Editor's Note: General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that Communists should take reading Marxist classics and understanding Marxist principles as a living habit and a spiritual pursuit, and use classics to cultivate righteousness, refine ideas, sublimate realm and guide practice. In order to further promote the formation of a strong atmosphere of reading classics, learning theories, strengthening quality and setting an example, the 2020 reading activity of the central and state organs "strengthening quality and setting an example" will be themed on "reviewing Marxist classics and deepening Xi Jinping's study of socialism with Chinese characteristics for a new era", and will invite a series of domestic authoritative experts to guide the reading of the Communist Party Declaration German Ideology, Das Kapital, State and Revolution and other classic works. As the third lecture of the "Reviewing Marxist Classics" series (130 issues in total), Zhong Jun, vice president and researcher of the Chinese History Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, gave a guest lecture to guide the Outline of Feuerbach with the theme of "adhering to and applying the Marxist concept of practice".
speaker: Zhong Jun, Vice President and Researcher of the Institute of Chinese History, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
Wonderful opinions
·The Outline of Feuerbach systematically expounded the scientific concept of practice for the first time. The Outline is the cornerstone of dialectical materialism and historical materialism, marking that Marx has completely distinguished himself from the old materialism and has completely transformed himself into a new materialist in ideology. The Outline is the watershed of Marx's thought and the rite of passage of Marx's philosophy. Since then, Marx has truly become the mature Marx who represents dialectical materialism and historical materialism.
·Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era is refined and sublimated on the basis of practical experience. It plays a huge role in guiding and promoting practice, and is a powerful weapon that has been tested by practice and is rich in practical strength.
·There are thousands of ways, and practice is the most important. Only practice can change the world and make our dreams come true. No matter how big the stage is, you will only be an audience if you don't play. No matter how many reasons, you will only be a spectator if you don't practice. Scientific practice can make us become masters of the world, not slaves of things and affairs. The essence of Yugong spirit and its practical action is scientific practice. In 2015, General Secretary Xi Jinping demanded that we should set up the aspiration of Yugong to remove mountains and resolutely fight to win the battle against poverty.
·Cadres work, not act. In essence, formalism is intuitive, superficial and superficial materialism, even idealism. It fundamentally violates the requirements of Marxist view of practice. Most people who engage in formalism do not want to play their subjective initiative, do not want to take on the responsibility, and only do virtual work without seeking actual results, which fundamentally violates the Marxist view of scientific practice.
·Marx told us that we should not only explain the world, but also transform it. We also need to find a new world in criticizing the old world. The fundamental way to change the world is "revolutionary" and "practical and critical" activities, that is, people's realistic, dynamic and critical practice of changing the world. General Secretary Xi Jinping stressed that socialism was achieved. "Gan" is a popular expression of practice. To adhere to and apply the Marxist concept of practice to build socialism with Chinese characteristics, we must first respect the objective laws, proceed from reality, see the difficulty of transforming the subjective and objective world, set up a fool's ambition, and learn to work hard. Secondly, we should more resolutely give play to our subjective initiative, combine theory with practice, and learn to work hard. Finally, we should combine respecting the objective laws with giving play to the subjective initiative, strive to make the change of the environment consistent with human activities, and learn to change and innovate according to the requirements of the revolutionary principles of practice.
·Rather than complain about the environment, it is better to reform the environment through practice. You stand on the bridge to see the scenery. At the same time, you are also the scenery in the eyes of others.
·It is not humanity that determines history, but history determines humanity. Abstract theory of human nature is the theoretical source of many erroneous ideological trends in the ideological field. Mencius said that human nature is good at the beginning ("human nature is good, just like water"); Xunzi said that at the beginning of human life, human nature was evil ("The nature of modern people is born with good interests"); Mozi did not recognize that human beings have a fixed and eternal nature at all, and proposed that "those who are close to the ink will be red, and those who are close to the ink will be black". After thousands of years of argument, no one can convince anyone. There is no "evil" human nature, nor "good" human nature, only human nature that fluctuates with social relations.
·Why do young cadres of state organs need to practice in the grassroots melting pot? This is because human nature is the sum of all social relations in its reality, and social life is practice in essence. The social life at the grass-roots level is exactly the most specific, complex and authentic, which can best train and cultivate people. The reality of the society and the grass-roots level is far more complicated than we know. If leading cadres of national ministries and commissions, especially young comrades who have become or are about to become business backbones, do not understand the truth that "social life is in essence practical", and do not understand the grass-roots level through practice, it is easy to formulate policies that are impractical and will not work.
·Comparing the lives of Feuerbach and Marx, we can find that both of them are thinkers with critical spirit and revolutionary spirit. However, due to different understanding of philosophical mission, they choose different paths. Feuerbach lived in seclusion in the countryside, wrote books, explained the world in the spiritual world, and was a thinker all his life. Marx chose to transform the world and end his life in the realistic political struggle. Marx experienced the hardships of wandering and suffering from poverty and illness all his life, but he never changed his original intention and unswervingly fought for the lofty ideal of human liberation. Marx's life is a life of constant struggle to overthrow the old world and build a new one. In order to change the fate of the people being exploited and oppressed, Marx resolutely devoted himself to the vigorous labor movement and always stood at the forefront of the revolutionary struggle. Never escape! Because of this, Marx is not only a great thinker, but also a revolutionist, and a revolutionary mentor of the proletariat and working people all over the world. Perhaps this is the different life choices made by the two thinkers based on their different understanding of the philosophical mission.
·The so-called happiness, in essence, is the free and comprehensive development of people, reflected in the good state of people's social life, is the unity of material happiness and spiritual happiness, personal happiness and social happiness, process happiness and result happiness, immediate happiness and long-term happiness. The process of struggle is the process of active labor practice. Active labor creation not only provides material conditions for the realization of happiness, but also the process of creation itself is a happy experience; Active labor creation can not only create a better life for individuals, but also create more value for society, and achieve the maximum happiness possible for individuals among the maximum happiness achieved by all people; Active labor creation not only meets people's immediate interests, but also lays a solid foundation for meeting long-term interests. It can be said that the more struggling, the happier.
·Reviewing classics must first understand the historical background of the generation of classics, and studying texts must study the history of the times when the texts were generated. History is the "original", and text is just a "copy", which is the interpretation and reflection of history. Therefore, only through the reproduction of the original ecology of Marx's creative activities and thought process can we understand the problems and arguments in Marx's text.
Q&A of the main points of this lecture:
1. The Outline of Feuerbach has only 11 articles, less than 1500 words. Why is it so important?
Answer: The Outline of Feuerbach is an important philosophical document written by Marx when he lived in Brussels in the spring of 1845. It has a very special position and significance in Marxist philosophical works. The Outline systematically expounded the scientific concept of practice for the first time. The Outline is the cornerstone of dialectical materialism and historical materialism. It marks that Marx has completely drawn a clear line with the old materialism and has completely changed into a new materialist in ideology. The Outline is the watershed of Marx's thought and the rite of passage of Marx's philosophy. Since then, Marx has truly become the mature Marx who represents dialectical materialism and historical materialism. Engels spoke highly of the Outline, saying that it was "the first document containing the germ of genius of the new world outlook". Comrade Xi Jinping, who was then governor of Fujian Province, also published the article "Brief Discussion on the Significance of the Times of the Outline of Feuerbach" in the 9th issue of the Journal of the Party School of the Fujian Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China in 2001, which systematically expounded the Marxist concept of practice and incisively expounded the main principles and significance of the times of the Outline.
2. Who is Feuerbach?
Answer: Ludwig Feuerbach is a famous German philosopher in the 19th century. On July 28, 1804, he was born in the family of an advanced, anti feudal, famous and educated criminal jurist in Randhewt, Bavaria. In 1823, he entered Heidelberg University to study theology. Later, he was disappointed in theology and transferred to Berlin University to study Hegel philosophy. Later, because he was not satisfied with the abstraction of Hegel's philosophy, he began to devote himself to the study of natural science. In 1830, Feuerbach published On Death and Immortality anonymously. Because his views ran counter to the orthodox Christian doctrine, he began to suffer official persecution, was dismissed from the university, and could not get a place to teach from any university in Germany. Feuerbach then moved to a small Brookburg village in Saurengia in 1837. He lived in this place far away from the German cultural center for 25 years, and almost never left. He wrote Criticism of Hegel's Philosophy, criticizing Hegel for reversing the "subject predicate" and turning to materialism for the first time and forever. In 1841, he published the book "The Essence of Christianity", which summed up the essence of God as the essence of man, and resolutely declared materialism and atheism. He bluntly put materialism back on the throne, thus opening a gap in the solid system of Hegel's philosophy.
3. What does the Outline of Feuerbach say?
Answer: The Outline of Feuerbach has eleven articles, nearly 1500 words, and is very concise. The main content is divided into four aspects: First, on the ontological level, it criticizes the mistakes of Feuerbach's old materialism in ignoring human subjective initiative and idealism in exaggerating subjective initiative, It clarifies the difference between Marx's new materialism philosophy based on the scientific practice view and the old philosophy (including the old materialism and idealism); Second, on the epistemological level, it discusses the dialectical relationship between knowledge and practice, and expounds the scientific view of truth; Third, at the level of historical view, it criticizes the idealistic historical view of the old materialism, discusses several basic issues of historical materialism, emphasizes that the change of the environment and the consistency of human activities is the practice of revolution, human nature is the sum of all social relations in its reality, and social life is practical in essence; The fourth is from the perspective of philosophy, that is, from the perspective of class basis, philosophical mission and function, the difference between the new and the old philosophy is expounded.
4. Why is the view of practice the cornerstone of Marx's new materialism?
Answer: In Marx's view, practice is a real, realistic and dynamic (revolutionary and critical) perceptual activity to transform the objective object (object) as a historical subject. In short, subject, object, interaction and practical activities are the four basic elements of practice. The role of the subject is reflected in subjective initiative, while the role of the object is reflected in objective regularity. Only realistic activities that respect objective laws and give play to subjective initiative can be called scientific practice. The philosophical view of practice is the knowledge of doing things. Marx's view of scientific practice answers the questions of why to do things, what to do, how to do things, and how to evaluate the effect of doing things. Materialism based on the scientific concept of practice is necessarily dialectical. Unlike the old materialism, which understood the world from the objective and intuitive form, or idealism, which only understood the world from the subjective and dynamic aspects, Marx's dialectical materialism actively and dialectically understood the world from both the subject and the object, thus declaring that the epistemology of dialectical materialism is not an intuitive and passive theory of reflection, It is a dynamic theory of reflection closely combined with social practice, thus laying a crucial theoretical foundation for Marxist philosophy to surpass traditional philosophy.
5. What is truth? What is the criterion for testing truth?
Answer: Truth is that people's subjective knowledge is consistent with the objective reality. The old materialism and idealism did not really solve the problem faced by the concept of truth. The old materialism believed that truth is that people's knowledge passively and intuitively conforms to external things, while idealism believed that truth is to make objective objects conform to people's self-consciousness, in other words, self-consciousness is truth. Marx's view of practice has opened up a path of "new materialism" to solve the problem of the view of truth. The Outline points out that "whether human thinking has objective truth is not a theoretical problem, but a practical problem." That is to say, practice produces truth, and practice is the standard to test truth. Human beings have always advocated truth, but they have always been at a loss as to what is truth and how to test it. People either give the power of adjudication to books and think that the words of books are truth; Or give the majority the power of adjudication, believing that what everyone agrees is the truth; Or they can hand over the power of adjudication to the outstanding minority, believing that what they say or agree with is the truth. But people finally found that no matter the words of books, or the simple majority, or the extraordinary talents of a few people, are not reliable proofs of truth. Therefore, only the practice that connects subjective knowledge with objective reality can be used as the criterion for testing truth. The reason why practice can link subjectivity and objectivity is that practice has the advantage of direct reality. The so-called direct reality means that practice can directly realize ideas and theories. As Mao Zedong said, "If you want to know the taste of pears, you have to change pears and eat them yourself."
Marxist epistemology is very great. It first opposes agnosticism and insists on scientific knowability; Secondly, the materialistic theory of reflection based on practice, which adheres to both materialism and dialectics, is a revolutionary and dynamic theory of reflection.
6. What is humanity?
Answer: Feuerbach believes that human beings are human because there is an abstract nature of human beings. He pointed out that the essential difference between man and animals - not labor as Engels said - is consciousness. Specifically, the things that form human nature in human beings are reason (thinking power, the light of knowledge), will (will power is the energy of character) and heart (heart power is love). In Feuerbach's view, the reason why people become people is that people have the essence of class that distinguishes them from other species. He understands human nature as the abstract "class" essence, as well as the general and abstract "commonality" of people, thus denying human sociality (historicity and concreteness). His basic position is abstract theory of human nature. Because of this, the history Feuerbach said is a history composed of constant people and constant humanity, rather than a history of human practice based on material production practice. Because of this, Feuerbach is materialistic in the natural field and idealistic in the historical field.
In Marx's view, as the subject of practice, it is not spirit, idea (idealism), nor pure natural individuals or abstract people (old materialism), but real historical people. On the basis of criticizing Feuerbach's abstract theory of human nature, Marx scientifically explained the nature of human beings. He pointed out that "human nature is not an inherent abstraction of a single person. In reality, it is the sum of all social relations." The meaning of this sentence can be summarized as follows: First, from the unity of human natural attributes and social attributes, human essential attributes are human sociality. Second, human sociality is the sum of all social relations, which include material relations dominated by production relations, as well as political, ideological, ethical and moral relations. Third, the essence of human is concrete, realistic and changeable, not abstract and fixed. There is no universal essence of eternal human that is applicable to all times and all individuals. Because of this, history is not determined by abstract human nature, but created by realistic, concrete and social people through the practice of material production, political production and spiritual life.
7. What is the essence of social life?
Answer: In the Outline, Marx revealed the profound truth that "social life is in essence practical". Practice is the basis of all social life. The social life here includes not only people's material life, but also people's political life and cultural, educational, moral and ethical, religious and other spiritual life. Among them, material life and political life are practical activities in themselves. Although spiritual life is not practical activities, it is rooted in practice. The reason why Marx recognized practice as the essence of social life is that material production, the most basic social practice of human beings, is the basis for the existence and development of human society. Material production and material production mode define the nature of society and the direction of social further development, which is the fundamental driving force of historical development. Therefore, material production is a key factor in understanding the history of human society. The new materialism founded by Marx found the golden key to open the door of the secret of human history in the practice of productive labor.
8. What is the mission and function of philosophy?
Answer: The historical mission of Marxist philosophy is for the overall liberation and freedom of people. Marxist philosophy transcends traditional philosophy and shoulders the historical mission of facing the entire human society and guiding the practice of the entire human society. Obviously, the vision, pattern and mind of the new philosophy and the old philosophy are quite different. Philosophy should not only serve the "ego" of a certain person or class, but also serve the "larger ego" of human society. There are similar philosophies in Chinese traditional culture, "judging right from wrong, listening to bad reputation from people, getting gains and losses from the number, learning from Yuelu Peak, clear moon and clear wind, and taking Tai Chi easy to understand; how can you reward your kindness, how can people's lives be established, how can sages and sages pass on, and how can you climb the stage of Hexi, balance the Xiangshui River, and return gracefully."
The function of philosophy is to transform the world through practice. "Philosophers only explain the world in different ways, but the problem is to change the world." Previous philosophy was more about explaining the world, while the function of new materialism is not only to correctly explain the world, that is, to reveal the irrationality of capitalist society, but also to transform the world, that is, to guide the proletariat to transform the world through revolutionary practice and change the irrational old system, Build a more reasonable social system. Therefore, the basic feature of new materialism is practicality. It not only understands the world through practice, but also changes the world through practice. These are words engraved on Marx's tombstone. Marx thought so and did so even more.
9. What is the difference between Marxist scientific view of practice and pragmatism?
Answer: There are essential differences between Marxist view of practice and pragmatism. The Marxist view of practice is a systematic world view and methodology, which is the unity of regularity and purpose, that is, the unity of truth principle and value principle. The subject has sufficient initiative. It obtains knowledge from practice, and takes practice as the driving force for the development of knowledge, as a measure to test whether knowledge is accurate. The purpose is to summarize the understanding of the regularity of the development of things, transform the world according to the law, and make the development of things conform to both the "purpose" of the subject and the "regularity" of the object. In pragmatism, the subject has no initiative. It is blindly attracted by the "intuitive" "usefulness" in reality, and is in a state of self release. The so-called "usefulness" is very different at different levels and time lines. If you flatter a leader today, you will gain some benefits and lose more tomorrow. This is the reason why we should only stand "right" and not stand in line.
One direct manifestation of pragmatism is that it only stresses practicality, ignores truth, and shortsighted utility by all means. Some people say that after learning the Marxist concept of practice, "doing" is over, and learning theory is useless. It is wrong to emphasize theory only and deny practice, and empty talk is wrong for the country. It is also wrong to seek only practicality and ignore theory. Neither of these two tendencies is Marxist and does not conform to materialistic dialectics. Pragmatism attaches importance to practice, but despises or even ignores truth. Marxism believes that philosophy is both a world outlook and a methodology, which is used to explain what the world is and how to change the world. Obviously, pragmatism has a one-sided view of philosophy, and pragmatism will inevitably slide into utilitarianism in real life.
10. What are the practical implications of learning the Outline of Feuerbach today?
Answer: (1) The great era calls for great theories. The great era breeds great theories, and the great era also verifies great theories. The Marxist view of practice not only correctly explains the generation and development of man and society, but also makes a scientific explanation of man's understanding: practice is the source of knowledge, the power of knowledge development, the purpose of knowledge, and practice is the only criterion for testing truth. The need of practice is the subject of the times. The great era calls for great theories, the great era breeds great theories, and the great era also verifies great theories. Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era is refined and sublimated on the basis of practical experience. It plays a huge role in guiding and promoting practice, and is a powerful weapon that has been tested by practice and is rich in practical strength.
Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, General Secretary Xi Jinping has flexibly applied the Marxist concept of practice in the great practice of socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era, and further enriched and developed it. Practicality is the distinctive feature that distinguishes Marxist theory from other theories, and it is also the distinctive character of Xi Jinping's thought of socialism with Chinese characteristics for a new era. This important thought focuses on the realization of the Chinese Dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and the people's aspiration for a better life. It has made a series of major strategic plans and strategic deployments, providing a scientific roadmap and methodology for the development of the cause of the Party and the country in the new era. It is under the guidance of this important thought that our Party has united and led all the people to carry out a great social revolution and a great self revolution, calmly coped with the complex situation where risks and challenges at home and abroad have increased significantly, accomplished many important things, solved many urgent and difficult things, and created the "two wonders" of rapid economic development and long-term social stability that are rare in the world.
(2) Socialism came into being. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), General Secretary Xi Jinping has repeatedly emphasized the word "doing". He once proposed that "socialism is done", "the new era is also done", "empty talk is harmful to the country, and the country is revitalized by doing", "roll up your sleeves and work hard", "struggle creates history, and work makes the future", "sweat is used to harvest, and work hard to forge ahead" ... Behind these simple and profound words that encourage the broad masses of cadres to work hard is the consistent adherence to and contemporary application of the Marxist concept of practice.
(3) Happiness comes from struggle. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), General Secretary Xi Jinping has repeatedly stressed that "happiness comes from struggle", "struggle itself is a kind of happiness", "the new era is the era of strivers", and "only a struggling life can be called a happy life". These important statements of General Secretary Xi Jinping on "striving for happiness" contain the philosophical wisdom of the Marxist concept of practice and enrich and develop the Marxist concept of happiness. In the rapidly changing contemporary society, why do some people feel unhappy and why does social anxiety become a collective disease? There are two reasons. First, the concept of happiness is distorted. It overemphasizes material happiness and ignores spiritual happiness, overemphasizes immediate happiness and ignores long-term happiness, overemphasizes personal happiness and despises social happiness, overemphasizes outcome happiness and despises process happiness. Second, it ignores the significance of positive practice (struggle) for happiness.
The so-called happiness, in essence, is the free and comprehensive development of people, reflected in the good state of people's social life, is the unity of material happiness and spiritual happiness, personal happiness and social happiness, process happiness and result happiness, immediate happiness and long-term happiness. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that happiness is not a drizzle, happiness is not a free lunch, happiness will not fall from the sky, and all achievements and happiness in the world come from labor and creation. Labor is the production and labor practice of human beings, which is the first historical activity of human beings and the most basic practical activity of human beings. Philosophically speaking, struggle is an active practical activity. Only in the practical activities of striving for a better life can people achieve the integrity of happiness and overcome the social anxiety caused by the deformed concept of happiness.
Introduction to the "Strong Quality · Set an Example" Reading Activity:
The reading activity of "strengthening quality and setting an example" is hosted by the Central Committee and the Working Committee of the State Organs, the State Press and Publication Administration, undertaken by the People's Daily News Network of the Communist Party of China, and co organized by the learning platform of "learning to strengthen the country", the Bank of Communications, the People's Publishing House, and the People's Daily Press. Since its establishment in 2009, it has insisted on a monthly reading activity. So far, 130 reading activities have been held. In order to better implement the instruction of General Secretary Xi Jinping that "the central and state organs must be in the forefront of theoretical learning, and act as a good example in learning, understanding and doing well", the sponsor has carried out a new upgrade and revision of the 2020 reading activity, with the theme of "Reviewing the classic of Marxism, deepening the study of Xi Jinping's socialism with Chinese characteristics for a new era", Based on the guidance of Marxist classics, we will create a new classroom for Party members and cadres to learn theory and a new platform for organizing life. The reading activity was first broadcast on the branch work APP, People's Daily Online, the CPC News Network, the WeChat public account of "Learning Big Country", "People's Party Building Cloud", the People's Video Client, the People's Smart Cloud Client and other platforms, expanded the coverage and communication of learning with the help of new Internet media, and explored the learning methods suitable for the characteristics of young government officials, So that more Party members and cadres can benefit from it.
Past reviews
[Lesson 1] Remembering the Original Intent and Mission of Communists: A Guide to the Communist Manifesto
[Lecture 2] Adhere to historical materialism: Introduction to German Ideology
Learn from WeChat official account of big country
People's Party building cloud WeChat official account
