Capital Criticism Of Modernity

As is known to all,"modernity"has been such a hot word of modern society thathas become a general prescription, and some scholars compare the relation between itand learning to licorice and traditional Chinese medicine. However, another fact is thatthe knowledge in modernity of modern academic field is not as incisive as that inlicorice of traditional Chinese medical science. Especially the confusing use of theconcept of"modernity"makes us even cannot find its"least common multiple"innumerous understandings. Thus, this text firstly reorganizes the concepts of"modern"and"modernity"under the background of academic history, and points out that neitheraesthetic modernity or enlighted modernity is proper regarding to their logical startingpoint. The former tends to pay its attention on the criticism and reflection ofmodernized consequences, while the latter emphasizes the reason authority of humanas well as the compulsory progress. Besides, this dissertation also asserts that, ratherthan regarding itself as the transcendence of modernity, the so-called postmodernismactually still lingers in the confirmation of modernity itself. Accordingly, this papermaintains that the reasonable connotation of"modernity"being as a philosophicalsubject lies in characterizing the general state of modern society and grasping the spiritof time through theory which is the rational platform of discussing as well asresearching the problems of modernity. And in a certain sense, modernity can benothing other than a philosophical theme.This essay is mainly divided into three contents: I. Modernity criticism is capitalcriticism; II. Logical deduction of capital criticism; III. Capital criticism and thefinality of modernity. They answer three questions respectively: I. Why the modernitycriticism is capital criticism? II. Why Marx's capital criticism is the most profoundmodernity criticism? III. Why capital criticism could be regarded as transcendence of all kinds of modernity reflection and criticism?As the theoretical self-conscious of modern society, modernity is bound to face"modern universal problems". In on the Jewish Question, Marx points out that thebasic reason why Bauer mistakes the accomplishment of religion criticism for humanliberation lies in the fact that he does not develop the criticism of political liberationitself. The thoughts of School of Young Hegel, like Bauer, are only the varieties ofHegel's thought. Hegel pushes the rational spirits of neue Zeit to the acme. Theabsolute idea governs all, and its realization in the right philosophy field is nation(being represented by Prussia's constitutional monarchy), which is the reality of ethicalideas realizing the ethical idea. Thus he equates political liberation with humanliberation. Withal Marx argues that it is not so much the opposite as the civil societythat determines nation. Admittedly political liberation of the bourgeoisie hasprogressive significance to the development of human society, but the civil societybased on private ownership and property right is rights of the bourgeoisie rather thanall the citizens. Marx begins to pursue"human liberation"in"modern times"insteadof the liberation from"tradition"to"modern times", since the so-called politicalliberation just realizes capital liberation and civil society. Civil society is modernsociety (capitalist society), and modernity criticism is capital criticism in modernsociety.Being different from other political economists, the capital research of Marx takesthe angle of commodity, form of fortune element in modern society, to unfold hisconcrete analysis of capital. The use value and exchange value of commoditycorresponds to the natural and social attribute, as well as concrete and abstract labor ofhuman. Value proliferation and surplus value production realized in the circulation ofcommodity in the secret of commodity fetishism and monetary fetishism, namely themystery of the proliferation of capital itself. The national economics of bourgeoisiecontributes the proliferation of capital (profit) to the logical premise and the ultimatecause of theory construction, and then begins to unfold circular demonstration, Hence,"national economics bases itself on facts without necessity". Accordingly, Marx reviews the labor value theory and declares that the bourgeoisie equates value of laborwith the total of labor's work value and profit and that nominal wage, actual wage andrelative wage are not accord with each other. In modern society, workers are slaveswhile capitalists are misers, both of which are dominated and controlled by capital. Soin order to realize human liberation, how can we get rid of the slavery of capital andcontrol it instead? On the one hand the nature of capital proliferation causes crisis thatit cannot overcome by its own. On the other hand, capital productivity createsextremely plentiful social wealth, universal contact and free time for human liberation.Actually, capital criticism and human liberation are the unity of Marx's two judgments,namely"thinking is going to be reality"and"reality tends to be thinking". Rather thanUtopia, communism is the"necessary form and efficient principle in the next future".Through the concrete analysis and through elaboration, this essay then presentsthe complete contents of Marx's capital criticism of modernity clearly, and takesadvantage of Marx's incisive comprehension to answer the basic perspective and mainview to modernity of western modern philosophy(taking Martin Heidegger'sphilosophy to be the representation and starting point) in the ending, which makes theincisiveness and superiority of Marx's capital criticism to modernity problems becomemore prominent. After Middle Ages, liberating human nature and propagating reasondrawn by western essentialism philosophy starts to move to subjective metaphysics(such as Hegel's modernity idea). Modern western philosophy realize this fact andhence transform its subject from asking "why exist" to "how to exist" gradually,entering into the post metaphysics of modernity criticism. Heidegger resort hisreflection of modernity to the criticism of technical"gestell", holding the faith ofthinking and realizing the migration of thought. Being different from the "why exist"of traditional philosophy and the "let it to exist" of modern philosophy, Marx'sphilosophy is the doctrine of human liberation, namely "make all exist". On the onehand, human subjectivity and rational faculty support and promote the modernizationof human society, realizing human responsibility to the world. On the other hand,human subjectivity and rational faculty encourage and make us to reflect and critique history and reality, namely the reflection of modernity itself. Human subjectivity andrational faculty will never ring down the curtain once were activated.In the development of time, human subjectivity as well as rational facultyexperiences the contest with capital logic, and the road of capital criticism is exactlythe finality of modernity. Modernity is the general concern to human destiny ofmodern society as well as the theoretical character of modern spirit, and Marx's capitalcriticism is also the most incisive modernity criticism.