Marx's cultural view and its modern value implication

2016-07-0710: 31Source: People's Forum Author: Hao Chunling

"Culture" is one of the theoretical points that Marx paid special attention to in historical materialism. Based on historical materialism, Marx put forward that practice is the real source of culture, that culture is the dialectical unity of humanized nature and humanized nature, and that the essence and function of culture is to realize the free and all-round development of human beings. Under the new situation, actively exploring and grasping Marx's cultural thought and connotation is of great theoretical significance and practical value for promoting Socialism with Chinese characteristics's cultural construction and building a cultural power.

Keywords Marx's cultural view, people's free and all-round development and cultural self-improvement

China Library Classification Number A8 Document Identification Code A

The formation process of Marx's cultural view

Since 17 and 18 century, people have been paying attention to "culture" for a long time. The pioneers and advocates of the Enlightenment hope to lead the world out of the dark period full of dogma, irrationality and blindness through this movement of exploring "light". The concept of "culture" advocated in this period pays attention to people as the main body and their creative activities and results, and pays attention to people's self-worth and self-consciousness. /kloc-in the 9th century, with the further development of the German Enlightenment, the concept of "culture" gradually changed into the development of human spirit and concept. The rich ideological and theoretical achievements of the German Enlightenment had a great influence on Marx's thought, among which the philosophical thoughts of Kant, Hegel and Feuerbach, the representatives of German classical philosophers, had a particularly prominent influence on Marx's thought.

Human subjectivity is the theoretical basis and cornerstone of Kant's profound and systematic study of "culture" Kant pointed out that man can legislate for nature because he is rational, and this "rationality" is culture, and it is precisely because of culture that talents have the ability to freely choose their purposes. Regarding the relationship between "nature" and "culture", Kant pointed out that culture is "the ultimate goal of our human rational origin to return to nature".

Kant's exposition on "human purpose" has been paid special attention and recognized by Marx. Marx pointed out in the Introduction to Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Right that "the only practical liberation in Germany is from the theory that man himself is the highest essence of man". It can be seen that Kant's cultural philosophy gave Marx some enlightenment in theory, which triggered Marx's thinking and understanding of the concept of "culture".

As a master of German classical philosophy, Hegel's understanding of culture is based on Kant's cultural thought, both of which are from a rational perspective. Hegel believes that the rational development of world history is based on the existence of "rationality". In Hegel's view, there is a stable characteristic in human mission, and the characteristic that Hegel refers to is "spirit". Influenced by this thought, Marx pointed out that any real philosophy is the result of the intersection of the spirit of the times.

"Labor" is an extremely important philosophical category. Hegel realized the important role of "labor" in promoting social development and progress, but Hegel's so-called "labor" refers to people's abstract spiritual activities, not concrete actual labor. Inspired by Hegel's thought of "labor", Marx regarded culture as a "work" created by human beings through labor. Influenced by Hegel's cultural thought, Marx's early cultural view still belongs to the category of historical idealism, and Marx still looks at culture from the perspective of idealism and thinks that culture is a kind of spirit.

Feuerbach's great contribution is that his philosophical thoughts re-established the authoritative position of materialism in the history of modern western philosophy. Feuerbach pointed out: "The task of modern philosophy is to realize God and humanize God, that is, to transform theology into humanism and dissolve theology into humanism." Feuerbach's thought makes Marx look at culture from the perspective of human subjectivity and think that culture is created by people. At this time, Marx has begun to get rid of Hegel's "rational" cultural thought and gradually consider "culture" from the perspective of "people" and "humanization".

In 1844 Manuscript of Economics and Philosophy (hereinafter referred to as Manuscript), Marx fully embodies the idea that man, as a subject, can objectify his own essential strength and produce objective material results, indicating that man can distinguish between "man" and "animal" through concrete practical activities. It can be seen that Marx has established the idea that "culture is humanization" at this time, but he has not yet realized the complete transformation from "historical idealism" to "historical materialism".

Historical materialism and surplus value theory are the two most important discoveries in Marx's life. The publication of Poverty in Philosophy marks that Marx has made a clear understanding of historical materialism and surplus value theory. With the establishment of historical materialism, great changes have taken place in Marx's cultural thought. His vision is no longer limited to culture itself, but focuses on the root of culture-material production practice. In Critique of Gotha Program, Marx profoundly explained the idea that material production practice is the root of the emergence and development of culture. Marx believes that culture, like other material wealth in society, is based on people's concrete material practical labor. Starting from historical materialism and people's material production practice, analyzing the origin and development motivation of culture marks the formation and establishment of Marxist materialist cultural view.

Theoretical composition of Marx's cultural view

Marx's cultural view is a systematic and scientific theoretical system. Based on historical materialism, Marx expounded the foundation of the emergence and development of culture, the essence and connotation of culture, the function and role of culture, and formed the cultural view of historical materialism.

The cultural and ideological connotation that Marx wants to express runs through "man", "human society" and "spirit" all the time. He pointed out that culture is the objectification of people's essential strength and the result and product of practical activities. That is to say, in Marx's view, the category of culture includes not only the consciousness and spiritual products created by human beings in social life practice, but also the material wealth created in this process. Culture in a broad sense should be all the material and spiritual achievements created by human beings in social life and communication.

In the process of analyzing the emergence and development of culture, Marx found that labor is the material basis for the emergence of culture, and it is "labor" that created "culture", which also provided a good theoretical display for Marx's thought of producing culture in practice. To sum up, the definition of cultural essence, that is, "culture is humanized", is the objectification of human essential forces acting on nature. The "humanization" mentioned by Marx is the interaction between "man" and "nature". On the one hand, people brand nature with human beings through practical activities, which embodies human attributes, thus making nature more suitable for providing a living environment for people's free and all-round development; On the other hand, while people are transforming the external world, the external world will also react on people, constantly improving people's civilization and social attributes. In view of the mutual unity of "man" and "nature", Marx believes that culture is the result of objectifying one's own essential strength in the process of understanding and transforming nature, the product of humanization and naturalization of nature, and the unity of humanization and humanization of nature.

On the thought of cultural function, Marx mainly focused on "people" and "society". First of all, Marx believes that the relationship between culture and economy should be viewed dialectically, and culture and economy are two-way interactions. At the same time, Marx believes that proletarian culture is a kind of productive force and an effective driving force for integrating proletarian social resources and promoting proletarian economic development. Secondly, in Marx's view, proletarian culture is a powerful weapon to expose and criticize the essence of capitalism and a "critical weapon" to guide the proletarian revolution and achieve great victory; At the same time, Marx pointed out that culture, as a material force, plays an irreplaceable role in condensing the wisdom of the proletariat, guiding its production practice and consolidating its political status, and is an important magic weapon and basic guarantee for realizing and safeguarding its fundamental interests. Third, Marxism is a theory about "man", and its cultural thought has never been divorced from the theme of "man". Therefore, the main function of culture is its essential function and attribute. The main function of Marx's culture is mainly reflected in its educational function to the subject "human", and it is the intermediary for the subject to realize the transformation from "natural person" to "social person" to "cultural person" and then to "free person". Through cultural education, the essence of "human" as the subject is gradually confirmed, and finally the free and conscious existence of the subject is realized.

The Value Implication of Marx's Cultural View

Realize people's free and all-round development. Marx emphasized that proletarian culture should be a "material force", which can "overthrow all relations that make people become insulted, enslaved, abandoned and despised". That is to say, in a society ruled by the bourgeoisie, the broad masses of the people are oppressed and enslaved by capitalists, and people are still in the stage of "material dependence". In this case, proletarian culture, as a "weapon of criticism", should be mastered by the broad masses and transformed into material force to serve the proletariat and its revolutionary movement.

Marx pointed out that culture, as the product of labor, is essentially consistent with human beings, and it is the basic element and means necessary for the development of human beings and human society. On this basis, Marx further elaborated the value implication of his cultural thought. He believes that the development of culture is to serve itself on the one hand, and it is more important to realize the liberation of all mankind and the free and all-round development of human beings on the other hand, so that people as the main body "possess their own overall essence". ④ Paying attention to people, developing and releasing people in an all-round way are the most striking features of the philosophical construction of Marxist cultural view.

Cultural alienation and its fundamental way out. Cultural alienation means that in the process of its emergence and development, culture has deviated from its essence and purpose, divorced from people, and become an alien existence force that is antagonistic and isolated from people. While Marx pointed out that culture can realize people's free and all-round development, he also noticed that under the condition of capitalist private ownership, culture will be alienated into an alien force that hinders people's free and all-round development. At the same time, Marx pointed out that alienated labor in capitalist society is the root of cultural alienation. Under the condition of private ownership, workers' labor products are endowed with commodity attributes by capitalists, which no longer reflect the essential attributes of human beings, but become alien forces that oppress and enslave people. Therefore, the fundamental way to solve cultural alienation is to eliminate the root of labor alienation-private ownership of means of production, that is, to realize * * * productism.

In the manuscript, Marx discussed that under the condition of private ownership of the means of production in capitalist society, the labor products produced by workers' labor will be regarded as dissidents and opposed to workers. Marx pointed out the inevitability and absoluteness of cultural "alienation" from the perspective of labor alienation, and thought that under the condition of private ownership, cultural alienation would become a shackle that restricted workers' thinking and creation.

Under the condition of private ownership, the most direct and fundamental manifestation of cultural alienation is the cultural alienation of workers. Marx believes that "labor", as an existence, should be a free and conscious activity of human beings. It is also "labor" that distinguishes "people" from "animals" and confirms human nature. In Manuscript, Marx divided culture into two basic forms: natural science and ideology. As a scientific understanding of nature, natural science has no class attribute in essence. However, in the capitalist society dominated by the bourgeoisie, the bourgeoisie uses its position and resource advantages to brand natural science as capitalism as a tool and means to maintain its dominant position and vested interests. In this case, natural science is not only no longer a force to promote people's free and all-round development, on the contrary, it provides convenience for capitalists to extract more surplus labor value from workers. Similarly, another form of culture, ideology, is still dominated by the bourgeoisie and becomes a theoretical tool for capitalists to control workers' thoughts and enslave workers' consciousness.

As the guiding ideology of the proletarian revolutionary movement, Marxist theory is the unity of practicality, science and revolution. Marx not only criticized capitalism and its system, but also provided theoretical guidance for proletarian revolutionary movement and social development. Marx pointed out in his manuscript that the way to eradicate human alienation and labor alienation is to realize * * * productism. Cultural alienation is the direct product of labor alienation. Based on this understanding, Marx believes that the fundamental way to solve the cultural alienation is to realize productism. Marx regarded * * * productism as a means to sublate private ownership and cultural alienation. In the capitalist society, people can achieve free and all-round development, and human nature can be confirmed. Without the "soil" on which to live, labor alienation and cultural alienation cannot "survive".

Contemporary Enlightenment of Marx's Cultural View

As the guiding ideology and fundamental adherence of the Communist Party of China (CPC)'s long-term governance, the scientific, practical and revolutionary nature of Marxist theory has been further confirmed. The profound implication of Marxist cultural thought is of great significance and far-reaching influence for us to deepen the reform of cultural system, stimulate the vitality of cultural creation and promote the strategy of strengthening the country through culture.

Adhere to people-oriented and enhance cultural consciousness. "Realistic man" is the foothold and starting point of Marx's cultural thought. According to Marx's cultural view, culture comes from human practice, and man is the main carrier of the emergence and development of culture, and its essence should also reflect human subjectivity. The report of the 18th National Congress pointed out: "Culture is the blood of the nation and the spiritual home of the people." At the same time, the report of the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China made a systematic deployment and scientific planning for building a strong socialist country, emphasizing that respecting, serving and developing the people is the proper meaning and essential embodiment of Socialism with Chinese characteristics culture. Cultural consciousness, realizing independent understanding, self-reflection and conscious transcendence of existing culture. To strengthen cultural consciousness, we must base ourselves on reality and have a deeper understanding and more accurate grasp of the historical conditions and internal laws of current culture. The fundamental reason is that the process of realizing cultural consciousness is the process of adhering to the culture of "people-oriented" and "serving the people".

Insist on opening to the outside world and establish cultural self-confidence. Marx believes that with the gradual development of productive forces, international exchanges will inevitably move towards frequency and normalization. With the further development of globalization and informatization, cultural integration around the world presents an irresistible trend. Under the new situation, we must adhere to the cultural ideas and concepts of opening to the outside world. In the process of cultural exchange with foreign countries, on the one hand, it fully displays the unique charm of Socialism with Chinese characteristics culture, on the other hand, it actively absorbs the excellent cultural experience and achievements of other nationalities to promote the further development of Socialism with Chinese characteristics culture. Cultural self-confidence requires us to fully affirm and firmly believe the theoretical essence and value connotation of Socialism with Chinese characteristics culture. First of all, we should clearly understand the scientific and advanced nature of Socialism with Chinese characteristics culture and firmly believe that it plays an important role in achieving the goal of "two hundred years" and the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation; Secondly, under the background of globalization, we should have the courage to fully demonstrate the advanced nature of Socialism with Chinese characteristics culture and decisively absorb the outstanding achievements of foreign cultures, so as to enhance the world competitiveness and influence of Socialism with Chinese characteristics culture through exchanges and integration.

Insist on reform and sublation, and realize cultural self-improvement. Marx's view of culture holds that the process of cultural development is also the process of realizing culture to get rid of the limitations of the times and classes, that is, the process of "sublation". Cultural self-improvement requires us to scientifically criticize and inherit the existing cultural achievements on the basis of enhancing cultural consciousness and establishing cultural self-confidence, and realize the creative transformation and innovative development of the existing culture in the process of reform and sublation. The Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee made arrangements for deepening the reform of the cultural system as an important aspect of comprehensively deepening the reform. The purpose of deepening the cultural reform is to discard the factors in the existing culture that are in conflict with guiding the current practice and meeting the needs of future development, so as to make Socialism with Chinese characteristics culture have strong vitality and strong theoretical connotation in line with the spirit of the times, the needs of practice and the needs of the people, and to show the unique charm of Socialism with Chinese characteristics culture under the background of globalization and diversification.

Culture is the blood of the nation and the spiritual home of the people. Building a strong socialist culture is the proper meaning of building a well-off society in an all-round way and realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. Practice shows that Marx's cultural thought is a scientific follow that we must adhere to in the process of building a strong cultural country. We must adhere to the guidance of Marx's cultural thought, explore the inherent law of building a cultural power, identify the existing advantages of building a cultural power, recognize the difficult challenges of building a cultural power, grasp the favorable opportunity of building a cultural power, and realize the creative transformation and innovative development of Socialism with Chinese characteristics's culture on the basis of adhering to cultural consciousness and cultural self-confidence, and finally realize cultural self-improvement.

(The authors are graduate students of Marxism College of Xi Tech University and professors of Marxism College of Xi Tech University respectively; This paper is a phased achievement of Shaanxi Social Science Fund "Research on Cultivating Contemporary College Students' Socialist Core Values Based on Ideological and Political Theory Courses", with the project number of 20 14A 1).

To annotate ...

(1) [Germany] Kant: Critical Criticism (Volume II), Beijing: The Commercial Press, 1996, p. 95.

② Selected Works of Feuerbach's Philosophy, Shanghai: Sanlian Bookstore, 1959, p. 122.

Complete Works of Marx and Engels (Volume 3), Beijing: People's Publishing House, 2002, p. 207, p. 203.

Editor/Wang Kunna

[Editor: Zhang Lei]

Label: the value of Marx's implication in the cultural perspective