The Context and Mechanism of Social Self-Criticism

Social self-criticism is an important theoretical and practical课题. Social self-criticism requires immersion in classical texts in order to achieve a historical-materialist interpretation that clarifies the source. Humanity urgently needs to confront the exceptionally drastic changes in society and history, and to penetrate deep into social reality in order to solve the riddle of social history. To systematically grasp social self-criticism, we need, on the basis of revealing its context of emergence, to carry out the necessary conceptual clarification and mechanism analysis.

社会自我批判是一个重要的理论和实践课题。社会自我批判需要沉入经典文本之中，以达到正本清源的历史唯物主义阐释。人类亟须直面异常剧烈的社会历史变迁，并深入社会现实深处以求社会历史之谜的解答。而要系统把握社会自我批判，我们需要在揭示出场语境的基础上作必要的概念澄清和机制分析。

Context of Emergence

出场语境

We must not only draw intellectual resources for social self-criticism from classical texts in order to reflect on major practical social problems, but also, on the basis of major practical social problems, reflect on the theoretical expressions concerning social self-criticism found in classical texts. As far as major practical social problems are concerned, whether it is understanding the new changes in capitalist society or solving the riddle of social history concerning where human society is heading, we cannot avoid our research theme, namely social self-criticism. So-called social self-adjustment, social self-development, social self-improvement and social self-transcendence all belong to the category of social self-criticism and are essentially processes of social self-movement.

我们不仅要从经典文本中汲取社会自我批判的思想资源以观照重大社会实践问题，而且要立足于重大社会实践问题来反思经典文本中关于社会自我批判的理论表达。就重大社会实践问题而言，无论是理解资本主义社会的崭新变化，还是解答人类社会向何处去的社会历史之谜，都无法回避我们的研究主题即社会自我批判。所谓社会自我调整、社会自我发展、社会自我完善和社会自我超越，都属于社会自我批判的范畴，本质上是社会自我运动的过程。

How did Marx and Engels understand the self-movement of the modern society in which they themselves were embedded? Through their conceptual definition of class and the ruling class, and their historical grasp of bourgeois society, they revealed in classical texts such as the *Manifesto of the Communist Party* the historical origins, basic characteristics and inherent contradictions of modern society on the one hand, and pointed out the real conditions, fundamental principles and possible paths for transcending modern society on the other. Specifically, bourgeois society emerged and developed through the dual revolution of social revolution and political revolution; the bourgeoisie and wage-workers in bourgeois society are comprehensively determined by the universal trend of commodification, monetization and capitalization (the logic of capital); the antagonistic contradiction based on the internal structure of bourgeois society (the bourgeoisie and wage-workers) is the developmental logic of bourgeois society's self-negation; through class struggle led by the Communist Party, wage-workers rise to become the proletariat, and through the revolution promoted by the awakened proletariat (the logic of revolution), capitalist society moves toward communist society. Therefore, Marx and Engels clearly stated: "The fall of the bourgeoisie and the victory of the proletariat are equally inevitable." This is usually summarized in academic circles as the phenomenon of the "two inevitables" [1]1 The "two inevitables" (两个必然) refers to the conclusion in the *Manifesto of the Communist Party* that the fall of the bourgeoisie and the victory of the proletariat are equally inevitable. in the process of bourgeois society's self-negation (i.e., the transition from capitalist society to communism).

马克思恩格斯如何理解自己所内在于其中的现代社会的自我运动呢？通过对阶级、统治阶级的概念界定，对资产阶级社会的历史性把握，他们在《共产党宣言》等经典文本中一方面揭示了现代社会的历史起源、基本特征和内在矛盾，另一方面指出了超越现代社会的现实条件、根本原则和可能路径。具体地说，资产阶级社会是在社会革命与政治革命这双重革命中产生和发展的；资产阶级社会中的资产阶级和雇佣工人受到商品化、货币化、资本化普遍趋势（资本逻辑）的全面规定；基于资产阶级社会内在结构（资产阶级和雇佣工人）的对抗性矛盾是资产阶级社会自我否定的发展逻辑；经由共产党所领导的阶级斗争，雇佣工人上升为无产阶级，经由觉醒的无产阶级所推动的革命（革命逻辑），资本主义社会迈向共产主义社会。因此，马克思恩格斯明确指出：“资产阶级的灭亡和无产阶级的胜利是同样不可避免的。”这通常被学界概括为资产阶级社会自我否定过程（即从资本主义社会向共产主义过渡）中的“两个必然”现象。

The historical context of the *Manifesto of the Communist Party* is the mid-19th century, when the antagonistic contradictions of bourgeois society were increasingly revealed and the working class had begun to step onto the political stage. The question is: in what sense do the classical texts' profound revelations of the inherent contradictions and historical limits of bourgeois society belong both to their specific era and transcend that specific era? Since its birth, bourgeois society has undergone structural transformations, from free-competition capitalism to organized capitalism, from welfare-state capitalism to neoliberal capitalism. The basic contradiction between the productive forces contained in the capitalist mode of production and the mode of intercourse (especially the relations of production) has not been fundamentally resolved. Not only within the nation-state, but the entire world seems, with the support of technology and its rationality, to be increasingly subjected to the comprehensive domination of capital, increasingly dragged into the global capitalist system. Therefore, the new changes in bourgeois society must be grasped both in light of the optimistic judgment of the "two inevitables" in the *Manifesto of the Communist Party* and in light of the prudent reflection on the "two will nevers" [2]2 The "two will nevers" (两个决不会) refers to Marx's argument in the *Preface to A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy* that no social order ever perishes before all the productive forces for which there is room in it have developed, and new, higher relations of production never appear before the material conditions of their existence have matured in the womb of the old society. in the *Preface to A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy*. As an alternative to the capitalist path, socialism has attracted worldwide attention. Especially after the drastic changes in Eastern Europe and the disintegration of the Soviet Union, the practice of socialism with Chinese characteristics has taken on the historical mission of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and the construction of a new form of human civilization, which also needs to be examined within the problem domain of social self-criticism.

《共产党宣言》的历史语境是资产阶级社会的对抗性矛盾愈益显露、工人阶级已经开始登上政治舞台的19世纪中叶。问题在于，经典文本对资产阶级社会的内在矛盾、历史限度的深刻揭示在何种意义上既属于它的特定时代，又超出那个特定时代？自诞生以来，资产阶级社会已经发生了结构性转型，从自由竞争的资本主义到组织化的资本主义，从福利国家式资本主义到新自由主义资本主义，资本主义生产方式所蕴含的生产力与交往方式（特别是生产关系）之间的基本矛盾并未得到根本解决。不仅是民族国家内部，整个世界都似乎在技术及其理性的加持之下愈加受到资本的全面宰制，愈加被拖入全球资本主义体系之中。因此，资产阶级社会的崭新变化既要置于《共产党宣言》关于“两个必然”的乐观判断中来把握，又要置于《〈政治经济学批判〉序言》关于“两个决不会”的审慎运思中来理解。作为资本主义道路的替代性方案，社会主义获得全世界的关注。特别是东欧剧变和苏联解体之后，中国特色社会主义的实践更是承担着中华民族伟大复兴、人类文明新形态建构的历史使命，这也需要纳入社会自我批判的问题域中来考察。

Conceptual Clarification

概念澄清

Regarding "social self-criticism," people are accustomed to revealing it through the debate between reform and revolution, and the discourse struggle between the two. However, if we explore social self-development, social self-improvement and social self-transcendence on the basis of social subjectivity, the previously customary concepts and their discourses appear somewhat inadequate, while the concept of "social self-criticism" and its discourse have their advantages. Regarding social self-criticism, it is necessary for us to draw nourishment from Marx's critical thought. Throughout his life, Marx maintained a critical posture and developed his critical thought. In the past, academic circles mostly interpreted it from the perspective of social criticism. If we want to fully reflect the subjectivity of a specific society, then from the perspective of social self-criticism rather than social criticism, it is more conducive to interpreting Marx's critical thought and examining historical materialism. On the one hand, in terms of conceptual definition, "society" in social self-criticism is both the object of criticism and the subject of criticism; in comparison, "society" in social criticism is the object of criticism, but its subject of criticism is unclear. On the other hand, in terms of textual basis, the proposition of "the self-criticism of bourgeois society" put forward by Marx in the *Introduction to A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy* (hereinafter referred to as the *Introduction*) contains the thought of social self-criticism, and Marxism itself is an important paradigm of modern social self-criticism.

关于“社会自我批判”，人们惯于用改革与革命之争，以及二者的话语之争来揭示它。然而，如果基于社会主体性来探究社会自我发展、社会自我完善和社会自我超越的话，之前所惯常使用的概念及其话语就显得有所乏力，而“社会自我批判”概念及其话语就有其优势。关于社会自我批判，我们有必要从马克思批判思想中汲取营养。马克思究其一生都葆有一种批判的姿态，并发展着自己的批判思想，以往学界多从社会批判的角度来阐释。如果要充分体现特定社会的主体性，那么从社会自我批判的角度而不是社会批判的角度更有助于阐释马克思批判思想、考察历史唯物主义。一方面，在概念界定上，社会自我批判中的“社会”既是批判对象，又是批判主体；相比较而言，社会批判中的“社会”是批判对象，其批判主体却模糊不清。另一方面，在文本依据上，马克思在《〈政治经济学批判〉导言》（以下简称《导言》）中提出的“资产阶级社会的自我批判”命题内蕴着社会自我批判思想，马克思主义就是现代社会自我批判的一个重要范式。

The so-called "social self-criticism" is by no means a concept arbitrarily constructed on the basis of "social criticism." It is not only a concept contained in Marx's proposition of "the self-criticism of bourgeois society" in the *Introduction*, but also a thought contained in the classical Marxist writers' discussions on social organism. "The self-criticism of bourgeois society" was taken up by Marx as something ready-made, and he did not provide a systematic analysis of this concept. Therefore, it is necessary for us to bring this thought out of its long-term state of being obscured, and then to explore social self-criticism and its mechanism of occurrence from the perspective of historical materialism. So, how should we understand social self-criticism? Social self-criticism has both a real form and an ideological form. The so-called real form of social self-criticism refers to the self-movement of real society driven by the contradictions among its internal elements and the contradictions between the internal and the external (i.e., "the critique of weapons"); the so-called ideological form of social self-criticism refers to a specific society's self-understanding and self-cognition, which always strives to reflect the contradictory movement of real society in the realm of consciousness or the level of ideas (i.e., "the weapon of criticism"). Since entering modern society, with the gradual transition from regional history to world history, social self-criticism has become a relatively common social phenomenon.

所谓“社会自我批判”，绝不是在“社会批判”基础上无端构造的概念。它不仅是马克思在《导言》中“资产阶级社会的自我批判”命题内蕴着的概念，而且是在马克思主义经典作家关于社会有机体的论述中内蕴着的思想。“资产阶级社会的自我批判”作为现成的东西被马克思拿来即用，他并没有对这一概念作系统分析。因此，我们有必要将这一思想从长期的被遮蔽状态中解蔽出来，进而从历史唯物主义视野探讨社会自我批判及其发生机制。那么，如何来理解社会自我批判呢？社会自我批判既有现实形态，也有观念形态。所谓现实形态的社会自我批判，是指现实社会因其内部要素的矛盾以及内部和外部之间的矛盾所推动的自我运动（即“武器的批判”）；所谓观念形态的社会自我批判，是指特定社会的自我理解、自我认识，总是竭力把现实社会的矛盾运动体现在意识领域或观念层面（即“批判的武器”）。自进入现代性社会以来，随着区域历史逐渐向世界历史过渡，社会自我批判便成为较为普遍的社会现象。

When we explore social self-criticism, an unavoidable question is: how is social self-criticism possible? To answer this question, we must first answer the following: in what sense can society become the subject of critique? Marx’s discussion of “the subject, namely society” undoubtedly affirms the possibility of society as a subject. On the one hand, the so-called totality of thought is nothing but the product of people’s minds, while the real subject, society, retains its independence outside people’s minds. “Hence, in the theoretical method, too, the subject, society, must always be kept in mind as the presupposition.” [1]1 The "two inevitables" (两个必然) refers to the conclusion in the *Manifesto of the Communist Party* that the fall of the bourgeoisie and the victory of the proletariat are equally inevitable. On the other hand, just as in the study of historical science or social science, when we study economic categories we must always grasp the following point: “the subject — here, modern bourgeois society — is always presupposed, whether in reality or in the mind.” [2]2 The "two will nevers" (两个决不会) refers to Marx's argument in the *Preface to A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy* that no social order ever perishes before all the productive forces for which there is room in it have developed, and new, higher relations of production never appear before the material conditions of their existence have matured in the womb of the old society. In short, Marx explicitly opposes grasping the product of mental activity in the head as the subject, as Hegel’s speculative philosophy does. He not only acknowledges the reality outside the head, namely modern bourgeois society, but also advocates grasping modern bourgeois society as the subject. From the perspective of historical materialism, society is united individuals, but this union is not a simple collection or mechanical addition of individuals; as an organic whole, society is the sum total of connections and relations among real individuals. Marx consistently opposed understanding individuals, society, and the state in a reified, abstract, or oppositional manner. When discussing individuals, society, and the state, he strove to avoid falling into the rut of speculative philosophy, advocating understanding real individuals and the society and state they constitute as sensuous interactive activity. In classical texts, Marx not only grasps society as social relations but also focuses social relations on their foundational part, namely social relations of production.

当我们探讨社会自我批判时，不可回避的问题在于，社会自我批判何以可能？要回答这个问题，必须先回答如下问题：社会在何种意义上能够成为批判的主体？马克思关于“主体，即社会”的论述无疑肯定了社会主体的可能性。一方面，所谓思想整体无非是人们头脑的产物，而实在主体即社会仍然在人们头脑之外保持着它的独立性。“因此，就是在理论方法上，主体，即社会，也必须始终作为前提浮现在表象面前。”另一方面，跟研究历史科学、社会科学没什么两样，我们研究经济范畴时应当时刻把握住如下要旨：“无论在现实中或在头脑中，主体——这里是现代资产阶级社会——都是既定的”。简单来说，马克思明确反对像黑格尔的思辨哲学那样把头脑中思维活动的产物把握为主体，他不仅承认头脑之外的实在即现代资产阶级社会，而且主张把现代资产阶级社会把握为主体。在历史唯物主义视野中，社会是联合起来的单个人，但这种联合并非单个人的简单集合或机械相加；作为一个有机整体，社会是现实个人之间的联系和关系的总和。马克思一直反对实体化、抽象化、对立化地理解个人、社会和国家，谈论个人、社会和国家时都竭力避免落入思辨哲学的窠臼，主张把现实个人及其所构成的社会、国家等理解为感性的交互活动。在经典文本中，马克思不仅把社会把握为社会关系，而且把社会关系聚焦在其基础部分即社会生产关系。

Mechanism Analysis

机制分析

As the name implies, the subject of social self-criticism is society itself. However, society is not an abstract collective personality. More precisely, social self-criticism is most directly manifested in the critique of a specific society carried out by concrete, real, historical individuals, but this critique, because it strikes at the heart of social development problems and the principal contradiction of society, continuously expands and produces a broad and powerful mass effect. The organic connection from individuals to people constitutes so-called social groups (often abbreviated as communities; society is a specific type of community). This is not only a process of quantitative accumulation but also a qualitative leap. It is precisely because concrete, real, historical individuals, while expressing their own interests or ideological positions, also reflect the common voice of a community that concrete, real, historical individuals perceive that the private interests or ideological positions they express also possess a certain universality. On this basis, the social critique carried out by several concrete, real, historical individuals scattered in various places can achieve a broad and powerful mass effect, namely the overall self-criticism of society (abbreviated as social self-criticism). In short, as a “cause of the masses,” social self-criticism “will, as history advances, be the expansion of the mass.” [3]3 Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, *The Holy Family*, in *Marx Engels Collected Works*, vol. 4 (Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1975), p. 83. The original phrase is “as history advances, the mass will expand.”

顾名思义，社会自我批判的主体是社会本身。不过，社会并非抽象意义上的集体人格。确切地说，社会自我批判最直接地体现为具体的、现实的、历史的个人对特定社会所展开的批判，只不过这种批判因为切中了社会发展问题、社会主要矛盾的要害，而不断扩展开来，引起了广泛而强大的群体性效应。从个人到人们的有机连接构成了所谓社会群体（通常简称社群，社会是一种特定的社群），这不仅是一个量的积累过程，更是一个质的跃迁过程。正是具体的、现实的、历史的个人在表达自己利益诉求或思想立场时也在反映一个社群的共同心声，因此具体的、现实的、历史的个人觉察到自己所表达的一己私利或思想立场也具有其普遍性。基于此，若干散布在各地的具体的、现实的、历史的个人所展开的社会批判就可能达致一种广泛而强大的群体性效应，即社会总体的自我批判（简称社会自我批判）。总而言之，作为“群众的事业”，社会自我批判“随着历史活动的深入，必将是群众队伍的扩大”。

It is precisely based on the widespread critique of society by real individuals that social self-criticism can truly unfold. On a practical level, the reason Marx’s thorough critique of 19th-century bourgeois society could become the ideological weapon for the proletariat of the whole world to unite and fight for their own liberation and human liberation precisely demonstrates that the critique of society by concrete, real, historical individuals within social relations ultimately universalizes into social self-criticism. Moreover, this ideological form of social self-criticism guides the masses to translate theory into real action to change the world, that is, the practical form of social self-criticism. In Marx’s view, the real subject of social self-criticism is the self-conscious social group, namely the proletariat for itself. As a proletariat in itself, the suffering proletariat can only become the bearer of its own liberation and human liberation, making it possible, if it consciously unites to become the proletariat for itself. However, the in-depth development of social self-criticism also has its objective historical conditions, namely the irreconcilable contradictions with deep-seated roots triggered by the internal structure of bourgeois society. Only when these deep-seated contradictions and sharp conflicts at the social level are sufficiently manifested and widely revealed by the conscious proletariat does social self-criticism possess its socio-historical conditions (which can be called objective conditions) and its real subject-bearer (which can be called subjective conditions). It is the interaction of subjective and objective conditions (which can be called specific conditions) that enables social self-criticism to be truly realized. Therefore, Marx clearly states that apart from “those historical periods when the period of collapse occurs,” history “can only carry out self-criticism rarely and under specific conditions.” [4]4 Karl Marx, *Grundrisse*, in *Marx Engels Collected Works*, vol. 28 (Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1986), p. 46. The original phrase is “rarely and only under specific conditions.”

正是立足于广泛的现实个人对社会的批判，社会自我批判才有可能真正展开。从现实层面而言，马克思对19世纪资产阶级社会的彻底批判之所以能够成为全世界无产阶级联合起来争取自身解放和人类解放的思想武器，正体现了社会关系中的具体的、现实的、历史的个人对社会的批判最终普遍化为社会自我批判。不仅如此，这种观念形态的社会自我批判指导着人民群众把思想理论落实为变革世界的现实行动，即现实形态的社会自我批判。在马克思那里，社会自我批判的现实主体就是自觉层面上的社会群体即自为的无产阶级。作为自在的无产阶级，苦难深重的无产阶级只有自觉地联合起来成为自为的无产阶级，他们自身的解放和人类的解放才有主体承担者而具备可能性。然而，社会自我批判的深入展开还有其客观历史条件，即由资产阶级社会内部结构所引发的不可调和的、具有深层次根源的矛盾运动。只有这些社会层面的深层次矛盾、尖锐性冲突比较充分地呈现并为自觉的无产阶级所广泛地揭示出来，社会自我批判才具有社会历史条件（可称之为客体条件）和现实主体承担者（可称之为主体条件），正是主客体条件的相互作用（可称之为特定条件）才使社会自我批判得以真正实现。因此，马克思明确指出，“作为崩溃时期出现的那样的历史时期”之外，历史“很少而且只有在特定条件下才能进行自我批判”。

In analyzing the mechanism of social self-criticism, it is insufficient to only explore its specific conditions. The following two aspects are equally noteworthy: On the one hand, the reference system of social self-criticism, namely social reality and social ideals. Their mutual reference makes social self-criticism possible. Social reality refers to the understanding of the universal state of alienation in bourgeois society (i.e., social reality); social ideals refer to the transcendence of the universally alienated bourgeois society. The purport of Marx’s critical thought lies in the association of free individuals where each person can develop freely and fully, namely communist society. “Communism is an important conclusion of the convergence in modernity of two perspectives in the European tradition: transcendence and understanding.” [5]5 The source of this quotation is not identified in the original text. On the other hand, there are two dimensions of social self-criticism: retrospection toward the past and prospection toward the future. These, together with tracking the present, form a trinity. Specifically, it is precisely by tracking the bourgeois society in which he was situated, retrospecting pre-bourgeois societies including primitive society, and prospecting future communist society that Marx profoundly grasped the historical dialectics involving the complex relations among the past, present, and future, thereby scientifically revealing the general laws of social self-criticism.

分析社会自我批判的机制，仅仅探讨其特定条件是不够的，如下两个方面同样值得注意：一方面，社会自我批判的参照系统，即社会现实与社会理想，它们之间的相互参照使社会自我批判具备可能性。所谓社会现实，指向对资产阶级社会的普遍异化状态（即社会现实）的理解；所谓社会理想，指向普遍异化的资产阶级社会的超越。马克思批判思想的旨趣在于每一个人自由而全面发展的自由人联合体，即共产主义社会。“共产主义是欧洲传统中超越性和理解性两种视角在现代会合后的重要结论。”另一方面，社会自我批判的两个向度，即向过去的回溯和向未来的前瞻，它们与向现在的追踪是三位一体的。具体地说，正是通过对自己所置身的资产阶级社会进行追踪、对包括原始社会在内的前资产阶级社会进行回溯和对未来共产主义社会进行前瞻，马克思深刻地把握了涉及过去、现在和未来之间复杂关系的历史辩证法，从而科学地揭示社会自我批判的一般规律。

Social self-criticism directly confronts social problems, and “the relationship between the individual and society is the root of all social problems.” [6]6 The source of this quotation is not identified in the original text. For modern society, this includes civil society (i.e., society in the general sense, or economic society) and the political state (i.e., the state in the general sense, or political society). Therefore, the relationship between the individual and society is refined and even complicated into the relationship among the individual, society, and the state. Based on the relationship among the individual, society, and the state, social self-criticism has the following three approaches: First, social self-criticism proceeding from the atomized individual can be called the individualist approach. Second, social self-criticism proceeding from the nation-state can be called the statist approach. Third, social self-criticism proceeding from the concrete individual within social relations can be called the socialist approach. The socialist approach explicitly opposes the narrow nation-state standard and the one-sided atomized individual hypothesis, emphasizes that “the free development of each is the condition for the free development of all,” [7]7 Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, *Manifesto of the Communist Party*, in *Marx Engels Collected Works*, vol. 6 (Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1976), p. 506. and advocates a social standard based on the individual in relations, thereby constituting a transcendence of the first two approaches.

社会自我批判直面的是社会问题，而“个人与社会的关系是一切社会问题的根源”。就现代社会而言，它包括市民社会（即一般意义上的社会，或者经济社会）与政治国家（即一般意义上的国家，或者政治社会）。因此，个人与社会的关系就细化甚至复杂化为个人、社会与国家的关系。基于个人、社会与国家的关系，社会自我批判具有以下三条进路：其一，从原子个人出发所进行的社会自我批判，可称之为个人主义进路；其二，从民族国家出发所进行的社会自我批判，可称之为国家主义进路；其三，从社会关系中的具体个人出发所进行的社会自我批判，可称之为社会主义进路。社会主义进路明确反对狭隘的民族国家本位论和片面的原子个人假设，强调“每个人的自由发展是一切人的自由发展的条件”，主张基于关系中的个人的社会本位论，从而构成了对前两条进路的超越。

Online Editor: Paul

网络编辑：保罗