基于社会主义立场对自由至上主义的批判——科恩对诺奇克“自我—所有权”命题的反驳

A Criticism of Libertarianism from the Socialist Perspective:G.A.Cohen's Rebuke of Robert Nozick's"Self-ownership"Proposition

自由与平等的关系是当代西方政治哲学家激烈争论的核心问题之一。在这一问题上,自由至上主义的代表人物诺奇克从他的"自我—所有权"命题出发,把资本主义的不平等说成是对每个人做自己愿做的事的自由的反映,并进而论证平等的实现只能以不正义为代价,因为保证和维持平等必定要侵犯人的"自我—所有权"。针对诺奇克观点,分析的马克思主义学者科恩基于社会主义立场提出了针锋相对的反驳:首先,诺奇克无法证明不平等是"自我—所有权"原则的必然结果,因为他讲的外部世界初始占有条件,即只要不损害任何人外部世界人人可得,不可能由"自我—所有权"派生而来;其次,诺奇克的外部世界最初是无主的假定是轻率的,因为如果"自我—所有权"原则与外部世界是人们联合所有的假定相结合,那他讲的广泛的状况不平等就可以避免;第三,否认诺奇克的"自我—所有权"并不意味着赞同奴隶制、取消人的自主性和把人作为手段而不是作为目的,而肯定"自我—所有权"则会威胁人的自主性。由此,科恩依据严谨的逻辑分析,提出了使诺奇克难以回应的诘问,从而把对自由与平等的关系问题的研究向前推进一大步,也促进了政治哲学本身的发展。

The relationship between liberty and equality has been a central theme of debates among contemporary Western political philosophers.Robert Nozick,as the representative of libertarianism,proceeded from the'self-ownership'proposition and viewed capitalist inequality as a reflection that each person is free to do as he pleases.He then went on to argue that equality can only be achieved at the cost of injustice,for ensuring and maintaining equality must necessarily be premised on the infringement of people's'self-ownership.'In response,the critical Marxist scholar G.A.Cohen raised a counter-argument from the socialist point of view.Firstly,Nozick has not shown that inequality is a necessary consequence of the'self-ownership'principle,because as long as what he terms the initial appropriation of the external world does harm to no one,it will be accessible to all people and cannot derive from'self-ownership.'Secondly,Nozick's assumption that the external world is originally owned by no one is indiscrete,for if the'self-ownership'principle is considered in combination with the assumption that the external world is jointly owned by people,then the extensive inequality of situation can be avoided.And thirdly,the denial of Nozick's'self-ownership'does not mean endorsing slavery,nullifying human autonomy,and treating people as means rather than as ends.Rather,affirming'self-ownership'threatens autonomy.With rigid logical analysis,Cohen waged irrefutable criticism at Nozick,pushing the research on liberty-equality relations a step further and promoting the development of political philosophy as a discipline.