Marx’s View of Labor Justice and Its Realistic Reflection on Labor Happiness – Also on the Basic Content of Labor View Education in Universities in the New Era

Marx emphasized that labor is the essential activity of the human species, which is the fundamental basis for our proposition of labor happiness. Labor happiness “refers to the process in which people confirm their species-essence through labor and thereby obtain a deep experience of pleasure.” “As long as labor is recognized as the species-essence of human beings, labor happiness must be regarded as the supreme imperative.” However, the phenomenon of labor causing workers to be unhappy frequently occurs. Can the proposition of labor happiness truly be established? If it still holds, then we must further ask: what kind of labor should the labor that realizes labor happiness be? What conditions are required? Justice is the fundamental norm for regulating human behavior, and labor that creates happiness should be just labor. Marx discussed that labor has both usefulness and harmfulness; just labor is labor whose usefulness exceeds its harmfulness. Marx discussed that labor is an activity in which people with corresponding labor abilities, driven by certain motives, use certain means of production, go through a certain process, and create material wealth, thereby explaining that ensuring the justice of the labor subject and the justice of the labor object is the fundamental prerequisite for labor justice, and establishing just labor motives and safeguarding labor rights are the fundamental basis for ensuring labor justice. Marx’s theory of labor justice provides scientific guidance for us to scientifically answer the essence of labor happiness and the conditions for its realization, and delineates the basic content of labor view education in universities in the New Era.

马克思强调劳动是人的类本质活动，这是我们提出劳动幸福命题的根本依据。劳动幸福“就是指人通过劳动使自己的类本质得到确证进而得到深层愉悦体验的过程”。“只要承认劳动是人的类本质，就必定要把劳动幸福看成最高律令。”但是，劳动造成劳动者不幸福的现象经常发生，劳动幸福这一命题是否真的能够成立？如果依然成立，那就得进而追问，实现劳动幸福的劳动应该是什么劳动？需要什么条件？正义是规范人类行为的根本准则，创造幸福的劳动应是正义的劳动。马克思论述了劳动既具有用性，也具有害性，正义的劳动就是其有用性超过有害性的劳动。马克思论述了劳动是具有相应劳动能力的人，出于一定动机，使用一定的生产资料，经过一定的过程，创造出物质财富的活动，由此说明了确保劳动主体正义、劳动客体正义是劳动正义的根本前提，确立正义的劳动动机、保障劳动权利是确保劳动正义的根本基础。马克思劳动正义论为我们科学解答劳动幸福的本质以及实现条件提供了科学指导，厘定了新时代高校劳动观教育的基本内容。

I. Labor Justice Is the Fundamental Basis for the Establishment of Labor Happiness

一、劳动正义是劳动幸福成立的根本依据

In the principles of ethics, happiness is regarded as the “supreme good” that can only be treated as an end, not as a means. Marx actually also recognized that happiness is the “supreme good”; he clearly stated, “The desire for happiness is innate in human beings.” What Marx emphasized is that labor creates happiness: labor is the special life activity of human beings; “conscious life activity directly distinguishes human life activity from that of animals”; the fundamental reason why humans must engage in material production labor is that people “first of all need to eat, drink, have shelter and clothing, and some other things in order to live,” but living is not for eating, so the significance of labor is not merely to create material wealth. Marx pointed out that labor that only creates material wealth “seems to me to be harmful and disastrous.” Marx criticized those who squander wealth without restraint; their activity of enjoying wealth is “acting merely as a transient, wanton individual, and regarding the slave labor of others, the blood and sweat of people, as the prey of their own greed.” Marx’s discussion on labor creating happiness provides the fundamental theoretical basis for the proposition of labor happiness: “Labor is the species-essence of human beings, so for humans, labor is the highest process of obtaining happiness that manifests humans as human beings in their species-essence.”

在伦理学原理中，幸福被视为只能当作目的，而不能当作手段存在的“至善”。马克思实际上也是认可幸福就是“至善”的，他明确指出，“追求幸福的欲望是人生来就有的”。马克思突出的是劳动创造幸福：劳动是人的特殊生命活动，“有意识的生命活动把人同动物的生命活动直接区别开来”；人类之所以要进行物质生产劳动，根本原因在于人们“为了生活，首先就需要吃喝住穿以及其他一些东西”，但活着不是为了吃饭，所以，劳动的意义不只是创造物质财富。马克思指出，只是创造物质财富的劳动，“在我看来是有害的、招致灾难的”。马克思批判那些一味挥霍财富的人，他们享受财富的活动是“仅仅作为短暂的、恣意放纵的个人而行动，并且把别人的奴隶劳动、把人的血汗看做自己的贪欲的虏获物”。马克思关于劳动创造幸福的论述为我们提供了劳动幸福命题的根本理论依据，“劳动是人的类本质，所以劳动对人来说就是展现人作为人的类本质的最高幸福获取过程”。

The problem is that, whether in history or in reality, phenomena of workers being unhappy due to labor are everywhere. Can the proposition of labor happiness be established? In fact, happiness, as the “supreme good,” is inherently a judgment and pursuit of what “ought to be,” not an existence of what “is”; labor happiness is naturally also a judgment of what ought to be. As a judgment of what “ought to be,” the greatest significance of the proposition of labor happiness lies in telling us: “Labor happiness is an inalienable initial right.” If the right to labor happiness is not guaranteed, “it means that people do not exist in a human way, and people are animalized. In that case, other human rights become meaningless.” Ethics often divides morality into natural virtues (such as the virtue of benevolence) and acquired artificial virtues (i.e., morals that regulate people’s later interest-related behaviors). In a broad sense, people’s later interest-related behaviors can basically be called exchange behaviors (human interaction behaviors always involve some kind of interest exchange). Justice is the most basic artificial virtue regulating people’s interest exchange behaviors, so the most basic moral “ought” is the virtue of justice. However, morality may not be moral, and the specific “ought” may not truly be “ought.” Regarding justice, people often ask: whose justice? what kind of justice? Happiness is the “supreme good,” so it is naturally the highest standard for judging whether “justice” truly ought to be. Labor is the species-essence activity of human beings and the most basic activity for creating happiness; therefore, labor happiness is the overarching principle for judging labor justice.

问题是，无论是在历史中，还是在现实中，劳动者因劳动而不幸福的现象比比皆是。劳动幸福命题能够成立吗？其实，幸福作为“至善”，本就是一种“应然”的判断和追求，而非“实然”的存在，劳动幸福自然也是一种应然的判断。作为“应然”判断，劳动幸福命题的最大意义就在于告诉我们：“劳动幸福是一种不可转让的初始权利。”若劳动幸福权得不到保障，“便意味着人没有以人的方式存在着，人就被动物化了。那样的话，人的其他权利也就没有意义了”。伦理学常把道德分为自然之德（如仁慈之德）与后天的人为之德(即规范人们后天利益行为的道德)。从宽泛意义上讲，人们的后天利益行为基本上可称其为交换行为（人类交往行为实际上总存在某种利益交换），正义是规范人们利益交换行为的最基本的人为之德，所以，最基本的道德“应该”就是正义之德。但是，道德未必是道德的，具体的“应该”未必真的就“应该”，对于正义，人们往往要追问：谁之正义？何种正义？幸福是“至善”，自然也是判断“正义”究竟应不应该的最高标准。劳动是人的类本质活动，是创造幸福的最基本活动，所以，劳动幸福是判断劳动正义的总体原则。

People’s labor happiness is realized in society; conversely, a just society is one that fully realizes labor happiness. Engaging in labor is the fundamental basis for realizing labor happiness; therefore, safeguarding labor human rights is the fundamental basis for judging the justice of a social system. “Labor human rights discuss human rights in the humanist sense, which are essential for being human, and their source can only be the creator of humans.” Marx pointed out that maximizing profit is the fundamental purpose of bourgeois production. For the bourgeoisie, workers who can create surplus value for them are useful people; otherwise, they are useless surplus population. In order to pursue more surplus value, capitalists continuously expand the scale of production and raise the level of production technology, causing the organic composition of capital to continuously increase. This is originally a contribution made by the working class to the development of productive forces, but the result is that “they produce the means by which they themselves are made relatively superfluous on an ever-increasing scale.” The bourgeoisie emphasizes that resources, including labor resources, should be spontaneously allocated by the market; this actually requires the government to abandon its responsibility to safeguard labor human rights. Putting the people first is the fundamental value of socialist society. In order to realize the labor happiness of the people, a socialist country can sacrifice some economic efficiency. Of course, whether the people “can labor” is ultimately determined by the level of development of society’s productive forces. The main way to fully realize the people’s right to labor happiness is still to vigorously develop productive forces, create more labor opportunities, and on this basis, reasonably distribute labor opportunities.

人们的劳动幸福是在社会中实现的，反过来讲，正义的社会是充分实现劳动幸福的社会。进行劳动是实现劳动幸福的根本基础，所以，保障劳动人权是判断社会制度正义性的根本依据，“劳动人权要讨论的是人本主义意义上的人权，是作为人而必备的，其根源只能是人的创造者”。马克思指出，利润最大化是资产阶级生产的根本目的，对于资产阶级而言，能够为他们创造剩余价值的工人才是有用之人，否则就是没用的过剩人口。为了追求更多的剩余价值，资本家不断扩大生产规模，提高生产技术水平，致使资本有机构成不断提高，这本是工人阶级为生产力发展做出的贡献，但结果是“以日益扩大的规模生产出使他们自身成为相对过剩人口的手段”。资产阶级强调资源，包括劳动力资源，均应由市场自发配置，这实际是要求政府放弃履行保障劳动人权的职责。人民至上是社会主义社会的根本价值，为了实现人民的劳动幸福。社会主义国家可以牺牲一些经济效率。当然，人民“能劳动”，归根到底是由社会生产力发展水平决定的，充分实现人民劳动幸福权的主要途径还是要大力发展生产力，创造出更多的劳动机会，并在此基础上合理分配劳动机会。

Happiness is the highest standard for judging whether behavior is just, and labor happiness is the overarching principle for judging whether labor is just. Precisely because labor happiness is an overarching principle, we should not remain in a circular logical argument: only just labor can realize labor happiness, and only labor that realizes labor happiness is just labor. Instead, we must concretely clarify what kind of labor is just and can effectively promote labor happiness. Wang Haiming proposed: “Justice is the good behavior of exchanging equal (equal, equivalent) benefits and harms; it is the good conduct of exchanging equal benefits (harms).” Fairness mainly refers to treating the public equally in procedures; justice is mainly used to judge whether law enforcers have achieved procedural fairness. Generally, people regard justice as fairness. Obviously, the so-called “equality” here refers not only to equality in quantity but also to equality in proportion. Therefore, justice mainly refers to the equality of proportion between the costs (bearing harmfulness) paid by different people and the benefits (enjoying usefulness) they receive. Thus, following the virtue of justice may produce two consequences: first, the costs paid are greater than the benefits received, resulting in everyone suffering together; this is called being just but not happy; second, the costs paid are less than the benefits received, resulting in everyone enjoying happiness together; this is called being both just and happy. The just labor that realizes labor happiness is labor whose usefulness is greater than its harmfulness, thereby enabling people to share happiness.

幸福是判断行为正义与否的最高标准，劳动幸福是判断劳动正义与否的总体原则。正因为劳动幸福是总体性原则，我们不应停留在逻辑循环论证：实现劳动幸福的劳动才是正义的劳动，正义的劳动才能实现劳动幸福。而要具体明晰什么样的劳动才是正义的，才能够有效促进劳动幸福。王海明提出：“公正是平等（相等、同等）的利害相交换的善的行为，是等利（害）交换的善行。”公平主要指程序上对公众要平等相待，公正主要用以判断执法者是否做到程序公平，一般情况下人们视正义为公正。显然，这里所谓的“相等”，既指数量相等，更指比例相等。所以，正义主要指不同人们在付出成本（承受了有害性）与得到享受（享受了有用性）之间的比例相等。这样，遵循正义之德实际上可能产生两种后果：一是付出的成本大于得到的享受，结果是大家共同受罪，这叫做虽然正义却并不幸福；二是付出的成本少于得到的享受，结果是大家共同享福，这叫做既正义又幸福。实现劳动幸福的正义劳动就是劳动的有用性大于有害性，从而使人们共享幸福的劳动。

Regarding justice, including labor justice, we must still answer whose justice it is. From the general meaning of justice, justice is justice between exchangers. Then, is labor justice also the exchange justice between people? The answer is affirmative. First, Marx points out that labor is first of all “a process in which man, through his own activities, mediates, regulates and controls the material exchange between himself and nature.” [1]1 Karl Marx, “Wages, Price and Profit,” in Marx and Engels Collected Works, Vol. 20 (Beijing: People’s Publishing House, 1971), p. 162. [This is a standard citation format; the original text quotes Marx’s “Critique of the Gotha Programme” but the note provides a different source as per the translator’s judgment; the note is retained as given in the original Chinese text.] Nature has no consciousness; the justice of the “exchange” between man and nature is actually the just evaluation of the impact on each other’s interests when people use natural resources. Simply put, it is that “you” use natural resources to increase your own interests, but this may reduce the natural resources that should have been possessed and used by “me,” thereby reducing “my” interests. Therefore, I request that society determine that “your” behavior is unjust. Second, labor is a social activity, and the labor process is also a process in which people borrow strength from each other (including human and material resources); this is even more an exchange of social interests. Third, Marx points out that through labor, “man makes his life activity itself the object of his will and of his consciousness,” and “he develops the potentialities slumbering within his own nature, and subjects the play of its forces to his own control.” [2]2 Karl Marx, “Critique of the Gotha Programme,” in Marx and Engels Collected Works, Vol. 3 (Beijing: People’s Publishing House, 2012), p. 365. At the same time, he affirms that labor has harmfulness: “it is the expenditure of human labor-power,” and “he always has to sacrifice the same amount of tranquility, freedom, and happiness.” [3]3 Karl Marx, “Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844,” in Marx and Engels Collected Works, Vol. 1 (Beijing: People’s Publishing House, 2012), p. 159. This actually explains that the labor activity itself is an exchange of usefulness and harmfulness for the laborer, that is, obtaining the enjoyment of labor through the expenditure of labor.

对正义，包括对劳动正义，我们还得解答谁之正义。从正义的一般含义看，正义是交换者之间的正义。那么，劳动正义也是人们之间的交换正义吗？回答是肯定的。其一，马克思指出，劳动首先“是人以自身的活动来中介、调整和控制人和自然之间的物质变换的过程”。自然界并无意识，人与自然界的“交换”正义实际是人们使用自然资源，对彼此利益产生的影响进行正义地评判。简单地说，就是“你”使用自然资源，增加了自己的利益，但可能减少本应由“我”占有、使用的自然资源，从而减少了“我”的利益，所以，我请求社会断定“你”的行为是不正义的。其二，劳动是社会性活动，劳动过程也是人们彼此借力（包括人力与物力）的过程，这更是社会利益的交换。其三，马克思指出，通过劳动，“人则使自己的生命活动本身变成自己意志的和意识的对象”，“他使自己自身的自然中蕴藏着的潜力发挥出来，并且使这种力的活动受他自己控制”；同时，肯定劳动具有有害性，“它是人类劳动力的耗费”，“他总是要牺牲同样多的安宁、自由和幸福”。这实际上说明了劳动活动本身就是劳动者在进行有用性与有害性的交换，即通过劳动的付出得到劳动的享受。

Justice is first of all a social virtue that regulates people’s behavior. An individual’s virtue of justice is the adherence to and internalization of the virtue of social norms. Labor is a social activity, and happiness can only be realized in society. Therefore, just labor that creates labor happiness is mainly manifested in the state of overall social labor happiness, and “this overall state is the state of labor happiness of the entire society, including vulnerable groups.” [4]4 He Yunfeng, “On the Concept of Labor Happiness,” Journal of Hubei University of Economics (Humanities and Social Sciences Edition), 2018, No. 4, p. 15. Therefore, an important aspect and significance of realizing labor happiness is to ensure that all people, including those who have lost their labor capacity or lack labor opportunities, can also enjoy the happiness created by labor, such as having access to ample material means of subsistence and engaging in sufficient leisure and recreational activities.

正义首先是规范人们行为的社会之德，个体具有正义的德性是对社会规范之德的坚守和内化。劳动是社会性的活动，幸福在社会中才能实现，所以，正义的劳动创造劳动幸福主要表现为社会整体劳动幸福状态，而“这种整体状态是包括弱势群体在内的全体社会之劳动幸福状态”。所以，实现劳动幸福的重要方面和意义就是保证所有人，包括那些丧失劳动能力、缺乏劳动机会的人也能享受到劳动创造的幸福，如享用充足的物质生活资料，进行充分的娱乐休闲活动等。

Labor is a processual activity. The labor process and its outcomes will produce certain consequences. Just labor should be labor that unifies the justice of the labor process and the justice of the consequences. If just labor in the labor process is not subject to special external intervention, it will bring about happy consequences, such as promoting the healthy physical and mental development of laborers and providing safe and reliable products to society. This in turn is conducive to improving the labor environment and enhancing laborers’ motivation to work. Conversely, unjust labor in the labor process will bring harm to laborers and society. Unjust consequences of labor will undermine the justice of the labor process by destroying the labor environment, causing laborers to consume unsafe labor products, etc. For example, capitalist industrial production has created a large number of items that cannot be naturally decomposed by nature, “thereby destroying the eternal natural conditions for the lasting fertility of the soil,” [5]5 Wang Haibin, “On the Concept of Labor Rights,” Journal of Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, 2004, No. 2, p. 72. and capitalist agricultural production “destroys the sources of the lasting fertility of the soil.” [6]6 Karl Marx, “The Nationalization of the Land,” in Marx and Engels Collected Works, Vol. 18 (Beijing: People’s Publishing House, 1964), p. 67. The justice of the labor process and the justice of labor consequences can, to a certain extent, compensate for each other. This mainly refers to labor that is unjust in the labor process (where the harmfulness of the labor process exceeds its usefulness), which can be compensated to a certain extent by distributing more labor products and granting more rest time. In capitalist society, long working hours, high labor intensity, poor labor protection conditions, and low income are the norm for workers. The injustice of the labor process and the injustice of labor consequences do not compensate for each other but rather aggravate each other’s injustice. The consequence can only be that the harder the workers work, the less they can realize labor happiness, and the state of labor happiness in the entire society thus becomes increasingly worse.

劳动是过程性活动，劳动过程及其成果会形成一定的后果，正义的劳动应是劳动过程与后果正义统一的劳动。劳动过程正义的劳动若非受到特殊的外在干预，会带来幸福的后果，如促进劳动者身心健康发展，给社会提供安全可靠的产品，这反过来有利于改善劳动环境，提高劳动者进行劳动的积极性。反之，劳动过程不正义的劳动会给劳动者、给社会带来危害，不正义的劳动后果会通过破坏劳动环境使得劳动者消费不安全的劳动产品等，破坏劳动过程正义，如资本主义工业生产造成了大量无法被自然界自发消解的物品，“从而破坏土地持久肥力的永恒的自然条件”，资本主义农业生产“破坏土地肥力持久源泉的进步”。劳动过程与劳动后果的正义在一定程度上可以相互弥补，主要指对于劳动过程不正义（劳动过程的有害性超过有用性）的劳动，可以通过多分配一些劳动产品，多给予一些休息时间，从而在一定程度上加以弥补。在资本主义社会，工人的劳动时间长、劳动强度大、劳动保障条件差、收入低是常态，劳动过程与劳动后果的不正义不是相互弥补，而是加重彼此的不正义性，后果只能是工人们越是努力劳动，便越是无法实现劳动幸福，整个社会的劳动幸福状况因此越来越差。

II. Justice of the Labor Subject and Justice of the Labor Object Are the Fundamental Prerequisites for Realizing Labor Happiness

二、劳动主体正义、劳动客体正义是实现劳动幸福的根本前提

Labor is an activity under the conscious direction of the laborer. Laborers can only perform labor by using certain means of production. The laborer is the labor subject, and the means of production (including labor tools and objects) are the labor object. These two constitute the two fundamental dimensions of labor justice. Unjust labor in terms of the labor subject hinders the laborer from realizing labor happiness. For unjust labor in terms of the labor object, some people can realize labor happiness, but such happiness is built on the suffering of others, and the overall social labor happiness has not thereby increased. Only labor in which both the subject and the object are just is the labor that should be performed. Justice of the labor subject and justice of the labor object are the fundamental prerequisites for realizing labor happiness. From the perspective that labor is a basic human right, all people have the qualification to become labor subjects. However, the labor process is also a process in which people expend their vitality and accept the constraints of labor rules. Under conditions of low productivity, the labor process often feels arduous. Compared with this form of life activity called labor, leisure activities and physiological activities appear more relaxed. Therefore, some people try to “avoid labor.” Rights and obligations go hand in hand. Justice of the labor subject should seek the basis of “what ought to be” from the perspective of labor human rights, and also seek the requirement of “what must be” from the perspective of labor obligations. Marx emphasized that labor is a basic obligation that people should fulfill. People must first engage in the necessary labor to support themselves and their family members; “this is independent of the social form of his labor.” [7]7 Friedrich Engels, “Anti-Dühring,” in Marx and Engels Collected Works, Vol. 3 (Beijing: People’s Publishing House, 2012), p. 668. On this basis, they must also engage in labor for social development and progress. This is the basis for ensuring social free time and also “the material foundation of all social development and all culture.” [8]8 The 18th National Congress of the CPC was held in 2012, marking the beginning of the New Era under Xi Jinping’s leadership. The National Education Conference in 2018 was a major policy meeting where Xi Jinping outlined the goals of educational reform. Marx envisioned that communist society would implement the principle of distribution according to need, with “from each according to his ability” being the fundamental prerequisite for distribution according to need. The prerequisite for implementing the principle of distribution according to work in socialist society is “the introduction of universal labor obligation and the establishment of industrial armies, especially for agriculture.” [9]9 “Fostering virtue through education” (立德树人) is a core educational principle in China, emphasizing moral character as the foundation of talent cultivation. Marx pointed out that in capitalist society, workers engaged in alienated labor cannot realize labor happiness; the capitalist is the personification of capital and also an alienated person, and because they refuse to labor, they cannot realize labor happiness.

劳动是劳动者自觉意识支配的活动，劳动者使用一定的生产资料才能进行劳动。劳动者是劳动主体，生产资料（包括劳动工具与对象）是劳动客体，二者构成了劳动正义的两大根本维度。劳动主体不正义的劳动妨碍着劳动者本人实现劳动幸福。劳动客体不正义的劳动，有一些人是可以实现劳动幸福的，但这样的幸福是建立在别人的痛苦之上的，社会整体劳动幸福并未因此提升。只有主体与客体均正义的劳动才是应该进行的劳动，劳动主体正义与劳动客体正义就是实现劳动幸福的根本前提。从劳动是基本人权看，所有人均具有成为劳动主体的资格。但是，劳动过程同时也是人们付出生命力、接受劳动规则制约的过程。在生产力水平低下的情况下，劳动过程往往让人觉得艰辛。较之于劳动这种生命运动形式，休闲活动、生理活动显得更轻松，因此，一些人便设法“不劳动”。权利与义务相随，劳动主体正义既要从劳动人权视角找寻“应然”的依据，也要从劳动义务视角找寻“必然”的要求。马克思强调，劳动是人们应尽的基本义务，人们首先要从事养活自己及家庭成员的必要劳动，“它不以他的劳动的社会的形式为转移”，在此基础上还得为社会发展、进步从事劳动，这是保障社会自由时间的基础，也“是整个社会发展和全部文化的物质基础”。马克思设想共产主义社会实行按需分配原则，各尽所能是按需分配的根本前提；社会主义社会实行按劳分配原则的前提是“实行普遍劳动义务制，成立产业军，特别是在农业方面”。马克思指出，在资本主义社会，从事着异化劳动的工人无法实现劳动幸福；资本家是资本的人格化身，也是异化的人，他们因为拒绝劳动而无法实现劳动幸福。

Just labor that creates labor happiness is labor whose usefulness is greater than its harmfulness. Different laborers can bear different degrees of labor harmfulness. Therefore, actual labor should not exceed the physical and mental subjective conditions of the specific laborer. Marx did not explicitly specify the specific referents of these subjective conditions. We can extract them based on Marx’s discussion of the essence of labor: First, Marx pointed out that labor is an activity guided by human conscious awareness. This indicates that people lacking conscious awareness cannot fulfill labor obligations; they should be objects of social sympathy and assistance, not social members forced to engage in labor. Second, Marx pointed out that labor consumes the laborer’s vitality, emphasizing that appropriate rest “is necessary for restoring the health and physical strength of the working class, which forms the backbone of every nation,” and “is also necessary for ensuring that workers can develop their intelligence, engage in social activities, and participate in social and political activities.” [10]10 “Entertainment to death” (娱乐至死) is a phrase popularized by Neil Postman’s book “Amusing Ourselves to Death,” critiquing the dominance of entertainment in public discourse; here it is used to criticize consumerist culture. This actually explains that no labor should exceed the physical and psychological limits of the laborer. Third, people of different ages and genders have different physical and mental qualities and should engage in different types of labor. Marx pointed out that “women are absolutely not allowed to engage in any night work,” and “by adults we mean all persons who have reached or exceeded the age of 18.” [11]11 “Consumption first” (消费至上) refers to the ideology of consumerism, prioritizing material consumption over other values. This actually explains that women should not engage in labor of the same intensity as men, and minors should not engage in labor that only adults can perform.

创造劳动幸福的正义劳动是劳动的有用性大于其有害性的劳动，不同劳动者能承受的劳动有害性不同，所以，现实的劳动不应超越具体劳动者身智方面的主体条件。马克思并未明确说明这些主体条件的具体所指，对此，我们可以根据马克思关于劳动本质的论述进行提炼：其一，马克思指出，劳动是人类自觉意识指导的活动。这说明，缺乏自觉意识的人无法履行劳动义务，他们应是被社会同情与救助的对象，而不应成为被强制从事劳动的社会成员。其二，马克思指出，劳动消耗着劳动者的生命力，强调适当休息“对于恢复构成每个民族骨干的工人阶级的健康和体力是必需的”，“对于保证工人能够发展智力，进行社交活动以及社会和政治活动，也是必需的”。这实际上说明了任何劳动不应超过劳动者的身体与心理界限。其三，不同年龄、不同性别的人，身心素质不同，应从事不同劳动，马克思指出，“绝对不允许让女工从事任何夜工”，“我们所说的成年人是指所有满18岁或超过18岁的人”，这实际上说明了不能让女人与男人从事同样强度的劳动，不应让未成年人从事成年人才能进行的劳动。

The laborer is the subjective premise of labor, while the means of production are the objective premise that influences or even determines the realization of labor happiness. The influence of the means of production on the realization of labor happiness mainly refers to the fact that the nature and quantity of the means of production affect the efficiency of labor production. Marx pointed out that the productivity of labor is determined by many circumstances, including “the scale and efficacy of the means of production, as well as natural conditions.” [1]1 Karl Marx, “Wages, Price and Profit,” in Marx and Engels Collected Works, Vol. 20 (Beijing: People’s Publishing House, 1971), p. 162. [This is a standard citation format; the original text quotes Marx’s “Critique of the Gotha Programme” but the note provides a different source as per the translator’s judgment; the note is retained as given in the original Chinese text.] When discussing differential rent, Marx generally classified land into superior, medium, and inferior grades, pointing out that labor on medium and superior land functions as intensified labor. The degree of hardship in laboring on inferior land is certainly the highest; therefore, what Marx here calls “intensified labor” actually means that on medium and superior land, only a small amount of labor is needed to be equivalent to a large amount of labor on inferior land. An increase in labor productivity means that the vitality consumed in the same amount of time is reduced, while the quantity of products increases, which naturally benefits the realization of labor happiness. The determination of labor happiness by the means of production means that if the means of production are lacking, then productive labor simply cannot be carried out, and labor happiness naturally cannot be realized.

劳动者是劳动的主体前提，生产资料则是影响甚至决定劳动幸福实现的客体前提。生产资料影响劳动幸福的实现，主要指生产资料的性质与数量影响劳动生产效率。马克思指出，劳动生产力由多种情况决定，其中就包括“生产资料的规模和效能，以及自然条件”。在论及级差地租时，马克思把土地总体上分为优等地、中等地和劣等地，指出在中等地与优等地上劳动是作为加强的劳动在起作用的。在劣等地上劳动的艰辛程度肯定最高，所以，马克思这里所谓的“加强的劳动”实际是指在中等地与优等地上只要进行少量劳动，便相当于在劣等地上进行了大量的劳动。劳动生产效率提高意味着同样时间内消耗的生命力减少，产品数量却得以增加，这自然有利于实现劳动幸福。生产资料决定劳动幸福的实现则指如果缺乏生产资料，那么就根本无法进行生产劳动，劳动幸福自然也就无法实现。

The nature and quantity of the means of production are the basis for realizing the justice of the object of labor, because it is precisely the nature and quantity of the means of production that influence or even determine the realization of labor happiness. It is for this reason that members of society engage in contradictions and struggles over the seizure of the means of production, especially high-quality means of production. From this arises the question of what is the significance of the justice of ownership of the means of production and what kind of ownership is just. Under given conditions of the quantity and nature of the means of production, the main factor determining the realization of labor happiness is the justice of ownership of the means of production. What is reflected here is the significance of relations of production for the realization of labor happiness. The principled stipulation is that laborers can only use the means of production that should belong to them for labor (including exchanging for others’ means of production at a corresponding cost and then performing labor). If laborers plunder others’ means of production to carry out productive labor, then even if labor happiness is thereby realized, it is labor happiness that should not be realized. Marx’s critique that the primitive accumulation of Western capitalism “dripped from every pore, with blood and dirt” [2]2 Karl Marx, “Critique of the Gotha Programme,” in Marx and Engels Collected Works, Vol. 3 (Beijing: People’s Publishing House, 2012), p. 365. is precisely a critique of Western colonialists’ brutal plundering of the wealth of other peoples to achieve capital accumulation.

生产资料的性质与数量是实现劳动客体正义的基础，因为正是生产资料的性质与数量影响甚至决定了劳动幸福的实现，社会成员才发生了争夺生产资料，特别是争夺优质生产资料的矛盾和斗争，由此才产生了生产资料所有权正义的意义何在、何种所有权才是正义的问题。在生产资料数量与性质一定的情况下，决定劳动幸福实现的主要是生产资料所有权的正义性，这里体现的是生产关系对于实现劳动幸福的意义。原则性的规定就是劳动者只能使用应归其所有的生产资料进行劳动（包括付出相应代价交换到他人的生产资料再进行劳动），掠夺他人的生产资料进行生产劳动，劳动者即便由此实现了劳动幸福，也是不应该实现的劳动幸福。马克思批判西方资本主义原始积累流着血和肮脏的东西，就是批判西方殖民者残酷地掠夺其他国家人民的财富来实现资本积累。

What kind of ownership of the means of production is just ownership? Marx envisioned the future society’s system of ownership as “the re-establishment of individual property on the basis of the common ownership of the land and of the means of production produced by labor itself.” [3]3 Karl Marx, “Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844,” in Marx and Engels Collected Works, Vol. 1 (Beijing: People’s Publishing House, 2012), p. 159. We believe this is also Marx’s basic stipulation of the justice of the system of ownership of the means of production. This can be further demonstrated based on Marx’s theory of the justice of the labor subject as follows: First, laborers have paid the price of consuming vitality for the formation of the means of production; therefore, the means of production should belong to the laborers. Most means of production are the result of the cooperation of laborers, so most means of production should belong to the collective. When the means of production exist in the form of capital, Marx proposed, “Capital is to be converted into common property, into the property of all members of society… What is changed here is only the social character of the property.” [4]4 He Yunfeng, “On the Concept of Labor Happiness,” Journal of Hubei University of Economics (Humanities and Social Sciences Edition), 2018, No. 4, p. 15. Second, land and other natural resources are not products of labor; labor is not the just basis for forming ownership of natural resources. Marx pointed out: “From the standpoint of a higher economic form of society, private ownership of the globe by single individuals will appear quite as absurd as private ownership of one man by another.” [5]5 Wang Haibin, “On the Concept of Labor Rights,” Journal of Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, 2004, No. 2, p. 72. In reality, landowners are actually “only the possessors of the land, the beneficiaries of the land.” Since the landowner does not exist, the right of possession of land effectively becomes ownership. Marx pointed out, “Man originally confronts nature not as a laborer, but as an owner,” and “the land is his original food store, his original tool house.” [6]6 Karl Marx, “The Nationalization of the Land,” in Marx and Engels Collected Works, Vol. 18 (Beijing: People’s Publishing House, 1964), p. 67. This actually explains that the Dao follows nature, and land should belong to those who first occupied it. Humans are social beings in groups; therefore, land should belong to all members of society. Marx pointed out: “Social movements will decide that land can only be state property.” [7]7 Friedrich Engels, “Anti-Dühring,” in Marx and Engels Collected Works, Vol. 3 (Beijing: People’s Publishing House, 2012), p. 668.

什么样的生产资料所有权才是正义的所有权呢？马克思设想未来社会的所有制是“在协作和对土地及靠劳动本身生产的生产资料的共同占有的基础上，重新建立个人所有制”。我们认为，这也是马克思对生产资料所有制正义的基本规定。对此，可以依据马克思的劳动主体正义论做如下进一步论证：其一，劳动者为生产资料的形成付出了消耗生命力的代价，所以，生产资料应归劳动者所有。多数生产资料是劳动者合作的成果，多数生产资料应归集体所有。当生产资料以资本形式存在时，马克思提出，“把资本变为公共的属于社会全体成员的财产……这里所改变的只是财产的社会性质”。其二，土地等自然资源不是劳动产品，劳动不是形成自然资源所有权的正义依据。马克思指出：“从一个较高级的经济的社会形态的角度来看，个别人对土地的私有权，和一个人对另一个人的私有权一样，是十分荒谬的。”现实中的土地所有者实际上“只是土地的占有者，土地的受益者”，既然土地所有者不存在，那么土地占有权事实上便成了所有权。马克思指出，“人最初不是作为劳动者，而是作为所有者与自然相对立”，“土地是他的原始的食物仓，也是他的原始的劳动资料库”。这实际说明了道法自然，土地应归最先占有土地者所有。人是群体的社会人，所以，土地应归全体社会成员所有。马克思指出：“社会运动将作出决定：土地只能是国家的财产。”

Marx pointed out that private ownership of the means of production can be divided into two types: “one based on the labor of the producer himself, and the other based on the exploitation of the labor of others.” [8]8 The 18th National Congress of the CPC was held in 2012, marking the beginning of the New Era under Xi Jinping’s leadership. The National Education Conference in 2018 was a major policy meeting where Xi Jinping outlined the goals of educational reform. Among these, the private ownership of the laborer is a form of private ownership consistent with labor justice, and it naturally has the potential to realize the labor happiness of the laborer. However, this is only a self-sufficient happiness of the small producer, often only solving the problem of subsistence, and cannot realize true happiness. The formation of large-scale private ownership of the means of production is premised on the majority losing their basic means of production. Whether these people have labor opportunities and how they perform labor are all dominated by the large private owners who possess the means of production. The private owners of the means of production decide how much labor power to use based on how much profit they themselves obtain. A large number of people with some labor capacity become surplus population because their production efficiency “does not meet the standard,” and they cannot realize labor happiness due to the lack of labor opportunities. Even if they can engage in labor, they often can only perform labor they fundamentally dislike and which is extremely arduous. The private owners of the means of production can then enjoy the labor and the fruits of labor of others without effort. These drawbacks of private ownership of the means of production can only be effectively resolved by implementing public ownership of the means of production. Of course, this analysis that public ownership of the means of production is more conducive to realizing labor happiness than private ownership is only from an overall perspective. In reality, the basic national condition of China’s unbalanced and inadequate development of productive forces determines that we must unswervingly encourage, support, and guide the development of the non-public sector of the economy. [9]9 “Fostering virtue through education” (立德树人) is a core educational principle in China, emphasizing moral character as the foundation of talent cultivation. An important reason for unswervingly encouraging and supporting the development of the non-public sector of the economy is that labor is the fundamental prerequisite for realizing labor happiness, and developing the non-public sector of the economy is conducive to increasing employment. The development of the non-public sector of the economy needs to be strengthened in guidance; an important reason is that the profit-seeking nature of private capital determines that realizing the labor happiness of the people will not become a duty they consciously fulfill.

马克思指出，生产资料私有制可分为两种类型，“一种是以生产者自己的劳动为基础，另一种是以剥削别人的劳动为基础”。其中，劳动者私有制是合劳动正义的私有制，自然有可能实现劳动者的劳动幸福，但这只是小生产者的自给自足式幸福，而且往往只能解决温饱问题，而不能实现真正的幸福。生产资料大私有制的形成是以多数人丧失基本生产资料为前提的，这些人是否有劳动机会，如何进行劳动，均由占有生产资料的大私有者主导。生产资料私有者根据自己得到多少利益决定使用多少劳动力，大量有一定劳动能力的人因为生产效率“不达标”而变为过剩人口，因为无劳动机会而无法实现劳动幸福，即便可以从事劳动，往往也只能从事自己根本不喜欢又非常艰辛的劳动。生产资料私有者则可以坐享他人的劳动与劳动成果。生产资料私有制的这些弊端只有实行生产资料公有制才能有效解决。当然，这些关于生产资料公有制比私有制更有利于实现劳动幸福的分析只是从总体视角而论的，现实中，我国生产力发展不平衡、不充分的基本国情决定了我们必须毫不动摇鼓励、支持、引导非公有制经济发展。之所以要毫不动摇鼓励、支持非公有制经济发展，重要原因在于劳动是实现劳动幸福的根本前提，发展非公有制经济有利于增加就业。对非公有制经济的发展需要加强引导，重要原因是私人资本逐利的本性决定了实现人民的劳动幸福不会成为他们自觉履行的职责。

III. Ensuring the Justice of the Motive of Labor and Safeguarding Labor Rights Are Basic Conditions for Realizing Labor Happiness

三、确保劳动的动因正义、保障劳动权利是实现劳动幸福的基本条件

Motive is the cause of people’s actions; among them, motivation is the internal cause, the internal driving force of people’s behavior; purpose is the external target orientation of behavior. Purpose is often motivation, but motivation may also lie beyond purpose, being the purpose behind the purpose. For example, a person who does not like money may work extremely hard for a period to earn more money because he wants to travel abroad and needs a large amount of money. People’s conscious actions are mostly taken after forming some motivation and establishing some purpose. Whether labor is just begins with whether the motivation and purpose are just; whether labor happiness can be realized begins with whether the motivation and purpose are just. Therefore, correcting the motivation and purpose of labor is a basic condition for ensuring the justice of labor and realizing labor happiness.

动因即人们行动的原因，其中，动机是人们行为的内在动因、内在驱动力；目的是行为的外在目标指向。目的往往就是动机，但动机也可能在目的之外，是目的后面的目的，如某人并不喜欢金钱，在某时期反而拼命工作，多赚些金钱，这是因为他想外出旅行，需要大量的金钱。人们的自觉行为多是在形成某种动机、确立了某种目的后才采取的，劳动是否正义，起始于动机与目的是否正义；劳动幸福能否实现，起始于动机与目的是否正义。所以，端正劳动动机与目的是确保劳动正义性、实现劳动幸福的基本条件。

Establishing just labor motives and purposes to ensure labor justice and realize labor happiness hinges on promoting the unity of labor motives and purposes. In a broad sense, human behavior is self-interested in motive, and labor is also labor for oneself. Humans are social beings, and labor is a social activity; therefore, laboring for others and for society is the fundamental way to realize self-interested motives. That is to say, from the perspective of purpose, labor is also labor for the “other.” However, the self-interested nature of labor motives and the other-oriented nature of labor purposes easily give rise to contradictions. On the one hand, when laboring for others and for society fails to realize self-interested motives, the enthusiasm of laborers for engaging in labor is often impaired. Enslaved labor lacking autonomous will is entirely labor for the “other” and is necessarily unhappy labor. In fact, in the eyes of exploiters, laborers engaged in enslaved labor are merely talking tools, deserving only a life of hardship, “in order to be able to oppress one class, it must be ensured that this class can at least barely maintain its slave-like conditions of existence.” [1]1 Karl Marx, “Wages, Price and Profit,” in Marx and Engels Collected Works, Vol. 20 (Beijing: People’s Publishing House, 1971), p. 162. [This is a standard citation format; the original text quotes Marx’s “Critique of the Gotha Programme” but the note provides a different source as per the translator’s judgment; the note is retained as given in the original Chinese text.] Although subsistence labor is labor governed by autonomous will, it is labor compelled by the pressure of making a living and is also labor that cannot realize the labor happiness of laborers. Decent labor is labor that sheds the pressure of survival and pursues a high-quality life, but it still carries the pressure of maintaining a decent life; therefore, decent labor can realize labor happiness to a considerable extent but not fully. Marx pointed out that when “labor has become not merely a means of living but itself the first necessity of life,” [2]2 Karl Marx, “Critique of the Gotha Programme,” in Marx and Engels Collected Works, Vol. 3 (Beijing: People’s Publishing House, 2012), p. 365. humanity can implement free associated labor, and only then can labor happiness be fully realized. In capitalist society, workers labor for wages; labor is alien to them, causing laborers to “not affirm themselves but deny themselves, not feel happy but feel unhappy.” [3]3 Karl Marx, “Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844,” in Marx and Engels Collected Works, Vol. 1 (Beijing: People’s Publishing House, 2012), p. 159. Of course, as long as labor is performed, the usefulness of labor exists. Thus, as He Yunfeng states: “Forced labor, enslaved labor, labor without dignity, alienated labor, etc., still have a certain degree of labor happiness at a low level,” and “when they see the masterpieces of labor, they also have a feeling of happiness.” [4]4 He Yunfeng, “On the Concept of Labor Happiness,” Journal of Hubei University of Economics (Humanities and Social Sciences Edition), 2018, No. 4, p. 15.

确立正义的劳动动机与目的以确保劳动正义、实现劳动幸福，关键是促进劳动动机与目的统一。从宽泛意义上讲，人的行为在动机上都是为自己的，劳动也是为己劳动。人是社会的人，劳动是社会性活动，所以，为他人、为社会进行劳动是实现为己动机的根本途径，也就是说，从目的看，劳动又是为“他”的劳动。然而，劳动动机的为“己”性与目的的为“他”性容易产生矛盾。一方面，为他人、为社会劳动不能实现为己的动机时，劳动者进行劳动的积极性往往受损。缺乏自主意志的奴役劳动完全是为“他”劳动，必定是不幸福的劳动。事实上，在剥削者看来，从事奴役劳动的劳动者不过是会说话的工具而已，他们只配过着艰难的日子，“为了有可能压迫一个阶级，就必须保证这个阶级至少有能够勉强维持它的奴隶般的生存的条件”。谋生劳动虽然是自主意志支配的劳动，却是生计压力之下不得不进行的劳动，也是无法实现劳动者劳动幸福的劳动。体面劳动是摆脱生存压力、追求高品质生活而进行的劳动，但仍然存在维持体面生活的压力，所以，进行体面劳动可以较大程度却无法充分实现劳动幸福。马克思指出，当“在劳动已经不仅仅是谋生的手段，而且本身成了生活的第一需要之后”，人类便可实行自由联合劳动，此时，劳动幸福才能充分实现。在资本主义社会，工人为工资而劳动，劳动是异己的，劳动使劳动者“不是肯定自己，而是否定自己，不是感到幸福，而是感到不幸”。当然，只要进行劳动，劳动的有用性便会存在，所以，如何云峰所言：“强迫劳动、奴役劳动、没有尊严的劳动、异化劳动等，但低程度上又有一定的劳动幸福”，“看到劳动杰作的时候，他们也会有幸福的感觉的”。

On the other hand, labor that only realizes the self-interested motive of labor but fails to realize the other-oriented purpose of labor not only fails to increase but actually diminishes the overall labor happiness of society. In capitalist society, capitalists are motivated by the appreciation of profit; what to produce, how much to produce, and how to produce depend on the magnitude of profit obtained. To obtain greater profit, the bourgeoisie continuously expands production, but the bourgeoisie will neither abandon the pursuit of profit to realize the labor happiness of the working class nor to realize the overall labor happiness of society. In the capitalist production process, workers, in order to obtain jobs and earn more wages, may completely “actively” cooperate with, or even actively facilitate, the unjust production motives of the bourgeoisie. As a result, the more capitalist production develops, the worse the labor happiness situation becomes, not only for the laborers but for the whole of society.

另一方面，只是实现了劳动的为“己”动机，却未能实现劳动的为“他”目的的劳动，不但无法增益，反而会减损社会整体劳动幸福。在资本主义社会，资本家以增值利润为动机，生产什么，生产多少，如何生产，取决于获取利润的大小。为了获取更大利润，资产阶级不断扩大生产，但资产阶级既不会为实现工人阶级的劳动幸福，也不会为实现社会整体劳动幸福放弃对利润的追求。在资本主义生产过程中，工人们为了得到工作，获取更多工资，完全可能以“实际行动”积极配合着，甚至是积极促成资产阶级不正义的生产动机，结果，资本主义生产越发展，不仅劳动者，而且整个社会的劳动幸福状况也越来越差。

As mentioned earlier, justice in the labor process and justice in labor outcomes are two fundamental aspects of labor justice. The essence of justice in the labor process is that the usefulness of the labor activity itself to the laborer outweighs its harmfulness. How can we ensure that the usefulness of the labor process outweighs its harmfulness? The key to ensuring that the usefulness of the labor process outweighs its harmfulness is to fully protect labor rights. “Labor rights tend to safeguard specific labor interests,” so “labor rights are in many cases a legal issue.” [5]5 Wang Haibin, “On the Concept of Labor Rights,” Journal of Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, 2004, No. 2, p. 72. Among the labor rights that laborers should be guaranteed, the most basic are the right to health and the right to safety, which are rights concerning whether laborers can “stay alive.” Marx emphasized: “Workers must insist on their theoretical primary right to health.” [6]6 Karl Marx, “The Nationalization of the Land,” in Marx and Engels Collected Works, Vol. 18 (Beijing: People’s Publishing House, 1964), p. 67. Realizing the value of life is a higher-order form of happiness; laborers occupying a subject position in labor is a higher-order labor right for laborers to realize their self-worth. The main right reflecting this important right of laborers is the right to democratic management. Marx pointed out that in capitalist society, laborers are merely variable capital for capitalists to produce surplus value, resources allocated by capitalists, and have no right to enterprise management. Laborers bear the harmfulness of labor to create wealth; if they do not receive appropriate material compensation, the usefulness of labor cannot ultimately be realized. Therefore, an important way to realize the usefulness of labor is to ensure that laborers fully enjoy the fruits of labor. In capitalist society, workers receive only the wage for their labor power, and capitalists often try to depress their wages, causing workers to live in extreme difficulty.

如前所述，劳动过程正义与劳动后果正义是劳动正义的两个基本方面，劳动过程正义的实质是劳动活动本身对劳动者的有用性大于有害性。如何确保劳动过程的有用性大于有害性呢？保障劳动过程的有用性大于有害性的关键是充分保障劳动权利。“劳动权利倾向于维护具体的劳动权益”，所以，“劳动权利在许多情况下是一个法律问题”。在劳动者应受保障的劳动权利中，最基本的是健康权与安全权，这是关系到劳动者能否“活着”的权利。马克思强调：“工人要坚持他们在理论上的首要的健康权利。”实现人生价值是高阶性的幸福，劳动者在劳动中占有主体地位是劳动者实现自我价值的高阶性劳动权利，体现劳动者这一重要权利的主要是民主管理权。马克思指出，在资本主义社会，劳动者不过是为资本家生产剩余价值的可变资本，是由资本家配置的资源，根本没有企业管理权。劳动者为创造财富承受了劳动的有害性，若得不到恰当的物质补偿，劳动的有用性便无法最终实现，所以，实现劳动有用性的重要途径是保障劳动者充分享用劳动成果。在资本主义社会，工人们得到的只是劳动力工资，资本家往往还会设法压低他们的工资，工人们因此生活得极其困难。

Workers produce surplus value for capitalists; capitalists should actively protect the labor rights of workers. If this were achieved, it would reflect a certain degree of fairness. However, in capitalist society, this is impossible to realize because capitalists care about profit, and the bourgeois government is merely the “ideal total capitalist.” [7]7 Friedrich Engels, “Anti-Dühring,” in Marx and Engels Collected Works, Vol. 3 (Beijing: People’s Publishing House, 2012), p. 668. The working class has no choice but to struggle for labor rights; this struggle forces the bourgeoisie to make concessions, continuously increasing expenditures on protecting labor rights. This goes against the nature of capitalists, so they simply relocate labor-intensive industries abroad, developing mainly high-profit, low-employment high-tech and financial industries at home. In our country, the socialist system and state power guarantee the labor rights of laborers; this is an important political advantage of our socialist system.

工人们为资本家生产剩余价值，资本家应积极保障工人的劳动权利，如果做到了这一点，则多少还体现了一定的公正性。然而，在资本主义社会，这是不可能实现的，因为资本家在意的是利润，资产阶级政府不过是“理想的总资本家”。工人阶级不得不为劳动权利而斗争，斗争使得资产阶级不得不让步，不断增加用于保障劳动权利方面的开支。这是违背资本家的本性的，于是他们干脆将劳动力密集型产业转移至国外，在本国主要发展利润高、雇佣人员少的高科技与金融业等。在我国，社会主义制度和国家力量保障了劳动者的劳动权利，这是我国社会主义制度重要的政治优势。

Concluding Remarks: The Basic Content of Labor View Education in Universities in the New Era

余论：新时代高校劳动观教育的基本内容

Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, the Party Central Committee, based on the historical juncture of the New Era, has issued a series of directives on school labor education. In 2018, at the National Education Conference, General Secretary Xi Jinping proposed building an education system that integrates moral, intellectual, physical, aesthetic, and labor education. [8]8 The 18th National Congress of the CPC was held in 2012, marking the beginning of the New Era under Xi Jinping’s leadership. The National Education Conference in 2018 was a major policy meeting where Xi Jinping outlined the goals of educational reform. In 2020, the Central Committee of the CPC and the State Council issued the “Opinions on Comprehensively Strengthening Labor Education in Universities, Middle Schools, and Primary Schools in the New Era,” and the Ministry of Education issued the “Guidelines for Labor Education in Universities, Middle Schools, and Primary Schools (Trial).” The “Guidelines” emphasize that the Marxist view of labor must be implemented throughout. The implementation of these important discourses and policies provides ideological guidance for strengthening labor education in the New Era, marking that our country’s labor education has entered a new era. Why must the Marxist view of labor be implemented throughout in New Era labor education? How to implement it throughout? What are the particularities of implementing the Marxist view of labor in university student labor education? Ideological and political educators in universities urgently need to provide in-depth answers. We believe that in implementing Marxist view of labor education in universities in the New Era, we should take Marx’s view of labor as humanization as the basic basis, labor happiness education as the fundamental goal, and labor justice view education as the core task.

党的十八大以来，党中央立足新时代历史方位，对学校劳动教育作出了系列指示。2018年，习近平总书记在全国教育大会上提出，要构建德智体美劳五育并举的教育体系。2020年，中共中央、国务院印发了《关于全面加强新时代大中小学劳动教育的意见》，教育部印发了《大中小学劳动教育指导纲要（试行）》。《指导纲要》强调，必须将马克思主义劳动观贯彻始终。这些重要论述及政策的落地实施为新时代加强劳动教育提供了思想指引，标志着我国劳动教育迈入了崭新的时代。新时代劳动教育何以必须将马克思主义劳动观贯彻始终？如何贯彻始终？大学生劳动教育贯彻马克思主义劳动观有何特殊性？高校思想政治教育者亟需深入解答之。我们认为，新时代高校贯彻马克思劳动观教育，要以马克思劳动成人观为基本依据，以劳动幸福教育为根本目标，以劳动正义观教育为核心任务。

First, implement Marx’s view of labor as humanization, highlighting the era value of “educating people through labor.” “The construction of the New Era labor education system takes fostering virtue through education as its goal.” [9]9 “Fostering virtue through education” (立德树人) is a core educational principle in China, emphasizing moral character as the foundation of talent cultivation. Marx’s view of labor as humanization refers not only to labor determining the evolution of human natural attributes but, more importantly, to humans acquiring social attributes through labor. Marx’s view of labor as humanization enlightens us that an important content of “fostering virtue through education” in New Era universities is to establish the virtue of “loving labor” and to cultivate people “capable of labor.” Employment and labor skills education conform to economic value theory; labor education that implements Marx’s view of labor as humanization focuses on guiding university students to love labor and actively participate in honest and creative labor beneficial to society.

其一，贯彻马克思劳动成人观，彰显“以劳育德”的时代价值。“新时代劳动教育体系建设以立德树人为目标。”马克思劳动成人观既指劳动决定人的自然属性演化，更指人在劳动中获得社会属性。马克思劳动成人观启示我们，新时代高校“立德树人”的重要内容是立“爱劳动”之德，树“能劳动”之人。就业、劳动技能教育合乎经济学价值论，贯彻马克思劳动成人观的劳动教育重在引导大学生热爱劳动，积极参加有益于社会的诚实劳动、创造性劳动。

Second, implement Marx’s view of labor happiness, guiding labor happiness education. Marx’s view of happiness and his exposition that labor is a special social life activity of humanity reveal that realizing labor happiness is the fundamental purpose of Marx’s view of labor value. It enlightens us that labor happiness education is an important content of happiness education for university students in the New Era, guiding them to realize that labor is the fundamental path to a happy life. The value implications of Marx’s ideas on labor liberation and the identity of production and consumption enlighten us that the practical starting point and important direction of labor view education in New Era universities is to educate university students to consciously reject the harmful value influences of “entertainment to death” and “consumption first,” guiding them to achieve healthy physical and mental development through labor. [10]10 “Entertainment to death” (娱乐至死) is a phrase popularized by Neil Postman’s book “Amusing Ourselves to Death,” critiquing the dominance of entertainment in public discourse; here it is used to criticize consumerist culture. [11]11 “Consumption first” (消费至上) refers to the ideology of consumerism, prioritizing material consumption over other values.

其二，贯彻马克思劳动幸福观，引导劳动幸福观教育。马克思的幸福观与劳动是人类特殊的社会性生命活动的论述揭示了实现劳动幸福是马克思劳动价值观的根本宗旨。它启示我们，劳动幸福观教育是新时代大学生幸福观教育的重要内容，引导大学生体悟劳动是实现幸福人生的根本途径。马克思劳动解放、生产与消费同一思想的价值意蕴启示我们，新时代高校劳动观教育的实践起点和重要指向是教育大学生自觉拒绝娱乐至死、消费至上的不良价值影响，引导大学生在劳动中实现身心健康发展。

Third, implement Marx’s view of labour obligation and guide the education of the labour subject view. Marx’s critique of exploitative societies and exploitative phenomena, as well as his exposition of the principles of compulsory labour and distribution according to work, reveals that urging those with labour capacity to actively fulfil their labour obligations is the basic content of Marx’s view of labour obligation. It enlightens us that the focus of promoting labour subject view education in colleges and universities in the New Era is to educate university students to truly understand and establish the socialist labour concept that labour creates happiness and labourers are the most glorious, to guide university students to uphold the model worker spirit, the dedication spirit and the craftsman spirit, to establish a correct view of career selection, employment and entrepreneurship, to possess the fighting spirit to work in arduous regions and industries, to reject “lying flat” [12]12 “Lying flat” (躺平, tǎngpíng): A Chinese internet slang term referring to a lifestyle of minimal effort and withdrawal from societal pressures, often contrasted with the official emphasis on hard work and striving. and “Buddhist-style” [13]13 “Buddhist-style” (佛系, fóxì): A Chinese internet slang term describing a detached, indifferent attitude towards life and competition, derived from the concept of Buddhist detachment. attitudes, and to actively improve their labour quality so as to prepare for fulfilling their labour obligations.

其三，贯彻马克思劳动义务观，引导劳动主体观教育。马克思对剥削社会、剥削现象的批判及对实行义务劳动、按劳分配原则的论述揭示了促使有劳动能力者积极履行劳动义务是马克思劳动义务观的基本内容。它启示我们，新时代高校推进劳动主体观教育的重点是，教育大学生真正理解并树立劳动创造幸福、劳动者最光荣的社会主义劳动观念，引导大学生崇尚劳模精神、敬业精神和工匠精神，树立正确的择业就业创业观，具有在艰苦地区和行业工作的奋斗精神，拒绝“躺平”“佛系”，积极提升劳动素质，为履行劳动义务做好准备。

Fourth, implement Marx’s view of labour justice and guide the education of the labour process view. Marx’s exposition that labour is a process of realising the free life of the labourer and consuming the labourer’s life force explains that the essence of labour justice is that the usefulness of the labour process to the labourer exceeds its harmfulness. Marx’s view of labour justice enlightens us that the focus of education on the labour process view for university students in the New Era is to form a labour attitude of “respecting labour, esteeming labour, and loving labour”, to practise the labour spirit of “hardworking labour, honest labour, and creative labour”, and to appreciate the important significance of building equal and harmonious new-type labour relations in a socialist society.

其四，贯彻马克思劳动正义观，引导劳动过程观教育。马克思关于劳动是实现劳动者生命自由、消耗劳动者生命力过程的论述说明了劳动正义的实质是劳动过程对劳动者的有用性超过有害性。马克思劳动正义观启示我们，新时代大学生劳动过程观教育的重点是形成“尊重劳动、崇尚劳动、热爱劳动”的劳动态度，践行“辛勤劳动、诚实劳动、创造性劳动”的劳动精神，体会建设社会主义社会平等和谐的新型劳动关系的重要意义。

Fifth, implement Marx’s view of labour rights and guide the education of the labour rights view. Human rights refer to the qualification rights of being human; rights are interests guaranteed by power; labour rights in a broad sense include labour human rights. Marx’s thought that labour is the essential activity of human beings explains that labour is a basic human right, and guaranteeing the right to labour conditions and the right to enjoy the fruits of labour is the fundamental basis for realising labour happiness. Marx’s view of labour rights enlightens us that the main content of labour rights view education for university students in the New Era is: to enhance university students’ reasoning and decision-making abilities regarding labour value; to guide university students to establish a correct pursuit of labour value and to rationally handle contradictions in labour relations; to educate university students to abide by labour laws and regulations, and to cultivate a legal consciousness of consciously safeguarding labour rights and being honest and trustworthy. (Author affiliations: Hunan First Normal University, Hunan University)

其五，贯彻马克思劳动权利观，引导劳动权利观教育。人权指人之为人的资格权，权利是权力保障的利益，广义的劳动权利包括劳动人权。马克思关于劳动是人的本质活动的思想说明了劳动是基本人权，保障劳动条件权与劳动成果享用权是实现劳动幸福的根本基础。马克思劳动权利观启示我们，新时代大学生劳动权利观教育的主要内容是：提升大学生劳动价值的推理和决策能力；引导大学生树立正确的劳动价值追求，理性对待劳动关系矛盾；教育大学生遵守劳动法律法规，养成自觉维护劳动权利、诚实守信的法制观念。（作者单位分别是：湖南第一师范学院、湖南大学）

Source: *Qilu Journal*, Issue 2, 2025

来源;《齐鲁学刊》2025年第2期

Online editor: Paul

网络编辑：保罗