Critique Of Bell’s Thought Of Capitalist Cultural Reconstruction

Daniel Bell believed that a free society should not have universal political authority,nor is it the ultimate individual freedom in bourgeois society,but an ideal state constructed by "neutral" cultural forces.Freedom is neither political nor individual.The real freedom should get rid of the two extreme ideological tendencies,and the freedom in the cultural sense is the most close expression of "humanity".Therefore,Bell did not recognize the political concepts such as "freedom and equality" advocated by the bourgeoisie,believing that they were no more than an excuse to maintain the capitalist political system.But Bell also disapproved of political demands to resist capitalism,arguing that they could lead to totalitarian politics.On this basis,Bell sought what he called a "neutral" force that could criticize political authority while restraining rampant individualism.This so-called neutral force is "culture".Culture can shape an endogenous belief and forge a social common "good" through its intrinsic "good".Individual freedom is still at the core of his cultural theory,but Bell does not want to create an artificial dualistic opposition between "individual and society",which are originally unified and separated by ideological narrowness.Based on the consciousness of culture,Bell declared that ideology was dying out and believed that Marxism in the 19 th century could not adapt to the new situation in the 20 th century.However,the judgment of its ideological conclusion is only limited in the perspective of revolution,and its cultural reconstruction is still a political reflection on capitalism under the background of western traditional religious culture,and has not gone out of the logic of capital.His misunderstanding of Marxism made him ignore the basic principle of historical materialism,and culture is fundamentally the product of material production mode.For this reason,culture is not a neutral force independent of history and politics.Bell’s attempt to transcend class and ideology was bound to be a failed quest.His theory of cultural reconstruction can neither jump out of the production relations of capitalism nor transcend the vision of capitalist ideology.However,the relative rationality of Bell’s thought of cultural reconstruction lies in his deep reflection within the value system of liberalism,which can serve as an important reference for in-depth understanding of the new changes of capitalism.However,because he ignores the essence of capitalist production relations and the basic contradictions of capitalism,his thought of cultural reconstruction is destined to be a commentary on capitalism.From the perspective of historical materialism,we can objectively judge the limitations and relative rationality of Bell’s cultural theory,and help us understand the mode of action of modern capitalist ideology.