ABSTRACT
Man as a moral subject, that is as a personality of equal worth, is indeed no more than a necessary condition for exchange according to the law of value. The egoistic subject, the legal subject and the moral personality are the three most important character masks assumed by people in commodity-producing society. If the moral personality is nothing but the subject in commodity-producing society, then the moral law must be manifested in the regulation of intercourse between commodity owners. Moral being is a necessary complement of legal being; they are both modes of intercourse utilised by commodity-producers. Moral fervour is inextricably bound up with and feeds on the immorality of social practice. Compulsion in moral behaviour attempts to deny its own existence; in contrast to this, justice is 'allotted' to man openly; it admits of superficial execution and active egoistic interest.
