Consciousness, Language, Species

At various points in the German Ideology, Marx-Engels assert the following: 1. "Life is not determined by consciousness, but consciousness by life"; 2. "Language is practical consciousness; and 3. "Consciousness only arises from the need, the necessity of intercourse with other men."  Now, from #3, it follows that in the case of self-sufficient humans, they would possess neither Consciousness nor Language.  Hence, the concepts of Consciousness and Language entailed is Atomist, in which such relations are contingent.  Furthermore, from #2, it follows that Consciousness is essentially non-practical, and, hence, theoretical, thereby re-opening the possibility precluded in #1, namely, that it transcends Life.  So, their concepts of Consciousness and Language seem muddled, one solution to which is to jettison the Atomist model, in favor of one that includes the possibility of a transcendence that is yet immanent in Life.  In that one, it is the Individual, but not Life, that is transcended--by the Species, with Consciousness and Language fundamentally functioning as a Formal Species-principle, i. e. functioning to maintain social cohesion, with respect to which communication with others as a means to the satisfaction of vital needs is a frequent, but inessential application that presupposes the fundamental function.  On that basis, the Consciousness-Language relation is that of implicit-explicit.