A Fourfold Perspective on the Construction of Marx’s Theory of Spiritual Production

“Spiritual production” is an important category that Marx proposed in the process of constructing the theory of communist society and the all-round development of the human person. For a long time, academic circles have conducted extensive research on the ideological content, formation process, important characteristics, and contemporary value of Marx’s theory of spiritual production, greatly enriching and developing it. To deepen research on issues in this field, to better grasp Marx’s theory of spiritual production as a whole, and to guide people in better studying, understanding, and applying it, it is necessary to analyze and grasp the multiple perspectives from which Marx’s theory of spiritual production is constructed.

“精神生产”是马克思在建构共产主义社会与人的全面发展理论过程中提出的重要范畴。长期以来，学界围绕马克思精神生产理论的思想内涵、形成过程、重要特征、时代价值等方面的内容展开广泛研究，极大地丰富和发展了马克思精神生产理论。深化对该领域问题的研究，从整体上更好地把握马克思精神生产理论，引导人们更好地学习、理解和运用马克思精神生产理论，有必要分析和把握马克思精神生产理论建构的多重视域。

I. Examining the History of Spiritual Production from the Perspective of the Social Division of Labor

一、从社会分工的视角考察精神生产的历史

Unlike earlier thinkers, who always proceeded from abstract concepts, universal categories, and speculative reason to explain the history of human spiritual production activity, Marx adhered to the standpoint and method of historical materialism, deeply investigating the historical connection between the social division of labor and human spiritual production activity, thereby placing the theory of spiritual production on a solid foundation of historical materialism. Marx believed that spiritual production is historical. In different historical stages, the content and form of spiritual production also differ. The examination of spiritual production is not an examination of general categories but must be understood and grasped in conjunction with specific historical stages and historical forms. In Marx’s view, the level of the social division of labor reflects the historical progress of human society and the state of its spiritual production: “The various stages of development in the division of labor are just so many different forms of ownership; i.e., each stage of the division of labor also determines the relations of individuals to one another with respect to the material, instrument, and product of labor” [1]1 Karl Marx and Frederick Engels, *The German Ideology*, in *Marx & Engels Collected Works*, Vol. 5 (Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1976), p. 32. The Chinese text cites the Chinese edition of the *Collected Works*; the English reference has been adjusted to the standard English edition. (p. 521), and “Division of labor only becomes truly such from the moment when a division of material and mental labor appears” [2]2 Ibid., p. 45. (p. 534). With the separation of mental labor from material labor, the division of labor becomes genuine, and thus the history of social spiritual production on the basis of different forms of ownership is formed.

与之前的思想家总是从抽象概念、普遍范畴、思辨理性出发来解释人类精神生产活动的历史不同，马克思坚持唯物史观的立场和方法，深入考察了社会分工与人类精神生产活动之间的历史联系，由此将精神生产理论建立在坚实的唯物史观基石之上。马克思认为，精神生产具有历史性。不同的历史阶段，精神生产的内容和形式也不相同。对精神生产的考察并非对一般范畴的考察，而要结合特定的历史阶段和历史形式来加以认识和把握。在马克思看来，社会分工的水平反映了人类社会历史进步及其精神生产的状况，“分工的各个不同发展阶段，同时也就是所有制的各种不同形式。这就是说，分工的每一个阶段还决定个人在劳动材料、劳动工具和劳动产品方面的相互关系”[1]（P521），“分工只是从物质劳动和精神劳动分离的时候起才真正成为分工”[2]（P534）。随着精神劳动与物质劳动相分离，分工成为真正的分工，由此形成了不同所有制基础之上的社会精神生产的历史。

In the period when the division of labor had not yet become truly such—that is, when it was still mainly confined to the sphere of material production—human spiritual production activity was in its embryonic stage. During this period, people made a living by hunting, fishing, and herding. Agricultural production was conditioned by large tracts of uncultivated land. Out of dependence on and worship of nature, people expressed spiritual needs through totems, murals, ballads, myths, and other forms. At this time, spiritual production and material production had not yet separated; language and writing were not yet mature; and spiritual production activities such as art, religion, and science had no strict distinction. With the development of production, human society successively experienced three great divisions of labor: the separation of agriculture from animal husbandry, handicrafts from agriculture, and commerce from agriculture and animal husbandry. The development of commerce brought about the separation of town from country. In the classical communal and state forms of ownership, spiritual production differentiated into an independent branch of production. Marx pointed out that the separation of town and country brought about the greatest division of material and mental labor. “At the same time, the first form of ideologists, priests, appears” [3]3 Ibid., p. 45. (p. 534). Initially, the spiritual products produced by ideologists and priests were exclusive to slave owners; slaves could not enjoy the fruits of spiritual production. With the expansion of social production and the division of labor, ordinary people, while pursuing material life, also began to have spiritual pursuits. The scope of spiritual production began to expand, and spiritual products were no longer exclusively enjoyed by the rulers. During the feudal period, peasants, guild masters, journeymen, and handicraft workers freed themselves from the simple relations of personal dependence on nobles and landlords. While engaged in material production, they could also engage in partial spiritual production according to their own preferences and interests. As Marx described it: “The medieval handicraftsman still had an interest in his special work and in his proficiency in it, an interest which could rise to a limited artistic sense” [4]4 Ibid., p. 67. (p. 559). However, within the overall social division of labor, spiritual production characterized by the formulation of ideas and concepts became a tool of class rule. Ideologists representing the interests of the ruling class created a series of laws, religions, institutions, ideas, and concepts to serve their own class interests and political rule.

在分工还没有成为真正的分工，即分工还主要限于物质生产领域的时期，人类的精神生产活动处于萌芽阶段。这一时期，人们依靠狩猎、捕鱼、畜牧为生。农业生产以大量未开垦的土地为条件。出于对自然的依赖和崇拜，人们通过图腾、壁画、歌谣、神话等形式表达精神需求。此时的精神生产与物质生产尚未分离，语言文字尚未成熟，艺术、宗教、科学等精神生产活动也没有严格意义上的区分。随着生产的发展，人类社会先后出现了农业与畜牧业、手工业与农业、商业与农牧业相分离的三次大分工。商业的发展带来了城市与乡村的分离。在古典的公社所有制和国家所有制中，精神生产分化为一个独立的生产部门。马克思指出，城乡分离带来了物质劳动和精神劳动最大的一次分工。“与此同时出现的是意识形态家、僧侣的最初形式”[3]（P534）。起初意识形态家、僧侣生产的精神产品为奴隶主们专属，奴隶无从享受精神生产成果。随着社会生产与分工的扩大化，普通人在追求物质生活的同时也有了精神上的追求，精神生产的范围开始扩大，精神产品也不再为统治者专享。封建社会时期，农民、行会师傅、帮工、手工业者摆脱了与贵族和地主之间简单的人身依附关系，他们在从事物质生产的同时，可以根据自身的爱好和兴趣进行部分的精神生产。正像马克思描述的那样：“中世纪的手工业者对于本行专业劳动和熟练技巧还是有兴趣的，这种兴趣可以升华为某种有限的艺术感。”[4]（P559）但在社会的总体分工体系中，以提出思想观念为特征的精神生产成为阶级统治的工具。代表统治阶级利益的意识形态家们创造出一系列法律、宗教、制度、思想以及观念，为自己的阶级利益和政治统治服务。

In the capitalist period, the division of labor shifted from the division of labor in manufacture to the socialized division of labor dominated by machine-based large-scale industry. The rapid development of productive forces and the general increase in labor productivity promoted the development of social spiritual productive forces. In order to seize more wealth and realize the multiplication of material and spiritual production, capitalists not only employed scientists and inventors to promote technological innovation and improve enterprise productivity, but also employed thinkers and artists to promote the industrialized production of spiritual culture. Through the assembly-line operation of spiritual production, they manufactured highly profitable spiritual and cultural products. Marx profoundly exposed how this forced division of labor and alienated labor severed the connection between material and spiritual production. In *The German Ideology*, he pointed out: “As a result of the division of labor, artistic talent is concentrated exclusively in a few individuals, and its expression in the broad mass of people is thereby suppressed.” Only in communist society, when the means of production belong to the entire people and voluntary division of labor replaces forced division of labor, can people engage in spiritual production according to their own needs.

资本主义时期，分工由工场手工业的劳动分工转向机器大工业主导的社会化大分工。生产力的快速发展与劳动生产效率的普遍提高，推动了社会精神生产力的发展。为了攫取更多的财富，实现物质生产与精神生产的增殖，资本家不仅雇佣科学家、发明家推动技术革新，提高企业的生产效率，而且雇佣思想家、艺术家推动精神文化的工业化生产，通过精神生产的流水线操作，制造利润丰厚的精神文化产品。马克思深刻地揭露了这种被迫的分工与异化的劳动割裂了物质生产与精神生产的现象，他在《德意志意识形态》中指出，“由于分工，艺术天才完全集中在个别人身上，因而广大群众的艺术天才受到压抑”。只有到了共产主义社会，生产资料归全体人民所有，自愿的分工替代了被迫的分工，人们可以根据自身的需求进行精神生产。

It is not difficult to understand that spiritual production is an eternal theme in the historical development of human society. In different socio-historical stages, the degree of the social division of labor differs, and the forms of expression and the nature of the development of spiritual production also vary. Examining the history of spiritual production from the perspective of the social division of labor constitutes a main thread for understanding Marx’s theory of spiritual production.

不难理解，精神生产是人类社会历史发展的永恒主题。不同的社会历史阶段，社会分工的程度不同，精神生产的表现形式及其发展的性质也各不相同。从社会分工的视角考察精神生产的历史，构成了理解马克思精神生产理论的一条主线。

II. Distinguishing the Types of Spiritual Production from the Perspective of the Critique of Political Economy

二、从政治经济学批判视角区分精神生产的类型

Within the discourse of classical political economy, Adam Smith divided labor into productive and unproductive labor, regarding spiritual production as “unproductive labor” and holding that spiritual production could not create value like material labor. Jean-Baptiste Say criticized Smith’s view that “immaterial labor does not produce wealth” and put forward the theory of utility value. Say argued that any article that can create utility has value; spiritual products produced by spiritual producers such as doctors, teachers, and judges can satisfy people’s needs and produce actual utility, and thus also belong to productive labor. Friedrich List, in criticizing Smith’s views, proposed the concept of “spiritual productive forces,” emphasizing that spiritual production has “productivity” and that the “spiritual capital” created by spiritual producers such as scientists and artists helps create more social wealth with less social labor. Marx affirmed Say’s and List’s criticisms of Smith, overcame the one-sided understanding of spiritual production in classical economics, placed “spiritual production” in the context of the critique of productivism, focused on the typological analysis of “productive spiritual production” and “unproductive spiritual production,” exposed the defects of capitalist spiritual production, and put forward a theory of free spiritual production as a substitute for capitalist spiritual production.

在古典政治经济学的论域中，亚当·斯密将劳动划分为生产性劳动和非生产性劳动，视精神生产为“非生产性劳动”，认为精神生产不能与物质劳动一样创造价值。萨伊批评斯密“无形劳动不生产财富”的观点，提出了效用价值论。萨伊认为任何可以创造效用的物品都具有价值，医生、教师、法官等精神生产者生产出来的精神产品能够满足人们的需要，产生实际的效用，也属于生产性的劳动。李斯特在批判斯密的观点时提出“精神生产力”概念，强调精神生产具有“生产性”，科学家、艺术家等精神生产者创造出来的“精神资本”有助于以更少的社会劳动创造更多的社会财富。对于萨伊和李斯特对斯密的批评，马克思给予了肯定，并克服了古典经济学对精神生产的片面理解，将“精神生产”置于生产主义批判的语境之中，聚焦“生产性精神生产”和“非生产性精神生产”的类型分析，揭露资本主义精神生产的弊端，提出了代替资本主义精神生产的自由精神生产理论。

Productive spiritual production is spiritual production that creates surplus value. Productive spiritual production is closely related to productive labor. In Marx’s view, labor can be either productive labor or unproductive labor, and the key to distinguishing the two is whether it can bring surplus value. In capitalist society, “productivity” manifests as the valorization of capital, that is, “only labor that creates surplus value, and not for itself but for the owner of the conditions of production, is productive” [5]5 Karl Marx, *Theories of Surplus Value*, Part 1, *Collected Works of Marx and Engels*, Vol. 33 (Beijing: People’s Publishing House, 2004). (P144). Therefore, productive spiritual production is a form of spiritual production that exists only within the social relations of “wage labor.” Marx illustrates this with the example of Milton creating *Paradise Lost*, pointing out that when Milton wrote the work, writing was an expression of his active nature, and he was a non-producer; but when he sold the book for money and became a commodity trader, he was a productive laborer. Thus, in productive spiritual production, the capitalist employs spiritual producers to engage in spiritual production, then takes the spiritual products created by the spiritual producers to the market for sale, with the aim of realizing the valorization of capital. Hence, their products “are from the outset subordinate to capital and are completed only for the purpose of increasing the value of capital” [6]6 Karl Marx, *Capital*, Vol. 2, *Collected Works of Marx and Engels*, Vol. 45 (Beijing: People’s Publishing House, 2003). (P432). In this situation, the truth, goodness, and beauty inherent in spiritual production give way to the logic of capital valorization; the “spirituality” and “value” of spiritual production are stripped away, and profit-seeking becomes the sole purpose of productive spiritual production. Marx thereby exposes the reification phenomenon and alienated essence of spiritual production in capitalist society.

生产性精神生产是创造剩余价值的精神生产。生产性精神生产与生产性劳动紧密相关。在马克思看来，劳动既可以是生产性劳动，也可以是非生产性劳动，区分二者的关键就是能否带来剩余价值。在资本主义社会中，“生产性”体现为资本主义的增殖性，即“只有创造剩余价值的劳动，并且不是为自己而是为生产条件所有者创造剩余价值的劳动，才是生产的”[5]（P144）。所以，生产性精神生产是只有在“雇佣劳动”的社会关系中才存在的一种精神生产形式。马克思以弥尔顿创作《失乐园》为例对此进行了说明，指出当弥尔顿创作该书时，写作是他能动的天性表现，他是非生产者，而当他以书卖钱成了商品交易者时，他就是生产劳动者。因而，在生产性精神生产中，资本家通过雇佣精神生产者进行精神生产，然后将精神生产者所创造的精神产品拿到市场上进行售卖，其目的是实现资本增殖，所以，他们的产品“一开始就从属于资本，只是为了增加资本的价值才完成的”[6]（P432）。这种情况下，精神生产内蕴的真善美让位于资本的增殖逻辑，精神生产的“精神性”和“价值性”被抽离，逐利成为生产性精神生产的唯一目的，马克思由此揭露了资本主义社会精神生产的物化现象和异化本质。

Non-productive spiritual production is spiritual production not controlled by the logic of capital and without the form of wage labor, that is, what Marx calls free spiritual production. Non-productive spiritual production does not aim at the surplus value of spiritual products; spiritual producers can freely engage in spiritual production according to their own will, can infuse their own emotions into spiritual products, and endow spiritual products with “spirituality” and “value.” Marx believed that, as the natural and proper state of spiritual production, the process of free spiritual production is precisely the process of manifesting human essential forces. Under the capitalist system, workers, as wage laborers, lack the “free time” for development, and free spiritual production can only be replaced by “surplus labor.” To eliminate the alienation of spiritual production under capitalism, it is necessary to establish the political power of the proletariat, continuously shorten the “necessary labor time” of material production, and enable people to have more “free time” to develop various human capacities and satisfy spiritual needs. Marx emphasized: “From the perspective of society as a whole, creating disposable time is also creating time for the production of science, art, etc.” [7]7 Karl Marx, *Grundrisse*, *Collected Works of Marx and Engels*, Vol. 30 (Beijing: People’s Publishing House, 1995). (P379). Therefore, to realize non-productive spiritual production, it is necessary to ensure that spiritual producers have sufficient “free time.”

非生产性精神生产是不受资本逻辑控制、没有雇佣形式的精神生产，即马克思所说的自由的精神生产。非生产性精神生产不以追求精神产品的剩余价值为目的，精神生产者能够按照自己的意愿自由地进行精神生产，能够将自身的情感注入精神产品，赋予精神产品以“精神性”和“价值性”。马克思认为，作为精神生产的本然和应然的状态，自由的精神生产过程也正是人的本质力量的展现过程。资本主义制度下，工人作为雇佣劳动者，缺乏发展的“自由时间”，自由的精神生产只能被“剩余劳动”所代替。消除资本主义精神生产的异化，必须建立无产阶级政权，通过不断缩短物质生产的“必要劳动时间”，让人们拥有更多的发展人的各种能力和满足精神需要的“自由时间”。马克思强调：“从整个社会来说，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。”[7]（P379）因而，要实现非生产性精神生产，必须保证精神生产者有足够的“自由时间”。

Marx took productive spiritual production, which is incorporated into the circulation link of capital, as the object of critique. He not only revealed the capital attribute and exploitative nature of spiritual production in capitalist society but also transcended the “productivist” analytical paradigm of classical political economy regarding spiritual production. He clarified that spiritual production must adhere to the direction of “being oriented toward the free development of human beings, stimulating people’s creativity and initiative in spiritual production activities, enabling people to produce more diverse spiritual products that conform to the laws of ‘beauty’ according to their own ideas and will.”

马克思将纳入资本流通环节的生产性精神生产作为批判的对象，不仅揭示了资本主义精神生产的资本属性和剥削本质，而且超越了古典政治经济学关于精神生产的“生产主义”分析范式，明晰了精神生产要坚持“面向人的自由发展，激发了人们在精神生产活动中的创造性和能动性，使人能够按照自己的设想和意愿生产出更多样化，符合‘美’的规律的精神产品”的方向。

III. Elucidating the Laws of Spiritual Production from the Holistic Perspective of Overall Production

三、从全面生产的整体性视角阐明精神生产的规律

In the process of studying spiritual production, Marx did not study spiritual production in isolation. Instead, standing on the ground of historical materialism, he grasped spiritual production from the holistic perspective of society’s overall production. He deeply analyzed the social overall production system constituted by the production of human beings themselves, material production, spiritual production, and the production of social relations, interpreted the organic connections between spiritual production and society’s overall production, and thereby elucidated the inherent laws of spiritual production.

马克思在研究精神生产的过程中，不是孤立地就精神生产研究精神生产，而是站在历史唯物主义立场，将精神生产置于社会全面生产的整体性视角下予以把握，深入分析了人的自身生产、物质生产、精神生产、社会关系的生产所构成的社会全面生产系统，诠释了精神生产与社会全面生产之间的有机联系，进而阐明了精神生产的内在规律性。

In Marx’s view, “the first premise of all human history is undoubtedly the existence of living human individuals” [8]8 Karl Marx and Frederick Engels, *The German Ideology*, *Collected Works of Marx and Engels*, Vol. 1 (Beijing: People’s Publishing House, 2009), p. 519.. “Real individuals” are the fundamental premise of the existence of human society. As species-beings in nature, humans must first satisfy their own needs for food, drink, shelter, clothing, etc., before they can engage in spiritual production activities such as politics, science, art, and religion. But the greatest difference between humans and animals is that humans have spiritual needs. As the subjects of both material production and spiritual production, humans always set goals for their species-activity in both material and spiritual aspects. On the one hand, humans are the subjects of social production. Without “the production of human beings themselves, i.e., the propagation of the species” [9]9 Frederick Engels, *The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State*, *Collected Works of Marx and Engels*, Vol. 4 (Beijing: People’s Publishing House, 2009). (P16), material production and spiritual production would lose their subject. To survive and realize “their own production,” humans cannot do without material production for a single moment. On the other hand, spiritual production is, in the final analysis, the production of social consciousness. Through spiritual production in different fields such as politics, morality, law, religion, philosophy, science, and art, humans improve their own ideological and cultural qualities and promote social material production. In the practical process of engaging in material production and spiritual production, humans form the production of social relations (including material relations of production, spiritual relations of production, and relations of human intercourse, etc.), which in turn impose certain constraints on material production and spiritual production. In this regard, Marx pointed out: “People who adapt their social relations to their material level of production also produce various ideas and categories, that is, the abstract, ideal expressions of precisely these social relations” [10]10 Karl Marx, *The Poverty of Philosophy*, *Collected Works of Marx and Engels*, Vol. 1 (Beijing: People’s Publishing House, 2009). (P49).

在马克思看来，“全部人类历史的第一个前提无疑是有生命的个人存在”[8]。“现实的人”是人类社会存在的根本前提。作为自然界中的类存在物，人首先必须满足自身的吃、喝、住、穿等需求，然后才能从事政治、科学、艺术、宗教等精神生产活动。但人与动物最大的区别是人有精神需要。作为物质生产和精神生产的主体，人总会向自己的类活动提出物质和精神两个方面的目的。一方面，人是社会生产的主体。离开“人自身的生产，即种的繁衍”[9]（P16），物质生产和精神生产便失去了主体。为了生存和实现“自身的生产”，人类一刻也离不开物质生产。另一方面，精神生产说到底是关于社会意识的生产。人类通过政治、道德、法律、宗教、哲学、科学和艺术等不同领域的精神生产，提高自身的思想文化素质，促进社会物质生产。人们在进行物质生产和精神生产的实践过程中，形成社会关系的生产（包括物质生产关系、精神生产关系和人的交往关系等），反过来又对物质生产和精神生产形成一定的制约。对此，马克思指出：“适应自己的物质生产水平而生产出社会关系的人，也生产出各种观念、范畴，即恰恰是这些社会关系的抽象的、观念的表现。”[10]（P49）

Marx’s theory of overall production reveals, from a holistic perspective, the universal law that spiritual production is determined by material production while simultaneously exerting a certain counter-effect on the production of human beings, material production, and the production of social relations. On the one hand, the level of material productive forces in a given period fundamentally determines the level of spiritual productive forces in that period. If the level of development of society’s material productive forces is insufficient, it cannot fundamentally guarantee the quantitative growth of spiritual producers, and thus cannot guarantee the development of spiritual productive forces. Conversely, the development of spiritual production is related to the improvement of workers’ quality, skills, and level of education, further affecting the development of material production resources, material production capacity, and the efficiency of material production. On the other hand, as part of the ideological superstructure, the content of spiritual production—politics, law, religion, philosophy, art, etc.—is determined by the economic base. When the content of spiritual production corresponds to the economic base, spiritual production promotes the development of human society; conversely, when spiritual production does not meet the requirements of the economic base, it hinders the development of human society. While elucidating the universal laws of spiritual production, Marx also used art as an example to vividly illustrate the special laws of relative independence and uneven development of spiritual production. Marx pointed out: “As regards art, it is well known that certain periods of its flowering are by no means in proportion to the general development of society, nor, consequently, to the material foundation, the skeleton as it were, of its organization” [11]11 Karl Marx, *Introduction to the Critique of Political Economy*, *Collected Works of Marx and Engels*, Vol. 8 (Beijing: People’s Publishing House, 2009). (P51). Furthermore, Marx explained the relationship between spiritual production and human development, emphasizing that spiritual production must conform to the laws of beauty, stating that “man knows how to produce according to the measure of any species and knows how to apply the inherent measure to the object everywhere; therefore, man also constructs according to the laws of beauty” [12]12 Karl Marx, *Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844*, *Collected Works of Marx and Engels*, Vol. 1 (Beijing: People’s Publishing House, 2009). (P274).

马克思全面生产理论从整体性视角揭示了精神生产由物质生产所决定，同时对人的生产、物质生产和社会关系的生产具有一定的反作用的普遍规律。一方面，一定时期的物质生产力水平从根本上决定了一定时期的精神生产力水平。倘若社会的物质生产力发展水平不足，也就无法从根本上保证精神生产者的数量增长，从而无法保证精神生产力的发展。反过来，精神生产的发展关系着劳动者的素质、技能和受教育程度的提升，进一步影响到物质生产资源的开发、物质生产能力与物质生产效率的提高。另一方面，作为观念上层建筑的一部分，政治、法律、宗教、哲学、艺术等精神生产的内容由经济基础决定。当精神生产的内容与经济基础相适应时，精神生产就会推动人类社会的发展；反之，当精神生产不适应经济基础的要求时，就会阻碍人类社会的发展。在阐释精神生产普遍规律的同时，马克思还以艺术为例，生动地说明了精神生产具有相对独立性和不平衡性的特殊规律。马克思指出：“关于艺术，大家知道，它的一定的繁盛时期决不是同社会的一般发展成比例的，因而也决不是同仿佛是社会组织的骨骼的物质基础的一般发展成比例的。”[11]（P51）此外，马克思阐释了精神生产与人的发展之间的关系，强调精神生产要符合美的规律，指出“人懂得按照任何一个种的尺度来进行生产，并且懂得处处都把内在的尺度运用于对象；因此，人也按照美的规律来构造”[12]（P274）。

In summary, the production of human beings is the premise of spiritual production, and material production is the foundation of spiritual production. In the process of engaging in material production and spiritual production, humans form specific material relations of production and spiritual relations of production. These specific material social relations and spiritual social relations, in turn, exert a counter-effect of promotion or constraint on material production and spiritual production. It is precisely by treating spiritual production as an organic component of society’s overall production, and by clarifying the relationship between spiritual production and society’s overall production from the holistic perspective of social development, that Marx clearly explained the universal and special laws of spiritual production in human society.

概言之，人的生产是精神生产的前提，物质生产是精神生产的基础。人在进行物质生产和精神生产过程中形成特定的物质生产关系与精神生产关系，特定的物质社会关系、精神社会关系又反过来对物质生产和精神生产产生促进或制约的反作用。马克思正是将精神生产作为社会全面生产的有机组成部分，从社会发展的整体性视角廓清了精神生产与社会全面生产之间的关系，进而清晰地说明了人类社会精神生产的普遍规律和特殊规律。

IV. Manifesting the Value of Spiritual Production from the Perspective of Comprehensive Human Development

四、从人的全面发展视角彰显精神生产的价值

Marx not only studied and examined spiritual production from a social perspective, placing it within the social organism, but also, from an individual perspective, focused on the role of spiritual production in promoting human development and the construction of people’s spiritual world. From the perspective of promoting people’s free and comprehensive development, he profoundly argued, explained, and highlighted the value of spiritual production.

马克思不仅从社会层面将精神生产置于社会有机体中加以研究和考察，而且从个体层面关注精神生产对人的发展、人的精神世界建设的推动作用，从促进人的自由而全面发展的视角，深刻地论证、阐释和彰显了精神生产的价值。

Spiritual production, as a practical activity unique to humans, is one of the main distinctions between humans and animals. Humans not only have material needs, like animals, but also have spiritual needs that animals lack. Spiritual production is decisive in meeting people’s spiritual needs and is an important condition for realizing people’s free and comprehensive development. Spiritual production provides people with various spiritual and cultural products, broadening their cognitive horizons and spiritual realms. In the process of spiritual production, people often integrate their emotions, thoughts, and perceptions of beauty into spiritual products. In the production and consumption of spiritual products, people experience emotional resonance, satisfying emotional and psychological needs. Moreover, spiritual production promotes spiritual communication among people. Through spiritual communication, people come to understand different lifestyles, modes of thinking, and value concepts, enhancing mutual understanding and consensus. Spiritual production also elevates people’s ideological and cultural qualities and aesthetic standards by creating excellent spiritual products.

精神生产作为人所特有的实践活动，是人与动物的主要区别之一。人不仅如动物一样具有物质需要，还具有动物所没有的精神需要。精神生产对于满足人的精神需要具有决定性意义，是实现人的自由而全面发展的重要条件。精神生产为人们提供各种精神文化产品，拓宽了人们的认知视野和精神境界。在精神生产的过程中，人们往往将自己的情感、思想和对美的感悟融入精神产品之中。人们在精神产品的生产和消费过程中引起情感共鸣，满足情感和心理的需要。不仅如此，精神生产推动了人们之间的精神交往。人们通过精神交往了解不同的生活方式、思维方式和价值观念，增进彼此之间的理解和共识。精神生产还通过创造优秀的精神产品，提升人们的思想文化素质与审美水平。

In the *Economic Manuscripts of 1857–1858*, Marx, in conjunction with the historical process of human development, analyzed the history of the development of spiritual production in human society and discerned the logic of constructing the human spiritual world. In the stage of dependence on persons, the level of development of social productive forces was relatively low, people’s production activities were relatively simple, their scope of life was relatively narrow, and they entrusted their spiritual world to an external “other” for control. They expressed their understanding of nature through spiritual products such as carved murals, rock paintings, and ivory, expressed emotions through totem worship, fetish worship, and mystical beliefs, and engaged in spiritual communication through means such as witchcraft, ballads, sacrifices, and dances. In the stage of dependence on things, people’s social and spiritual communication expanded, and their spiritual world was enriched. However, under the rule of the logic of capital, spiritual production was often stripped of its “spirituality” and “value,” becoming, in the process of market exchange, a tool for creating surplus value and enslaving people’s thoughts, leading to the prevalence of money worship and hedonism, which “elevated crude matter to the throne and destroyed all spiritual content” [13]13 Marx, Karl. *Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844*. In *Marx and Engels Collected Works*, vol. 42. Beijing: People’s Publishing House, 1979. (P505). People’s pursuit of possessing more spiritual products meant that “the universal exchange of activities and products has become a condition of existence for each individual; this universal exchange, their mutual connection, appears to them as something alien, independent, as a thing” [14]14 Marx, Karl. *Grundrisse der Kritik der politischen Ökonomie*. In *Marx and Engels Collected Works*, vol. 46, part 1. Beijing: People’s Publishing House, 1979. (P107). Marx believed that the original state of spiritual production is the free, conscious perceptual practical activity of humanity, a “true production” not influenced by physical needs or controlled by the logic of capital. It is precisely through spiritual production that humanity continuously manifests its essential powers, satisfies its spiritual needs, enriches its spiritual world, and elevates its intellectual, moral, and cognitive levels, developing in a comprehensive and free direction. When people can engage in spiritual production according to their own interests and hobbies and satisfy diverse spiritual needs, the human spiritual world will be greatly enriched; intellectual, moral, cognitive, and ideological levels will be greatly elevated; and free individuality and comprehensive development will be fully manifested. People will not only be able to appreciate the beauty of nature but also transform the world according to the laws of “beauty,” achieving the fullness of the spiritual world and genuine spiritual liberation.

在《1857—1858年经济学手稿》中，马克思结合人的发展的历史进程，分析人类社会精神生产发展的历史，洞见了人类精神世界建设的理路。在人对人的依赖阶段，社会生产力发展水平比较低下，人们的生产活动比较单一，生活范围比较狭小，把自己的精神世界交给身外的“他者”支配，通过雕刻壁画、岩画、象牙等精神产品表达对自然界的理解，借助图腾崇拜、灵物崇拜、神秘信仰来表达情感，通过巫术、歌谣、祭祀、舞蹈等方式开展精神交往。在人对物的依赖阶段，人们的社会交往和精神交往得以扩大，精神世界得到丰富。但在资本逻辑的统治之下，精神生产往往被抽离了“精神性”与“价值性”，在市场交换的过程中沦为创造剩余价值和奴役人民思想的工具，导致拜金主义、享乐主义盛行，它们“把粗陋的物质捧上宝座，毁掉了一切精神内容”[13]（P505）。人们追求占有更多的精神产品使得“活动和产品的普遍交换已成为每一单个人的生存条件，这种普遍交换，他们的相互联系，表现为对他们本身来说是异己的、独立的东西，表现为一种物”[14]（P107）。马克思认为，精神生产的本然状态，乃是人类自由自觉的感性实践活动，是不受肉体需要影响和资本逻辑控制的“真正的生产”。人类正是通过精神生产不断展现自身的本质力量，满足自身的精神需求，丰富自身的精神世界，提升自身的智力、道德和认知水平，朝着全面而自由的方向发展。当人们能够依据自己的兴趣、爱好进行精神生产并满足多样化的精神需求的时候，人的精神世界将得到极大丰富，智力水平、道德水平、认识水平、思想水平会得到极大提升，自由个性与全面发展将得以充分彰显。人不仅能够欣赏到大自然的美，还能够按照“美”的规律改造世界，实现精神世界的充盈与精神上真正的解放。

The theory of spiritual production is an ideological weapon for establishing historical materialism. Marx’s exposition of the history of spiritual production, the types of spiritual production, the laws of spiritual production, and the value of spiritual production follows a method of thought that unifies history and logic, theory and reality, and critique and construction, forming the prototype of Marx’s theory of spiritual production. Clarifying the four dimensions of the construction of Marx’s theory of spiritual production not only effectively counters the erroneous views of Western scholars who simplistically distill Marx’s theoretical stance into “economic determinism” or “linear determination by productive forces,” but also helps to diagnose the spiritual pathology behind contemporary economic and social development problems, to use the theory of spiritual production to guide economic and social development in the New Era, to guide people in recognizing and overcoming the spiritual crisis, to promote common prosperity in spiritual life, and to realize people’s free and comprehensive development.

精神生产理论是确立唯物史观的思想武器。马克思关于精神生产的历史、精神生产的类型、精神生产的规律、精神生产的价值的阐释，遵循历史与逻辑、理论与现实、批判与建构相统一的思想方法，构成了马克思精神生产理论的雏形。厘清马克思精神生产理论建构的四重视域，不仅能够有力回击西方学者将马克思的理论立场简单提纯为“经济决定论”“生产力线性决定论”的错误观点，也有利于把脉当代经济与社会发展问题形成背后的精神病理，运用精神生产理论指导新时代经济社会发展，引导人们认识和克服精神危机，推动精神生活共同富裕，实现人的自由而全面的发展。

(Author bios: Bi Tianliang, doctoral candidate at the School of Marxism, Xinjiang Normal University; Deng Chunyu, professor and doctoral supervisor at the School of Marxism, Nanjing University of Science and Technology)

（作者简介：毕天良，新疆师范大学马克思主义学院博士研究生；邓纯余，南京理工大学马克思主义学院教授、博士生导师）

Online editor: Tongxin

网络编辑：同心