Critique Of Civil Society And Human Freedom:from Hegel To Marx

The understanding of Marx’s concept of freedom, there are several common angles in the domestic, namely the epistemological point of view, free time perspective, free labor perspective, the perspective of historical development, in terms of political freedom, freedom of theaesthetic angle and so on. This paper considers that these are the important dimensions of the understanding of Marx’s view of freedom, but in addition to these point of view, there is a very basic perspective but now few people pay attention to:the critique of society. This paper considers that the critique of civil society is a fundamental horizon to understand Marx’s concept of freedom, and only from this perspective can we truly understand the formation of Marx’s concept of freedom, the uniqueness of Marx’s concept of freedom and its importance. Because here in Marx’s theory, the understanding to the essence of people is not abstract, but is understood to be the sum total of social relations, so people get the the realistic provisions from abundant social relations. Thus, the social relations have important effects on the real social life status, living conditions and prospects for future development, and will restrict the survival and development of human. Therefore, in different social relations, development degree of human’s free individuality is different, the social relationship is an important perspective to understand human freedom. In modern times, civil society constitutes the most basic social relations, so the understanding of freedom in modern times, people can not be out of examination and critique of civil society.And Marx is the is the key thinker, who consciously understands the human freedom from the horizon of critique of civil society. Of course, in the history of Philosophy, it is Hegel who is the first person opening the horizon of critique of civil society and tieing together civil society with understanding human freedom. Compared to feudal society, in civil society, because political revolution break the feudal political system of bondage, and break the foundation of the feudal system from economic: enfeoffment system, so that people liberate from the traditional social and political community, and get the individual freedom which obtains the full development in civil society. The basic results of modern bourgeois revolution are through the political liberation achieving the separation of religion and politics, the separation of the state and civil society, and civil society as a social system established at the same time. In civil society, individuals becomes the one who stands on one’s own personal, individual freedom get full development, and people is equal to each other in the law. The view of freedom advocated by liberals is based on civil society, and in its opinion person will be understood as abstract isolated individuals, freedom will be understand as the pure individual freedom. In the liberal view, the freedom on the basis of civil society is the most common, the most perfect, and eternal. Distinguished with the liberal view, Hegel and Marx respectively analyses and criticizes the human freedom in civil society from different angles. In Hegel’s opinion, since the rise of modern, people’s understanding of freedom is closely related to the birth of the civil society, and the stand on one’s own individual who is produced from civil society constitutes the realistic basis of freedom from liberals. But Hegel clearly points out the limitations and problems of the view of freedom, which is on the basis of civil society, that is, when this view of freedom promote the individual’s self realization, it will also causes the individual egoistic, leads to isolation and conflict between the individual and others, and leads to the ethical relationship in traditional society be replaced by the link between man and man on the basis of people’s need. But Hegel does not advocate the denial of civil society, the premise of his critique of civil society is to admit the civil society’s rationality as the foundation, and he considers that we should transcend civil society through the universal ethics political state.Here in Marx, he inherits the view of freedom from Hegel, at the same time he transcends Hegel’s viewpionts in this question, opens up his ingenious horizon of critique of civil society, and establishs his own concept of freedom in this horizon. That Hegel trys to solve the problem of civil society through the political country, for Marx, is the criticism which does not touch the fundamental problem. Marx discovers that the reality of the country doesn’t like Hegel envisaged is the representative of universal free will, the safeguard of universal social benefits, and the existence beyond the civil society, through his own observation and deep research based on the reality. On the contrary, the country itself is decided by civil society, is the expression of the will of the people who have property in civil society. The maintenance provided by the country is only their rights of freedom, and as the majority of the total population of the workers’ rights of freedom can not be guaranteed at all. Thus, Marx has a thorough understanding of the essence of the country, the route which Hegel seeks to solve the alienation of civil society by the critique of civil society is not successful in the view of Marx, and Marx also reveals the limitations of understanding of human freedom in the political liberation. In order to achieve a higher understanding of human freedom, we must move towards social liberation from political liberation. Marx through the critique of political economics, in depth analysis, anatomy and criticism to civil society, reveals the alienation between people in the civil society from a deeper perspective. The relation of alienation is particularly reflected in the antagonistic relationship between workers and capitalists, reflected in the capitalist exploitation and oppression of the workers, and reflected in the labor and the wage’s exchange of unequal values which covered under the principle of exchange of equal values. It is in this relation of alienation, forming an one-sided understanding of human freedom, and realized in society, more is the property owners’freedom. Workers as the creative subject of social wealth, become the proletarian, become more and more poor, not only their rights of freedom is difficult to achieve, but also their basic survival will be always under threat Moreover, Marx through the analysis of the alienation of interpersonal relationship in civil society, finds the private ownership as the basis of the civil society is the social roots which cause the alienation between people and the workers’ unfreedom. Thus, Marx points out, in order to truly achieve the understanding of human being’s freedom, we must abolish private ownership, so as to eliminate alienation of the social relations between people, from political liberation to social liberation, and to establish the Communist society. Marx points out that the Communist society is an active sublation to the private property, and in the Communist society the social productive forces will be transformed into the common wealth of the society, but the possession of wealth is not the purpose, it’s only means, the purpose is for each person’s freedom and comprehensive development to provide conditions.In the Communist society, because of the cancellation of private property, cancelling the the root of oppression and exploitation between people, will realize the true union between people, and the relationships between people will be a positive relationships through communication, rather than an external exchange relationship which is based on the need, the freedom of the individual and the freedom of others is a relationship of mutual promotion. And in the process from political liberation to social liberation, Marx especially emphasizes the proletariat’s revolutionary subjectivity. Marx discovers the special status of the proletariat in civil society, who are the creators of social wealth, the creators of history, but lost the rights of freedom which they should enjoy. Therefore it’s liberation must be based on the premise of social liberation, and Marx from this finds the historical mission of the proletariat. So, it is in the process of deepening in the critique of civil society, forming Marx’s unique view of freedom, if we are not from this point of view to understand Marx’s view of freedom, we will not be able to grasp the essence of Marx’s theory of freedom. Thus, the critique of civil society compose the fundamental horizon in which we understand Marx’s view of freedom.