How Marxism Understands "Subjectivity"
In the long history of philosophical thought, subjectivity has always been the focus of thinkers' attention and thinking. Protagoras proposed that "man is the measure of all things", which shows the initial awakening of the understanding of human subjectivity. In modern times, philosophers such as Descartes, Kant, and Hegel have conducted more in-depth discussions on subjectivity. From their own theoretical perspectives, they emphasized human rationality, self-consciousness, free will, etc., and based on this, they built the modern "subjective metaphysics". So, how does the Marxist subjectivity thought realize the criticism and transcendence of the metaphysical subjectivity thought? Or how to understand "subjectivity" from the Marxist perspective?
Marx stood on the position of exalting subjectivity very early. In his doctoral thesis, Marx realized that individuals can also get rid of the constraints of necessity imposed on them by the outside world through the awakening of self-consciousness through the study of Epicurus' atomic deflection movement, and gain autonomy and freedom. He wrote:
"For ancient people, the role of nature is a prerequisite, while for modern people, the role of spirit is a prerequisite."
In ancient times, people often regarded nature as the decisive factor in human destiny, and awe and compliance with nature were important characteristics of ancient people's lives. Since modern times, the rapid development of science and technology has revealed the huge potential of human beings. Human beings are no longer completely subject to the limitations of nature.
They are not only capable of transcending the constraints of nature, but also able to actively explore and transform nature. Here, we can clearly feel the tendency of young Marx's thought to promote subjectivity with self-consciousness, "recognizing that human self-consciousness is the highest divinity of all gods in heaven and on earth", and he affirmed the autonomy of self-consciousness against necessity. In this sense, it can be said that Marx's autonomy thought was influenced by the self-consciousness philosophy of the young Hegel school headed by Powell. But it should be pointed out that Marx was not completely captured by Hegel. He believed that individual autonomy and freedom were not isolated and absolute. Through "freedom in being", he launched a criticism of Epicurus' abstract view of freedom and demonstrated his transcendence of Hegel and other Young Hegelians.In Marx's view, the formation of human subjectivity is based on the distinction between object consciousness and self-consciousness. Marx pointed out:
"Animals and their life activities are directly identical. Animals do not distinguish themselves from their life activities. They are this life activity. Man makes his life activity itself the object of his will and consciousness. His life activity is conscious."
The relationship between animals and their life activities is direct and natural, and their actions are often based on heredity and instinct; while humans not only have life activities, but can also elevate their life activities to the level of consciousness. It can be said that it is this distinction between object consciousness and self-consciousness that lays the foundation for the formation of human subjectivity. When people can clearly regard their lives as the objects of consciousness and distinguish between objects and themselves in consciousness, it means that humans have transcended the instinctive drive of animals and began to clarify their subject status. Therefore, human life activities become conscious and purposeful, and it becomes possible to understand oneself and change the external world. It is the existence of this subjectivity that enables "people to know how to produce according to the scale of any species, and to apply their internal scale to objects everywhere." Human production is no longer limited by the characteristics and needs of the specific species to which they belong, but is able to transcend their own natural attributes and biological limitations, master the characteristics and laws of "any species", and then use these laws to carry out production activities. By applying their own internal scale to objects, the products have human imprints, highlighting human subjectivity and creativity.
In Marx's subjectivity thought, the concept of practice occupies a core position. When we look back at the history of Marx's thought, we can see that his understanding of subjectivity has gradually left the philosophy of self-consciousness and returned from the subjective heaven to the real earth. It is through the concept of practice that Marx liberated "subjectivity" from abstract speculation, further cleared the "pure concept myth" left in Hegel's philosophy, and endowed subjectivity with more concrete and realistic connotations. Subjectivity does not exist abstractly in consciousness or spirit, but is embodied in people's real social practice activities. Practice is the bridge and bond that highlights people's subjectivity. He sharply criticized:
"What self-consciousness can set through its externalization is only materiality, that is, only abstract things, abstract things, not real things."
This sentence reflects Marx's profound insight into the relationship between reality and consciousness. Marx saw the limitations and abstractness of subjectivity thought in the philosophy of self-consciousness. They often equate subjectivity with "the inner nature of consciousness" and regard human subjectivity as a static existence enclosed in consciousness. They tend to attribute the realization process of the subject to the externalization setting of self-consciousness, so they cannot fully grasp the true face of the real world. Marx penetrated this "inner nature of consciousness" through "objective activities". He emphasized that "objects, reality, and sensibility" should be understood from "real, sensual activities themselves", and should be "understood as sensual human activities, as practices", and "understood from the subjective aspect". Objectivity, as the objectification of human essential power, constantly establishes practical connections between human beings and the external world. In this process, human beings transform the external world into objects that can be perceived, recognized and transformed, and at the same time establish their own subjective status.
Practice is not only the basis for understanding human subjectivity, but also the way to realize human subjectivity. In "Theses on Feuerbach", Marx pointed out:
"The change of environment and the coincidence of human activity or self-change can only be regarded as and reasonably understood as revolutionary practice." In the "revolutionary practice" activities, the exercise and realization of human subjectivity is not only reflected in the fact that people do not passively accept the constraints of the environment, but can actively adapt, interact and transform the environment according to their own purposes and wishes, so that the environment adapts to human needs; but also reflected in the self-improvement and self-transcendence of people themselves. In the process of practice, people as subjects can constantly reflect and adjust their own behaviors and strategies, and constantly improve their cognitive and practical abilities to adapt to changes in the environment and meet new needs.
The exercise of human subjectivity has thus gained a broader space. Marx and Engels further pointed out in "The German Ideology" that "therefore, the first historical activity is to produce the materials to meet these needs, that is, to produce material life itself." Therefore, the real history is not the history of ideological activities, nor the history of the development of spiritual subjectivity, but the history of material practice, and the history of the realization of the practical subjectivity of human productive labor. Because practical activities are always carried out under certain social and historical conditions, human subjectivity is also constantly changing with the development of social history. Subjectivity is a historical category formed and developed in sensory practice. If we talk about human subjectivity without considering the specific historical practical production activities, we will either regard human subjectivity as a priori and transcendental existence and fall into abstract speculation; or simplify human subjectivity into a physiological reaction or instinctive behavior and fall into the misunderstanding of mechanism.
Therefore, in the scientific vision of historical materialism and in the actual production practice, Marx truly restored the subjectivity obscured by self-consciousness and absolute spirit, and placed the realization of human subjectivity in the specific and historical production activities and the actual living conditions of human beings for examination and investigation. Subjectivity is historically generated in practice, constantly promoting new historical regulations to replace old historical regulations.
"The essence of man is not an abstract thing inherent in a single individual. In its reality, it is the sum of all social relations." Marxism's understanding of subjectivity is not only about changes in the environment and the self of a single individual. The social relations formed by people in production practice also have human nature and are an important manifestation of human subjectivity. In production practice, people form a rich and complex network of social relations through division of labor, cooperation, exchange and other means. To fully understand human subjectivity, we must go deep into human social relations. It is in this sense that Marx revealed the phenomenon of human subjectivity being suppressed and deprived under the capitalist mode of production. Workers are separated from the means of production and become appendages of machines. Their subjectivity is deprived in the labor process, and the fruits of their labor are occupied by capitalists without compensation, losing all possibilities of self-expression and self-realization. Under the capitalist mode of production, the labor of workers is no longer an autonomous and creative activity, but is alienated into a simple means of making a living. What they experience in labor is not self-realization and satisfaction, but physical fatigue and mental torture. Marx believed that in the historical stage of capitalism, people showed the power of subjectivity relative to external nature, and created productivity "more and greater than all the productivity created by all previous generations"; but at the same time, human subjectivity fell into a new trap of alienation and reification. Therefore, realizing individual subjectivity and achieving the leap from the "kingdom of necessity" to the "kingdom of freedom" became the lofty mission of Marxism. As Marx pointed out in "Capital":
"Beyond this kingdom of necessity, the development of human capabilities as an end in itself, the real kingdom of freedom, begins."
From this level, subjectivity is a desire and ability for people to break free from the constraints of nature, society and themselves and constantly achieve self-transcendence and self-liberation. He believed that in the communist society, people will break free from various restrictions and constraints, give full play to their initiative and creativity, and realize the goal of free and comprehensive development of human beings. Only then can individual subjectivity be truly realized.
In general, in the perspective of Marxism, subjectivity goes beyond the "closed link" of abstract speculation or self-consciousness and is deeply rooted in the actual production practice of human beings. The realization of human subjectivity is to liberate people from the blindness of natural relations and the slavery of social relations, constantly get rid of the domination of various necessities, and finally reach the ideal state of the communist "kingdom of freedom".
(Source: Study Times, April 22, 2024)
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