A Study On Marx’s Thought Of Human Liberation On The Jewish Question

Human liberation is the core theme of young Marx’s political philosophy.It can be said that the establishment of historical materialism lies in Marx’s persistent pursuit of “human liberation”.In the turning period of this thought from 1843 to 1844,what is the true nature of human liberation that Marx was seeking for? Through the debate with Bruno Bauer on “the Jewish Question”,we can have a glimpse of young Marx’s thought of human liberation.Excavating the theme of human liberation in the text On the Jewish Question will help us clarify the history of historical materialism,trace the theoretical source of scientific socialism and the essence of communism,so as to grasp the views and methods of historical materialism more scientifically.This essay takes On the Jewish Question as the core text,and also involves some classic literature before and after the publication of this masterpiece,including Critique on Hegel’s Philosophy of Right,An Introduction of Critique on Hegel’s Philosophy of Right,1844 Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts,The Holy Family,The German Ideology,and tries to grasp the essence of Marx’s thought of human liberation as accurately as possible,so as to comprehend the evolution of thought of human liberation through “the Jewish Question”.To this end,the essay will try to present thought of human liberation on “the Jewish Question” from its historical background,theoretical background and the debate between Marx and Bauer.The first part is the sophisticated background of the formation of young Marx’s thought of human liberation.In this part,the essay will elaborate on the specific situation in which the German Jews lived during the 19 th century and the reality reflected in it.It will also unfold Marx’s theoretical preparation,including the critique of Hegel’s state theory and the embrace of Feuerbach’s humanism.Finally,Marx’s political practice and the direct motivation of Marx’s writing on The Jewish Question will be involved,that is,Bauer’s offered plan for the liberation of Jews.Marx and Engels defined “communism” in The German ideology as “not a situation that we should establish,not an ideal that reality should adapt to.What we call communism is the realistic movement to eliminate the existing situation.”According to this position,Marx’s thought of human liberation is not to be seen as a certain and permanent destination for human liberation,but in a dialectical way,to understand it as a process.Therefore,Marx’s thought of human liberation in On the Jewish Question should be grasped in a dynamic way,that is,human liberation is a movement from religious criticism to political criticism and then to social criticism.Among them,religious criticism is the premise of human liberation,political criticism is then the basis,and social criticism is its realization.Obviously,what we call“realization” here refers to “various relationships returning to people themselves”.The essay believes that there are inextricable links between young Marx’s thought of human liberation and historical materialism,and it is in the process of overcoming the insufficiency of human liberation that Marx moved to historical materialism.The conclusion of this essay is that the thought of human liberation is the embryonic form of historical materialism,and historical materialism is the complete form of human liberation.In this process,Marx has completed two transformations both theoretically and practically: in theory he broke with the Hegel system and thus with traditional German idealism,and turned to materialism;in practice,he departed from young Hegelians,shifting from bourgeois revolutionary democracy to communism.Since then,along this new path,Marx continued his lifelong career.