The ultimately determining element in history is the production and reproduction of real life.

"The ultimately determining element in history is the production and reproduction of real life. Other than this, neither Marx nor I have ever asserted that the economic element is the only determining factor. Rather, we see it as the foundation, but it interacts with other elements in a complex and reciprocal manner, and reducing history to merely economics would render it meaningless and abstract."

This statement reflects Engels' perspective on historical materialism, clarifying that while economic factors play a fundamental role, they do not solely determine historical outcomes.

You said:

Karl Marx - Why did Karl Marx criticize the concept of economic determinism? Provide all his statements with references in this regard.

Karl Marx did not explicitly use the term "economic determinism," but he criticized simplistic interpretations of historical materialism that reduced history solely to economic factors. He and Friedrich Engels emphasized the dialectical interaction between economic base and the superstructure, rather than a one-way determinism.

Here are some key statements from Marx where he addressed this issue:

1. Preface to A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy (1859)

"In the social production of their existence, men inevitably enter into definite relations, which are independent of their will, namely relations of production appropriate to a given stage in the development of their material forces of production. The totality of these relations of production constitutes the economic structure of society, the real foundation, on which arises a legal and political superstructure and to which correspond definite forms of social consciousness.
It is not the consciousness of men that determines their existence, but their social existence that determines their consciousness. But just as we do not judge an individual by what he thinks about himself, so we cannot judge a period of transformation by its consciousness, but must explain it from the contradictions of material life, from the conflict existing between the social forces of production and the relations of production."**

• Here, Marx stresses that economic structures influence society, but he does not claim that economics is the only factor shaping history.

2. Letter to J. Weydemeyer (1852)

"What I have shown is that the existence of classes is only bound up with particular historical phases in the development of production. The class struggle necessarily leads to the dictatorship of the proletariat, but this dictatorship itself only constitutes the transition to the abolition of all classes and to a classless society."

• This suggests that historical progress is influenced by class struggle, not just economic determinism.

3. The German Ideology (1845-46, with Engels)

"History is nothing but the succession of separate generations, each of which exploits the materials, the capital funds, the productive forces handed down to it by all preceding generations; that is, at the same time, modifies the old circumstances by means of completely changed circumstances."

• Here, Marx acknowledges that historical development is not strictly determined by economic conditions but is shaped by human agency as well.

4. Marx’s Letter to Kugelmann (1868)

"Even if a society has discovered the natural laws of its movement... it can neither leap over the natural phases of its development nor remove them by legal enactments. But it can shorten and lessen the birth pangs."

• This statement implies that economic forces influence history, but they do not predetermine it in a mechanical way—human intervention plays a role.

5. Capital (Volume I, 1867)

"Men make their own history, but they do not make it just as they please; they do not make it under circumstances chosen by themselves, but under circumstances directly encountered, given and transmitted from the past."

• This highlights the dialectical interaction between economic conditions and human agency.

Conclusion:

Marx criticized economic determinism because it oversimplifies historical materialism and ignores the role of human agency, political struggle, and ideological factors. He believed that while economic structures form the foundation of society, history is shaped through class struggles, political movements, and social consciousness.

Would you like references from secondary sources interpreting Marx’s views on this?