Social Intercourse

Mutual influence and interaction among men. The essence of man is the ensemble of all social relations. Generally speaking, all social relations are nothing but the relations of men with society and with each other that takes place in a certain social environment in which men live. The formation and development of social relations are achieved in the social intercourse of men. Throughout ages, intercourse was defined from different perspectives. Intercourse means “reciprocal dealings”. In a general sense, social interaction refers to the most fundamental mode and process of mutual communication, mutual cognition, interaction and mutual understanding between men or communities of people as social subjects under certain historical conditions with the help of verbal and non-verbal media, and it is the social interaction realized between men. The two parties in the intercourse are subjects to each other, and the end of the intercourse lies in the exchange and communication between the subjects. In the Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844, The German Ideology, The Communist Manifesto, Capital and other works, Marx and Engels put forth an abundance of ideas on social intercourse, holding that the relations of intercourse are the most fundamental relations in human society, that there are diverse forms of intercourse, and that the relations of intercourse are closely linked to the development of the productive forces of society. Especially in The German Ideology, the term “intercourse” has a wide meaning, which includes material and mental intercourse among individuals, social groups and nations. Marx and Engels held that material intercourse, first of all, the intercourse of men in the production process, is the basis of any other intercourse, and repeatedly used “forms of intercourse,” “modes of intercourse,” “relations of intercourse,” “relations of production and intercourse,” etc., expressing the concept of relations of production formed by Marx and Engels in this period. Intercourse has an intrinsic unity with the form of intercourse, the mode of intercourse, and the relations of intercourse. Intercourse is an actual activity of man indissoluble from social practice. Real individuals or groups of people who carry out productive activity in a certain mode always carry out intercourse with other people or groups of people, and enter into certain social relations such as economic and political relations. Social intercourse is diverse in form, chiefly divided into immediate and indirect intercourse, individual and universal intercourse, material and mental intercourse, internal and external intercourse, harmonious and disharmonious intercourse, positive and negative intercourse, educational intercourse and general daily intercourse, etc. The formation and development of intercourse do not arise out of thin air, but arise on certain bases and under certain conditions. The material basis of social intercourse is chiefly the productive forces. The outstanding feature of Marx’s theory of social intercourse lies in the close connections between intercourse and productive practice. He held that intercourse between individuals is the premise for the practice of production of the material means of life, but the forms of intercourse, such as immediate and indirect intercourse, material and mental intercourse, are always determined by such productive practice. Marx pointed out that a distinct mode of production determines the specific mode of consumption, distribution, exchange and the specific relations of these different phases to one another. This production only makes its appearance with the increase of population. In its turn this presupposes the intercourse of individuals with one another. The form of this intercourse is again determined by production. Thus, production and intercourse are different determinations of the same process, and they are mutually inclusive….

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