The Criticism Of Rousseau’s Thought Of "Value Consensus"

Rousseau systematically presents the ideological clues of what is "value consensus",why should "value consensus" be condensed and how to construct "value consensus" in his texts such as "On the Origin and Basis of Inequality among People","Social Contract" and "Emile".On the one hand,we can see the advantages and limitations of Rousseau’s "value consensus" from the perspectives of essentialism,function,ontology,epistemology and methodology of ideological and political education.On the other hand,it can also clarify the transcendence of the Marxist value consensus to Rousseau,and then provide useful reference for the research of the basic theory of ideological and political education.In his works,Rousseau systematically constructs the ideological clues about human seeking "value consensus",puts forward the core concept of "value consensus",the practical purpose of "value consensus",the formation conditions of "value consensus" and the way to realize "value consensus".Rousseau constructed his framework system based on "social contract" based on the thought of "value consensus".Comparing the concrete principles of Marxist ideological and political pedagogy with Rousseau’s "value consensus",we can see that there are many theoretical relations between Rousseau’s "value consensus" and the principle of ideological and political pedagogy.From the perspective of the essentialism of ideological and political education,we can see that "value consensus" is the key link for human beings to transcend the "natural state" and enter the "social state",which also constitutes the essential stipulation of ideological and political education,that is,to guide citizens to reach a social "value consensus".However,Rousseau’s so-called "social state" is constructed in the form of "contract" on the basis of his abstract understanding of human nature,which is fundamentally different from Marx’s understanding of "social state" based on "real" social people.Marx believed that only on the basis of public ownership of production relations can the real "value consensus" be reached.Therefore,it is impossible for Marx to leave the "value consensus" of historical materialism.Based on Marx’s materialist view of history,we can see that the essence of ideological and political education should be determined by human nature and the unity of human nature and spirituality realized through educational practice.From the perspective of the functionalism of ideological and political education,we can see that the "value consensus" of Rousseau acts as the rational premise of the social contract,so its function is to provide a guarantee for bourgeois ideology and to maintain the "false community" of the bourgeoisie.This is fundamentally different from the "value consensus" in the sense of Marx.In Marx’s view,the function of "value consensus" is to unite the proletariat to carry out social revolution and activate the practical initiative of the proletariat through "value consensus".As Marx himself pointed out,"dialectics is critical and revolutionary in nature",and "value consensus" serves as the ideological liberation function of proletarian ideology.Thus,the foundation of value consensus is provided for the establishment of "real community".Based on Marx’s understanding of the function of "value consensus",reflecting on Rousseau’s function of "value consensus" from the perspective of the function theory of ideological and political education,we can have a more accurate understanding of the function of ideological and political education to maintain national ideological security,inherit and innovate culture,cultivate morality and cultivate citizens.From the perspective of ideological and political education ontology,we can see that Rousseau regards "general will" as the form of value ontology and the cornerstone of contract,so "general will" has objective universality.Ideological and political education is to establish the value noumenon as objective truth,so as to provide an objective basis for "value consensus".However,the value noumenon contained in Rousseau’s "value consensus" is based on the abstract theory of human nature,so different from Marx’s historical materialism which starts from "real man",Marx establishes the value noumenon on the basis of the real social production relations,and regards human freedom and liberation as the value noumenon,thus overcoming the value noumenon concept of Rousseau’s idealism.Using Marx’s viewpoint on value noumenon and rethinking the value noumenon in Rousseau’s "value consensus" can help us to make a more scientific interpretation of the value noumenon in ideological and political education.From the epistemology of ideological and political education,we can see that Rousseau’s "value consensus" is the consistency formed between different cognitive subjects.Therefore,how to eliminate the subjective bias of the cognitive subject becomes the key issue to reach the "value consensus".In solving this key problem,Rousseau encountered a double dilemma of theory and practice because of his sense of the epistemological basis of empiricism and the ineffectiveness of contract in establishing the sanctity of political life.In Marx’s view,the problem of "value consensus" is not only an epistemological problem in the sense of Rousseau,but also a practical problem in the sense of Marx."Whether human thinking has objective truth is not a theoretical question,but a practical question." Therefore,ideological and political education,as an educational activity to reach "value consensus",should be based on human social practice activities.Following the guidance of Marx’s viewpoint and analyzing the epistemological problems in Rousseau’s "value consensus",we can have a clearer understanding of the epistemological problems in ideological and political education.From the perspective of the methodology of ideological and political education,we will find that there are many connections between the educational methods advocated by Rousseau and the methods of ideological and political education.Rousseau also advocated the education of people through the method of sensibility and rationalization,so as to form the value consensus,but the education method Rousseau appealed to was directed at his construction of contracts.He believes that "value consensus" can be reached through the way of social contract.Rousseau resorts to "contract" to make value consensus rise to the general "general will" and finally form the state.However,the contract is only a category of "abstract law" in the Hegelian sense,and as Marx pointed out,the contract only reflects the "narrow vision of bourgeois law",so this methodology of ideological and political education is essentially invalid.Marx,on the other hand,based on "universal communication",established "value consensus" through the establishment of universal public ownership of production relations,and thus created the historical materialism ideological and political education method,the latest achievement of this ideological and political education method is the "eight phases of unity" ideological and political education method.To sum up,by examining Rousseau’s thought of "value consensus" from the aspects of essentialism,functionalism,ontology,epistemology and methodology of ideological and political education,we can find that Rousseau’s thought contains a wealth of ideological and political education thoughts,which are concentrated in his thought of "value consensus".However,because of its abstract human nature theory and bourgeois narrow vision of legal rights,his thought of "value consensus" only reflects the "initiative of consciousness" in ideological and political education,and this "initiative of consciousness" into Marx’s "initiative of practice" can grasp the reference value of Rousseau’s thought of "value consensus".