The Initial Formation Of Marxism Morality

A debate about Marxist morality generated in the school of Analytical Marxism has led to an academic discussion on whether there is a moral dimension in Marxist thought.In response to this question,western scholars have given different answers.But whether the supporters of“The Tucker-Wood thesis”,or the defenders who support Marx's moral theory,there is an abstract,eternal and universally applicable moral concept staying in their research results.So,how does Marx understand morality and whether he uses this eternal moral concept have become two important questions are well worth studying.Only by clarifying the issue can we respond clearly to this controversy.To study Marxist moral theory,we must first return to the real context of historical materialism.However,previous studies in the German ideology often focused on the scientific dimension of historical materialism.In contrast,the study of the moral dimension of historical materialism is lacking.Therefore,it is of great significance to examine the starting point of Marxist moral philosophy from the perspective of historical materialism.In the chapter of“St.Max”,Marx made a profound critique on Stirner's philosophy.Stirner's “the Ego”philosophy is an egoistic moral philosophy based on a critique of Feuerbach's and Hegel's philosophy.But in Marx's view,Stirner's philosophy was his lengthy and hollow moral preaching from a petty-bourgeois position.Marx's critique was not only directed at the weakness of moral preaching,but also at the philosophical nature of Stirner's fantasy and idealism as a petty-bourgeoisie.And Marx's critique of Stirner is the application of historical materialist worldview and methodology.Marxist morality is no longer an illusion in the mind,nor a split of the essence and phenomenon.It is the unification of facts and values.It is the morality of Marx based on the scientific analysis of the development of real society.It is the moral that based on the “real individual” and takes human freedom and comprehensive development as the starting point.It is a moral concept that has social,historical,developmental,and class characteristics.Therefore,we cannot use constant moral principles to demonstrate theconstancy of the capitalist mode of production,nor can we justify the rationality of capitalism with the concept that what conforms to the mode of production is just.Marxist morality is historical and concrete,and it is about the freedom of human beings.Morality is not Marx's betrayal of scientific theory.Instead,morality is an inherent dimension of historical materialism.It is the moral that accompanied with the historical materialism.