Freedom and Society in the Thought of Karl Marx

本研究的目的是完成一本关于卡尔·马克思思想的伦理维度基础的书。一些评论家声称，马克思对资本主义及其被共产主义取代的前景的描述，至少在他后来的著作中，没有涉及对前者的任何系统的批评或对后者的倡导，而是纯粹的“科学的”。其他人则认为他的叙述确实包含批评和倡导，但他们对马克思所依赖的基本伦理理想的看法不同。例如，有人说他的理想是正义、平等、自由、社区或人类自我实现。在这项研究中，我计划论证马克思的资本主义和共产主义理论确实系统地涉及批评和倡导，但他所依赖的中心理想是“社会自由”，即个人只能通过参与某种社会互动才能实现的自由，特别是在这种情况下，他们将彼此视为“个人”，而不是财产的所有者或社会角色的占有者。这就是马克思的论断所体现的理想：“在一个真实的共同体中，个人在他们的联合中并通过他们的联合获得他们的自由”。正是这种理想，我将论证，这是他拒绝资本主义和倡导共产主义的基础。费希特和G.W.F.然后，我打算问马克思是如何将它与他的人类本质上是劳动者的观点联系起来的。在这里，我将论证，对于马克思来说，为彼此的需要而生产是人类社会相互作用的最基本的形式，因为它是最必要的形式，因此，社会自由的理想必须在这个基本的层次上实现。我打算继续说明，马克思试图从他对资本主义本身的分析中得出社会自由的理想。他这样做是通过将这一理想展示为资本主义本身的“不可分割”，因为资本主义代表了人类试图调和个人自由与社会互动的尝试。对马克思来说，这一尝试的失败表明，必须用一种明确基于“社会自由”理念的生产体系来取代资本主义。最后，我计划继续探讨“社会自由”作为当今政治哲学理想的可行性，无论马克思是如何推导出它的，也无论他从中得出什么政治结论，今天的大多数政治哲学都是基于自由主义的理想，个人自由和自主。然而，有人认为，这些理想是基于一个不切实际的人类作为孤立的和不相关的个人的图片默认。我打算提出这样一个问题：社会自由的理想是否可以为政治哲学提供一个基础，使之能够更好地承认人类生活的社会性质，同时抓住自由主义理想中所表达的道德直觉。我将在英国独自进行这项研究，使用费希特、黑格尔和马克思的德文原文和译文，以及当代政治哲学方面的著作。然而，我经常与几个国家的黑格尔和马克思研究人员网络互动，这项研究将是我与这些同事持续对话的产物

The aim of this research is complete a book on the foundations of the ethical dimension of Karl Marx's thought.Some commentators have claimed that Marx's account of capitalism and its prospective replacement by communism, at least in his later writings, does not involve any systematic criticism of the former or advocacy of the latter, but is purely 'scientific'. Others have argued that his account does involve criticism and advocacy, but they differ in their view of the basic ethical ideals on which Marx relies. For example, it has variously been said that his ideals are justice, equality, freedom, community, or human self-realisation. In this research I plan to argue that Marx's theory of capitalism and communism does systematically involve criticism and advocacy, but that the central ideal on which he relies is one of 'social freedom', that is, a freedom that individuals can only achieve through participating in a certain kind of social interaction, specifically one in which they recognise and treat each other 'as individuals' rather than as owners of property or occupants of a social role. This is the ideal epitomised in Marx's assertion that 'In a real community individuals obtain their freedom in and through their association'. It is this ideal, I shall argue, which underlies his rejection of capitalism and advocacy of communism.I aim to show how this ideal develops in the works of J.G. Fichte and G.W.F. Hegel, and how Marx produces his own distinctive version of it. I then plan to ask how Marx connects it with his idea that humans are essentially labouring beings. Here I will argue that for Marx producing for each others' needs is the most fundamental form of human social interaction because it is the most necessary one, and that accordingly the ideal of social freedom must be achieved at this fundamental level.I plan to go on to show that Marx attempts to derive the ideal of social freedom from his analysis of capitalism itself. He does so by displaying this ideal as 'immanent' within capitalism itself, in that capitalism represents an attempt on the part of human beings to reconcile individual freedom with social interaction. For Marx, the failure of this attempt points to necessity of replacing capitalism with a system of production explicitly based on the idea of 'social freedom'.Finally, I plan to go on to investigate the viability of 'social freedom' as an ideal for political philosophy today, regardless of how Marx derived it and of the political conclusions he drew from it. Most political philosophy today is based on the liberal ideals of individual freedom and autonomy. However, it has been argued that these ideals are tacitly based on an unrealistic picture of humans as isolated and unrelated individuals. I plan to ask whether the ideal of social freedom could provide a basis for political philosophy that would better acknowledge the social character of human life while capturing the moral intuitions expressed in liberal ideals.I will undertake the research by myself in Britain, using texts by Fichte, Hegel and Marx in the original German and in translation, and works in contemporary political philosophy. However I am in regular interaction with a network of researchers on Hegel and Marx in several countries and the research will be a product of my ongoing dialogue with these colleagues