《1844年经济学哲学手稿》中“内在尺度”与“美的规律”问题探析

An Inquiry into the “Inner Measure” and the “Laws of Beauty” in the Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844

摘要: 《1844年经济学哲学手稿》中“人也按照美的规律来构造”的著名论断，引发了美学史上关于“内在尺度”归属的长期争论。通过返回文本语境并细致辨析两种“尺度”的理论内涵，可以看到，“内在尺度”既非纯粹客观事物的固有属性，亦非单纯的主观意念，而是人在对象性活动中统合主观目的与客观规律的实践能力。在此基础上，“美的规律”便可理解为人的自由本质在感性实践中的自我确证，而异化劳动则使这一规律转入遮蔽状态。这一解读有助于廓清马克思早期美学思想的哲学地基，并对美学史上长期纠缠的主客二分问题作出积极回应。

Abstract: The famous assertion in the Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844 that “man also forms objects in accordance with the laws of beauty” has sparked a long-standing debate in the history of aesthetics regarding the attribution of the “inner measure”. A close examination of the textual context and the theoretical connotations of the two kinds of “measure” reveals that the “inner measure” is neither a purely objective property of things nor a mere subjective idea, but rather a practical capacity of human beings to integrate subjective purposes with objective laws in their objective activity. On this basis, the “laws of beauty” can be understood as the self-confirmation of humanity’s free essence in sensuous practice, whereas alienated labor plunges this law into concealment. This interpretation not only clarifies the philosophical ground of Marx’s early aesthetic thought, but also actively responds to the persistent problem of the subject-object dichotomy in aesthetics, offering a new account of the status of natural beauty and the very possibility of aesthetic activity within alienated reality.