Marx's view on property, however, doesn't not take a subjective approach, but rather, Marx objectively rejects the notion of private property for the reasons Fiona mentioned. It is interesting to consider, across a variety of issues, what comes first--government or the issue itself (such as property or religion)--and what is the correlation.
Wednesday, January 28, 2015
Chicken and Egg
According to Smith, the type of government determines the type of property we can own. For example, in a shepherding society, intellectual property rights or land rights have no validation. I thought it was interesting how Marx took the same approach to the the role of religion and feasibility of political emancipation. According to Marx, the type of government determines the type of question religion poses (30). In Germany (or a religious state), the Jewish question is "purely theological"and "criticism here is criticism of theology" (30). Therefore, when the Jewish individual faults the Christian state, she is criticizing theology on the whole. In France, the question becomes constitutional. In the states is when the question becomes secular. Here is where Marx claims that Bauer's "criticisms cease to be critical," because religion doesn't need to be eliminated from a society for there to be political emancipation, depending on the government instituted (31).
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Your point about Marx on religion seems to me pretty much right on. But I'm not sure if you are suggesting that there is a contrast between religion and property. I think that he thinks they are parallel. He says that the Rights of Man, including freedom of religion and private property, are a relatively new thing (think again of Smith's account of how property relations evolve). Isn't the view that with political emancipation from property (e.g. in the US) there come fundamentally different real property relations in civil society, relations that do not require as much regard for others, and that rationalize egoism and bald self-interest. In feudal society, the civil was political. If you worked for me (a serf), I had to take care of you. The new property relations brought about by the political emancipation from property free me from such concern: I just fire you if you get too sick or too old, or dip into chapter 11 to void your pension.
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