| Capital as the main and most fundamental form of existence in modern society is the key to unlocking the mystery of modern history.To accurately grasp the representations and forms of existence of modern society,we should probe deeply into modern socio-economic life which is pervaded by the logic of capital.Scholars have grown accustomed to confining Marx’s critical theory of capital within the overall scope of a critique of political economy.However,when we place Marx’s critical theory of capital within the framework of a holistic study of Marxism,we will find that although Marx’s critical theory of capital is based on the study of economic theory,its scope and theoretical breadth exceed the limits of economic study and have a philosophical connotation.This paper focuses on five aspects of Marx’s critical theory of capital,including its historical evolution,basic content,logical reasoning,visionary approach and contemporary value,from the philosophical perspective proper to the theory,in order to grasp its spirit so as to provide us with a correct understanding of the contemporary problems posed by globalization and to improve its application and interpretation in the developmental process of socialism with Chinese characteristics.The full text is structured as follows.Chapter 1:This chapter provides an analysis of the concept of capital through the lens of historical materialism.The concept of capital is interpreted from the emergence of the concept to the different attitudes of economists towards it in different historical periods.Whether mercantilism,agrarianism,classical economics,vulgar economics,or modern economists have defined and interpreted the concept of capital from different perspectives.However,most of them only stay at the level of the "materialization" of capital,failing to grasp the essence of capital.Marx’s understanding of capital surpassed that of Western economists in that he did not only understand capital from the perspective of economics,but also analyzed capital as an important philosophical concept.This is the key to Marx’s construction of the edifice of historical materialism.This chapter interprets the connotation of capital in the context of Marx’s philosophy from three levels:from the object-object relationship,capital is a kind of movement,which mainly elucidates the laws of movement and change of capital,revealing the operation mechanism of capitalism and the contradictory movement of capital logic itself;from the subject-subject relationship,capital is a kind of relationship,which aims to reveal the hidden human relationship behind the material form of capital,that is,capitalist relations of production;from the subject-object relationship,capital is a relationship aimed at revealing the relationship between capital and labor in capitalist society,which in turn reveals the metaphysics of capital and the nature of the abstraction of the domination of things over people.At the same time,this chapter explicates the dual character of capital:on the one hand,capital has a modern civilizational character,i.e.,capital has a great historical progressiveness as the root of modern civilization;on the other hand,capital itself has an insurmountable limitation,i.e.,capital always contains profound contradictions in the process of making history.The contradictions of capital itself constitute the general root of all the contradictions in modern society,and also define the future direction and fate of capital.Chapter 2:Marx’s capital critique did not come out of nowhere and has a strong practical relevance.This relevance is manifested in the following ways:from "problem formulation" to"theoretical targeting" to "deconstruction strategy".The "problem formulation" of Marx’s capital critique is manifested in the origin of Marx’s capital critique,including the origin of reality,ideological origin,and social situation.The origin of reality of Marx’s capital critique is the "distressing doubts" encountered in real material economic life,that is,the "problem of expressing opinions on material interests".The ideological origin of Marx’s critique of capital originates from the reality of alienated labor under the conditions of capitalist private ownership,that is,how to free human beings from the alienation of labor under the conditions of capitalist private ownership,and how to achieve the free and comprehensive development of human being,i.e.,human liberation.The contradiction and opposition between capital and labor in the production relation of capital-employed labor is an important social situation for Marx’s capital critique.Marx’s capital critique has its specific theoretical target.Political economy,as the ideological rhetoric of capital,not only glorifies capital and gives it great priority,but also defends it,focusing on the defense of its natural permanence,the defense of the harmonious relationship between labor and capital,and the defense of its sanctity.Marx’s critique of capital is precisely a critique of the defense of capital by national economics.Marx went beyond the realm of political economy to examine and deconstruct it from a philosophical perspective.Marx’s deconstruction strategy is manifested in:the transformation of the theoretical starting point from "abstract man" to "real man",the change of the theoretical base-from civil society to human society,the revolution of labor theory of value from labor theory of value to surplus value theory.Chapter 3:This chapter shows the process of theoretical transmutation of Marx’s critical theory of capital from its inception and transformation to its final completion in a chronological axis.In this process,Marx’s capital critique underwent three theoretical transmutations:the first transmutation was manifested as a shift from critical philosophy to philosophical critique,Classical German philosophy is also known as critical philosophy.Its main feature is to give full play to the critical function of reason.In his early years,Marx firmly believed in the positive significance of reason to reality and hoped to guarantee the realization of individual freedom through the establishment’ of a universally rational state.However,during his work at the Rheinische Zeitung,the irreconcilable contradiction and conflict between the reality of "material interests" and the principles of Hegelian rationalism made Marx’s belief in Hegelian philosophy begin to waver,and he began to reflect on and reckon with Hegelian philosophy.In order to deepen his understanding of the intrinsic nature of civil society,Marx began to delve into the economic field to study the problem of human emancipation,thus opening the way to the philosophical development of Marx’s critical theory of capital research.The second theoretical transmutation is manifested in the transition from rational criticism to practical criticism.If the shift from critical philosophy to philosophical criticism shows Marx’s initial awareness of the real world,the shift from rational criticism to practical criticism implies Marx’s theoretical consciousness of moving from "explaining the world" to "changing the world".Through practical criticism,Marx overturned the metaphysics of traditional philosophy at the ontological level,pulled the highest principles of the philosophical system from the realm of the discursive transcendental back to the realm of reality,and freed it from the domination of abstract logic in which the idea becomes the subject of reality,thus achieving a fundamental change in philosophy and building the theoretical edifice of historical materialism.Marx then opened up a whole new field of vision for the critical theory of capital with a new worldview,namely,the historical materialist worldview.The third time is from practical criticism to capital criticism.Through his work on Das Kapital and its manuscripts,Marx finally completed his critique of capital and the construction of the edifice of historical materialism.Chapter 4:This chapter focuses on the basic contents of Marx’s critique of capital,mainly including:the critique of the capitalist mode of production,the critique of capitalist relations of production,the critique of capitalist relations of exchange,the critique of the overall alienation of capitalist society brought about by the rule of capital,and the confirmation of the future direction of society after the abandonment of capital,etc.Marx revealed the special laws of movement and development trends of capitalist society through his critique of capitalist society as a whole.Marx’s holistic critique of capitalist society is based on a firm grasp of the foundations of capitalist reality,namely,the capitalist mode of material production and its relations of production and exchange.The aim is to reveal the laws of development of capitalist society.Thus,Marx’s critique of capital takes the capitalist mode of production and the capitalist relations of production and exchange as a clue to develop a holistic critique of capitalist society.In addition,Marx’s holistic critique of capitalist society is also manifested in his profound critique of the overall alienation of capitalist society brought about by the rule of capital.It is on the basis of his critique of the totality of capitalist society that Marx raises the question of the abandonment and transcendence of capital,i.e.he identifies the ultimate direction of human society after the abandonment of capital-Communism.Chapter 5:This chapter focuses on Marx’s critical methodology of capital.Marx’s critical theory of capital is premised on a scientific methodology.This methodology is the internalization and concretization of the basic principles of historical materialism into the method of capital critique,which is embodied in the use of historical materialist methodology to analyze and narrate the mode of production in bourgeois society and to grasp the object of study in the relations,activities and processes of capitalist social reality.It is concretely expressed in the general,inner and dialectical critiques of the critique of capital.The so-called total critique considers capitalist society as a whole in the context of the totalization process of capital,penetrates its inner constitutive space,reveals the inner contradictory movements of its multiple spaces,and then indicates the laws of its movement and the direction of its advancement.The so-called inner critique of capital means that Marx’s capital critique is not a simple external negation of capital,but rather a critique that reveals the inner contradiction and self-reflexive logic of capital as a contradictory body,pointing out the inner dilemma and crisis of capitalist development,thus realizing the transition from the endogenous negation of capital to the external transcendence.The so-called dialectical critique refers to the scientific dialectic founded by Marx on the basis of the transformation of the traditional intuitive dialectic and discursive dialectic.In essence,it is a dialectic based on the negativity of human existence,a historical dialectic from abstract to concrete,and a radical and revolutionary dialectic critical of everything that exists.Chapter 6:This chapter focuses on the relevance of Marx’s critical theory of capital to the present era.Although Marx’s critical theory of capital was formulated in the nineteenth century,it is still an important philosophical theory for our understanding of the world today and socialism with Chinese characteristics in the contemporary historical context.As for globalization,Marx did not use the term "globalization",but his critical theory of capital,especially the world-historical view involved in it,has not only expressed the idea of globalization,but also hit the essence of globalization.To examine the process of globalization and critically reflect on the paradoxes of globalization brought about by the logic of capital with Marx’s capital critique theory,and then to propose a Chinese solution to lead the construction of globalization in order to achieve a holistic transcendence of the logic of capital is the proper meaning of Marx’s capital critique for today’s globalization.For socialism with Chinese characteristics,Marx’s critique of capital is of great relevance to the great cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics that we are carrying out.Marx’s profound analysis of the inner contradictions of capital provides scientific ideological guidance on how to view and treat capital in the new era of socialism with Chinese characteristics.Treating capital with a historical perspective,dialectical thinking and a prudent attitude is the right thing to do on the way forward of socialism with Chinese characteristics."Recognizing and utilizing","regulating and managing",and "abandoning and transcending",are the basic positions and methods of socialism with Chinese characteristics in dealing with capital. |
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