公平是一种社会燃素吗?——对恩格斯《论住宅问题》中交换公平的争论的解读

Is fairness a social phlogiston?——Interpretation of the Controversy about Exchange Fairness in“On Housing Questions”

恩格斯在《论住宅问题》中提出,公平是一种社会燃素。分析的马克思主义者,如麦克布莱德、莱文和桑德洛等,认为恩格斯的这一观点实际上是一种道德相对主义。本文试图还原和重构恩格斯与米尔伯格关于"住宅问题"的争论,以论证米尔伯格的公平观实际上是一种交换公平,它背后的图景是建立在"自由的个体占有"这一观点之上的"永恒公平"。恩格斯认为仅仅在交换领域去谈论公平是毫无意义的,因为交换公平概念在雇佣关系面前是无法自洽的。在这个意义上,公平是一种社会燃素。但是恩格斯并没有否定公平本身,他提出不是从公平本身去理解公平,而应该从否定性的角度去理解公平,即从经济关系和现实斗争的角度去理解公平。

Engels proposed in"On Housing Questions"that fairness is a social phlogiston.Analytical Marxism believes that this view of Engels is actually a moral relativism.In fact,the concept of fairness in"On Housing Questions"is an exchange of fairness.The picture behind it is"eternal fairness"based on the idea of"free individual possession".Engels believes that it is meaningless to talk about fairness only in the field of exchange,because the concept of exchange fairness cannot be self-consistent in the face of employment relationship.In this sense,fairness is the social phlogiston.However,Engels did not deny fairness.He proposed not to understand fairness from the perspective of fairness,but to understand fairness from the perspective of economic relations.