The division of labor is a subÂject which has fascinated social
scientists for millennia. Before the advent of modern times,
phiÂlosophers and theologians conÂcerned themselves with the
imÂplications of the idea. Plato saw as the ultimate form of
society a community in which social funcÂtions would be rigidly
separated and maintained; society would be divided into definite
functional groups: warriors, artisans, unÂskilled laborers,
rulers. St. Paul, in his first letter to the church at Corinth,
went so far as to describe the universal Church in terms of a
body: there are hands, feet, eyes, and all are under the head,
Christ. Anyone who intends to deal seriously with the study of
society must grapple with the question of the division of labor.
Karl Marx was no exception. Marx was more than a mere economist.
He was a social scienÂtist in the full meaning of the phrase.
The heart of his system was based on the idea of human
production. Mankind, Marx asÂserted, is a totally autonomous
species-being, and as such m