Reinterpreting The Law Of Beauty And Its Thoughts In The Paris Manuscripts

The Paris Manuscripts is an important works in Marx’s early years. Although it is not afamous works about aesthetics, it contains a lot of aesthetic thoughts. The Law of Beauty is one ofthe most significant theses. Domestic scholar Lu Meilin thinks that the famous thesis of the Lawof Beauty is the important theoretical cornerstone of the aesthetic mansion of Marxism. Domesticscholars have been arguing over the Law of Beauty for a long time since the1950s or1960s andhave achieved remarkable research results in the early21st century. For further knowledge andunderstanding of the Law of Beauty, this paper refers to the achievements made by other scholarsand reinterprets the Law of Beauty by combining an original Germany passage in the ParisManuscripts about the Law of Beauty and a translation in Marx and Engels Collected Workspublished by People’s Publishing House in2009. The reinterpreted contents include three aspects:First, analyzing and comparing the original Germany passage about the Law of Beauty with allkinds of Chinese translations. Second, reinterpreting two kinds of Scales, and the meaning and theapplicable scope of the Law of Beauty. Third, comparing the Law of Beauty proposed by theaestheticians before Marx with the one proposed by Marx. By reinterpreting the three aspectsabove, this paper considers the two kinds of Scale as the scale of human and the scale of animal,respectively. The scale of human is rational which mainly refers to value-rational, while the scaleof animal is its instinct itself. The Law of Beauty of Marx refers to the production rules of theproducts of beauty which are applicable to a wide range of human society. Compared to therelated thoughts of the Law of Beauty proposed by former aestheticians, the one proposed byMarx has a character of sublime.