Marx’s Transcendence of Rousseau’s Romanticist View of Science and Technology

The romanticist thinker Rousseau, while affirming the importance of science, focused more on its negative effects on social development, arguing that science led to the corruption of social mores and the degeneration of human nature. Although Marx inherited Rousseau’s critical spirit toward science and technology, he examined science and technology from the perspective of historical materialism, revealing their social attributes and humanistic qualities, and treating them as a revolutionary force driving social progress, thereby overcoming Rousseau’s romanticist imagination of science and technology. Re-examining Marx’s understanding of Rousseau’s romanticist view of science and technology helps us to grasp the Marxist view of science and technology more comprehensively and profoundly.

浪漫主义思想家卢梭在肯定科学重要性的同时，将目光更多聚焦于科学对社会发展的消极影响方面，认为科学导致了社会风俗败坏和人性的堕落。马克思虽然继承了卢梭对科学技术的批判精神，但将科学技术置于历史唯物主义的视野中加以考察，揭示了科学技术的社会属性和人文特质，将科学技术作为一种推动社会进步的革命性力量，从而克服了卢梭对科学技术的浪漫主义想象。重新审视马克思对卢梭浪漫主义科学技术观的理解，有助于我们更加全面深刻地理解马克思主义科学技术观。

The Essence of Science and Technology

科学技术的本质

Rousseau believed that science originates from moral evil, arising from people’s various “bad ideas” (e.g., astronomy was born from superstition, mathematics from human greed, physics from curiosity, etc.), and that it is difficult for science to play a positive, constructive role in social life. Objectively speaking, the development of natural science and related technologies does indeed have some intrinsic connection with human curiosity and even greed. “Curiosity” about unknown things in nature and the urgent need to satisfy “private desires” are important driving forces for humans to explore the mysteries of science, but this is not the true foundation for the birth of science.

卢梭认为，科学起源于道德之恶，从人们的种种“坏思想”中产生（如天文学诞生于迷信、数学来自人的贪心、物理学由好奇心引发等），在社会生活中很难发挥积极、正面的作用。客观而言，自然科学与相关技术的发展，的确与人类的好奇心甚至贪欲存在某种内在联系。对自然界未知事物的“好奇”和出于满足“私欲”的迫切需要，是人类探索科学奥秘的重要驱动力量，但这并不是科学诞生的真正基础。

In Marx’s view, the true foundation of natural science is not an immaterial, abstract spiritual force, but can only be sought in the practical survival activities of humans transforming nature. In fact, the premise and foundation of all socio-historical development and all social relations are “real people” [1]1 “Real people” (现实的人) is a foundational concept in Marx’s historical materialism, referring to concrete, living individuals engaged in material production and social relations, as opposed to abstract or idealist conceptions of humanity., not people with unique souls. Science and technology, as the intermediary for humans to transform nature, cannot be separated from the practical activities of real, sensuous people, nor can the driving force for their emergence and development be attributed to so-called “curiosity.”

在马克思看来，自然科学的真正基础不是非物质、抽象的精神力量，而只能从人类改造自然的生存实践中去寻找。事实上，整个社会历史发展及全部社会关系的前提和基础是“现实的人”，而并非具有独特灵魂的人。科学技术作为人类改造自然界的中介，不能离开现实、感性的人的实践活动，而将其产生、发展的动力归于所谓的“好奇心”驱使。

Starting from the sensuous activities of “real people,” Marx examines the essence of science and technology, pointing out that natural science and human social life share a common foundation, namely, labor practice. Through massive, repeated sensuous practical activities, humans summarize and induce the essence and laws of change in the sensuous world, establishing a real, objective sensuous world that conforms to their own will. Therefore, science and technology are the basic form of sensuous activity through which humans understand and transform nature; they are “an open book of the essential powers of the human being” [2]2 “An open book of the essential powers of the human being” is a phrase from Marx’s *Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844*., a public display of the essential powers of humanity. Marx argues that natural science includes the science of humanity, and likewise, the science of humanity includes natural science; the value of humanity and the value of science and technology are unified and cannot be separated or opposed. In the process of developing science and technology, human value should be elevated, with social progress and human liberation as the goal.

马克思从“现实的人”的感性活动出发考察科学技术的本质，指出自然科学和人的社会生活具有共同的基础，即劳动实践。人类通过大量、反复的感性实践活动，总结归纳出感性世界发展的本质和变化规律，建立起符合自己意志的、现实的、对象性的感性世界。因此，科学技术是人认识自然、改造自然的基本感性活动形式，是“一本打开了的关于人的本质力量的书”，是人的本质力量的公开展示。马克思认为，自然科学包括关于人的科学，同时人的科学也包括自然科学，人的价值与科学技术的价值相统一，不能分离甚至对立起来。在发展科学技术的过程中，应高扬人的价值，以社会进步和人的解放为目标。

The Alienation of Science and Technology

科学技术的异化

Since the Renaissance, the rapid development of modern scientific theory and technological application has brought about major changes in the structure and relations of human society. However, ethics and morality, as the value and normative foundation of social civilization, have not correspondingly improved with the progress of science and technology, causing dissatisfaction and even fear among romanticist thinkers. Rousseau believed that the revival of science and the arts caused “a wicked and deceptive uniformity” [3]3 “A wicked and deceptive uniformity” is a paraphrase of Rousseau’s critique of social conformity in his *Discourse on the Sciences and Arts*. to prevail in social customs, where individual differences between people disappeared, as if they were all “cast from the same mold.” Moreover, people’s morality “grew dim” with the progress of science. Sincere friendship and deep trust between people vanished completely; beneath the guise of hypocritical etiquette, people became suspicious, indifferent, or even hostile to one another.

文艺复兴以来，近代科学理论和技术应用迅速发展，引起了人类社会结构和社会关系的重大变革。然而，作为社会文明价值和规范基础的伦理道德，却没有随科学技术的进步而相应提升，这让浪漫主义思想家们感到不满甚至恐惧。卢梭认为，科学和艺术的复兴，使社会风尚中“流行着一种邪恶而虚伪的一致性”，人与人之间的个性差异消失了，仿佛都是从“同一个模子中铸造出来的”。不仅如此，人们的道德也随着科学的进步而“黯然失色了”。人与人之间真诚的友谊、深厚的信任感消失殆尽，在虚伪的礼仪掩饰下彼此猜忌、相互冷漠甚至成为仇敌。

The Industrial Revolution brought changes to the mode of human social life and interaction, extinguishing people’s “natural, free love” and making them willingly accept a state of enslavement, while superficially becoming so-called “civilized people.” Rousseau also vaguely noticed the relationship between scientific development and politics and society, arguing that modern science was not a purely truth-seeking activity but rather “copied” (utilized) the “elements awaiting modernization” within civilization, reflecting the foundation of capitalist civilization and directly manifesting as a high degree of human alienation. Therefore, besides science and the arts, the causes of the corruption of social customs might also include “the social opinion and politics that flatter science and art.” Rousseau’s concerns about the negative effects of science and technology on human development and moral conditions greatly inspired Marx. Although Rousseau’s critique of science and technology was severe, and he was aware of the problem of alienation caused by science and technology, he did not reveal its true root. Following Rousseau’s path of romanticist critique, Marx deepened the critique and reflection on science and technology into the process of capitalist production.

工业革命给人类社会生活和交往方式带来了变革，泯灭了人们“天然的自由的爱”，使他们甘心接受被奴役的状态，表面上却成为所谓的“文明人”。卢梭也隐约注意到了科学发展与政治、社会之间的关系，认为近代科学并不是纯粹追求真理的活动，而是“临摹”（利用）了文明中“有待近代化”的因素，反映了资本主义文明的基石，直接表现为人类的高度异化。因此，导致社会风俗败坏的原因除了科学和艺术外，或许还有“逢迎科学艺术的社会舆论和政治”。卢梭关于科学技术对人的发展和道德状况消极影响的忧思，给予马克思很大的启发。尽管卢梭对科学技术的批判十分严厉，也意识到科学技术造成的异化问题，却没有揭示其真正的根源。马克思沿着卢梭浪漫主义的批判之路，将对科学技术的批判反思深入到资本主义生产过程之中。

Marx devoted considerable effort to studying natural science and technology, starting from an analysis of the capitalist production process, exposing the damage machines inflict on workers’ physical and mental health and the suppression of their free individuality, specifically manifested in five aspects. First, the means of developing production under capitalism lead to the stunted development of workers, turning them into “partial people” [4]4 “Partial people” (局部的人) refers to Marx’s concept in *Capital* of workers reduced to performing a single, repetitive function in the division of labor under capitalism. and reducing them to appendages of the machine. Second, women and children become new objects of exploitation; workers’ wives and children are all “thrown under the Juggernaut wheels of capital” [5]5 “Thrown under the Juggernaut wheels of capital” is a reference to Marx’s description in *Capital* of the brutal exploitation of women and children in capitalist industry, invoking the image of the Hindu deity Juggernaut (Jagannath), whose temple cart was said to crush devotees.. Third, machines damage workers’ bodies and minds, “suppressing the many-sided movements of the muscles, and confiscating every atom of freedom, both in bodily and in intellectual activity” [6]6 This quotation is from Marx’s *Capital*, Volume 1, describing the physical and mental effects of machine labor on workers.. Fourth, machines encroach on workers’ living space; in particular, the emergence of new machine technology makes wage laborers “superfluous” in the competition of the labor market, thereby inciting workers’ hostility toward machines. Fifth, science and technology become weapons to suppress workers’ resistance; many technological inventions are used by capitalists to suppress workers’ struggles.

马克思花费大量精力研究自然科学和工艺学，从分析资本主义的生产过程入手，揭露了机器对工人身心健康的损害和自由个性的压抑，具体表现在五个方面。一是资本主义发展生产的手段导致了工人的畸形发展，使其成为“局部的人”，沦为机器的附属物。二是妇女儿童成为新的剥削对象，工人的妻子儿女都被“抛到资本的札格纳特车轮下”。三是机器损伤劳动者的身心，“压抑肌肉的多方面运动，夺去身体上和精神上的一切自由活动”。四是机器侵占了工人的生存空间，特别是新机器技术的出现，使雇佣工人在劳动力市场竞争中“过剩”，进而引发了工人对机器的敌视。五是科学技术成为镇压工人反抗的武器，许多技术发明都被资本家用来镇压工人反抗。

Marx’s critique of science and technology did not, like Rousseau’s, stop at science and technology themselves, but introduced science and technology into the socio-historical domain. From the perspective of the relationship between humans and society, he pointed out that the phenomenon of machines oppressing workers is not the sin of science and technology themselves; the root lies in the capitalist application of science and technology. Marx clearly stated that the machine itself is not responsible for the miserable situation of workers, because the machine reduces labor intensity and shortens labor time, while its capitalist application increases labor intensity and prolongs labor time. The machine itself signifies humanity’s victory over nature, but its capitalist application subjects people to a state of enslavement. Therefore, Marx called on workers, in their struggle against capitalists, to distinguish between the machine itself and its capitalist application, and through political liberation, truly overcome the alienation of science and technology, enabling laborers to emerge from their state of enslavement.

马克思对科学技术的批判并没有像卢梭那样停留在科学技术本身，而是将科学技术引入社会历史领域，从人与社会的关系视角，指明机器压迫工人的现象并不是科学技术本身的罪恶，其根源在于科学技术的资本主义应用。马克思明确指出，机器本身对工人悲惨的处境是没有责任的，因为机器减轻了劳动强度，缩短了劳动时间，而它的资本主义应用增加了劳动强度、延长了劳动时间。机器本身意味着人对自然的胜利，但它的资本主义应用却使人陷于受奴役状态。因此，马克思号召工人在反对资本家的斗争中要区分机器本身和它的资本主义应用，通过政治解放，真正克服科学技术异化，使劳动者走出被奴役的状态。

The Revolutionary Power of Science and Technology

科学技术的革命性力量

Rousseau believed that science cannot comprehensively and objectively understand and explain the world, cannot explain or predict complex human phenomena such as emotion, aesthetics, morality, and dignity, and still less can it solve the interrelationships among humans, society, and nature. In this way, he fundamentally denied the progressive significance of science and technology in the process of human civilization and embarked on an anti-science path. Marx agreed with Rousseau’s emphasis on the humanities and social sciences, but criticized his anti-science stance, revealing the important significance of science and technology for social development and human liberation.

卢梭认为，科学不能全面而客观地认知并解释世界，不能解释说明并预见诸如情感、审美、道德、尊严等复杂的人文现象，更不能解决人、社会和自然之间的相互关系问题。这样一来，他从根本上否定了科学技术在人类文明进程中的进步意义，走上了反科学的道路。马克思赞同卢梭重视人文社会科学的态度，但批判了他的反科学立场，揭示了科学技术对社会发展和人的解放的重要意义。

Marx marveled at the enormous role played by science and technology in the transformation of modern society, pointing out that modern large-scale industry incorporated natural science into the capitalist production process, greatly raising labor productivity and profoundly changing the world. The widespread application of science and technology enhanced social productive forces, created material wealth surpassing that of all previous epochs in human history, and laid an important material foundation for the complete emancipation of humanity. In Marx’s view, science and technology would enable humanity to rationally regulate the material exchange between humans and nature, free humanity from the rule of blind forces, liberate humans from heavy physical labor, save labor time, increase free time and the time for the full development of individual personality, and allow humans more leisure to develop their individual interests and aptitudes. At the same time, science and technology also changed the way humans viewed things, enabling the human mind to face the complex world more soberly. Therefore, Marx regarded science as a revolutionary force driving history forward, and every new discovery in the field of science filled him with heartfelt “joy.” He believed that natural science, through the practice of modern industrial production, increasingly entered into and transformed people’s lives, preparing for human emancipation. Although, like Rousseau, he detested the suppression of human nature caused by the alienation of science and technology, he was not pessimistic or despairing about the development of science and technology; rather, he optimistically believed that alienation was merely a necessary stage in the development of science and technology and human emancipation, and that humanity would inevitably transcend the stage of alienation and enter a communist society of free and comprehensive development of the individual.

马克思惊叹科学技术在近代社会变革中发挥的巨大作用，指出近代大工业把自然科学纳入资本主义生产过程，极大地提高了劳动生产率，深刻地改变了世界。科学技术的广泛应用，提升了社会生产力，创造出超过人类历史一切世代的物质财富，为人的全面解放奠定了重要的物质基础。在马克思看来，科学技术将使人类合理地调节人和自然界之间的物质变换，使人类摆脱盲目力量的统治，将人类从繁重的体力劳动中解放出来，节约了劳动时间，增加了自由时间和个人充分发展个性的时间，使人类有更多闲暇用于发展自己的个性爱好。同时，科学技术也改变着人类看待事物的方式，让人类头脑更加清醒地面对纷繁复杂的世界。因此，马克思将科学视为在历史上起推动作用的革命力量，科学领域的每一个新发现，都使他感到由衷的“喜悦”。他认为，自然科学通过现代工业生产实践，日益进入并改造人们的生活，为人的解放做准备。尽管他也像卢梭那样痛恨科学技术异化对人性的压抑，但他并没有对科学技术的发展感到悲观、失望，而是乐观地相信异化只是科学技术发展和人的解放的必经阶段，人类必将超越异化阶段，迈入人的自由而全面发展的共产主义社会。

Re-examining and reassessing Marx’s transcendence of Rousseau’s romanticist view of science and technology offers important insights for promoting scientific and technological innovation in the New Era. First, adhere to the human-oriented orientation of the Marxist view of science. Marx inherited the basic stance of Rousseau’s romanticism in respecting human value, put forward the requirement that the development of science and technology should “conform to human nature,” and elucidated the basic attribute that science and technology serve and are subordinate to humanity. Therefore, promoting scientific and technological innovation in the New Era must clarify and uphold the value stance of satisfying the people’s aspiration for a better life. Second, adhere to the dialectics of the Marxist view of science. Marx discarded unrealistic romanticist fantasies, adhered to dialectical materialism, and profoundly analyzed the “double-edged sword” role of science and technology in the historical development of human society. In promoting scientific and technological innovation in the New Era, it is necessary to maximize the positive effects of science and technology while limiting or eliminating their negative effects. Third, adhere to the historical materialist stance of the Marxist view of science. Using the principles of historical materialism, Marx revealed the root of the alienation of science and technology, namely, the capitalist application of science and technology. This points the direction for how to avoid alienation when promoting scientific and technological innovation in the New Era, that is, to adhere to promoting scientific and technological innovation under the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

重新梳理和审视马克思对卢梭浪漫主义科技观的超越，对于新时代推动科技创新具有重要启示。一是坚持马克思主义科学观的人学导向。马克思继承了卢梭浪漫主义尊重人的价值的基本立场，提出了科学技术的发展应“合乎人类本性”的要求，阐明了科学技术服务于人、从属于人的基本属性。因此，新时代推进科技创新要明确和坚持满足人民群众对美好生活的向往的价值立场。二是坚持马克思主义科学观的辩证法。马克思摒弃了不切实际的浪漫主义想象，坚持唯物辩证法，深刻分析了科学技术在人类社会历史发展中的“双刃剑”作用。新时代推进科技创新，要最大限度地发挥科学技术的正向作用，限制或消除其负向作用。三是坚持马克思主义科学观的历史唯物主义立场。马克思利用历史唯物主义原理，揭示了科技异化的根源即科学技术的资本主义应用，这为新时代推进科技创新如何避免异化指明了方向，即坚持以中国特色社会主义制度推进科技创新。

Online editor: Paul

网络编辑：保罗