The theory of capital,which reveals the essence of the capitalist mode of production,has long been regarded as the main content of Marx’s political economy and has also received more attention and research,but studies that directly focus on the theory of commodities are still lacking and need further research and exploration.In the real world,what people intuit is not capital but a wide range of commodities,and the production and exchange of commodities is one of the most important economic activities in the world today,and an understanding of these activities and the cult of commodities,which is closely related to these activities,is inseparable from a grasp of commodity theory.The study of commodities is thus essential,not only for a comprehensive understanding of Marx’s economic theory,but also to confront the very dazzling landscape of today’s society.Clarifying the concept and its presuppositions is the basis for discussion.By defining Marx’s theory of the commodity as a theory of the nature of the commodity,production and exchange,we grasp the main content of Marx’s theory of the commodity and lay the foundation for grasping Marx’s theory of the commodity from a historical materialist perspective.By defining historical materialism as a theory that reveals the world on the basis of man’s historical activity and transforms it in pursuit of his emancipation,we not only understand the essence of historical materialism,but also provide a point of convergence between commodity and historical materialism in terms of man’s historical activity.Defining the content of Marx’s theory of the commodity in the context of historical materialism lays the foundation for grasping the commodity in the context of historical materialism and presenting the historical materialist content of Marx’s theory of the commodity in the context of historical materialism.At the same time,the exposition of the nature and forms of commodities discussed by Marx and the theoretical orientation of Marx’s study of commodities provides a useful aid to a more accurate grasp of Marx’s theory of commodities in the context of historical materialism.Marx looks at the whole of human society and examines the general content of the theory of the commodity from the perspective of the whole of human society.Through an examination of human historical activity and production,Marx reveals the division of labour and private ownership,the two basic conditions that shape the production of commodities,and historically explains the emergence of commodities.In his analysis of the commodity as a mundane thing,Marx discovered that the commodity contains two elements,use value and value,which have their roots in the duality of human labour,thus scientifically explaining the relationship between the commodity and labour and laying the theoretical foundation for further explanation of the contradictions of the commodity and their resolution.The analysis of the contradiction between the two elements of the commodity and the different nature of the labour that produces this contradiction shows that exchange is the key link that brings these contradictions into opposition and unity.On the basis of his scientific account of the contradiction of the commodity,Marx,through his analysis of the contradiction of the commodity,in particular the introduction of the dialectical contradiction of content and form,scientifically explained the conditions of formation and the mechanism by which the fetishism of the commodity occurs,unraveling the incredible riddle of commodity society.Further,Marx reveals the temporary nature of the conditions for the existence of the commodity and the inevitability of the social form that replaces it,thus clarifying the stages of the commodity in the process of human historical development.Focusing on capitalist society,Marx uses the commodity as an entry point for the analysis of capitalist society,thus realising a concrete application of the theory of the commodity.The two works on political economy published by Marx in the 1850 s and1860s,Critique of Political Economy-Volume I and Capital-Volume I,both start their analysis of capitalist society in the context of commodities.Firstly,Marx used the commodity as an entry point to analyse the contradictions of capitalist society,analysing how the contradictions of the commodity unfold in capitalist society as the fundamental contradictions of capitalism and the intrinsic connection between these two contradictions.Secondly,Marx follows the scientific method and uses the commodity as the entry point for the analysis of capitalist society.Based on the methods of post hoc thinking,scientific abstraction and reality-based approach,Marx discusses the necessity of using the commodity as the entry point for the analysis of capitalist society from various perspectives.Finally,by deepening his study of political economy and political economy narratives,Marx establishes the commodity as the starting point of the political economy system of theoretical outcomes of the analysis of capitalist society,both in the restructuring of the system and in his practical writing.Marx’s study of the commodity not only delves into economic and historical facts,but also rises to the level of historical materialism,which he elaborates from the commodity.In his discussion of the commodity economy as an economic form in relation to certain relations of production and the capitalist mode of production,and in his discussion of the relationship between commodity production and exchange and forms of consciousness of freedom and equality,Marx expounded the dialectic of the fundamental contradictions of social history.In his examination of commodity exchange and its historical role,Marx elucidates the problem of the dynamics of socio-historical development by clarifying the idea that commodity exchange is not only a driving force for historical development,but also an important driving force for the formation of world history.In his examination of the development of the production and exchange of commodities,Marx reveals the impact they have on human development,revealing the important role of commodities in satisfying human needs,the fact of human alienation they cause and the prospect of promoting the free development of human beings,demonstrating the care and attention given to human beings.In his analysis of commodity production and exchange,Marx also elucidates the rich socio-historical dialectic they contain and recounts it in dialectical terms.Marx’s study of the commodity is of great value,both in theory and in practice.Marx studied the commodity in the context of the social-historical process,explaining the idea that the commodity emerges from history and will naturally perish in history,and that the conditions of its extinction will naturally arise in history just as the conditions of its creation.This multidimensional interpretation of the commodity places it in a larger theoretical perspective,thus providing a new perspective on the relationship between Marx’s theory of the commodity and the theory of political economy as a whole,as well as Marxist theory as a whole,and providing a new entry point for grasping Marx as a whole.In the wake of Marx,commodities such as financial commodities and digital commodities,which have become deflated,and commodities such as symbolic commodities and meaningful commodities,which have fallen into illusion,have emerged,and Marx’s theory of commodities in the context of historical materialism can provide an important support for examining these new forms of commodities and analysing them scientifically and correctly.The general content and specific laws of Marx’s theory of commodities are of great theoretical value for the better development of socialist commodity economies and the improvement of socialist market economies today.At the same time,Marx’s approach to the study of commodities and his consideration of the logical starting point of the political economy system have important methodological implications for responding to the call of General Secretary Xi Jinping and the needs of the times to build a socialist political economy with Chinese characteristics. |