ABSTRACT
Marx’s dictum that the proletariat cannot liberate itself without liberating the whole of humankind has attained an almost proverbial status. Marx did not say that the proletariat would liberate all the oppressed and exploited by liberating itself, but rather that it would liberate the whole of humankind. However, humankind includes both oppressors and oppressed, exploiters and exploited. The liberation of humankind is thus tantamount to the liberation of both. In Marx, no quantitative categories apply to freedom. Firstly, the notion “freedom” cannot have a plural form. The “liberation of humankind” cannot possibly mean liberation from all kinds of constraint, only from specific kinds of constraint, it cannot mean liberation from all kinds of alienation, only from a particular kind of alienation, and finally, it cannot mean liberation from all kinds of authorities, norms, and duties, only from specific kinds of external authorities, norms, and duties.
