Historical Reflection On Marx’s Ownership Theory

Ownership theory is one of the most important parts of Marxism, while it is atthe same time an extremely complicated issue. In order to understand precisely whatMarxist Ownership Theory is, people have to be specific about the formation processof this theory. The study of the historical process can be classified into two ways: thefirst one is to have a critical observation of the pre-Marxist ownership theories so thatthe succession relationship between Marxist Ownership theory and the previousownership theories can be analyzed, while the other way is to generalize the cognitivedevelopment process of Marxist Ownership Theory so that the historical nature ofMarxist Ownership Theory can be highlighted in the two transitions of Marx’sunderstanding towards ownership.When we try to study the two transitions of Marx’s understanding towardsownership, it is clear that these two transitions proper have implied Marx’s severalbasic understanding towards his nature of ownership. The transition from the categoryof law to the category of economics provides the theoretical basis for textbooks on thetheory that ownership is the ownership of the means of production. However, thelimitation of such theory should be noticed at the same time, because it does notnotice the second transition of Marx’s understanding of ownership. Neither does ithave a critical view on the historical significance of the Marxist Ownership Theory inthe inherent negative relationship among ownership, community and productivity.Based on this, the author will postulate his own understanding of Marxist OwnershipTheory step by step on the basis of a critical study of the traditional point of view. Theauthor’s view is: ownership is a relationship of production condition.Marx’s understanding of the nature of ownership deepens with the study ofdifferent historical periods. To present specifically the inherent negative relationshipamong ownership, community and productivity, we have to return to Marx’s criticalstudy of the ownership form in different historical periods, that is to study one by one the pre-capitalist communal ownership, capitalist private ownership and thecommunist individual ownership. Only in this way, can people detect the inherentnegative relationship of ownership forms in different historical periods and makethose abstract concepts recur in the history passage. As a result, Marx’s historicalOwnership Theory will be shaped in the inherent negative relationship amongownership, community and productivity.