Ma Junfeng

　　School of Philosophy, Renmin University of China

　　Abstract:In the wide ranging discussion of social equity issues, the theories of contemporary Western thinkers such as Rawls, Nozick, Hayek and MacIntyre are repeatedly cited and expounded. By contrast, for various reasons, classical writers like Marx and Engels have been overlooked or even forgotten. Without a concrete analysis of their historical background and context, it is hard to grasp the true attitude and spiritual essence of the views of Marx and Engels on social equity. We might even conclude not only that they had no theory of social equity but that they opposed and rejected approaching questions from this angle. As a world view and methodology enabling the proletariat to know and transform the world and liberate themselves and mankind, Marxism is a theory that unites truth and value. A rational understanding of the issue of equity as an expression of value is only possible when the dimensions of science and value are dialectically combined. On the one hand, equity is a value concept that functions as a standard for evaluation; on the other, it refers to an actual state of values distribution (including interests, opportunities and rights) that inevitably involves the contradiction between freedom and equality and between formal and substantive equity, the difference between the general and the specific, the conflict between equality and efficiency, the opposition between equity and inequity and so on. Only a dialectical mode of thinking can ensure a correct understanding of the complexity of social equity issues.

　　Keywords: social equity, view of equity, value stance