The Economic Ethic Criticism In Economic&Philosophical Manuscripts Of1844

During the past three decades after the reform and opening-up policy, Chinawitnessed brilliant achievements in market economy construction, which attractedworldwide attention. In the meantime, a number of social ethics problems concerned tothe citizens emerged in their economic life, such as widening income gap, lack ofcredibility, irrational consumption and so forth. In response to such problems, China’scontemporary economic ethics develops progressively together with the reform andopening-up; however, it is far from a mature discipline. In such practical and theoreticalsettings, it has important theoretical value and practical meaning to study Marx’s earlywork Economic&Philosophical Manuscripts of1844(hereinafter referred to asthe Manuscripts).The Manuscripts is the preliminary results of Marx’s studies to economics,meanwhile it manifested obvious ethics elements. To analyze the economic ethiccriticism in it, we should know the specific content and inner logic based on themanuscripts. The Manuscripts seems to be criticism to national economics, instead, itvirtually makes overall criticism to the inevitable economic ethics situation of theeconomic entity in capitalist world while alienated labor is the core concept.According to Marx, the whole process of social production can be divided into fourparts, namely, production, exchange, distribution and consumption. Based on Marx’stheory of social production process, this essay discusses the theoretical content ofeconomic ethnic criticism in the Manuscripts in the theoretical frame of production,exchange, distribution and consumption. In production, the laborers have fouralienations, i.e. the alienation between laborer and the product, laborer and the laborprocess, laborer and human nature, and laborer and the people. During the exchangeprocess, private properties are alienated to tools and lose their physical nature; humanbeings regard private properties as merely tools but are enslaved; even worse, theytransfer the human nature and capacity to currency in the exchange with currency asintermediary, which makes currency become a ruling power. In distribution, Marxpoints out workers are in absolute poverty and the economic entities have unequaleconomic status, while the laborer’s labor alienation itself is the underlying cause. Inconsumption, the diversified relations between the consumers and the objects descend to mere sense of passion, and the normal and rational demand is replaced bydesires. Through the above-mentioned economic ethic criticism,theManuscripts disclose the inner inevitable economic ethics situation in the economicentities, i.e. in capitalist economic conditions that take alienated labor and privateproperties as premises, any economic entity is descending in the ethnic situation oflosing itself and being enslaved any time, while the reason beneath is the unreasonablenature of capitalist economy.To thoroughly understand the economic ethic criticism in the Manuscripts, we needto know the features, dialectical logic and realistic demands properly. The rationalthoughts in the strong economic ethic criticism of the Manuscripts can be furtherelaborated from the following three aspects, i.e. unity of criticism stand and theoreticalcontribution, unity of rational thoughts and realistic analysis, and unity of ethicdemands and theoretical system. The discussion on historical materialism inthe Manuscripts may be regarded as the logical development of the dialectical criticism,if we inspect it in the view of economic ethic criticism, i.e. communism directs to theeconomic ethic situation of the economic entity after the alienated labor is sublated andthe alienation of capitalist economy has its historical necessity. Being the realisticdemands hidden in the economic ethic criticism in the Manuscripts, freedom, honesty,equality and rationality should be interpreted in the context of private propertiessublation.The economic ethic criticism in the Manuscripts has essential realistic meaning. Interms of theoretical value, it is the important recourses of thoughts to develop thecontemporary economic ethics in China and helpful to the basic theory studies of thediscipline. In terms of practical value, the economic ethic criticism will direct us tocorrect the specific economic ethic problems in present socialist market economyconstruction. The production field coordinates the relationship between the laborer andlabor elements, the exchange filed discloses the in-depth reason for lack of credibility,the distribution filed adjusts the economic relationship between different economicentities and the consumption field advocates rational consumption.