Marxism and Materialism

What does Marxism mean when it calls itself materialism? Miki Kiyoshi answers through labor and social existence, challenging both the reduction of thought to bodily processes and the reduction of human action to private pleasure.

First published in 1927, the essay connects Marx and Feuerbach with ancient and modern philosophical questions. Consciousness, language, and the public character of ordinary things become parts of a sustained argument about historical existence.

From a desk in a furniture store to an empty seat on a streetcar, Miki’s examples lead toward the commodity form and human self-alienation. The final section examines how theory and practice can develop together while remaining grounded in actual social life.