Thursday, October 15, 2015

Socialism and General Will

As has been previously discussed, the collectivization of Property is derived from the collectivization of Action.  So, since, the ground of Action is Will, Socialism is an expression of a General Will.  Now, on a Kantian interpretation, according to which a General Will can function only as a deliberate motivator, Socialism is the unique actualization of the General Will.  However, in numerous Marxist passages, a General Will is conceived as alienated from personal Wills, i. e. as an impersonal force that is either actually antithetical to the latter, or is imagined as such.  In either case, it is being presented as a force that pre-exists Socialism.  But, if so, then, it is also possible that the General-Personal antithesis, and the condition of alienation that is manifested, is itself an expression of a General Will, as is any Class Conflict that precedes the arrival of Socialism.  In other words, it follows that the General Will is History, governed by a Dialectical pattern, in which, whether or not Socialism is itself a transitory stage, that system enjoys no moral superiority over exploitative systems.  So, if Marx-Engels intend a privileged status for Socialism, they must follow Kant, and conceive it as a deliberate motivator of Revolution, and of what ensues.

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