Abstract:

Before the young Marx inverted the order of state and civil society in Hegel's philosophy of law and embarked on a scientific analysis of the inner mechanisms of society, he had already transcended the Hegelian and post-Hegelian narrative of spiritual history and undertaken a substantial clarification of the meaning of the Zeitgeist. Marx keenly observed that the Hegelian conception of spiritual history, which connected classical antiquity with modernity through Stoicism and subsequently through the idealism of Christianity, both produced and reflected a spiritual condition in which reason in modern society had become highly developed, while will, or vital power, had become extremely enfeebled. In contrast, by creatively reviving the figure and thought of Epicurus within the Western spiritual tradition, Marx established the spiritual character of his later materialist sociology. Unlike any previous form of materialism, the embryonic materialist thought developed by the young Marx signified an attitude of confronting oneself realistically and sincerely. He broke through all imaginative and theoretical illusions, reflected upon his own subjective state, and simultaneously took a firm hold of himself, thereby cultivating, in social action, a spiritual disposition to face and resist the oppressive conditions of social existence. This was articulated by the young Marx through the historical-philosophical metaphor of the opposition between Roman character and Jewishness. This offers important insights for contemporary Chinese sociology: not only is the pursuit of the Zeitgeist a prerequisite for sociological research, but exploring the profound implications of the spirit of the age for transformative change is also closely connected to comprehending the origins of civilization.

Key words: Zeitgeist, Roman character, atomism, self-consciousness, materialism