Marx’s Religious Notes in MEGA² and Their Theoretical Value

Marx was a diligent author. This is reflected not only in his prolific writing but also in the preparations he made for writing. One of Marx’s habits was to read extensively in order to write, and to record what he read in written form, producing reading notes. In the MEGA² edition (the Marx-Engels-Gesamtausgabe, the historical-critical edition of the complete works of Marx and Engels), Marx’s reading notes are compiled separately in the fourth section. This category of texts is no less voluminous than Marx’s formal texts, and its importance is self-evident. They are an important foundation for a deep understanding of Marx’s texts and his thought. If Marx’s formal texts are the expression of his thought, then the reading notes are the workshop and laboratory of Marx’s thought. From such a workshop and laboratory, Marx produced unique and profound ideas. From a research perspective, given that Marx’s formal texts are generally abstruse and difficult to understand, the study of Marx’s reading notes has become an important method for accurately comprehending the formal texts.

马克思是一位勤奋的作者。这不但体现在他著述的多产上，还体现在他为写作而做的准备上。马克思的一个习惯是，为了写作会进行大量的阅读，并且把阅读的内容以文字的形式记录下来，形成读书笔记。在MEGA2版（《马克思恩格斯全集》历史考证版）中，马克思的读书笔记被单独编纂在第四部类中。这一类文本不比马克思的正式文本少，其重要性不言而喻。它们是人们深入了解马克思文本及其思想的重要基础。如果说马克思的正式文本是其思想的表达的话，那么读书笔记便是马克思思想的车间和实验室。从这样的车间和实验室中，马克思产生了独特而又深刻的思想。从研究的角度看，考虑到马克思正式文本普遍艰涩难懂，对马克思读书笔记的研读成为准确理解正式文本的重要方法。

Two sets of notes made by the young Marx between 1840 and 1842 have received little attention: the *Berlin Notebooks* of 1840–1841 and the *Bonn Notebooks* of 1842. The *Berlin Notebooks*, also known as *Excerpts from Classical Philosophical Works*, contain excerpts from the works of philosophers such as Aristotle, Leibniz, Hume, and Spinoza. Specifically, these works include Aristotle’s *On the Soul*, some fragments of Leibniz’s essays, Hume’s *A Treatise of Human Nature*, and content from Spinoza’s *Tractatus Theologico-Politicus*. The *Bonn Notebooks*, also known as *Excerpts on the History of Art and Religion*, contain excerpts from parts of works such as Karl Friedrich von Rumohr’s *Italian Studies*, Johann Jakob Grund’s *The Painting of the Greeks*, Charles de Brosses’ *On the Worship of Fetish Gods or a Comparison of the Ancient Religion of Egypt with the Religion of Africa*, and Benjamin Constant’s *On the Origin, Formation, and Development of Religion*. These notes consist mainly of excerpts copied by the young Marx, but they also contain very few comments.

青年马克思于1840—1842年所做的两个笔记受到的关注一直不多，这便是1840—1841年的《柏林笔记》和1842年的《波恩笔记》。《柏林笔记》又名《经典哲学著作的摘记》，其中摘抄了亚里士多德、莱布尼兹、休谟以及斯宾诺莎等哲学家著作的片段。具体而言，这些著作包括亚里士多德的《论灵魂》、莱布尼兹的一些论文片段、休谟的《人性论》以及斯宾诺莎的《神学政治论》的内容。《波恩笔记》又名《艺术与宗教史的摘记》，其中摘录了卡尔·弗里德里希·鲁莫尔的《意大利研究》、约翰·贾克卜·葛洪德的《希腊人的绘画》、查理·德·布罗斯的《对神的崇拜或古代埃及宗教和非洲人宗教的比较》，以及本杰明·贡斯当的《论宗教的起源、形成以及发展》等著作的部分片段。这些笔记主要以青年马克思摘抄的原文为主，但是也夹杂着极少的评论。

Although the *Berlin Notebooks* and the *Bonn Notebooks* have different names, the problems they address and the focus of their excerpts are consistent: both are related to religion and possess a religious character. They are even the only two notebooks among all of Marx’s texts that take religion as their theme. In this sense of religious character, I refer to the *Berlin Notebooks* and the *Bonn Notebooks* as Marx’s religious notes.

虽然《柏林笔记》和《波恩笔记》名字不同，但二者所面对的问题和摘录内容的焦点是一致的，都与宗教有关，都具有宗教性。它们甚至是马克思所有文本中仅有的两本以宗教为主题的读书笔记。在宗教性这个意义上，笔者把《柏林笔记》和《波恩笔记》称为马克思的宗教笔记。

So, what is “religious character”? “Religion” (from its Latin etymology) means “the connection between humans and the divine.” In this sense, the term “religion” has a very rich connotation, including piety, the sacred, and faith. From the perspective of religious types, “religion” in the Western cultural context generally refers to Christianity in a broad sense. What are now commonly called “Protestantism,” “Catholicism,” and even “Eastern Orthodoxy” all fall under Christianity in this broad sense. Christianity is the mainstream religion of the West. “Religious character” means “having the nature of religion.” Christianity has a long history and enormous influence in the Western world, leaving a deep imprint on Western thought and culture. In literature, politics, and philosophy, religion has become an important content and theme. Works or writings that discuss religion through literature, debate religion in politics, or interpret or deconstruct religion through philosophy are numerous in the history of Western thought. Such works or writings have a religious character but differ from general religious works. This difference is mainly reflected in two aspects: standpoint and method. In other words, they either oppose the general religious standpoint in terms of standpoint, or differ from general works of religious hermeneutics in terms of method. In the history of philosophy, a typical representative of the former is Kant’s *Religion within the Boundaries of Mere Reason*, and a typical representative of the latter is Leibniz’s *Theodicy*.

那么，什么是“宗教性”？“宗教”（Religion）从其拉丁文词源上来看意为“人和神之间的联系”。在这个意义上，“宗教”一词具有非常丰富的内涵，如虔敬、神圣和信仰等。从宗教种类这个角度出发，“宗教”在西方文化语境中一般指泛义上的基督教。现在俗称的“新教”“天主教”乃至“东正教”都属于泛义上的基督教。基督教是西方的主流宗教。“宗教性”指的是“具有宗教的性质”。基督教在西方世界有着悠久的历史和巨大的影响力，为西方思想文化打上了深深的烙印。在文学、政治和哲学等方面，宗教成为重要的内容和主题，以文学谈宗教、在政治中讨论宗教、用哲学阐释或者解构宗教，相应的作品或者著述在西方思想史上不胜枚举。这样的作品或者著述有宗教性，但又与一般宗教性著作不同。这种不同主要体现在如下两方面，即立场和方法上。换言之，或者在立场上与一般宗教立场相对，或者在方法上与一般的宗教释经学著作不同。在哲学史上，前者的典型代表是康德的《单纯理性限度内的宗教》，后者的典型代表则是莱布尼兹的《神正论》。

During the period of the religious notes, the young Marx mainly reflected on philosophical and political issues that were inevitably entangled with religion in the context of the time. As a Jew, Marx was born into a family with a very strong religious atmosphere. His early youth essay “Reflections of a Young Man on the Choice of a Profession” fully demonstrates his proficient grasp of the Bible and Christian doctrine. Marx liked and was adept at using Christian terminology to express his own thoughts when writing, a characteristic that runs through almost all of his works. Such religious “literacy” was undoubtedly the foundation Marx acquired in church schools. Nevertheless, Marx showed a clear aversion to religion from an early age. This sentiment is vividly expressed in many of his poems written during his youth. This explains why the young Marx immediately joined the Doctors’ Club when he attended university in Berlin. The circle of the Doctors’ Club, namely the Young Hegelians, was known for its critique of Christianity. The young Marx and the latter were kindred spirits. The school’s famous figure Feuerbach published *The Essence of Christianity* in 1841, the pinnacle of Christian critique. The young Marx greatly praised this book, considering its theory a “true theoretical revolution” that put an end to religious critique. Therefore, purely Christian problems, in the view of the young Marx, had already been resolved.

在宗教笔记时期，青年马克思主要思考当时背景下同宗教不可避免地纠缠在一起的哲学和政治问题。作为犹太人，马克思出生于宗教气息非常浓郁的家庭，其少年时期所作的《青年在选择职业时的考虑》一文充分表明了他对《圣经》以及基督教教义的熟练掌握。马克思在写作时喜欢和善于使用基督教的相关术语来表达自身的思想，这种特点几乎贯穿马克思的所有著作。这样的宗教“素养”毫无疑问是马克思在教会学校时打下的基础。尽管如此，马克思很早就表现出明显的对宗教的厌恶态度。在其青少年时代写就的众多诗作中，这种情绪表现得淋漓尽致。这解释了青年马克思在柏林上大学时马上加入博士俱乐部的原因。博士俱乐部的圈子，即青年黑格尔学派，以批判基督教而闻名。青年马克思和后者可谓兴趣相投。学派的著名人物费尔巴哈于1841年出版的《基督教的本质》是基督教批判的巅峰之作。青年马克思对这本书大加赞赏，认为其理论是“真正的理论革命”，为宗教批判画上了休止符。所以，纯粹的基督教问题在青年马克思看来已经解决了。

However, problems related to religion still existed and were extremely critical. The Prussian royal house believed that radical religious ideas should not be allowed to prevail and must be curbed in public opinion and thought. After Friedrich Wilhelm IV ascended the throne in 1840, Schelling was appointed president of the University of Berlin. This was a sign of the official theoretical effort to curb and suppress radical ideas, putting immense pressure on the Young Hegelians and the young Marx. Under this pressure, Strauss denied and revised the views in his work *The Life of Jesus*, Bauer lost his teaching post, and the young Marx changed his plan to apply for a doctorate in the Prussian state, instead applying for a degree at the University of Jena in the Duchy of Thuringia. This pressure was both political and philosophical. At this time, the young Marx’s political stance was consistent with that of the Young Hegelians, demanding liberalism and enlightened politics. However, unlike the latter, when faced with political oppression, the Young Hegelians were at a loss and incapable of carrying out genuine political action. The political weakness of the Young Hegelians was related to their theoretical characteristics: they focused on religious critique, subsuming political problems within philosophical ones. The young Marx recognized that democratic politics would not occur with only a critique of religion; to awaken democratic politics, it was also necessary to critique the philosophical theories of the Young Hegelians ideologically. The *Berlin Notebooks* and the *Bonn Notebooks* are precisely the result of attempting such a critique.

但是，与宗教相关的问题仍然存在，并且极为关键。普鲁士王室认为，不能让宗教激进主义思想大行其道，必须在舆论和思想上加以遏制。1840年弗里德里希·威廉四世登基以后，谢林被任命为柏林大学的校长，这是官方在理论上遏制和打压激进思想的标志，给青年黑格尔学派和青年马克思以巨大压力。在这种压力下，施特劳斯否认并修改其著作《耶稣传》的观点，鲍威尔丢掉了教职，而青年马克思改变了自己在普鲁士公国申请博士学位的计划，转而在图宾根公国的耶拿大学申请学位。这种压力既是政治的，又是哲学的。此时青年马克思的政治立场和青年黑格尔学派保持一致，要求自由主义和开明政治。但是，与后者不同，面对政治压迫，青年黑格尔学派一筹莫展，没有能力实施真正的政治行动。青年黑格尔学派在政治上的软弱与其理论特征有关，他们聚焦在宗教批判上，把政治问题涵容于哲学问题中。青年马克思认识到，如果仅有对宗教的批判，民主政治不会发生，要唤起民主政治，还要在思想上对青年黑格尔学派的哲学理论进行批判。《柏林笔记》和《波恩笔记》正是尝试这种批判的结果。

The religious notes are the primary texts for exploring the state of the young Marx’s thought from 1840 to 1842. During this period, the young Marx left behind very few texts. The young Marx shuttled between Berlin and Bonn. Apart from several articles published in the *Rheinische Zeitung* and some letters he left behind, what he mainly left were his reading notes from both places, namely the *Berlin Notebooks* and the *Bonn Notebooks*. Therefore, the *Berlin Notebooks* and the *Bonn Notebooks* should be studied together, not only because they share a commonality in content regarding religion, but also because they jointly reflect the intellectual landscape of the young Marx between 1840 and 1842.

宗教笔记是探索青年马克思1840—1842年思想状况的主要文本。在这段时间，青年马克思留下的文本很少。青年马克思在柏林和波恩两地奔波，除了在《莱茵报》发表的若干文章以及留下的一些书信之外，主要留下了在两地的读书笔记，即《柏林笔记》与《波恩笔记》。所以，《柏林笔记》和《波恩笔记》要被放在一起研究，不但因为它们在内容上具有宗教的共同性，更因为它们共同反映了青年马克思在1840—1842年间的思想面貌。

During this period, the young Marx faced two objects of critique. One was the philosophy of Schelling, which represented official ideology; the other was the Young Hegelian school, especially the philosophy of Bauer. These two objects were essentially consistent; to a certain extent, they were both variants of theology or philosophized theology. In this regard, critiquing the philosophy of Schelling and the Young Hegelian school required breaking new ground, re-examining religion from different angles. The religious notes embody this perspective. The *Berlin Notebooks* represent the young Marx’s perspective of viewing religion through philosophy, mainly excerpting relevant religious discussions from classical philosophers such as Aristotle, Hume, and Spinoza. These philosophers share a commonality in thought, namely, naive materialism. The *Bonn Notebooks* represent the young Marx’s perspective of viewing religion through anthropology and sociology. The *Bonn Notebooks* contain rich content on natural religion or fetishism. Fetishism differs from religion in the general sense; it is the religion of primitive society. However, the study of fetishism has an intrinsic relationship with the study of Christianity. It exists as a reflection on and critical study of Christianity, falling within the category of religious rationalism in the Enlightenment wave.

在这一时期，青年马克思面临两个批判对象。一个是代表官方意识形态的谢林哲学，另一个是青年黑格尔学派，尤其是鲍威尔的哲学。这两个对象在本质上具有一致性，在某种程度上，它们都是神学的变体或者哲学化的神学。就此而言，对谢林哲学和青年黑格尔学派的哲学进行批判需要另辟蹊径，从不同的角度对宗教进行再考察。宗教笔记体现了上述视角。《柏林笔记》代表了青年马克思从哲学看待宗教的视角，主要摘录了亚里士多德、休谟和斯宾诺莎等经典哲学家的相关宗教论述。上述哲学家在思想上具有共性，即朴素的唯物主义。《波恩笔记》则代表了青年马克思从人类学和社会学看待宗教的视角。《波恩笔记》包含丰富的自然宗教或者拜物教的内容。拜物教与一般意义上的宗教不同，是原始社会的宗教。但是，拜物教研究与基督教研究有内在关系，它作为对基督教的反思和批判性研究而存在，属于启蒙浪潮中的宗教理性主义范畴。

The *Berlin Notebooks* and the *Bonn Notebooks* are evidence of the young Marx’s exploration of philosophical and political possibilities through religious theory. His exploration during this period was still quite distant from intellectual maturity, that is, from reaching the historical materialism marked by *The German Ideology*. However, this exploration played an undeniable role in promoting the development of the young Marx’s thought; it was the “awakening period” of his thought. Judging from the reading and related circumstances reflected in the *Berlin Notebooks* and the *Bonn Notebooks*, the young Marx during this period already exhibited anti-idealist characteristics in his thought and began to step out of the German theoretical tradition and embrace French thought, displaying both the features of “leaving Germany” and a “French turn.” Specifically, the excerpts from works by Aristotle and others in the *Berlin Notebooks* indicate the young Marx’s rebellion against the German theoretical tradition, showing his characteristic of “leaving Germany.” At the same time, the French works on *Fetishism* and *On Religion* in the *Bonn Notebooks* indicate the young Marx’s characteristic of a “French turn.” The young Marx began to come into contact with and absorb French thought, which laid the foundation for his later turn toward French materialism and the socialist and communist ideas popular in France.

《柏林笔记》和《波恩笔记》是青年马克思通过宗教理论探寻哲学和政治上的可能性的证明。他在这一时期的探索离思想上的成熟，即达至以《德意志意识形态》为标志的历史唯物主义，还有相当的距离，但这种探索对推动青年马克思思想的发展具有不可忽视的作用，是其思想的“觉醒期”。从《柏林笔记》和《波恩笔记》反映的阅读以及相关情况看，青年马克思这段时期在思想上已经具有反观念论的特征，并开始走出德国理论传统，拥抱法国思想，既具有“出走德国”，又具有“法国转向”的特点。具体而言，《柏林笔记》中对亚里士多德等著作的摘抄表明青年马克思对德国理论传统的逆反，显示其“出走德国”的特征。同时，《波恩笔记》中的《拜物教》和《论宗教》的法国著作表明青年马克思“法国转向”的特征。青年马克思开始接触和吸收法国思想，这为他以后走向法国唯物主义和在法国流行的社会主义与共产主义思想打下了基础。

(The author is a special researcher at the Nantong University Base of the Jiangsu Provincial Research Center for Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era)

（作者系江苏省习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想研究中心南通大学基地特约研究员）

Online editor: Tongxin

网络编辑：同心