A Comparative Study On Critique Of Modernity Of Marx And Heidegger

Although there are various opinions on modernity,the basic consensus can be reached that modernity is the capitalist world system and its fundamental quality formed since 16 th century.The whole problem boils down to how to treat the capitalist domination in the modern world.Marx and Heidegger's thoughts are rooted in the soil of modernity.Both of them gave responses to the modern world that they had experienced,reached modernity in its unique way,and preceded“modern writing”.However,because of their critique of modernity had showed profound and powerful characteristics as well as demonstrated the practice and the social order in the future,their “discourse of modernity” still affects the way of thinking on modernity.In this sense,Marx and Heidegger's dispute on critique of modernity is a strong background in our times,and is helpful to offer a better understanding of our age.Marx and Heidegger's critique of modernity shows a dual logic.The apparent logic is that their critique of modernity are present as such a kind of thinking mode,that is,“the experience of modern philosophy--the dilemma of modernity--overcoming modernity”,while the implicit logic of Marx and Heidegger manifest as a dual critique.As far as Marx is concerned,the critique of modernity must identify the hidden connection between capital logic and metaphysics,so as to carry out a realistic criticism in the field of history and practice.Heidegger's critique of modernity is to overcome the metaphysics and to reject“being” in the level of heterogeneity.Take the above into consideration,three aspects would be explored:Firstly,Marx and Heidegger both carry out the philosophical experience of modernity by criticizing metaphysics of subjectivity.The direct interlocutor for Marx is Hegel.In the view of modernity,the importance of Hegel's philosophy lay in thefact that he transcended Kant's philosophy and broke through the immanent theory field of the separation between subject and object.Besides,he also reconstructed the identity of the subject and the object which was lost in modern philosophy,so as to transform philosophy from epistemology to ontology.At this point,Marx followed in the footsteps of Hegel and recognized the efforts of Hegel philosophy.However,Marx objected to the fact that Hegel had turned all modern problems into speculative problems.As a result,Hegel only carried out the revolution of thought without thinking about the reality of revolution.On the contrary,Marx demanded that we must return to the real world of capitalism and proceeded with the critical reflection and construction of modernity.For him,the essence of modernity was a political problem,which was necessary to start a real revolution and dismantled the reality of capitalism so as to realize the reconciliation between philosophy and reality.Heidegger's experience of modern philosophy was also opposed to the metaphysics of subjectivity.He believed that the subjective philosophy gave consciousness priority relative to being.And he tried to prove that it was fundamentally not successful by building a whole world of consciousness via “I think-what-think” to explain the meaning of existence.Heidegger's amendment to modernity was to face the existence itself so as to realize the existential transposition of Dasein,and to reveal the situation of the modern people through the reduction of the life world and the reconstruction of the fundamental ontology.Therefore,Heidegger completely changed terms of subjective philosophy.In a word,Heidegger prompted that “being”was the real and the most important issue of modernity through conquering thinking mode of representation.Secondly,Marx and Heidegger both made a diagnosis and criticism on modernity.In Marx's view,the greatest reality of capitalist modernity lay in that it was not only subject to the dominant rule of capital,but also subject to the implicit planning of rational metaphysics.The logic of capital was the practical operation of metaphysics,and the logic of rational metaphysics was the essence of capital.Both of them led to the alienation of human beings in the “non sacred image”.In this way,Marx had to carry out the dual criticism of ontology in order to break the secret ofthe operation of modern world.He revealed the inner contradiction of the operation of capital logic.He believed that a kind of critique on social history can break down the logic of capital as well as end the metaphysical operation,by means of which to realize the transcendence of capitalism.Heidegger's reaction to the modern world was different from that of Marx.He admitted that the narrative thinking of "anti-modernity" of the fundamental ontology cannot go beyond the principle of subjectivity for it just relives the main idea of modernity.In this sense,the failure of fundamental ontology,which left the incomplete works,led to the end of “being”.Besides,Heidegger believed that human being was “homeless” in modernity,and that the biggest phenomenon of modernity was that the world becomes an image whose essence is “Ge-stell”.Ge-stell removed the subject of human being,and portrayed the modernity as a kind of universal compulsion and control.In this situation,being is terminated and what left is a dynamic ranking between different beings.Human being and things are both in a controlled state.As a kind of completion of metaphysics,Ge-stell dominates modern world.And this is the largest problem of modernity.That is the greatest dilemma of modernity.Lastly,both Marx and Heidegger pointed out the way for modernity,so as to realize the proper placement of modernity.Heidegger regarded that the task of "thinking" must be reopened if we wanted to overcome modernity.It is precisely because Ge-stell eliminates the ultimate existence,we get a chance to experience circumstance which cannot be found in metaphysics,namely “Ereignis”.In Heidegger's view,the only way to overcome modernity comes from “Ereignis”which makes Ge-stell possible.It is a larger circumstance,whose concrete representation is “glade”.It is an integrated operation including “light-dark” and“covering-uncovering”.Precisely because people are able to experience “Ereignis”they get the opportunity to acquire new possibility in modern times under the control of Ge-stell.Simultaneously,Heidegger provided a model for the salvation of modernity: art,through which a possible modern life was provided.For Marx,it was to demonstrate the freedom and liberation of human of communism in the level of ontological reflection.That is to say,he had to set a kind of person that is about todevelop his personality freely and fully,as well as demonstrate a best political system of communism,namely conceived of a new social system.For the first aspect,Marx started from alienation of human beings and tried to understand freedom and liberation of human being from a broader historical field by means of reflecting ontology.Taking the opposition between “labor and property” and “alienation of labor and private property” into consideration,Marx regarded freedom and liberation as a prior nature of human being,by means of which to penetrate the modernity of capitalism and reach the theoretical consciousness on the constructive concept about proletariat.Furthermore,He confirmed that the alienated real world because of capitalist was such a historical forms of human that being destined to overcome and transcend.For the second aspect,Marx did not elaborate on a specific social and political operation,but proposed a concept of “union of free persons” in the level of ontological reflection.Finally,he demonstrated a new world that was different from capitalist modernity.