In Outlines o f a Critique o f Political Economy, based on the theoretical vision of historical materialism and the reality of the development of the capitalist society at that time, Marx analyzes the inner mechanism of the capitalist society rationally, reveals the two basic orientations of modern society and the world, namely, progressiveness and vulgarity, grasps the creation of exchange value as the core of social modernization, and elaborates the general law of social modernization in terms of modernization of the modes of production, exchange, consumption, the system of human capability and so forth, (On this basis, Marx reflects on social modernization from the dimensions of the modern production system, exchange system, and wealth (as the measure of individual value) based on the degree of development of free individuality, and critically analyzes the situation of the individual in modern times, This shows that: on the one hand, compared with the previous texts, the breadth and depth of Marx’s exploration of modernization have reached a new height in the Outlines : on the other hand, it is still of contemporary value in understanding the Chinese path to modernization, especially in promoting the return of the means and ends of modernization, and in carrying out the exploration of modernization in the light of China’s actual situations. 

　　Editor: Zhong Yao   Liu Tingting 

　　From: Teaching and Research.2024.No.10.