Social Sciences in China (Chinese Edition)

No.10, 2015

The Logical Progress of Marx’s Examination of Modernity from the Perspective of Marx’s Critique of Technology

(Abstract)

Yu Chunling and Chen Fan

Marx’s interest in the issue of modernity turned from pursuit to critique and from a macro-level dialectical critique to an examination of micro-mechanisms. His critique of technology played an important role in bringing about this turn. In his early works, Marx established the basic standpoint and principles of his critique of modernity after shifting from modern enlightenment principles’ identity with and pursuit of transcendence to conscious reflection and critique. During the historical period extending from the Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844 to The Communist Manifesto, by means of his investigation into “labor,” “production,” “practice,” “industry,” “technology,” “division of labor,” etc., Marx thought about and answered questions concerning the nature, value, practice and alienation of technology, analyzing at a macro-level the universality, predicament and temporary nature of modernity, the liberation of modern man, and the basic features of modernity. In Capital, he reviewed “productive” technology from a micro-perspective with machinery and mechanical systems as its main content, and revealed on the basis of detailed analysis of technology and capital the intrinsic mechanism of the emergence and development of modernity in the interaction between technology and capital. Through his critique of technology, Marx comprehensively analyzed and revealed the essence of modernity and developed his systematic thinking, providing an important theoretical resource for our study of the issue of modernity today.