A Fourfold Defense of Marx’s Theory of Justice

Abstract

Marx’s discussion of justice is accomplished through his critique of “political economy.” The premise of his argument is the elimination of private ownership; this is determined by his theoretical mission. The basic logic of Marx’s theory of justice is that the relations of distribution are to be interpreted not through political and legal concepts of fairness and justice, but through the relations of production, and the relations of production are to be interpreted through productive labor. Only by starting with the critique of political economy can we truly grasp the crux of the desert theory of justice and the true nature of the issue of modern justice. The concept of justice in liberalism and other contemporary Western political philosophies is a lower-order concept, whereas Marx’s concept of justice is a higher order concept with broader implications. Starting from “human society or socialized humanity,” this higher-order concept is founded on the organic social cooperation of “free men” and depicts the highest principle of justice possible for human society, a principle that is the result of the logical and historical self-sublation of all previous principles of justice throughout human history. In the course of building up the framework of contemporary China’s justice theory, Marxism should not only play the part of a critic but should also be responsible for providing normative theories for real life.