to their subjective agency on the basis of following the objective laws of nature and correctly handle the relation of man to nature, otherwise, they will be punished by nature. The communist society is the only social formation that achieves the harmony of man with nature and with society.