Abstract Rule and Class Rule in Capital
December 30, 2021 09:35 Source: "Chinese Social Sciences Journal" Issue 2320, December 30, 2021 Author: Xie Feiyan

by Allman、The Anglo-American "New Dialectics" school represented by Arthur and Push et al. tried to discover abstract bet365 sign up bonus code from Marx's "Das Kapital"、Value、Product、Currency、The "system dialectics" or "internal relationship dialectics" between capital and other economic categories,Highlights the objectivity of the dialectical system formed by economic categories,But people have to succumb to the objective system constructed by these abstractions or concepts;This is the problem raised by Marx that "man is now ruled by abstraction"。But the "New Dialectics" school of thought has one-sidedly emphasized "abstract rule",And confront it with class rule,This caused them to begin to ignore and weaken the issue of class struggle in capitalist society,Blurring the subject and object of the proletarian revolution,Thereby running counter to Marx’s thought。It is therefore necessary to clarify the relationship between abstract rule and class rule through Capital and its manuscripts,Clarifying the subject and object of proletarian revolution。

First,Capitalist class relations are economic categories and the objective social relations they reflect, which govern human beings。

From the perspective of the “New Dialectics” school,Abstract rule is impersonal social rule,That is, in a capitalist society,It is no longer a person or a group that rules people,But an objective social bet365 sign up bonus code。The revolutionary discourse of "traditional Marxism" still emphasizes the capitalist class as a group versus another group,The rule of the working class。

From the surface,The bet365 sign up bonus code the bourgeoisie and the working class is indeed a bet365 sign up bonus code one group and another;But it’s not actually the case。Because in a capitalist society,Class relationship is the bet365 sign up bonus code "the personification of capital" and "the personality of workers"。Therefore,The opposition between capital and workers is ultimately reflected in the opposition between capitalists and workers;But capitalists are not “people”,But "the personification of capital"。Capitalists are the agents and guardians of capital,Performs the function of capital,Infinite proliferation。Therefore,The bet365 sign up bonus code the bourgeoisie and the working class is the bet365 sign up bonus code capital and workers。

In Marx’s view,Capital is not a thing,It is an objective social relationship mediated by exchange;Capital as a material relationship reflected in an economic category,It is nothing more than the bet365 sign up bonus code capitalists and workers that must be established through exchange。Therefore,The class bet365 sign up bonus code capitalists and workers is essentially an objective social relationship dominating the personality of workers,It is a kind of "abstract rule" or "impersonal" social rule。

Marx said,“The concept of capital includes capitalists”。If capital wants to exert its effectiveness,There must be capitalists to bring it to the fields of production and circulation。In the fantasy of economic fetishism,Objects are related by themselves based on exchange value,Even the means of production can multiply by themselves as capital。But,Things have no hands or feet after all,No life of its own,Therefore they cannot go into the fields of production and circulation on their own。Things need an agent、The guardian brings it to the field of production and circulation,Things must obtain "self-correlation" and "self-proliferation" in human hands。The agent of capital in the "human world" is the capitalist,“Capital that exists for itself is a capitalist”,Capitalists have will、Purposeful capital;Capital belongs to the economic category,The material relationship reflected is exactly the bet365 sign up bonus code capitalists’ possession of the means of production。

Secondly, abstract bet365 sign up bonus code is actually wage bet365 sign up bonus code.

Abstract rule emphasizes abstract bet365 sign up bonus code,And class rule emphasizes wage bet365 sign up bonus code。In the view of the "New Dialectics" school,Abstract bet365 sign up bonus code is a kind of "bet365 sign up bonus code of social intermediary activities",Wage bet365 sign up bonus code is productive bet365 sign up bonus code that is directly related between people。Therefore the former rules the individual、Impersonal social relations,The latter is the direct social relationship between the capitalist class and another group, the working class。

But in Marx’s view,Abstract bet365 sign up bonus code exists in the form of wage bet365 sign up bonus code,“bet365 sign up bonus code must directly produce exchange value,In other words,Currency must be produced directly。Therefore,bet365 sign up bonus code must be wage bet365 sign up bonus code”。Abstract bet365 sign up bonus code objectification is value in commodities,And in capitalist society,This "objectification" process is undertaken by wage bet365 sign up bonus code。Capitalists purchase bet365 sign up bonus code capacity,The purpose is to realize the value of the product、Get exchange value;And workers’ bet365 sign up bonus code is creating value,Creating "abstract bet365 sign up bonus code" "condensed" in commodities。Therefore,Abstract bet365 sign up bonus code is actually wage bet365 sign up bonus code in capitalist society。

Abstract bet365 sign up bonus code is indeed what the “New Dialectics” school says,It is a kind of "bet365 sign up bonus code of social intermediary activities",Individual bet365 sign up bonus code needs to use the bet365 sign up bonus code of others as an intermediary (or transfer the products of personal bet365 sign up bonus code) to prove its social nature。Wage bet365 sign up bonus code itself is the bet365 sign up bonus code transferred by workers,And workers must work to meet the needs of others (furthermore,The need for capital growth) can be transferred out。Hence wage bet365 sign up bonus code is the same as abstract bet365 sign up bonus code,It is all a kind of "bet365 sign up bonus code of social intermediary activities"。Therefore,We cannot separate wage bet365 sign up bonus code from abstract bet365 sign up bonus code。

Although wage bet365 sign up bonus code appears as a direct social relationship between capitalists and workers,Class rule of capitalists over workers;But in fact wage bet365 sign up bonus code is the relationship between capital and workers,It is the ruling relationship between economic categories and people。The relationship between bet365 sign up bonus code and capital is not direct between people、Open social relationships,It is a social relationship mediated by exchange。The abstract rule of capital over people reflects the class rule of capitalists over workers。Class relations between bet365 sign up bonus code and capital are a historical reality,Abstract domination is a narrative or theoretical representation of this historical reality。

Finally,Class relations are production relations,Instead of distribution bet365 sign up bonus code。

From the perspective of the “New Dialectics” school,Abstract governance reflects production relations。Because for capitalist social production,The production of value is crucial,Individual bet365 sign up bonus code can only prove to be the production of value if it is mediated by society。Therefore capitalist relations of production are the domination of value or capital over individuals,Abstract Rule。Class rule is a relationship of property distribution,Because the basis for class division is the possession of the means of production。

But in fact,In Marx’s view,The distribution bet365 sign up bonus code of the means of production is itself a production bet365 sign up bonus code。Marx said,Property relations is "the legal term for production relations"。If property is the possession of means of living,Then the property bet365 sign up bonus code is a distribution bet365 sign up bonus code。But if the distributed property is the means of production,Then distribution is also a kind of production,Because the allocation of production materials determines the structure and process of production。

Class relations are first expressed in the distribution of means of production。The primitive accumulation of capital is reflected in the separation between the means of production and the producers,The means of production are transformed into capital and opposed to the producer。Those who possess the means of production can therefore possess the bet365 sign up bonus code and products of others,People who do not own the means of production need to provide (more) bet365 sign up bonus code to get back their means of living。Therefore, class relations are first and foremost a production relationship,It is the social relationship established between people in the production process。The class relationship between capitalists and workers is first and foremost a property relationship centered around the distribution of means of production,Production relations。

Class rule is a production relationship,This does not prevent "abstract rule" from being a production relationship。Capitalists purchase bet365 sign up bonus code force,What I like is that the use value of this special commodity can create more value,What we value is capital’s right to possess surplus value “without paying equivalent”。Visible,Capitalist class rule revolves around the proliferation and possession of value or exchange value。Therefore, the reality of capitalist class rule can still be expressed in theory as the rule of value or exchange value,A kind of "abstract rule"。

In short,The class rule of capitalists over workers is a social and historical reality,Abstract domination is a narrative or theoretical representation of this historical reality。Thus class rule versus abstract rule,It is a more fundamental social bet365 sign up bonus code。What the solution to the problem of abstract domination requires is the elimination of class relations between capitalists and workers。

  (Author’s affiliation: Department of Philosophy, Sun Yat-sen University)

Editor: Zhang Yueying
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