In this book, Marx and Engels profoundly analyzed and criticized various idealistic historical views represented by Feuerbach, Powell and Stayner, and expounded the basic contents of historical materialism on this basis, marking the establishment of historical materialism.
This book systematically expounds the basic principles of historical materialism, such as social existence determines social consciousness, production mode plays a decisive role in social life, and production relations must be suitable for the development of productive forces, which marks the maturity of Marxist philosophy.
Extended data
Before the birth of historical materialism, people always explained historical events and historical development from the will of God, the thoughts of outstanding figures or some secret reason, that is, some spiritual factor. The result is either a misinterpretation of human history or a complete disregard for human history.
The bourgeois view of history explains history from the viewpoint of "man", which is a great progress compared with the theological view of explaining history with the will of God in the Middle Ages. But the person it understands is an abstract person, that is, a biological person who stands in front of nature in isolation from historical development conditions and specific social relations, or a mysterious "self-consciousness" that loses perceptual existence.
Starting from such an abstract person, the motive force of historical development and social progress must be attributed to the goodness of human nature or mysterious rationality. This is still to explain history with non-historical factors and things people imagine and think about, so it is impossible to correctly understand history and the objects of historical research.