The Dialectics of Labour, Machinery, and Capital – An Interpretation Centered on Marx’s Notes on Johann Beckmann II and Capital

The historical essence of machinery and of its capitalist application, along with the dialectics of labour, machinery, and capital, has always been a crucial subject in Marx’s critical theory of capitalism. In “Beiheft C” (1863) Marx compiled excerpts from A History of Inventions by the German technologist Johann Beckmann. Beckmann’s account of the dual social impact of machinery during the manufacturing period, particularly his historical narrative of workers’ intense struggles against machinery, brought Marx to confront the so-called “Beckmann Dilemma”: How are the primordial dual aspects of machinery possible? Within the overarching framework of historical materialism and the critique of political economy, Marx progressively deepened his theoretical perspective and intellectual logic for resolving the “Beckmann Dilemma” in the Economic Manuscripts of 1861–1863. There he examined themes such as the relationship between machinery and wages, as well as machinery and primitive accumulation. In Capital, Marx comprehensively revealed the historical logic and essential laws governing machinery and its capitalist deployment, correctly distinguishing between machinery as such and its capitalist deployment. He exposed the determinate social forms of machinery and its emancipatory potential, while profoundly clarifying the real essence of the contradiction between workers and machines and proposing the corresponding strategies of struggle – thereby achieving both a scientific resolution and a fundamental transcendence of the “Beckmann Dilemma.” The excavation and critical analysis of Marx’s and Beckmann’s theories of machinery will provide valuable insights for reflecting on contemporary human-machine relations in the era of digital intelligence.