From Production Logic To Capital Logi

Division of labor is an important concept in Marx’s philosophy.Different from classical political economy,Marx’s concept of division of labor is not only a basic concept for analyzing social production,but also an important category for understanding the laws of social history and discussing human liberation and all-round development on this basis.In the course of Marx’s thought,the formation of the idea of division of labor has gone through the following three stages.First,in his early writings,Marx criticized classical political economy from a humanistic perspective,arguing that the division of labor not only increases labor productivity,but also restricts human freedom and individuality.He linked the division of labor with labor,pointing out that the division of labor is the externalization and alienation of human activity and essential forces.Second,from the perspective of production logic,Marx linked the division of labor with historical development,pointed out that division of labor is the main force of historical development,and revealed that the division of labor has the dual attributes of productive forces and production relations.It is precisely because the division of labor has the property of production relations and can determine the status of people in production,so the division of labor will also lead to the alienation of labor.Finally,from the perspective of the logic of capital,Marx pointed out that the division of labor in the factory is a unique creation of capitalism,and unlike the previous form of division of labor,it makes the worker a link in the production chain,governed and dominated by capital,and produces surplus value for capitalism.Through the division of labor within the factory,surplus value,that is,capitalist exploitative relations,is continuously produced.It was on the basis of studying the division of labor that Marx gradually constructed the theory of historical materialism.First,on the basis of criticizing classical political economy,the theory of surplus value is proposed,revealing the hidden power relations behind economic phenomena.Secondly,by studying the capitalist nature of the division of labor in the factory,Marx completed a materialist interpretation of the historical laws of society(especially capitalist society),revealed the contradictions and temporaneity of capitalist society,and formed historical materialism.Finally,in analyzing the intrinsic relationship between the division of labor and capitalist production relations,Marx recognized the exploitative nature of the division of labor in the capitalist factory,and proposed that in order to achieve human liberation,it is first necessary to eliminate the division of labor.At the same time,because the division of labor is intrinsically related to private ownership:on the one hand,division of labor is the basis for the emergence of private ownership;On the other hand,it is only on the basis of private ownership that the division of labor takes on the character of slavery and oppression.Therefore,the abolition of the division of labor is also the abolition of private property.On this basis,human liberation can be truly achieved.In short,through the study of the division of labor,Marx analyzed the essence of capitalist society and its development law,formed a scientific explanation of social history,found the road to human liberation,and laid a solid theoretical foundation for the construction of a materialist view of history.