Marx and Wittgenstein on the True Nature of Human Agency

In this contribution I tackle the connection between Marx’s and Wittgenstein’s thoughts from the point of view of their conception of social practices, explanation, meaning and use and to highlight that both thinkers aim at transforming the role of philosophy into an instrument for the diagnosis of human organization of the communitarian and productive life. I will firstly give an account of Marx’s conception about the relation between labor and production and I will highlight that the former represents for him the concrete practical meaning through which one should explain both social and individual wealth. Secondly, I will emphasize that Wittgenstein also conceives of the meaning as something that can be explained through its use and the human person cannot be estranged by her rule following. Eventually, I will defend the idea that for both Marx and Wittgenstein enormous confusions and misconceptions arise when one disregards this concrete practical dimension, which jeopardize the philosophical task to account for the real conditions under which the practical life is set up.