Le perspectivisme pronominal comme choix éthique: le travail chez Marx

Abstract

Ce qu'il y a d'éthique chez Marx relève non d'une profession de foi cachée ou d'une théorie morale implicite, mais de son choix méthodologique d'approche de la réalité sociale, un choix que je qualifie de "perspectivisme pronominal". Il s'agit en effet pour lui de multiplier les points de vue sur la même réalité, en montrant qu'à chaque perspective pronominale correspond un domaine d'objectivité propre. Ceci est montré ici à l'exemple de son analyse du travail. Une version courte en anglais suite le texte français de cette conférence.My paper is intended as a contribution to the long-standing debate on the relationship between Marxian economic and social theory and morality, by showing that the ethical dimension of Marx’s writings stems not from an implicit or secret moral theory – and even less from some veiled profession of faith that we are meant to clarify – but rather from his general methodological approach to social reality, which is remarkably consistent across all of his work from his earliest to his very latest writings. I would describe Marx’s approach as pronominal perspectivism. It consists not only in considering the various different perspectives of reality (that of the worker, the capitalist and the economist), but in attributing a specific area of reality to each perspective. In other words, each perspective constitutes its own area of objectivity. I illustrate this with reference to Marx’s theories on labour, which enables me to show how the experience of labour is the ultimate moral experience for Marx. I conclude with a few remarks on the role this approach might play in today’s digital world