Marx’s Critical Theory Of Machine And Its Contemporary Value

With the double-edged sword effect brought by the development of science and technology in the age of digital capitalism,the domestic and foreign scholars have researched intensively on Marx’s capitalist modernity.As an important theoretical weapon in the criticism of modernity,Marx’s machine thought still has great theoretical value and contemporary significance.This paper focuses on Marx’s critical theory from the perspective of the intersection of technology and modernity from the related texts,aiming at a more comprehensive interpretation of Marx’s critical theory of machine.The paper mainly discusses four questions,namely: How did Marx’s critical theory of machine come into being? What does Marx’s critical theory of machine mean? How has Marx’s critical theory of machine been misconceived in its dissemination? What are the practical inspirations of Marx’s critical theory of machine to contemporary China? It respectively analyzes the formation process,the complete implications,the re-interpretation in the spread of Marx’s critical theory of machine,as well as the practical significance to the phenomenon of “machine replacement” in China’s manufacturing industry.The main conclusions of this paper are as follows: Firstly,Marx’s critical theory of machine has gone through stages of exploration,transition and maturation.When discussing the problem of machine,Marx had shifted his paradigm from the notion of alienated labor to that of political economy.Secondly,Marx’s critique of machine actually is a critique of capitalist modernity.Logically speaking,Marx’s critique of alienation is the cardinal line running through the critical theory of machine,and the historical analysis of machine system from the perspective of historical materialism is the cut-in point.Also,the final foothold of Marx’s critical theory of machine is the critique of capitalist application of machine according to the theory of the surplus value.Meanwhile,Marx had taken the relationship between machine production and labor into consideration,which has been continually discussed by recent scholars.Thirdly,Marx’s critical theory of machine is not technological determinism.Many theorists of the Second International(1889-1914)and the Third International(1919-1943)deviated from Marxist dialectics under the potential influence of positivism.American social scientists tended to replace the capital logic with technological logic in the re-interpretation of Marxism,and Marxism had been further associated with technological determinism after World War II,especially in the period of Cold War.In the context of contemporary China,the thesis of “Science and technology is the primary productive forces” and that of “Innovation is the primary engine of development” are both the inheritance and creative development of Marx’s view on productive forces,not simply technological determinism.Finally,the“machine replacement” in China’s intelligent manufacturing sector should uphold the concept of people-oriented,rather than machine-centered.Therefore,the “machine replacement” in China’s manufacturing sector requires the cooperation of government,enterprises and labor workers,aiming to promote the re-skill of workers and rebuild their labor subjectivity.