Hegel's Metaphysical Formulation of Labor in Phenomenology of Spirit and its Critique in Marx by Introducing Praxis as the New Foundation

Marx in Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts (1844) states that the discovery of the essence of Labor is the major achievement of Hegel in Phenomenology of Spirit. He, however, claims in the same pages that Hegel's understanding is one-sided and abstract since he just knows the positive side of labor. This paper seeks to show that Marx in his early writings establishes labor (praxis) as the philosophical foundation which sublates (aufheben) Hegel's speculative philosophy. In this regard, we first articulate Hegel's metaphysical understanding of labor in 'Master and Slave' section of Phenomenology and show how this concept plays a pivotal role in filling the gap between subject and object. We, then, try to show how Marx, by basing on Hegel's dialectical logic, criticizes Hegel's one-sided articulation and synthesizes Praxis as the fundamental connection of subject and object.