On Marx’s Criticism Of Classical Liberal Theory Of Property Rights

Marx’s property right theory originates from his criticism of the classical liberal property right theory.The research and exploration of this criticism itself is conducive to a clearer and deeper understanding of Marx’s Sublation of private property(right)under the capitalist mode of production from the perspective of political economy,as well as his understanding of the relationship between ownership and private property right.According to the two approaches of the development of classical liberalism private property right theory and Marx’s criticism of classical liberalism private property right,this paper selects three classical liberalism thinkers(Locke,Smith and Hegel)to investigate the source and maintenance of private property right.Locke proposed that natural law gives people the ownership of their own person,and the labor that dominates their own person confirms the initial private property right.Smith then abstracts the general labor and determines it as the essence of wealth and the measure of commodity value.Hegel made the individual subjective will obtain the external form and the private property right in the sense of establishing legal right through labor.The three classical liberal thinkers all believe that it is the duty of the state or government to safeguard private property rights,and private property rights should be guaranteed through legislation.Based on the reality of economic and material life,through the criticism of Hegel’s philosophy of law,Marx found that it is private property rights that determine the state and law rather than the opposite.He revealed that the labor of classical liberal thinkers has taken place human labor and human alienation under the capitalist mode of production.Therefore,Marx entered the field of political economics and discussed the relationship between ownership or private property rights from the capitalist production relations.He believed that the division of labor led to human alienation,the surplus value created by workers was occupied by capitalists,and the law of commodity ownership was also transformed into the law of capitalist possession.Therefore,he proposed to abolish the bourgeois ownership and establish individual ownership on the premise of the demise of private ownership.Combined with Marx’s criticism of the property right theory of classical liberalism,this paper attempts to pay preliminary attention to the two theories of modern liberalism,that is,Hayek’s maintenance of private property rights based on the priority of individual freedom,and Rawls’ s equal distribution of basic social values based on the two principles of justice as fairness.Marx’s criticism of liberalism and the ideological dialogue between them provide rich theoretical resources and principled judgments for reflection and reference for China in the socialist stage to realize the protection of citizens’ private property rights in accordance with the law,effectively develop the economy of multiple ownership on the basis of public ownership,promote national economic prosperity,and enable all citizens to lead to more substantive freedom,equality and common prosperity through deepening reform.