Karl Marx’s Theory of Justice and His Philosophical Revolution

Abstract

The proposition “changing the world” inherently encompasses the value appeal that “the world ought to be changed” and the scientific cognition that “the world can be changed.” Together, they embody a practice-grounded methodological principle that integrates fact and value. Retracing the argument from “changing the world” back to “the world ought to be changed” illuminates both Karl Marx’s theory of justice and the distinctive methodology he employed in addressing justice. Marx did not begin from an abstract notion of “natural rights”; instead, he derived the principles of justice from an investigation of real human needs. The theory of the mode of production and its evolution provides the most appropriate instrument for analyzing those needs and their transformations. Accordingly, the historical materialism pioneered by Marx does not exclude normative theories of justice; rather, it inaugurates a new theoretical paradigm for thinking about justice. Marx’s assertion—what corresponds to the mode of production is just—must be read within this paradigm.

Keywords

Karl Marx / justice / normativity / scientificity

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Higher Education Press