Family, Community and State:a Research Based on Marx's Excerpts from Lewis Henry Morgan's Ancient Society

Community is one of the most important concepts; however, its meanings are multiple. Community in the traditional society and state are two kinds of community. On the basis of the analysis of Marx's Excerpts from Lewis Henry Morgan's Ancient Society, we think the community in the traditional society is a real community because it is related with family based on dependent relations and state is an illusionary community. In Marx's opinions, the development of society is the formation of illusionary community with disintegrating of real community in the prehistory of human society. Furthermore, in modern society, it is the illusionary community, i.e. state, that opposes to civil society.