A Study Of The Relationship Between Hess’s Philosophy Of Action And Marx’s Thought

The relationship between Hess and Marx’s thought is an important topic that cannot be bypassed in the study of the history of the formation of Marx’s thought.This is not a simple question of Hess’ s positioning,but a question of the basic approach of Marx’s thought.In previous studies,Hess has been given three orientations: firstly,in terms of philosophical position,Hess’ s concept of action is the logical precursor of Marx’s concept of practice;Secondly,in terms of economic criticism,Hess’ s monetary critique is the origin of Marx’s ideas of economic alienation;Thirdly,in terms of communist theory,Hess’ s philosophical communism was a direct intermediary for Marx’s turn to communism.However,it is necessary to revisit the above positioning from the perspective of the text.Dissatisfied with the speculative nature of Hegel’s view of history,Hess sought to construct a philosophy of action centered on positively shaping the future.Starting with Descartes’ "I think,therefore I am," Hess identified action as an original,creative concept of life.This lays the essential foundation for the direct presentation of the self and the realization of freedom.Starting from Feuerbach’s logic of "should" and "is",Hess critiques civil society based on the principle of free action,reveals the inhumanity and evil roots of money,and prophesitically states that money will be abolished in the union of love.Under this context,the reconstructed Anglo-French communism had the possibility of being accepted by the Germans,and Hess conceived a future organic community based on the unity of freedom and equality.Eventually,Hess founded philosophical communism school,promoting the complete disintegration of the Young Hegelians.Marx did draw on Hess’ s principles of activity,economic alienation,and communism,but deepened them in his own logic rather than simply inherited them.Most importantly,limited by German Idealism,Social critical ethics and an intrinsic rupture in methodology,Hess’ s thought hardly become a strong support point for Marx to move towards historical materialism.After "Mill’s Commentary",Marx quickly distanced himself from Hess.Marx accepted the positive aspects of Hegelian philosophy,which rejected by the entire Young Hegelians,constructed practical philosophy,opened practical criticism,and formed scientific communism in a new critical logic,and then achieved the transcendence of Hess’ s philosophy of action,moral criticism,and philosophical communism.At this point,the "Hess factor" has faded away,and Hegel’s dialectic has replaced it as a constructive factor for Marx to move towards historical materialism.Once the ideas behind the text are sorted out,it is necessary to re-examine the previous positioning of Hess’ s thought.Hess,of course,was an important link in Marx’s departure from the Young Hegelians to the new materialism.However,Marx launched a new direction of ideological exploration in his own complex ideological construction.The key figure should not be Hess,but through Hess to Marx himself,and the core discourse should not be Hess’ s influence on Marx,but Marx’s promotion and transformation of Hess’ s thought.