False Consciousness. The concept of false consciousness is a complex
cognitive-epistemological and socio-economic political concept. It was first
explored in some details by the philosophers of the Scottish Enlightenment
prominently by Adam Smith and Adam Ferguson but came to be associated with
the work of
Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. The concept occurs in Marxâs and Engelsâ
work at a junction point of various equally complex concepts like theory of
history, social class, consciousness, social and self consciousness, class
consciousness, commodification and commodity fetishism, ideology
and alienation.
It is often claimed (e.g Joseph McCarney) that Marx does not use the phrase
false consciousness and Engels is, then, referred to as the only one to use
it. This is not true. Both of them use the term. But though it is one of the
most central Marxian terms each uses it only once in their whole (published)
work. But the use of the Hegelian category of appearance is essential
here. One
of the meanings of the category appearance in Hegelian system is distorted
and deceiving reflection of the nature of things. Besides all sorts of
different meanings of the term in Hegelian philosophy, Marx and Engels
use it also
to refer to distorted knowledge and or inadequate expression of reality.
Marx
uses the term in an 1854 in New York published essay Der Ritter vom
edelmütigen BewuÃsein (The knight of noble-minded consciousness).
However, he uses it
not in a conceptual way to categorise a certain phenomenon. Rather, he
merely
remarks polemically against A. Willich that he (Willich) is suspecting
behind the right facts false consciousness. The connotation of Engelsâ
usage of
the term is something more substantial but curious enough it does not
occur in
one of his major writings. In a letter to Franz Mehring from 14 July 1893 he
discusses the genesis of ideology (superstructure) and how it affects
structure. He admits that he and Marx emphasized how structure determines
superstructure but neglected to work out how superstructure affects
structure. In this
context he asserts: ideology is a process accomplished by the so-called
thinker. Consciously, it is true, but with a false consciousness. The
real motive
forces impelling him remain unknown to him; otherwise it simply would not be
an ideological process. Hence he imagines false or seeming motive forces.
It is thank to the work of the first generation of Marxist philosophers,
prominently to that of Georg Lukács, that the concept false consciousness
assumed the preeminence which it enjoys in contemporary debates - in
particular on
ideology. Lukács works out the meaning of the concept for example in his
classical essay Class Consciousness. He suggests that Marxâs concept of
false
consciousness arises as a reply to bourgeois philosophy and sociology of
history. According to Lukács bourgeois philosophy of history and
sociology tends to
give up the sense of history as progress to justify contemporary form of the
organization of society as natural and eternal or it must cut out everything
in the progress of history that refers to the future. Consequently, it
reduces the progress of history to the role individualities or
supernatural forces
like God. Now, Marx resolves this dilemma of bourgeois theory of history,
Lukács suggests, by developing his concept of historical materialism and by
presenting human relations in capitalist society as the reification. This
is,
then, the stage where, by referring to Engelsâs above-mentioned letter
Lukács
introduces the concept of false consciousness. He poses the question whether
historical materialism takes into account the role of consciousness in
history.
In this connection he speaks of a double dialectical determination of false
consciousness. On the one hand, considered in the light of human
relations as
a whole subjective consciousness appears to be justified because it is
something that can be understood, that is, it gives an adequate
expression of
human relations. But as an objective category it is a false consciousness
as it
fails to express the nature of the development of society adequately. On the
other hand, this consciousness in the same context appears to fail to
achieve
subjectively aimed goals because they appear to be unknown, unwanted
objective aims as if they were determined by some mystical supernatural
alien forces.
The whole work of Marx is dedicated to the explanation of this
contradiction. As Rosa Luxemburg has shown, Marxâs and Engelsâ whole
work is driven by
the question of how human relations can be brought into an agreement with
human
consciousness. The mature work of Marxâs on this question is Capital. The
key chapter for the study of Marxâs concept of false consciousness is
the first
chapter of the Capital on commodities. The key concept for understanding of
this concept is his concept of commodity fetishism, which he develops in
this
chapter. In his analysis of commodity Marx differentiates between value in
use and value in exchange. The use-value of commodities is obtained by
transforming natural objects into useful objects, say, by transforming
wood into
table. This transformation is accomplished by useful or productive labor to
satisfy various human needs. The exchange-value is the relative value of
commodities, which refers to socially necessary labor time that was
necessary to
produce them. The use-value is realized in the consumption of
commodities. The
exchange value is realized in the exchange process, that is, by relating to
commodities to one another and exchanging them for one another. Now, in his
analysis of the relationship of use-value and exchange value Marx sees a
mutual
negative relationship. He thinks that this negative relationship
originates in
the value from of commodities because in the exchange process the aim of
production (satisfaction of needs) has been reversed into obtaining of
exchange-values. The aim of production is, then, no longer satisfaction
of human needs
but production and realization of exchange values. This gives rise to the
fact that human products as commodities dominate humans rather than vice
versa
humans their product. This is, in turn, the reason why everybody strives to
realize exchange-values and becomes commodity fetishist. From now on
commodities (a trivial thing, if considered in the light of use-value)
appear to be
mystified things endowed with life and turned into supernatural divine
forces
that are prayed for. As a result human relations take the form of social
relations between products.
The commodification of products, however, requires the commodification of
human labor too. The commodification of human labor in turn requires the
separation of laborers from their means of production and monopolization
in the
hands of the few (original accumulation) so that the laborers have
nothing to
sell but their labor forces, that is, their physiological and intellectual
functions of their bodies. This is also the source of the rise of social
classes
in capitalist society with their class consciousnesses or ideologies. In
capitalist society, then, there are two contradictory sets of ideologies:
on the
one hand, there is the institutionalized ideology of ruling class
claiming to
represent the whole of society and there is, on the other hand, the
subaltern ideology of subordinated classes. In short, ideology as a form of
consciousness arises from social class relations.
Marxâs concept of ideology has been often equated with false
consciousness.
But as Theodor W. Adorno has shown as early as 1930s and as Hans Heinz Holz
and István Mésáros enforced in the 1970s the equitation of
ideology with false
consciousness is undertaken in the tradition of Weberian sociology â in
particular in the sociology of knowledge of Karl Mannheim. Ideology
in Marxian
thought has many meanings and false consciousness is just one of them. To
introduce a historical perspective into the debate on false consciousness,
in his
above-referred essay Lukács suggests considering Marxâs concept of
ideology
in the light of class position vis-Ã -vis the means of production. Only in
this
manner, Lukács thinks, one can obtain the category of objective possibility
to overcome consciousness as ideology and false consciousness. He thinks
that
because of its position vis-Ã -vis the means of production the only class
that
is objectively interested in overcoming consciousness as ideology and false
consciousness is working classes. Marx and Engels formulated this idea as
early as 1848 in the Manifest of Communist Party.
DoÄan Göçmen
Further Reading
István Mésáros, Marxâs Theory of Alienation, Merlin Press,
London, 1986.
István Mésáros, The Power of Ideology, ZED Books LTD, London & New York,
2005.
_______________________________________________
Marxism-Thaxis mailing list
[email protected]
To change your options or unsubscribe go to:
http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/marxism-thaxis
