The Study On The Socialism Theory Of The Petty Bourgeoisie Of Proudhon

The socialism theory of Proudhon is regarded as a typical socialism theory of thepetty bourgeoisie, which manifests as equalitarianism equality view and anarchismliberty view. Proudhon not only put forward an explicit theory, but also appliedunique demonstration method which followed the lead of the speculative philosophyof Hegel. The content and the demonstration method of the socialism theory ofProudhon touch on a lot of basic theoretical problems that are attached to philosophy,political economy and social theories.In economic aspects, according to the labor theory of value of Proudhon, labor isconsidered as the measure of value and it is rational that two person are supposed toexchange their products if they are in the condition of the same amount of labor theproducts contain. The exchanging behavior on the basis of equality is able to make allworkers get fair pay and meanwhile it also provides the basis for distributing wagesand land rent evenly. It is necessary to unite the small producers to create thecooperative and to redistribute wealth with the help of national bank. Only in this waythe form of distribution can be realized. Only in this way can the workers’ rights beguaranteed and in the mean time the social is supposed to be reorganized to rebuild asociety which is based on small-scale production. And in this society it can be onlyachieved to make small private ownership universalized through simple form ofexchange of barter model.In political aspects, Proudhon hoped that the political organizations are supposed tobe replaced by the economic organizations. He considered that the earnings ofworkers should only be determined by the amount of labor the workers took.According to the differences in income, the workers can be divided into differentclasses. And there exist no so-called exploitation at all, nor should the tool served forthe ruling class exist. If members of the society sign the social contract, and take goodexchanging according to the content of the contract consciously, a perfectcombination of liberty and orderliness can be achieved. This is the theory of anarchism of Proudhon. In Proudhon’s thoughts, to put the theory of anarchism intopractice, there is no need to appeal to the revolution of violence but appealing to thepeaceful revolution, which means that coalition between different classes and thepolitical institutions should be replaced by the economic organizations.The socialism theory of the petty bourgeoisie of Proudhon insisted that there ishuman nature above classes, which is the product of idealist view of history ofProudhon who considered that the history is created by ideas. To some extent thetheory of Proudhon paid close attention to the living conditions of poor people so itdrew attention to the people who were struggling for their rights and in some cases ithad played a positive role. However, the theory of Proudhon discarded themodernization of industry and the development of technology and stepped back torely on manual labor in the old days so as to it was just a fantasy which was againstthe law of historical development. To large extent the theory did great harm to thelabor movements and socialist practice so Marx criticized it mercilessly in a series ofhis works. In this process, Marx and Engels not only pointed out the radical errors ofthe socialism theory of the petty bourgeoisie of Proudhon but also illustrated theirscientific socialism theory. This dissertation makes an attempt to analyze the socialfoundation and theoretical sources of socialism theory of the petty bourgeoisie ofProudhon, elaborates the basic components and theoretical essence of social politicalview and economic view, clarifies the theory of Proudhon systematically,demonstrates special significance of criticizing the theory of Proudhon to thedevelopment history of Marxism from the theoretical point of view of getting throughhistorical materialism and the formation and maturity of scientific socialism.