“合力”非动力论:恩格斯“合力”说再认识

The Resultant Force Is Not the Dynamical Force:The Recognition About Friedrich Engels’ Theory of “the Resultant Force”

影响历史发展的“合力”这一概念,是恩格斯在阐述人们是如何创造历史的这样一个特定问题时提出来的。学界多将此“合力”理解为是与唯物史观“最后动力”“直接动力”等概念相类、推动历史发展的一种动力。而实际上,恩格斯此所谓“合力”,指的是怀有相互冲突、交错的思想意志的不同人发出的力混合而成的一种力,这一“合力”之中,不但包含着一些并非推动历史进步的某些力,且有的力更是“反动力”,故不能笼统地将“合力”称为推进历史发展的动力。亦有论者提出,恩格斯所阐述的经济基础与上层建筑的有机结合和矛盾运动,是第一种合力,政治与人们的思想意志为第二种合力。这样的解读未能准确把握甚至脱离了恩格斯关于“合力”之论述的语境及具体问题,而进行了随意的阐发,并不符合马克思主义唯物史观关于历史动力的思想。

The concept about the resultant force of influencing historical development was put forward by Engels when he expounded such a specific question as how people created history.Academically,this resultantforce is often understood as a kind of dynamical force for promoting historical development,similar as suchconcepts as the final drive,or the direct drive in historical materialism.In reality,the resultant force calledby Engels indicated the force blended with the forces given by different people whose ideological wills wereconflicted and interlaced,including some forces which were not progressive,and some were evenretroactive,therefore,the resultant force could not be generally called the dynamical force of historicaldevelopment.Some scholars also put forward that the combination and contradiction between economic foundation and superstructure stated by Engels is a kind of resultant force,while politics or people’sideological will is another kind of resultant force.Such an explanation could not accurately grasp,and even deviated the context and the specific problem of Engels’statement.This kind of superficial explanation isnot accorded with Marxist historical materialism about the dynamical force of historical development.