Society And History Critique Of Metaphysics

Marx's critique and rejection to metaphysics is commonly recognized by philosophers in today. But Marx how to do it and what extent he did it? There are significant differences of the understanding on the problems. For various reasons, the relationship between Marx and metaphysics has not been truly understood, and the significance of his critique and beyond to metaphysics is also been concealed. We can solve these problems by analyzing Marx's society critique of the metaphysics.In the era of Marx,rational metaphysics,specifically Hegel's philosophy which was peak of the modern philosophy was of domination. Hegel, this synthesizer of the modern philosophy, he went beyond the metaphysics with dialectics, it was his enormous contribution. But he also restored the metaphysics in a higher level, it was his enormous limitation. Hegel was living in an era of the capitalism, during this period, the exchange value was the basis of the community production. Since the exchange value had been materialized, capital as a social power dominated the people, it was"abstract rule", and it was reflected in conception. This made philosophers believe that the characteristic of the new era was ruled by abstract idea. In Hegel's philosophy, it had become the self-building and governance of the Absolute Spirit. Marx took Hegel's philosophy as the representative of the modern metaphysics.He had criticized it in theory. He reversed the relationship between theory and practice on the base of the practice principle. Through the practical activities of the people, the premise and foundation of the metaphysics had been revealed, and the basic way of thinking in modern metaphysics had also been disintegrated. In this sense, we can say, that Marx compared with the others modern philosophers who criticized metaphysics was he had surmounted metaphysics by a unique way. Through this unique way, Marx completely transcended the metaphysics.In the view of Marx,metaphysics as ideology was a "syndrome" of the social life, its root of the existence and production was the real powers and social relations which made the People' s life abstract. Those real powers and social relations of the abstraction had been thought"the realistic operation of the metaphysics"by Marx, and capital logic was its most typical manifestation. Metaphysics took principle of the abstract identity as its foundation of the thinking mode, its underlying causes was capital logic's principle of the abstract identity in the real social life. So in social practical aspect, Marx criticized the traditional metaphysics with the category of the capital which was the core in the capitalist society.As a kind of social relation materialized, the capital was an economic power which dominated all the things in the capitalist society .The nature of the capital was an abstract rule. In the capitalist society, the capital was the axis of the activities of all beings, it attracted and controlled them. In other words, the capital which carried on the production was based on the exchange value, it engaged in an abstract rule as a powerful force in reality. It was like a huge ghost existed in all the aspects of the life in the capitalist society. This realistic operation of the metaphysics always existed in production, consumption, transaction and consciousness, and it provided a comprehensive realization of its own with the form of globalization.The specific performance of capital which dominated the people with the abstract identity was, as the highest value entities, the capital took exchange value as the foundation and used it to measure people. Every specific person who was full of difference and particularity was pruned and judged by it. Each person's unique personality was thoroughly evaporated, filtered and washed. In the production activities, workers were abstracted and they became the same abstract labor which produced exchange value, and capitalists were the personification of capital, they also were in essence the tools which produced exchange value for the capital. In the trade activities, all products had become exchange value which was of the same quality and different quantity, and all the people was just a personification of goods. In the consumption activities, people were only the organs or tools which in order to achieve the exchange value of the capital. This rule of the exchange value to people which reflected in human's consciousness was fetishism idea.Marx pointed out that the freedom was the nature and eternal pursuit of the human, however, in the capitalist society, individuals was subjected to double abstract rule of the rational metaphysics and capital logical. So the ultimate purpose or fundamental purport of Marx's critique to metaphysics was to eliminate the capital logic which as the realistic operation of the metaphysics and the base of the rational metaphysics, was individuals to get rid of both abstract rule to obtain freedom and liberation. Marx used historical materialism and dialectics as the scientific method to seek the realistic basis for individual freedom and liberation form abstract rule. By analyzing the contradictions of the capital logic, Marx found out the reality basis by which individuals could be out of the abstract rule. Marx thought that the capital as a social production process, its own antagonistic contradictions would cause it extinct, and the capital had created historical achievement would provide material foundation and conditions for the realization of the future communist society. Communist society would be such an ideal society in which individuals would be freed from abstract rule and implement freedom and liberation.Marx's theory was a critique of the capitalism of the 19th century. It has more than 100 years of history. Though the depth and breadth of the development of capitalism in today are greatly different from Marx's era, and capital has been of the number of features at this stage had not appeared in Marx's era. Capitalist society, is still in the social and historical conditions which criticized by Marx, Which is under the conditions dominated by the capitalist mode of production. The basic features, the inherent contradictions, the economic law of motion of the capitalism, etc., in essence, have not changed. So the capitalism has not had the radical change in the nature, it is still the mode of production and economic system that purpose and orientation is the expansion and accumulation of capital. This means that Marx's capitalism critique, which launched with the capital logic as the core, still has an extremely important practical significance in the present age, its legitimacy and effectiveness is indisputable.