The View of Civilization in *Capital*

The essence of civilization, in the final analysis, is “the enlightenment of humanity” as opposed to barbarism. In the essential sense of civilization, *Capital* is a “theory of civilization” that pursues the comprehensive liberation of the free individuality of humanity. And this “theory of civilization” is profoundly embodied as a “revolution of the highest civilization” that cultivates “highly civilized human beings.”

文明之本质说到底就是与野蛮相对的“人之开化”。在文明的本质性意义上，《资本论》就是一种追求人之自由个性全面解放的“文明论”。而这一“文明论”，又深刻体现为培养“高度文明的人”的“最高级文明的革命”。

Capital: The “Other Name” of Civilization

资本：文明的“另一名称”

Civilization is in its essence the enlightenment of humanity, but in its manifestation it is the evolution of things. From the Old Stone Age to the New Stone Age, from bronze to iron, from the steam engine to the computer, all these mark the progression of civilization. For this reason, Marx emphasizes that the means of production—things—are the “measure” and “indicator” of civilization. In this sense, *Capital* understands and explains capitalist civilization precisely by grasping the thing—capital—in capitalist society.

文明在其本质上是人之开化，但在表现上却是物之演变。从旧石器到新石器，从青铜器到铁器，从蒸汽机到计算机，都在表征着文明的演进。为此，马克思强调，生产资料——物——是文明的“测量器”和“指示器”。在此意义上，《资本论》正是通过把握资本主义社会中的物——资本，来理解和阐释资本主义文明的。

At the opening of *Capital*, Marx begins with the sensuous thing, the “commodity,” and proposes that the wealth of societies in which the capitalist mode of production prevails appears as an “immense accumulation of commodities.” This seems unrelated to civilization, but in fact it strengthens people’s intuitive and realistic sense of capitalist civilization. On this basis, *Capital*, through the critique of political economy, further reveals that the commodity is a sensuous and yet supersensuous thing—“abounding in metaphysical subtleties and theological niceties.” This is precisely the root and secret of the “commodity fetishism” exposed by *Capital*—money fetishism is its completed form, and capital fetishism its highest form. The secret of commodity (money and capital) fetishism is, in substantive terms, also the secret of capitalist civilization. It is precisely in the sense of revealing and grasping the secret of capitalist civilization through the commodity that the critique of political economy in *Capital* transcends both the uncritical, positivist classical political economy and the uncritical, idealist classical German philosophy, becoming a “critical positivism.”

在《资本论》的开篇，马克思从可感觉的物即“商品”入手，提出资本主义占统治地位的社会财富表现为“庞大的商品堆积”，貌似与文明无关，实际上却强化了人们对资本主义文明的直观感和现实感。在此基础上，《资本论》通过政治经济学批判，进一步揭示出商品是可感觉而又超感觉的物——“充满形而上学的微妙和神学的怪诞”。这其实正是《资本论》所揭露的“商品拜物教”——货币拜物教是其完成形态、资本拜物教是其最高形态——的根源和秘密。商品（货币和资本）拜物教的秘密，在实质意义上也就是资本主义文明的秘密。正是在通过商品揭示和把握资本主义文明秘密的意义上，《资本论》的政治经济学批判既超越了非批判的实证主义的古典政治经济学，也超越了非批判的唯心主义的德国古典哲学，而成了“批判的实证主义”。

*Capital* begins with the commodity, then ascends to money and capital, and finally reaches the completed form of capital in “interest-bearing capital.” “Capital” ultimately becomes the concept of the thing in capitalist society, and also the direct representation of capitalist civilization: “In the simple concept of capital, its civilizing tendency etc. is necessarily contained.” It is precisely this “civilizing tendency” of capital that greatly advances and represents the development of capitalist civilization: “It compels all nations, on pain of extinction, to adopt the bourgeois mode of production; it compels them to introduce what it calls civilization into their midst, i.e., to become bourgeois themselves. In a word, it creates a world after its own image.” Thus, “capital is merely another name for civilization”; the world capital creates after its own image is the world of capitalist civilization, and “capital’s appearance marks a new epoch in the social process of production.” Capital is precisely the self-representation and self-confirmation of this capitalist civilization.

《资本论》从商品入手，进一步上升到货币和资本，最后在“生息资本”中达到了资本的完成形态，“资本”最终成了资本主义社会中物的概念，也最终成了资本主义文明的直接表征，“在资本的简单概念中必然自在地包含着资本的文明化趋势等等”。正是资本的这一“文明化趋势”，极大推进和表征了资本主义文明的发展：“它迫使一切民族——如果它们不想灭亡的话——采用资产阶级的生产方式；它迫使它们在自己那里推行所谓的文明，即变成资产者。一句话，它按照自己的面貌为自己创造出一个世界。”可见，“资本不过是文明的另一名称”，资本按照自己的面貌创造的世界就是资本主义文明的世界，而“资本一出现，就标志着社会生产过程的一个新时代”。资本正是这一资本主义文明的自我表征和自我确证。

Capitalist civilization, which takes capital as its self-representation and self-confirmation, transcends ancient civilization. Marx affirms its historical progressive significance: “The bourgeoisie, during its rule of scarce one hundred years, has created more massive and more colossal productive forces than have all preceding generations together. Subjection of Nature’s forces to man, machinery, application of chemistry to industry and agriculture, steam-navigation, railways, electric telegraphs, clearing of whole continents for cultivation, canalisation of rivers, whole populations conjured out of the ground—what earlier century had even a presentiment that such productive forces slumbered in the lap of social labour?” In Marx’s view, capitalist civilization is the civilization in which the “industrial knight” defeats the “sword-bearing knight.” Capital is both the self-representation of civilization and its immense driving force. “By its nature, capital strives to transcend every spatial barrier. Hence the creation of the material conditions of exchange—of the means of communication and transport—is an absolute necessity for capital: to annihilate space with time.” Driven by capital, the space of capitalist civilization gradually expands: the country becomes subordinate to the town, the peasant nation to the bourgeois nation, the East to the West, and the barbarian and semi-barbarian countries to the civilized countries. In the final analysis, capital creates a civilized world after its own image.

以资本为自我表征和自我确证的资本主义文明，是对古代文明的超越。对其历史进步意义，马克思给予肯定：“自然力的征服，机器的采用，化学在工业和农业中的应用，轮船的行驶，铁路的通行，电报的使用，整个整个大陆的开垦，河川的通航，仿佛用法术从地下呼唤出来的大量人口——过去哪一个世纪料想到在社会劳动里蕴藏有这样的生产力呢？”在马克思看来，资本主义文明就是“工业骑士”战胜“佩剑骑士”的文明。资本既是文明的自我表征，也是文明的巨大动力。“资本按其本性来说，力求超越一切空间界限。因此，创造交换的物质条件——交通运输工具——对资本来说是极其必要的：用时间去消灭空间。”在资本的推动下，资本主义文明的空间逐渐扩大：农村从属于城市，农民的民族从属于资产阶级的民族，东方从属于西方，未开化和半开化的国家从属于文明的国家。说到底，资本正是按自己的面貌创造一个文明的世界。

But this civilized world represented and created by capital is, after all, a civilization of things, not a civilization of human beings. What the critique of political economy in *Capital* seeks to do is to transform “the independence and individuality of capital” into “the independence and individuality of real individuals”—that is, to move from “the civilizing aspect of capital” to “the highly civilized human being.”

但资本所表征和创造的这一文明世界，终究只是物的文明而不是人的文明。《资本论》之政治经济学批判所要做的，就是变“资本的独立性和个性”为“现实的个人的独立性和个性”，即从“资本的文明面”转向“高度文明的人”。

The Civilizational Turn of *Capital*: From “the Civilizing Aspect of Capital” to “the Highly Civilized Human Being”

《资本论》的文明转向：从“资本的文明面”到“高度文明的人”

In Marx’s view, the actual consequence of capitalist civilization is that “capital possesses independence and individuality, while the living individual possesses neither independence nor individuality.” At the same time, capital, as a “vampire,” can only valorize itself by constantly sucking in living labor. Regarding this “inhuman” nature of capitalist civilization, Marx further points out in *Capital*: “In the old civilized countries, the worker, though free, is by a law of nature subordinate to the capitalist.” And the capitalist is precisely the personification of capital; they “have stolen from the worker the free time he has created for society, i.e., they have stolen civilization.” Therefore, capitalist civilization belongs to the capitalist and never to the worker; capitalist civilization is a hypocritical civilization.

在马克思看来，资本主义文明带来的实际后果就是“资本具有独立性和个性，而活动着的个人却没有独立性和个性”。同时，资本作为“吸血鬼”，只有靠不断吮吸工人的活劳动才能增殖自身。对资本主义文明的这一“非人”性质，马克思在《资本论》中进一步指出：“在旧的文明国家，工人虽然自由，但按照自然规律，他是从属于资本家的。”而资本家正是资本的人格化，他们“窃取了工人为社会创造的自由时间，即窃取了文明”。所以，资本主义文明归属于资本家而绝不归属于工人，资本主义文明是伪善的文明。

The hypocrisy of capitalist civilization still puts on a decent appearance in the so-called “homeland of bourgeois civilization,” but in the colonies it reveals its true face: “When we turn our gaze from the homeland of bourgeois civilization to the colonies, the extreme hypocrisy and barbaric nature of bourgeois civilization stands revealed before us in all its nakedness. At home it puts on a decent face, but in the colonies it is completely unashamed.” On this point, Marx further states: “Whenever the slaves and oppressed of the bourgeois order rise up against their masters, this civilization and justice reveal their savage nature. Then this civilization and justice are nothing but naked barbarism and lawless revenge. Every new crisis in the class struggle between the possessors and the producers proves this fact more and more clearly.” Thus, so-called capitalist civilization is “a civilization founded on the slavery of labour,” only that the factory overseer’s fine-book has replaced the slave-driver’s whip; it commits “theft” under the guise of “civilization.” Capitalist civilization is an alienated civilization under the “pretext of civilization.”

资本主义文明的伪善性，在所谓“资产阶级文明的故乡”还装出一副体面的样子，但在殖民地则露出了本来面目：“当我们把目光从资产阶级文明的故乡转向殖民地的时候，资产阶级文明的极端伪善和它的野蛮本性就赤裸裸地呈现在我们面前，它在故乡还装出一副体面的样子，而在殖民地它就丝毫不加掩饰了。”对此，马克思进一步指出：“每当资产阶级秩序的奴隶和被压迫者起来反对主人的时候，这种秩序的文明和正义就显示出自己的凶残面目。那时，这种文明和正义就是赤裸裸的野蛮和无法无天的报复。占有者和生产者之间的阶级斗争中的每一次新危机，都越来越明显地证明这一事实。”由此可见，所谓的资本主义文明就是“建立在劳动奴役制上的罪恶的文明”，只不过是以工厂监工的罚金簿代替了奴隶主的鞭子，它以“文明”之名行“盗窃”之实。资本主义文明是打着“文明幌子”的一种异化的文明。

While exposing the inhumanity and hypocrisy of capitalist civilization, Marx also deeply recognizes its immense civilizing function: “One of the civilizing aspects of capital is that it extorts this surplus labour in a manner and under conditions that are more advantageous to the development of the productive forces, to the development of social relations, and to the creation of the elements for a new and higher form than under the earlier forms of slavery, serfdom, etc.” This “civilizing aspect” is, in fact, the real foundation for the creation of a higher social form whose fundamental principle is the free and all-round development of every individual. In this sense, the ultimate goal and greatest achievement of *Capital*’s critique of capitalist civilization is not the simple negation of capitalist civilization, but the production of “man as a being with as many attributes and connections as possible, and therefore with as many needs as possible.” Thus, the progress of civilization indeed “requires a new kind of man and will create such a man.” Therefore, the liberation of the free individuality of humanity is a main thread running through *Capital*: “As the political economy of the proletariat, Marx’s *Capital*, from its first page to its last, is permeated with one great aim: to free the working class from the yoke of capitalist exploitation.”

马克思在揭露资本主义文明的非人性和伪善性的同时，也深刻认识到其巨大文明作用：“资本的文明面之一是，它榨取这种剩余劳动的方式和条件，同以前的奴隶制、农奴制等形式相比，都更有利于生产力的发展，有利于社会关系的发展，有利于更高级的新形态的各种要素的创造。”这一“文明面”，实际上就是为一个更高级的、以每个人的自由全面发展为基本原则的社会形式建立的现实基础。在此意义上，《资本论》对资本主义文明批判的最终目标和最大成就，不是简单否定资本主义的文明，而是“培养社会的人的一切属性，并且把他作为具有尽可能丰富的属性和联系的人，因而具有尽可能广泛需要的人”生产出来。由此可见，文明的进步确实“需要一种全新的人，并将创造出这种人来”。所以说，人之自由个性的解放才是《资本论》的一条主线：“作为无产阶级政治经济学的马克思《资本论》从第一页起直到最后一页，贯穿着一个伟大的目的，就是把工人阶级从资本主义的剥削的枷锁下解放出来。”

The Dialectic of Civilization in *Capital*: The “Midwife” of a New Civilization

《资本论》的文明辩证法：新文明的“助产婆”

The civilizational turn of *Capital* is substantively embodied in the creation of an entirely new form of civilization. In this sense, the critique of political economy in *Capital* is also a dialectic of civilization that “discovers a new civilization in the process of criticizing the old one,” the essence of which lies in revealing the secret of the capitalist mode of production and effecting its fundamental transformation. Thus it can be said that *Capital* is the “midwife” of a new civilization.

《资本论》的文明转向，在实质意义上体现为一种文明全新形态的创造。在此意义上，《资本论》的政治经济学批判，也就是“在批判旧文明中发现新文明”的文明辩证法，其根本在于揭示资本主义生产方式的秘密并实现其根本变革。因此可以说，《资本论》就是新文明的“助产婆”。

In Marx’s view, the mode of production is a “universal light” of civilization; the distinction between different epochs of civilization lies “not in what is produced, but in how it is produced, by what instruments of labor it is produced.” [1]1 Karl Marx, *Capital*, Volume I, Chapter 7, Section 1. Consequently, the object of study in *Capital* is “the capitalist mode of production and the relations of production and exchange corresponding to it.” [2]2 Karl Marx, *Capital*, Volume I, Preface to the First Edition. The transformation of the mode of production that *Capital* reveals aims at abolishing capitalist private property. Only under the condition of this reconstructed individual property can workers engage in cooperative production and associated labor with a joyful spirit. Therefore, as the work that for the first time provides a scientific explanation of “the relation between capital and labor,” *Capital* thoroughly inverts “the relation between capital and labor” through its critique of political economy, thereby solving the riddle of “the domination and enslavement of labor by capital” and achieving the victory of “the political economy of labor” over “the political economy of capital.” In this sense, the “labor theory of value” in *Capital* is by no means a “labor theory of value”—that is, a question of the source of value—but rather a “value theory of labor”—that is, a question of the status and significance of labor. It is precisely in human labor that *Capital* finds the key to unlocking the civilization of capital: “The civilizing victory of capital lies precisely in the fact that capital discovers and compels human labor to replace dead things as the source of wealth.” [3]3 Karl Marx, *Grundrisse*, Notebook VII.

在马克思看来，生产方式是一种文明的“普照光”，各种文明时代的区别，“不在于生产什么，而在于怎样生产，用什么劳动资料生产”。所以，《资本论》的研究对象就是“资本主义生产方式以及和它相适应的生产关系和交换关系”。而《资本论》所揭示的生产方式变革，旨在消灭资本主义私有制。只有在此重建的个人所有制条件下，工人才能带着愉快的心情进行合作生产和联合劳动。因此，作为对“资本和劳动的关系”第一次进行科学说明的《资本论》，通过政治经济学批判彻底颠倒了“资本和劳动的关系”，进而破解了“资本统治和奴役劳动”之谜，实现了“劳动的政治经济学”对“资本的政治经济学”的胜利。在此意义上，《资本论》的“劳动价值论”绝不是“关于价值的‘劳动理论’”即价值的来源问题，而是“关于劳动的‘价值理论’”即劳动的地位和意义问题。也正是在人的劳动中，《资本论》找到了打开资本文明的锁钥——“资本的文明的胜利恰恰在于，资本发现并促使人的劳动代替死的物而成为财富的源泉”。

Thus it can be seen that through the dialectic of civilization, *Capital* not only scientifically reveals and explains the relation between capital and labor but also discovers the law of economic movement of modern society—the law of surplus value—thereby alleviating and shortening the “birth pangs” of the new civilization. [4]4 Karl Marx, *Capital*, Volume I, Preface to the First Edition. The “critical and revolutionary” dialectic of civilization in *Capital*, in the sense of “destruction,” is the negation and transcendence of capitalist civilization, while in the sense of “construction,” it heralds the birth of a new civilization.

由此可见，《资本论》通过文明的辩证法，既科学揭示和说明了资本和劳动关系，又发现了现代社会的经济运动规律——剩余价值规律，进而减轻和缩短了新文明诞生的“阵痛”。《资本论》之“批判的和革命的”文明辩证法，在“破”的意义上就是对资本主义文明的否定和超越，而在“立”的意义上则预示着一种新文明的诞生。

(Author: Bai Gang, Dean and Professor of the School of Philosophy and Sociology, Jilin University)

（作者：白刚，系吉林大学哲学社会学院院长、教授）

Online Editor: Tongxin

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