China Social Science Review

No.4, 2020

The Formation, Dissolution and Return of Public Spirit: Marx’s Remodeling of Western Political Philosophy

(Abstract)

Chen Fei

The thinking about public spirit in Marx’s political philosophy has deep roots in intellectual history. Classical political philosophy and classical liberalism are two major theoretical traditions. The former has shaped the public spirit involved in direct identification of the individual with the community; its basic purpose is safeguarding the public order and common interests of the polity. The latter has made respect for and recognition of individual rights and private property into the theoretical basis of arguments for capitalist industry and commerce. However, all this led to the loss of the unity of the lifeworld, and has taken with it the ethical coloration of public spirit. Using the intellectual resources of classical political philosophy relating to public spirit, Marx discovered the question of his time—the split between the individual and others and between the individual and the community. He thus reshaped public spirit on the new social platform of the association of free men.