On the Evolution, Study and Development Tendency of the Concept of Civil Society

Abstract

In this paper, from the perspective and by mean of Marxist historical materialism, analysis of the different concepts of “civil society” at different times and their evolution was made in sequence as follows, Aristotle’s concept of “city-state” in Ancient Greek period, Cicero’s concept of “state”, divine theory of state and society in Middle Ages, Ferguson’s concept of “civilized society” and Hegel’s concept of “civil society” in capitalist period and Marx’s concept of civil society. The paper puts forward opinions as such that Marx’s concept of civil society does neither follow concepts of “political and ethical state” and “divine of state”, nor explain the emergence and formation of “civil society” from abstract “reason of state” and Adam Smith’s “Rationality of economic man”. It is found that “state” and “civil society” are two concepts with close relations and different properties. It is the “civil society” forms the base of state rather than “reason of state “or “rational state” determines state and “civil society”. On this basis, Chinese academic circle’s study on civil society and its achievements were cleared up and depicted, and two main problems in the study were proposed, which are not always adhering to standpoint of Marxism and not starting from Chinese actual situation; in the meanwhile, causes for the problems can be explained by the western academic circle’s ideological transformation on China in an organized way, western discourse system’s long-term effect on Chinese academic circle and specialty of thought. It predicts that western academic circle will surely carry out ideological evolution continuously on China before and after the 70^th anniversary of the country’s founding.