Research on Marxist Ethical Thought Must Highlight the “Question of Standpoint”

The standpoint, viewpoint, and method of Marxism are not external to the Marxist ideological system; they themselves are components of the Marxist theoretical and practical system. Research on Marxist ethical thought must also grasp and understand standpoint, viewpoint, and method well, and in particular must highlight the question of standpoint.

马克思主义的立场、观点和方法并不外在于马克思主义思想体系，它们本身就是马克思主义理论和实践体系的组成部分，研究马克思主义伦理思想也必须把握和理解好立场、观点和方法，特别是要突出立场问题。

The question of standpoint embodies the value essence of Marxist ethical thought

立场问题体现马克思主义伦理思想的价值本质

From the perspective of the connotation and reference of ethical thought, standpoint is value standpoint, specifically involving questions such as for whom moral critique or moral defense is conducted, for whom the path to a good life is opened, or what kind of freedom, justice, dignity, and all-round development is pursued. Value standpoint is the distinctive hallmark of Marxist ethical thought, the fundamental sign that distinguishes Marxism from other bourgeois ethical value systems, and also the fundamental embodiment of the revolutionary transformation of Marxist ethical thought.

从伦理思想的内涵指涉来看，立场即为价值立场，具体涉及的是为谁进行道德批判或道德辩护，为谁敞开好生活的路向或追求何种自由、正义、尊严、全面发展等一系列问题。价值立场是马克思主义伦理思想的鲜明标识，是马克思主义与其他资产阶级伦理价值体系区别开来的根本标志，也是马克思主义伦理思想革命性变革的根本体现。

In the development of Marxist ethical thought, the value standpoint is clear and consistent throughout. This is always to stand on the standpoint of the proletariat and the masses of the people, to expose and criticize the suppression and destruction of human beings by the capitalist system, and to explore the value goal of achieving human liberation through the liberation of the proletariat, establishing a community of free individuals, and enabling each person to achieve free and all-round development, along with the path to realize it.

在马克思主义伦理思想的发展过程中，价值立场是鲜明的而且是一以贯之的，这就是始终站在无产阶级和人民大众的立场上揭露和批判资本主义制度对人的压制和摧残，探讨通过无产阶级的解放而实现人类解放、建立自由人的联合体、使每个人得到自由而全面的发展的价值目标及其实现路径。

From proposing that young people’s choice of career should take serving humanity as the standard and pursue the unity of individual perfection and contribution to society, to exposing the bourgeoisie’s exploitation of landless peasants by transforming their own selfish desires into universal legislative principles; from analyzing how the incompleteness of bourgeois political revolution reduces the bourgeois state to a tool for the propertied class to seek private gain, to proposing the achievement of human liberation through proletarian revolution; from analyzing the root causes of workers’ animal-like state of existence under conditions of alienated labor, to proposing the abolition of private property and the establishment of a communist society that achieves “the true appropriation of the human essence through and for humanity”; from scientifically revealing the laws of human social development to clarify the historical mission of the proletariat, to re-emphasizing that “the proletarian movement is the independent movement of the immense majority, in the interest of the immense majority”; from criticizing the hypocrisy of various bourgeois moral views that depart from people’s real conditions of existence to peddle reason, equality, freedom, justice, love, etc., derived through pure conceptual deduction, to exposing the real state of human subjugation to the logic of capital and the exploitative essence of capitalism, and awakening the mission consciousness of the working class to unite and overthrow the capitalist exploitation system… All this fully proves that Marxist ethical thought has never been a value standpoint of a “minority elite,” let alone a “value-neutral” standpoint. People-centeredness is the essential attribute of Marxism, and the standpoint of the masses of the people is the fundamental value standpoint of Marxist ethical thought. To neglect the question of standpoint is to negate the uniqueness of Marxist ethical thought.

从提出青年人选择职业要以服务人类为标准、追求个人完善与贡献社会的统一，到揭露资产阶级将自己的自私欲求转化为普遍的立法原则而对失地农民进行盘剥；从剖析资产阶级政治革命的不彻底导致资产阶级国家沦为有产者谋取私利的工具，到提出要通过无产阶级革命实现人类的解放；从对造成工人在异化劳动条件下的动物性生存状态的根源分析，到提出消灭私有制建立“通过人并且为了人而对人的本质的真正占有”的共产主义社会；从通过对人类社会发展规律的科学揭示明确无产阶级的历史使命，到再次强调“无产阶级的运动是绝大多数人的，为绝大多数人谋利益的独立的运动”；从对各种离开人的现实生存条件来兜售通过纯粹观念推演出的理性、平等、自由、正义、爱等资产阶级道德观的虚伪性的批判，到揭露人屈从于资本逻辑宰制的现实状态和资本主义的剥削实质、唤起工人阶级联合起来推翻资本主义剥削制度的使命意识……都充分证明了：马克思主义伦理思想从来就不是“少数精英”的价值立场，更不是“价值中立”的立场。人民性是马克思主义的本质属性，人民大众的立场是马克思主义伦理思想的根本价值立场。忽视了立场问题就否定了马克思主义伦理思想的独特性。

The question of standpoint is a prerequisite question that must be clarified

立场问题是必须明晰的前提性问题

In the development of ethical thought, value standpoint determines the basic orientation of its theory and practice. Many theoretical currents in the history of ethical thought do not seem to take value standpoint as a “presuppositional” question, or do not mention the question of value standpoint within their theoretical systems: whether it is taking the presupposition of human nature as the logical starting point of ethical thinking, examining the meaning of life as the boundary of ethical theory, pursuing happiness and pleasure as the goal of life, or taking the pursuit of the greatest good for the greatest number as the criterion of evaluation, taking inner freedom free from the interference of secular factors as the condition for moral choice, or turning to semantic analysis to avoid the entanglements of the multiplicity of real life as the path to scientize ethics, and so on. These ethical currents seem to suspend or filter out people’s concrete, historical mode of existence, and therefore do not concern themselves with “why do people living in palaces and people living in thatched cottages think about different things?” nor do they think about “whether a person starving to death who steals a piece of bread should be subject to legal punishment or moral condemnation?” When faced with the “trolley problem,” they habitually engage in brainstorming or intellectual games around whether to follow utilitarianism, deontology, or virtue ethics, without exploring what actually causes the “trolley problem,” etc.

在伦理思想的发展过程中，价值立场决定了其理论和实践的基本面向。伦理思想史上的许多理论思潮似乎都不以价值立场作为“前置性”问题或者说在其理论体系中都不提及价值立场问题：无论是以人性的预设作为伦理思维的逻辑起点、以省察人生意义作为伦理理论界域、以追求快乐和幸福作为人生目标，还是以追求最大多数人的最大利益为评价标准、以摒弃世俗因素干扰的内在自由为道德选择的条件、以避免现实生活杂多的纠缠而转向语义分析作为将伦理学科学化的实现路径，等等，这些伦理思潮似乎都悬置了或筛漏了人的具体的历史的存在方式，因而不去关注“住在皇宫里的人与住在茅草屋里的人为什么他们所想的事情不尽相同？”也不会去思考“一个饿得濒临死亡的人去偷一块面包是不是应受到法律制裁或道德谴责？”在面临“电车难题”时习惯于围绕着究竟遵循功利论、道义论还是美德论展开头脑风暴或思想博弈而不去探究究竟是什么原因造成了“电车难题”等。

Clearly, ethics without value standpoint develops a constructive path of moral epistemology or moral internalization. Such ethics becomes increasingly refined theoretically—the theoretical system and logic become more and more rigorous, and the analysis of concepts becomes more and more technical; from the perspective of analytical approach, it becomes increasingly introverted—placing special emphasis on the exploration and construction of the physiological and psychological mechanisms of moral autonomy, and minimizing attention to the sociality of the moral subject. This tendency toward epistemology and internalization leads, on the one hand, to reinforcing the so-called universal foundation, and on the other hand, to a large extent developing ethics into an intellectual activity, regarding conceptual accuracy and rigorous argumentation as the two main academic virtues of intellectual activity ethics. In fact, from another perspective, the so-called non-standpoint ethics mentioned above actually “covertly” expresses a value standpoint, which is to try to get rid of “crude real life,” not to get entangled in various real moral relations and conflicts of interest, to reflect more of people’s life interests or the refined hobby of self-cultivation, and to express people’s spiritual temperament through pure intellectual temperament.

很显然，无价值立场的伦理学所拓展出的是道德知识论的或道德内在化的建构理路，这样的伦理学从理论上说越来越精致——理论体系和逻辑越来越严谨，对概念的分析越来越技术化；从分析视角上说越来越内倾——特别重视道德自律的生理机制和心理机制的发掘、建构，尽量减少对道德主体的社会性的关注。这种知识论和内在化的发展趋向在导向上一是要加固所谓普遍性的基础，二是很大程度上将伦理学发展成一种智力活动，将概念的准确和论证的严密看成智力活动伦理学的两种主要学术美德。其实，换个角度来思考，上述所谓无立场的伦理学实际上还是“隐匿”地表达了一种价值立场，就是尽量摆脱“粗陋的现实生活”，不纠结于各种现实的道德关系和利益冲突，更多地体现出人的生活情趣或自我清修的雅好，以纯粹的思想气质表现人的精神气质。

Marxist ethical thought declared its value standpoint as soon as it appeared. The establishment of the value standpoint of the proletariat and the masses of the people is by no means a resort to theoretical assumptions, but a scientific conclusion that conforms to historical laws and people’s value pursuits, obtained through attention to people’s reality or real people. In Marx’s view, real individuals are flesh-and-blood people engaged in material production activities and real interactions, not isolated, speculative, abstract individuals. The reality of people is directly unified with their real needs. This means that for people to survive and develop, they must continuously engage in material exchange with nature and interact with others. Therefore, people’s development and perfection are based on the continuous development of productive forces and the continuous improvement of relations of production, and people’s freedom must be paved by the continuous progress of society. Questions such as the origin, development, essence, function, and laws of evolution of morality can only find answers based on this. Moral concepts that set aside people’s real existence are all arbitrary fabrications of ideas and also false ideologies that conceal the exploitative essence of capitalism.

马克思主义伦理思想一出场就亮明了自己的价值立场，无产阶级和人民群众的价值立场的确立绝不是诉诸理论假设，而是通过对人的现实性或现实的人的关注而得出的符合历史规律和人的价值追求的科学结论。在马克思看来，现实的个人是有血有肉的、从事物质生产活动和现实交往的人，不是离群索居、思辨的、抽象的个人。人的现实性与其现实需要是直接统一的。这意味着，人要生存发展就必须不断与自然界进行物质变换、与他人进行交往。因而人的发展完善是建立在生产力不断发展和生产关系不断完善的基础上的，人的自由是要靠社会的不断进步开辟道路的。道德的起源、发展、本质、功能和演变规律等问题也只能以此为基础来寻找答案。抛开人的现实存在的道德观念都是观念的任意虚构，也是掩饰资本主义剥削本质的虚假的意识形态。

In the structure of Marxist ethical thought, value standpoint is fundamental. To discuss viewpoint and method while neglecting value standpoint obscures the value essence of Marxist ethical thought, and also completely intellectualizes, conceptualizes, and speculativizes Marxist ethical thought, confusing it with general ethical theoretical paradigms and subjecting it only to the legitimacy challenges of these non-standpoint ethical paradigms. In the system of Marxist ethical thought, standpoint, viewpoint, and method are interconnected and inseparable. Value standpoint is the fundamental question; viewpoint and method are the embodiment and demonstration of value standpoint. One cannot discuss viewpoint and method apart from value standpoint.

在马克思主义伦理思想的结构中，价值立场是根本，忽视了价值立场来谈观点和方法就遮蔽了马克思主义伦理思想的价值本质，也把马克思主义伦理思想完全知识化、概念化、思辨化了，混同于一般的伦理学理论范式并只能接受这些无立场的伦理学范式的合法性质疑了。而在马克思主义伦理思想体系中，立场、观点、方法是相互联系、不可分割的。价值立场是根本问题，观点和方法是对价值立场的体现和论证，不能离开价值立场来谈观点和方法。

Constructing the “Three Systems” of Marxist ethics with Chinese characteristics

构建中国特色马克思主义伦理学“三大体系”

Marxism is not a dogma; it is an open scientific theory that advances with the times and needs to be continuously developed in light of specific circumstances. Research on Marxist ethical thought cannot stop at the interpretation of original texts and doctrines, nor can it simply follow and imitate the theoretical paradigms and argumentation methods of some Western ethical currents. It must anchor itself to the goal of constructing the disciplinary system, academic system, and discourse system of Marxist ethics with Chinese characteristics.

马克思主义不是教条，是开放的、与时俱进的、需要结合具体情况不断发展的科学理论。研究马克思主义伦理思想不能止步于对原典学理的阐释，更不能简单地追随和模仿一些西方伦理思潮的理论范式和论证方式，而必须锚定构建中国特色马克思主义伦理学学科体系、学术体系、话语体系这一目标。

Constructing a disciplinary system, academic system, and discourse system for Marxist ethics with Chinese characteristics is a major task in adapting Marxism to the Chinese context and the needs of the times. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: “The major proposition of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context and the needs of the times itself determines that we must never discard the soul of Marxism, nor must we discard the root of fine traditional Chinese culture. Holding fast to this soul and root is the foundation and prerequisite for theoretical innovation.” [1]1 Xi Jinping, speech at the sixth group study session of the Political Bureau of the 20th CPC Central Committee, June 30, 2023. Holding fast to the “root” of Marxism and the “soul” of fine traditional Chinese culture means adhering to the Two Integrations — integrating the basic tenets of Marxism with China’s specific realities and with the best of traditional Chinese culture. Therefore, constructing a disciplinary system, academic system, and discourse system for Marxist ethics with Chinese characteristics should serve the objective needs of realizing Chinese-path modernization and the Chinese Dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, and should serve the objective needs of realizing, safeguarding, and developing the fundamental interests of the broadest majority of the people; it should take practice as a bridge, and in the process of answering the questions of China, the questions of the world, the questions of the people, and the questions of the era, promote a “two-way convergence” between Marxist ethical thought and the finest traditional Chinese moral culture.

构建中国特色马克思主义伦理学学科体系、学术体系、话语体系是推动马克思主义中国化时代化的重大课题。习近平总书记指出：“马克思主义中国化时代化这个重大命题本身就决定，我们决不能抛弃马克思主义这个魂脉，决不能抛弃中华优秀传统文化这个根脉。坚守好这个魂和根，是理论创新的基础和前提。”守好马克思主义这个“根”和中华优秀传统文化这个“魂”就是要坚持“两个结合”——把马克思主义基本原理同中国具体实际相结合、同中华优秀传统文化相结合。因此，构建中国特色马克思主义伦理学学科体系、学术体系、话语体系应服务于实现中国式现代化和中华民族伟大复兴的中国梦的客观需要，服务于实现好、维护好、发展好最广大人民根本利益的客观需要；要以实践为桥梁，在回答中国之问、世界之问、人民之问、时代之问的过程中推动马克思主义伦理思想与中华优秀传统道德文化“双向奔赴”。

In the process of researching Marxist ethical thought, fully embodying the value standpoint of Marxist ethical thought seizes the root of the problem. Transplanting the existing paradigms of Western ethics to paste various fashionable labels onto Marxism, or using them as a yardstick to judge whether Marxist ethics is established, does not conform to the essence of Marxist ethical thought; it is a practice of using the system of ideas that Marxism opposes to oppose Marxist ethical thought or moral concepts.

在对马克思主义伦理思想研究的过程中，充分体现马克思主义伦理思想的价值立场就抓住了问题的根本。以移植西方伦理学既有范式的方式给马克思主义贴上各种时髦的标签或作为判断马克思主义伦理学是否成立的尺度是不符合马克思主义伦理思想的实质的，是用马克思主义反对的观念体系来反对马克思主义伦理思想或道德观念的做法。

(The author is a professor at the Research Center for Chinese Ethical Civilization, Hunan Normal University)

（作者系湖南师范大学中华伦理文明研究中心教授）

Online editor: Huihui

网络编辑：慧慧