Claremont Colleges Scholarship @ Claremont CMC Senior Theses CMC Student Scholarship 2020 The Road to Human Emancipation - The Moral and Political Foundations of Markets William Shi Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses Part of the Comparative Politics Commons, Constitutional Law Commons, Continental Philosophy Commons, Ethics and Political Philosophy Commons, Income Distribution Commons, Industrial Organization Commons, Legal Theory Commons, and the Political Economy Commons Recommended Citation Shi, William, "The Road to Human Emancipation - The Moral and Political Foundations of Markets" (2020). CMC Senior Theses. 2405. https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses/2405 This Open Access Senior Thesis is brought to you by Scholarship@Claremont. It has been accepted for inclusion in this collection by an authorized administrator. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Shi 1 Claremont McKenna College The Road to Human Emancipation – The Moral and Political Foundations of Markets submitted to Professor Paul Hurley and Professor George Thomas by Zheyuan (William) Shi for Senior Thesis Spring 2020 May 11, 2020 Shi 2 Table of Content Introduction – The Ideal of Human Emancipation ...................................................................6 Part I: The Moral Foundations of Markets ..............................................................................21 Chapter I – Is Free Market Really Free? ...................................................................................22 I. The Real Adam Smith ......................................................................................................22 II. Karl Marx’s Warning – The Deprivation of Human Essence ..........................................24 III. The Dialectics of Capital and The Scientific Basis of Alienation ...................................29 IV. Species-Beings – The Obligatory Standpoint of Each Citizen .......................................44 Chapter II – The True Public Ideology .....................................................................................51 I. “Justice as the First Virtue of Social Institutions” ............................................................51 II. Where is Economic Liberty? .............................................................................................62 III. The Egalitarian Social Ethos and The Scope of Justice ..................................................68 IV. The Difference Principle as Still Political Emancipation ...............................................77 Chapter III – Liberty and Duty ..................................................................................................95 I. “From each as they choose, to each as they are chosen” ..................................................97 II. Capitalism is Partial Slavery? ..........................................................................................104 III. Restrict Self-Ownership and Eliminate Alienation ......................................................114 Part II: The Political Foundations of Markets .......................................................................130 Foreword: The Social Economy ...............................................................................................131 Chapter IV– Socioeconomic Rights as the Partial Rights of Citizen ......................................140 I. The Merit of Welfare State ...............................................................................................141 II. Implementing socioeconomic rights: weak and strong judiciary and enforcement ..........144 III. The Limit of Welfare State ..............................................................................................162 Chapter V- Transcending Capitalism I: Workplace Democracy .............................................169 I. The Tyranny of Private Government ...............................................................................170 II. Workplace Democracy: Justification and Constraints ....................................................174 III. The Current Practices of Workplace Democracy ..........................................................182 IV. A Brief Note on Corporate Social Responsibility .........................................................188 Chapter VI – Transcending Capitalism II: Between Property-Owning Democracy and Liberal Socialism ....................................................................................................................................196 I. The Significant Convergence between the Two Concepts ..............................................196 Shi 3 II. The Neo-Agrarian Reform: Stakeholder Grant and Basic Income ..................................198 III. Evaluations of Market Socialism .................................................................................208 IV. Social Wealth Fund: The Real Common Wealth for All ..............................................219 Chapter VII – Transcending Capitalism III: From the Rights of Man to the Rights of Citizen .231 I. The Economic Prerequisite of a Constitutional Order ......................................................232 II. Why Should We Make the Rights of Citizen Textually Explicit ....................................238 III. A Bold Constitutional Amendment – The Constitutional Guarantee of Human Emancipation ..............................................................................................................................247 Epilogue – March toward Human Emancipation ........................................................................254 Bibliography ................................................................................................................................256 Shi 4 Abstract The thesis aims to provide both a real public ideology and socioeconomic structures to realize Karl Marx’s ideal of human emancipation. Marx argues that in capitalist society, the legal and political superstructure forces the ruling class to represent its interest as the public interest, which legitimizes the massive inequality in resources and social power. In this regard, the two parts of the thesis have two goals. The first part aims to formulate a rightful candidate to the public ideology of human emancipation, which represents the substantive public interest rather than the hypocrisy of the ruling class. The second part aims to formulate the legal and socioeconomic structures of the Social Economy, which is the social system that corresponds to the public ideology and restores the equality of both resources and social power. The first part is the philosophical analysis, and the second part can be viewed as a set of proposals informed by both normative and empirical research to transform the economy and society. Shi 5 Acknowledgement My deepest appreciation and respect are attributed to my thesis readers, Professor Paul Hurley and Professor Thomas. I feel very honored to not only have the precious opportunity to study the major of Philosophy, Politics and Economics, but also join the Sexton cohort and engage in such vibrant discourse about texts and topics that I might otherwise never encounter. Professor Hurley’s and Thomas’s seminars and tutorials are the educational experiences I’ve dreamed to have for years. It is the unparalleled substance of the courses that makes my ambitious thesis possible. Personally, Professor Hurley and Professor Thomas have always been generous to offer their bountiful insights for me and answer my ignorant questions. PPE not only makes me more nuanced when I examine ideas and events, but also informs me of my responsibilities both as a member of my community and as a global citizen. I want to further extend my appreciation to numerous professors. I want to thank Professor Jennifer Taw, Professor James Kreines, Professor Minxin Pei, Professor Aseema Sinha, Professor Hilary Appel, and Professor David Bjerk for fantastic class experiences. I truly enjoy the navigation across various disciplines, which offer such a depth and breadth of knowledge and make me respect and take each point of view very seriously. I would also want to thank my friends, especially the Edward J. Sexton PPE Cohort of Class 2020. For many times, I totally forgot my fatigue because of the exchange of ideas. Thanks to the extraordinary intellectual power of my peers, I further strengthen my conviction that truth exists for mankind, and we can understand and recognize each other regardless of where we come from. Finally, I share my gratitude to my parents, Mr. Qiang Shi and Mrs. Yanxian Lang, who always support my initiatives and aspiration. Without such selfless supports, I would not have the fortune to have such a splendid journey. Shi 6 Introduction - The Ideal of Human Emancipation "If he works only for himself, he may perhaps become a famous man of learning, a great sage, an excellent poet, but he can never be a perfect, truly great man. … If we have chosen the position in life in which we can most of all work for mankind, no burdens can bow us down, because they are sacrifices for the benefit of all; then we shall experience no petty, limited, selfish joy, but our happiness will belong to millions. Our deeds will live on quietly but perpetually at work, and over our ashes will be shed the hot tears of noble people." - Karl Marx, Reflections of a young man on the choice of a profession, 1835 These lines are more than just the reflections on choosing a job by