Abstract: The concept of material in historical materialism does not refer to natural material.Instead,it stands for social relations.Marx interpreted human activities under circumstances of specific production relations,and regarded class relations as the essential relations of production,claiming that the course of history was determined by class contradictions and class struggle.This is the basic connotation of the metaphor "economic foundation determines superstructure" and the essential meaning of material in historical materialism.This view also explains why Marxist category of class and class analysis could obtain a methodological basis in historical materialism.

Key words: historical materialism, social relations, relations of production, class

摘要： 历史唯物主义的物不是指自然的存在物,而是指社会关系。在社会历史领域中,马克思是从具体的生产关系出发来认识人的活动。阶级关系是最根本的生产关系,其矛盾和斗争又决定了历史发展的方向。这便是经济基础决定上层建筑的基本内涵,也是历史唯物主义的唯物内涵所在。因此,马克思主义的阶级范畴和阶级分析可以在唯物史观那里找到自己的方法论基础。

关键词: 唯物史观, 社会关系, 生产关系, 阶级