Marx’s Epistemology of Time

Time occupies a very important position in Marx’s entire theoretical system and is a crucial entry point for interpreting Marx’s ethical thought. Before Marx, Newton constructed a mechanistic theoretical system through his definition of absolute time, incorporating the entire world into the explanatory model of mechanical dynamics. Kant, on the other hand, took the opposite approach, pulling time back into the subjective cognitive model of human beings, making it part of synthetic a priori judgments. Subsequent thinkers such as Hegel and Feuerbach, although they each conducted their own unique studies of time, essentially oscillated between these two viewpoints to varying degrees. Marx opened up a third path for thinking about time, namely, through the method of dialectical materialism and historical materialism, incorporating time into the dialectical unity between subject and object. This is not only a scientific path but also provides direction for understanding the ethical nature of time.

时间在马克思的整个思想理论体系中占有十分重要的地位，是解读马克思伦理思想的一个重要切入点。在马克思之前，牛顿通过对绝对时间的定义建构出了机械论的理论体系，将整个世界纳入机械力学的解释模式之中。康德则反其道而行之，将时间拉回到人的主观认知模式中，成为先天综合判断的一部分。其后的黑格尔、费尔巴哈等人虽也对时间做出了各自独特的研究，但都是在这两种观点之间作不同程度的摇摆而已。马克思开辟了第三条思考时间的道路，即通过辩证唯物主义和历史唯物主义方法，将时间纳入主客体关系之间的辩证统一之中。这不仅是科学的道路，而且为认识时间的伦理性提供了方向。

Time is the active existence of human beings

时间是人的积极存在

Marx defines the essence of time as follows: time is actually the active existence of human beings; it is not only the measure of human life but also the space for human development. Clearly, “active existence” corresponds to passive existence, and passive existence is the passive adaptation to natural laws. As a special kind of being in nature, humans, compared with other beings, possess subjective initiative, that is, they can actively and proactively utilize natural laws on the basis of following them. In his book *Dialectics of Nature*, Engels put forward an important proposition: “Labor created man himself.” According to Engels’s exposition, labor prompted humans to walk upright, to manufacture tools, to promote the enrichment of language and the development of thought, and to establish increasingly complex social cooperative relations, thereby truly making humans “active beings.”

马克思将时间的本质界定为，时间实际上是人的积极存在，它不仅是人的生命的尺度，而且是人的发展空间。很显然，“人的积极存在”对应的是消极存在，而消极存在就是被动适应自然规律。人作为自然界的特殊存在者，与其他存在物相比具有主观能动性，即在遵循自然规律的基础上可以积极主动地利用自然规律。恩格斯在《自然辩证法》一书中提出了一个重要命题：“劳动创造了人本身。”按照恩格斯的论述，劳动促使人直立行走、制造生产工具、促进了语言的丰富与思维的发展，并建立了日益复杂的社会合作关系等，由此才使人真正地成为“积极的存在”。

Can we further determine that human social labor created time? The answer is yes.

我们是否可以进一步作出判定：人的社会劳动创造了时间。答案是肯定的。

Time is not a natural being; what exists in nature is merely the motion of different kinds of matter. Humans create time on the basis of grasping the rhythms of the motion of various kinds of matter, and in turn use it as a measure for themselves. Sunrise and sunset, the waxing and waning of the moon, the coming of cold and the passing of heat, the turning of the stars and the shifting of the constellations [1]1 A four-character idiom (斗转星移) describing the passage of time through celestial movements.. The “day” and “month” marked by humans were originally nothing more than markers of the rhythms of the motion of the sun and the moon. Only when this kind of rhythm is used as a certain “measure” to gauge other things and humans themselves does the concept of time begin to emerge. From the concepts of time among the world’s peoples, it can be found that the emergence of the concept of the “year” signifies the completion of the pre-modern concept of time. This is because, in production and daily life, humans’ grasp of the rhythms of the motion of things became increasingly rich, and a specific “rhythm” could no longer accommodate the diversity of various rhythms. Therefore, a “public rhythm” marked by the “year” was constructed to govern the natural order and the social order, thereby achieving the predictability and normativity of production and daily life.

时间不是自然存在物，自然界所存在的只不过是不同物质的运动，人类在把握各种物质运动节奏的基础上创造出时间，并反过来作为用以衡量自身的尺度。日出日落，月缺月圆，寒来暑往，斗转星移。人类所标记的“日”与“月”，最初也不过是标识太阳与月亮的运动节奏而已。只有将这种节奏作为某种“尺度”用以衡量其他事物以及人自身时，时间的概念才得以萌生。从世界各民族的时间中可以发现，“年”概念的产生才意味着前现代时间观念的完善。这是因为人类在生产生活中对事物运动节奏的把握日益丰富，某一具体的“节奏”已经无法容纳各种节奏的多样性，所以建构出以“年”为标志的“公共节奏”来统率自然秩序与社会秩序，进而实现生产生活的可预期性与可规范性。

The error of Newton’s absolute view of time lies precisely in substituting the “rhythm” of the motion of matter in the natural world for the “public rhythm” constructed by humans, thereby regarding time as an absolutely objective existence. Of course, the “absolute time” he abstracted, as a kind of “logical time,” provided a calculable tool for humans to understand natural laws more deeply, and it has undoubted significance. Kant did not acknowledge the absolute objectivity of Newtonian time; he attempted to define time from the perspective of human cognitive structure and cognitive ability, striving to highlight the “active” significance of human existence, but inevitably went to another extreme. Marx sublated [2]2 A Hegelian-Marxist term (Aufhebung) meaning to simultaneously cancel, preserve, and elevate. the two different absolute views of time of Newton and Kant, instead grasping the essence of time from human social practice, regarding time as a product of social practice, thereby bringing human understanding of time to a scientific level.

牛顿的绝对时间观的误区便在于以自然世界物质的运动“节奏”代替人类所建构出的“公共节奏”，从而将时间看成绝对客观的存在。当然，他所抽象出来的“绝对时间”作为一种“逻辑时间”，为人类更深入地认识自然规律提供了可计算的工具，具有不容置疑的意义。康德不承认牛顿时间的绝对客观性，他试图从人的认知结构、认知能力方面界定时间，力求突出人的存在的“积极”意义，不可避免地又走向了另一个极端。马克思扬弃了牛顿与康德两种不同的绝对时间观，而是从人的社会实践中把握时间的本质，将时间看成社会实践的产物，从而使人类对时间的认识达到了科学的层面。

Free time is the time for the full development of the individual

自由时间是使个人得到充分发展的时间

Free time is another important concept in Marx’s view of time. In order to reveal the secret of capitalists exploiting workers, Marx, when analyzing the “cell” (the commodity) of capitalist society, creatively put forward concepts such as “labor time” and “socially necessary labor time,” measuring the value of commodities by time. “To see value simply as the congelation of labor time, as objectified labor, is of decisive importance for understanding value in general; equally, to see surplus value simply as the congelation of surplus labor time, as objectified surplus labor, is of decisive importance for understanding surplus value.” [3]3 Marx, *Capital*, Vol. 1, Chapter 16. In Marx’s view, it is precisely by appropriating the surplus labor time of workers that the capitalist realizes the appropriation of surplus value, thereby achieving the valorization of capital.

自由时间是马克思时间观的又一个重要概念。马克思为揭示资本家剥削工人的秘密，在对资本主义社会的“细胞”（商品）进行分析时，创造性地提出了“劳动时间”“社会必要劳动时间”等概念，将商品的价值用时间来衡量。“把价值看作只是劳动时间的凝结，只是对象化的劳动，这对于认识价值一般具有决定性的意义，同样，把剩余价值看作只是剩余劳动时间的凝结，只是对象化的剩余劳动，这对于认识剩余价值也具有决定性的意义。”在马克思看来，资本家正是通过占有工人的剩余劳动时间来实现对剩余价值的占有，从而实现资本的增殖。

The natural time of 24 hours per day is fixed, but the worker’s labor time is divided into two parts: one part is used to exchange for the price of his own labor power, and the other part, as surplus labor time, is appropriated by the capitalist without compensation. Thus, apart from necessary physiological time such as eating and sleeping, the worker has very little “disposable time” left. From the perspective of the development of human society, “creating disposable time, that is, creating time for the production of science, art, etc.” [4]4 Marx, *Grundrisse*, Notebook VII. is an inevitable requirement of social progress and the elevation of civilization. In this way, free time becomes a social ethical issue with profound implications. Fighting for more free time for workers thus becomes a practical problem that the ethics of time must confront.

每天24个小时的自然时间是确定的，工人的劳动时间却分为两部分，一部分用以交换自身的劳动力价格，另一部分作为剩余劳动时间被资本家无偿占有。这样，除去吃饭、休息等必要的生理时间之外，工人用于“可自由支配的时间”便所剩无几。而从人类社会发展的角度来说，“创造可以自由支配的时间，也就是创造产生科学、艺术等等的时间”乃是社会进步、文明提升的必然要求。这样，自由时间便成为具有浓厚意蕴的社会伦理问题。为工人争取更多的自由时间，也就成为时间伦理学必须面对的现实问题。

First, free time is manifested as leisure time, that is, time when people can enjoy life easily and happily. This is necessary for both the individual and society. Humans are a synthesis of rationality and sensibility; they need not only work but also leisure. Lenin once said that those who do not know how to rest do not know how to work. Only in leisure can the value of labor and the essence of human beings be more truly embodied. Society also needs more people who have leisure time; only then can the service industry and cultural industries develop, and the level of social civilization continuously improve.

首先，自由时间是作为休闲时间而表现的，即人们可以轻松、愉快地享受生活的时间。这无论是对于个人还是社会来说，都是必要的。人是理性与感性的综合体，不仅需要工作，也需要休闲。列宁曾说，不会休息就不会工作。只有在休闲之中才能更真切地体现劳动的价值、人的本质。社会也同样需要更多拥有休闲时间的人，如此服务业、文化行业才能得到发展，社会文明水平才能不断提升。

Second, free time exists as right time, that is, time when people can break free from the shackles of capital and arrange their own time freely and autonomously. In this regard, Marx strongly criticized the right time of capitalist society, saying: “Time is the space for human development. A man who has no free time to dispose of, whose whole lifetime, apart from the purely physical interruptions of sleep, meals, etc., is consumed by his labor for the capitalist, is less than a beast of burden. He is a mere machine for producing wealth for others.” [5]5 Marx, *Value, Price and Profit*, Chapter 6. Clearly, this requires the support of the social distribution system, that is, people’s normal labor time must be able to exchange for more material goods for life consumption; it also requires the support of scientific and technological development, that is, continuously shortening socially necessary labor time through technological development, so that the value condensed in commodities per unit of time can increase.

其次，自由时间是作为权利时间而存在的，即人们可以挣脱资本的束缚，自由、自主地安排自己的时间。对此，马克思曾强烈地批判资本主义社会的权利时间，他说：“时间是人类发展的空间，一个人如果没有自己处置的自由时间，一生中除睡眠饮食等纯生理上必需的间断以外，都是替资本家服务，那么，他就还不如一头载重的牲畜。他不过是一架为别人生产财富的机器。”很显然，这需要社会分配制度的支持，也就是说，人们的正常劳动时间必须能够换来更多用以生活消费的物质资料；同时也需要科学技术发展的支持，即通过科技发展不断缩短社会必要劳动时间，使单位时间内凝结在商品之中的价值得以增长。

Finally, the essence of free time is proposed as ethical time. In Marx’s view of time, free time can only be truly obtained after overthrowing the capitalist social system, eradicating private ownership, and realizing communist society. This proletarian revolution in which communist society replaces capitalism is not only the liberation of humanity but can also be called the “liberation of time.” Free time, more importantly, signifies the realization of a revolution in time, because it includes not only leisure time and right time but also “time for education, for the development of intellectual abilities, for the fulfillment of social functions, for social intercourse, for the free play of the vital forces of his body and his mind.” [6]6 Marx, *Capital*, Vol. 1, Chapter 15, Section 4. This, of course, includes “labor time,” but after the overthrow of the capitalist system, “labor has become not only a means of life but life’s prime want.” [7]7 Marx, *Critique of the Gotha Programme*, Part I. Labor in this sense is the action of the individual fulfilling social responsibilities, the action of the individual realizing social value, and the aesthetic action of spiritual pleasure.

最后，自由时间的本质是作为伦理时间而提出的。在马克思的时间观中，自由时间只有在推翻资本主义社会制度，铲除私有制，实现共产主义社会之后才能真正获得。这一共产主义社会取代资本主义的无产阶级革命，不仅是人的解放，也可以说是“时间的解放”。自由时间，更重要的意义是实现时间上的革命，因为它不仅包含着休闲时间、权利时间，也包括“个人受教育的时间，发展智力的时间，履行社会职能的时间，进行社交活动的时间，自由运用体力和智力的时间”。这里，当然包括“劳动时间”，只不过在推翻资本主义制度之后，“劳动已经不仅仅是谋生的手段，而且本身成了生活的第一需要”。这种意义上的劳动，是个人履行社会责任的行动、个人实现社会价值的行动和精神愉悦的审美行动。

Time is the measure of human life

时间是人的生命尺度

We use age to record the length of life, use years, months, days, and hours to arrange the rhythm of life, and use the amount of value of labor at a specific point in time to measure the meaning of life. These are all answers contained within natural time and social time. However, as the measure of human life, the ethical significance of time is even more profound.

我们用年龄来记录生命长度，用年、月、日、时来安排生命节奏，用特定时点上劳动的价值量来衡量生命的意义，这些都是自然时间、社会时间所内含着的答案。但是，作为人的生命尺度，时间的伦理性意义更加深远。

Time can be divided into natural time, social time, and logical time (abstract time). As a measure of the scale of human life, how must time be determined in order to realize its actuality? This involves the relationship among the three. Generally speaking, social time is based on natural time; natural time, as the rhythm of motion of objective matter, is in turn a result of human cognition; and logical time is the abstract time constructed by human beings on the basis of natural time and social time, and is time in the philosophical sense. Although we can measure different kinds of time with different time scales in different senses, human beings, as products of nature, also have the limits of their own life rhythms. We usually use the term “biological clock” to express the rhythm of human life. With the development of science and technology, cognitive tools continue to advance, human understanding of natural rhythms deepens, and the “basic unit of time” as a “scale” becomes ever smaller. From years, months, days, hours, minutes, and seconds to milliseconds, microseconds, nanoseconds, picoseconds, and so on in the modern high-tech field, “social acceleration” has become an unstoppable trend, and the natural rhythm of human beings increasingly fails to keep pace with the rhythm of the intelligent society. The “tyranny of time” of capitalist society that Marx criticized is gradually transforming into a “tyranny of time” dominated by intelligent machines. If the “tyranny of time” is to be broken through a social revolution that overthrows the capitalist social system, then Marx also provides a very valuable methodological inspiration for our thinking on how to break the “tyranny of time” dominated by intelligent machines.

时间可以被划分为自然时间、社会时间和逻辑时间（抽象时间）。作为衡量人的生命尺度的时间，如何确定才能实现其现实性？这里涉及三者之间的关系。一般来说，社会时间是以自然时间为基础的，自然时间作为客观物质的运动节奏又是人的认识的结果，而逻辑时间则是人类以自然时间、社会时间为基础所建构出来的抽象时间，是哲学意义上的时间。尽管我们可以在不同的意义上用不同的时间尺度来衡量不同的时间，但是，人作为自然的产物，其自身也存在着生命节奏的限度。我们通常用“生物钟”来表达人的生命节奏，随着科学技术的发展，认识工具不断进步，人类对自然节奏的认识也不断深入，作为“尺度”的“基本时间单位”也越来越小。从年月日到时分秒，再到现代高科技领域的毫秒、微秒、纳秒、皮秒等，“社会加速”已成为不可遏制的趋势，人的自然节奏日益跟不上智能社会的节奏。马克思批判的资本主义社会的“时间的暴政”正在逐渐转化成以智能机器为主宰的“时间的暴政”。如果说，通过社会革命推翻资本主义社会制度来打破“时间的暴政”，那么如何打破以智能机器为主宰的“时间的暴政”，马克思也为我们的思考提供了非常有价值的方法论启示。

(The author is a professor at the School of Politics and Public Administration, Soochow University.)

（作者系苏州大学政治与公共管理学院教授）

Online editor: Huihui

网络编辑：慧慧