Study On Proudhon's View Of Equality

Equality occupies the core position in Proudhon's thoughts,and has a great influence on the development of early Marxism.Proudhon puts forward equality while criticizing ownership and the idea covers equality on property,income and social status.He regards equality as a way to gain freedom,what does not infringe on others.Proudhon advocates absolute equality and regards it as the basic condition of establishing a fair society.This paper focuses on Proudon's view of equality.By analyzing and combing its formation,Proudhon's equality view and its influences are probed in and the fundamental differences between Marx and Proudhon in understanding equality are also investigated.This paper is composed of five parts.Chapter One discusses the relationship between Proudhon's ownership and equality.Proudhon believes that ownership will undermine social equality and criticizes it fiercely.In What is Property? Proudhon challenges the concept of"property",the premise of bourgeois economics,and further puts forward equality,justice and freedom.For the first time,he describes private property as the root of all evils and attacks it ruthlessly.Proudhon believes that ownership seriously destroys the normal political and economic order of the society,causing the gap between the rich and the poor,social contradictions and confrontation.Ownership bases on equality and is just and reasonable.Proudhon's criticism of bourgeois private ownership from ownership has steered directly towards capitalist society,on basis of which he clearly expounds the idea of absolute equality.The second part analyzes the relationship between justice and equality.Justice,for Proudhon,is the ethical basis and foundation of equality and the principle andstandard overlooking all things.To achieve equality is to achieve justice.Proudhon believes that justice is synergy and mutual respect between people.By equality and mutual help,dignity is maintained.Proudhon wishes to start from private possession and builds a mutually beneficial society by peaceful improvement.By protecting small private ownership,drawbacks of private ownership can be overcome and a truly equal society can be established.Next comes the relationship between economic equality and equality.Proudhon holds that equality is a fundamental condition for economic development and that equality is indispensable for the economy.To ensure fair distribution of the labour fruits,absolute equality has to be seen in production,circulation,exchange and other key links because economic equality is an absolute equality.For him,the People's Bank should be set up to reform the capitalist system.The bank re-organizes labour organizations.Free individuals,as independent producers,consult equally and form cooperative organizations with social agreements.Additionally,labor products,guided by the principle of constituent value,should be divided equally among workers.Labor money should be used instead of metal money to provide workers with low-interest or no-interest credit.Canceling the merchant-mediated labor exchange link,boycotting capital circulation and operation,and finally eliminating the enslavement of capital and its variations on human beings,all these can help realize the return to an equal society.The fourth part investigates the relationship between freedom and equality.Proudhon argues that the essence of equality is to achieve an all-round and free development of the individual.He is for absolute freedom and against government and authority.He attempts to solve social contradictions by non-revolutionary means.Proudhon's understanding of freedom has three levels: political,economic and personal.Only in anarchy can the three freedoms be realized.Politically,anarchism holds that human beings can determine the social order by creating two forms of organization: one is the governance mode which depends on the state management;Another is the spontaneous managerial model of the whole society,in which public affairs are dealt with in accordance with laws made by compassionate legislatures.Economically,anarchic economies are built on self-generated groups of mutual aid(reciprocity)that are not enforced by any organization(institution).Everyone is a free,independent individual,and on this basis,people form equal and mutual social relations.The last part focuses on the differences between Proudhon and Marx on equality,and Marx's criticism on Proudhon's view on equality.In Marx's eyes,Proudhon's equality was of positive significance to the society,and even reaches beyond the narrow vision of the ordinary petty bourgeoisie of that time.However,it remains an abstract concept.Besides,his views on equality and freedom and justice are fancy empty talk that is impossible to realize.Marx believes that the concept of equality has its realistic historical conditions,has its root in the social material production and social relations,and changes along with the productive forces and relations of production.Marx constructs his own view of equality through in-depth criticism of alienated labor or capitalist mode of production.For Marx,the essence of equality is to eliminate the alienated labor,realize the all-round liberation of human beings,fully develop the personality of each individual,and finally establish the "Free men's Union".