Author of the article:
On the "contradiction" in the theory of basic contradictions in socialist society and its significance
-Commemorating the anniversary of Mao Zedong's birthday11.
Su Wei
Mao Zedong first put forward the theory of basic contradictions in socialist society, which is of great significance. However, we haven't done enough research on the performance characteristics of Mao Zedong's concept of "contradiction", which leads to serious conceptual confusion in our understanding of the basic contradictions in socialist society. We must realize that Mao Zedong's habit of using the concept of contradiction for many years is not only a dialectical contradiction in a general sense, but also a contradiction in a special sense, so as to make it clear that contradiction in "social basic contradiction" and contradiction in "adaptation and contradiction" are two categories with different extensions. The basic contradictions in socialist society include not only the "adaptation" relationship between production relations and productivity, superstructure and economic base, but also the "inadaptability" relationship between them. Only in this way can we give full play to the guiding significance of this theory and draw the basic conclusion of this paper: the basic contradiction in socialist society is the basis of social harmony.
Nearly half a century since Mao Zedong first put forward the theory of basic contradictions in socialist society, practice has proved its truth from both positive and negative aspects, and it also requires us to dig its theoretical connotation more deeply and comprehensively. At present, the Fourth Plenary Session of the 16th CPC Central Committee put forward the historical task of "building a harmonious society". Only by re-understanding the theory of basic contradictions in socialist society can we better play its guiding significance, especially for building a harmonious society.
First, the great significance of Mao Zedong's theory of basic contradictions in socialist society and the theoretical reasons for its tortuous development in practice after it was put forward.
1. The significance of the theory of basic contradictions in socialist society
Mao Zedong summed up the historical experience of the international production movement with a thorough and dialectical attitude, analyzed the social relations in the early stage of socialism in China, and put forward the theory of basic contradictions in socialist society for the first time in history, which is of great significance. In this regard, our party and the theoretical circles in our country have fully discussed it (note: See Yang's Research on Philosophical Thought [1], Jin Chunming's Basic Issues of Thought [2], and the proceedings of the national academic seminar to commemorate the birthday of comrades 1 10 anniversary, etc.). [3]), summarized as follows.
First, this theory breaks the metaphysical socialist viewpoint of "completely suitable for oneself, contradictions come from accident and from outside", further reveals the socialist historical view and development law, and further implements dialectics in socialism; In this way, our party will not be timid in the face of contradictions in socialist society, but will be able to take the initiative.
Second, this theory scientifically reveals the overall structure of socialist society (the contradictory unity of productive forces, production relations, economic base and superstructure), the motive force and source of socialist social development (the unity of opposites in all aspects of social basic contradictions), and the connection and difference between socialist society and pre-socialist society (the difference in connotation and nature of social basic contradictions), thus providing a theoretical basis for us to further scientifically reveal the essence of socialism.
Thirdly, this theory reveals the operating mechanism of the development of socialist social movements, and puts the fundamental criterion for measuring the rationality of production relations and superstructure in socialist society on their relationship with productive forces, which provides correct theoretical guidance for our party to grasp the fundamental link of developing productive forces and promote the solution of basic contradictions in socialist society.
Fourthly, this theory reveals the nature (non-confrontational) and situation (basically suitable for basic contradictions) of socialist society, thus pointing out the basic way for our party to solve these contradictions-based on the development of productive forces and constantly solving them through the socialist system itself.
Fifth, the logical development of this theory has formed two kinds of social contradictions in socialist society, especially the theory of correctly handling contradictions among the people. Thus it provides theoretical guidance for our party to correctly treat the theme of socialist social and political life.
2. Theoretical reasons for the tortuous development of practice after the basic contradiction theory of socialist society was put forward.
After the theory of basic contradictions in socialist society was put forward, the historical development of China suffered huge repeated setbacks. The main theoretical reason lies in the theory of "developing productive forces by leaps and bounds", especially the theory of continuing revolution under the dictatorship of the proletariat, which violates the basic theory of social contradiction. However, Mao Zedong didn't have time to discuss the theory of basic contradictions in socialist society, and the theoretical circle didn't study the expression habits and characteristics of Mao Zedong's concept of "contradiction" enough, which led to a serious conceptual confusion in our understanding of the basic contradictions in socialist society, and then a serious deviation in the application of the theory of basic contradictions in socialist society, which can not be ignored.
Over the years, Mao Zedong has used the concept of "contradiction" not only from the general meaning of dialectical contradiction (the general existence form of the relationship of unity of opposites) but also from its special meaning (the individual existence form of the relationship of unity of opposites), which will be discussed in the second section of this article. This feature still exists when discussing the theory of basic contradictions in socialist society. He said: "In socialist society, the basic contradiction is still the contradiction between production relations and productivity, and the contradiction between superstructure and economic base." [4](p2 14) The "contradiction" mentioned here is of course a dialectical contradiction in a universal sense. This contradiction includes the unity of opposites between socialist relations of production and productivity, superstructure and economic base, that is, the compatible and incompatible relationship between them. Mao Zedong also said: "The socialist relations of production have been established, which is compatible with the development of productive forces, but it is still far from perfect, and these imperfections are in contradiction with the development of productive forces. In addition to the compatibility and contradiction between production relations and productivity development, there are also compatibility and contradictions between superstructure and economic base. " [4](p2 15) The "contradiction" in the "compatible contradiction" mentioned here is obviously not a dialectical contradiction in the general sense, but a dialectical contradiction in the special sense, that is, an uncoordinated and conflicting "conflict contradiction". Mao Zedong also said: "After solving these contradictions, there will be new problems and new contradictions that people need to solve." [4](p2 15) The "contradiction" juxtaposed with the "problem" certainly does not refer to all the unity of opposites between socialist relations of production and productivity, superstructure and economic base, but only refers to the incompatible relationship between them.
Through the above analysis and comparison, we can see that the contradiction in "social basic contradiction" and the contradiction in "adaptation contradiction" are two categories with different extensions. The former includes the unity of opposites between socialist relations of production and productivity, superstructure and economic base, while the latter only includes the unity of opposites between relations of production and productivity, superstructure and economic base. Unfortunately, Mao Zedong did not distinguish them clearly in his exposition. Of course, it is not difficult for people who have basic theoretical literacy and know that the concept of "contradiction" can be divided into dialectical contradiction and logical contradiction, and dialectical contradiction can also be divided into universal meaning and special meaning. Therefore, although this regret has brought some defects to the theory of basic contradictions in socialist society, it has not brought wrong theoretical content to the theory itself.
3. The dogmatic understanding and erroneous views on the theory of basic contradictions in socialist society deserve attention.
However, it is precisely because of the lack of emphasis on the distinction between the universal meaning and the special meaning of the concept of dialectical contradiction that we have formed some dogmatic understandings and even some wrong views in the process of applying the theory of basic contradictions in socialist society, and attached these dogmatic understandings and wrong views to the theory of basic contradictions in socialist society. There are mainly two.
First, when we look at the motive force of socialist development, we regard "contradiction is motive force" (all the relations of unity of opposites between the two sides of contradiction) as "contradiction is motive force" (the relations of unity of opposites between the two sides of contradiction), so we unilaterally emphasize the "incompatible" motive force of production relations and productivity, superstructure and economic base, but not their "adaptability". There is such a tendency to generalize (confuse the "incompatible" contradiction in the basic contradictions of socialist society with all the basic contradictions of socialist society), so it repeatedly undermines the stability of the newly established socialist relations of production and blindly transitions to "pure, pure" relations of production, causing great damage to productivity. In addition, we have long unilaterally emphasized the dynamic role of antagonistic contradictions and confused the struggle of contradictions with social struggle. In order to make "contradictions" promote the development of the world and society, we do everything possible to find contradictions and conflicts until they are created, adding fuel to the fire of political movements and fueling historical tragedies, thus making our society, which should be more harmonious than before, full of contradictions. The lessons of these years are really painful.
Second, when looking for the reasons for the contradiction between production relations and productive forces, superstructure and economic base, we left the relationship with productive forces and took "whether the socialist system is perfect" as the only criterion: everything with perfect socialist nature is compatible with productive forces and economic base; Where socialism is imperfect and non-socialist, it is the place that "contradicts" with productivity and economic base. Therefore, when we look at the basis and basic ways to solve the basic contradictions in socialist society, it is easy to ignore the problem of developing productive forces, and focus on "perfecting the socialist system". Once we ignore the basis of productive forces, the "socialist system" will easily become a bunch of empty principles. We do have a simplified and rigid understanding of the "socialist system"-the former is the concrete practice of combining the socialist system with socialism, that is, equating the basic socialist system with the management system and operation mechanism in economy, politics, culture and other aspects, while the latter regards the state-owned and planned economic model as the core of a "perfect part" that will not conflict with productivity, and cannot be found from the rigid economic system and operation mechanism. In this way, we can only find "ideological contradiction", "class struggle" and "line struggle" and so on. In this way, it is logical to solve the "basic contradiction" of socialism in a "revolutionary" way. Many socialist principles have been carried out, from "one person and two majors" in economy to "all-round dictatorship" in politics, from "destroying capital and not prospering" in thought to "sweeping away the four old things" in culture, but the "contradictions" in the basic social contradictions are getting more and more serious. On this basis, the society can neither develop nor be harmonious, so we have to carry out comprehensive reform.
It can be seen that in order to give full play to the guiding role of the theory of basic contradictions in socialist society, we must eliminate the above-mentioned wrong views attached to its name. The basis of the elimination work is to deepen the study of Mao Zedong's expression habits and characteristics of the concept of "contradiction" and to understand the theory of basic contradictions in socialist society more accurately and comprehensively.
Second, master the characteristics of Mao Zedong's concept of "contradiction" and give full play to the guiding significance of the theory of basic contradictions in socialist society.
1. Mao Zedong's habit and characteristics of expressing the concept of "contradiction"
Based on the truth of Mao Zedong's theory of basic contradictions in socialist society, after a lapse of 22 years, Deng Xiaoping emphasized: "With regard to basic contradictions, I think it is better to follow Mao Zedong's formulation in" On Correctly Handling Contradictions among the People ". [5](p 18 1) However, it is precisely because of summing up more than 20 years of positive and negative practical experience that Deng Xiaoping further pointed out: "Pointing out these basic contradictions can not completely solve the problem, and further concrete research is needed." [5](p 182) Especially after the Fourth Plenary Session of the 16th CPC Central Committee put forward the task of "building a harmonious socialist society", it is even more necessary to take the basic contradiction theory of socialist society as the guiding theory for building a harmonious society.
How to conduct in-depth and specific research? In my opinion, mastering the expression habits and characteristics of Mao Zedong's concept of "contradiction" is an important way to understand the scientific connotation and spiritual essence of the theory of basic contradiction in socialist society more accurately, deeply and comprehensively. This is also the theoretical reason for eliminating the above-mentioned erroneous views attached to the basic contradiction theory of socialist society, eliminating the serious deviation in the application of the basic contradiction theory of socialist society, and making the basic contradiction theory of socialist society better and more directly guide the construction of harmonious society.
Mao Zedong, a master of dialectics, has always used the concept of "contradiction" with two meanings when discussing the problem of "contradiction".
First, it is used in the universal sense of dialectical contradiction. For example, the definition of the law of contradiction-"the law of contradiction of things, that is, the law of unity of opposites, is the most fundamental law of materialist dialectics"; [6](p299) For example, the dialectical world outlook "mainly teaches people to be good at observing and analyzing the contradictory movements of various things, and according to this analysis, points out the methods to solve contradictions"; [6](p304) As the saying goes, "The opposite of contradiction is unity and struggle, thus promoting the movement and change of things"; [4](p2 13) and so on. From the basic exposition when putting forward the theory of contradiction to the basic exposition when putting forward the theory of socialist society, Mao Zedong inherited the basic viewpoints of Marx, Engels and Lenin, and expounded the dialectical contradiction. This is Mao Zedong's main usage of the concept of contradiction.
Secondly, it is used in the special meaning of dialectical contradiction. For example, Mao Zedong has said many times that reactionaries should "strive for the majority with contradictions, oppose the minority and split in two"; (Note: See Mao Zedong's On Policy [7](p763) and Notice of the Central Committee on Peace Negotiations with the Kuomintang [8]. For example, when it comes to the local power groups during the democratic revolution, "although they have contradictions with the progressive forces, they also have contradictions with the current policy of the Kuomintang Central Committee to harm others and benefit themselves. They want to use our contradictions with the die-hards to achieve their political goals"; [7](p746) If it is revealed that Chiang Kai-shek "tried to stand on domestic contradictions as a national leader" [7](p779), in order to maintain the rule of the Kuomintang government; Wait a minute. The "contradiction" here refers to political opposition and conflict, which is a special manifestation of dialectical contradiction.
Mao Zedong also said: "Not out of sincerity, but out of necessity." . People's life is so contradictory, they don't want to write emotionally, but they can't do it intellectually. [9](p 126) He also said: "The people's government is a government that truly represents and serves the people, but it also has certain contradictions with the people." [9](p205) The "contradiction" here, the former refers to emotional conflict and the latter refers to political friction, which is also a special manifestation of dialectical contradiction.
Mao Zedong also said on the issue of literature and art: "Literature and art condense this daily phenomenon, typify the contradictions and struggles among them, and produce literary works or artistic works." [7](p86 1) He also said that "the common feature of literature and art of the exploiting classes in all declining periods is the contradiction between its reactionary political content and its artistic form. Our demand is the unity of politics and art, the unity of content and form, the unity of revolutionary political content and the perfect art form as much as possible. " [7](p869) The "contradiction" as opposed to "unification" mentioned here is still a contradiction in the sense of conflict such as inconsistency and disharmony, and it is a special manifestation of dialectical contradiction.
The contradiction in the sense of friction, conflict and disharmony is a unity of opposites and a dialectical contradiction. The unity in the sense of consistency and coordination is also the unity of opposites, which is another dialectical contradiction. When talking about the relationship between democracy and centralism, freedom and discipline, Mao Zedong said: "They are two contradictory aspects of a unity, and they are contradictory and unified." [9](p299) The "contradiction" here also refers to "opposition", which is a "half" relationship between democracy and centralism (the other half is "unity").
Although Mao Zedong talks more about the concept of contradiction in a general sense, he also talks about the concept of contradiction in many places in the sense of special manifestations of dialectical contradictions such as friction, conflict and disharmony.
In addition, Mao Zedong also used the concept of "contradiction" in the sense of logical contradiction, such as asking: "How to explain advocating brave sacrifice in war? Isn't self-help contradictory? " Answer yourself, "They are not contradictory, but complementary." [7](p482) and so on.
Of course, when Mao Zedong talks about the concept of contradiction, the theoretical focus must be on the universal sense, and the outstanding thing is to adhere to the principle of universality of contradiction in particularity. The reason why this article extracts a lot of Mao Zedong's expositions on contradictions in a special sense is to contrast and emphasize the basic point of this article: the basic contradictions in socialist society are composed of the "all" antagonistic relationship between production relations and productivity, superstructure and economic base, including both the "incompatible" relationship and the "adaptive" relationship between them. This view can also be demonstrated from Mao Zedong's important exposition that "difference is contradiction".
When reading Reading and Life, Mao Zedong extracted a passage from the author Ai Siqi: "Differences are not contradictions, such as pen and ink chairs. But if you understand the truth of change and change, you will know that different things can also be transformed into contradictions under certain conditions. " Then, I wrote a comment on this passage: "The fundamental truth is correct. But the statement that' differences are not contradictions' is wrong. It should be said that all different things are contradictory under certain conditions. A person sitting in a chair shaking his pen and ink to write a composition is temporarily unified by the two certain conditions of person and composition. It cannot be said that these differences are not contradictory. ..... Difference is everything in the world, and it is a contradiction under certain conditions, so difference is a contradiction, which is the so-called concrete contradiction. Ai's statement is inappropriate. Mao Zedong's opinion. " [10] Mao Zedong's comment is very important: since all different things are contradictory under certain conditions, productivity and relations of production, superstructure and economic base are different whether they are compatible or contradictory, that is to say, they are contradictory in both cases. The sum of these two aspects is the whole content of basic social contradictions.
2. Re-understand the theoretical conclusion of the theory of basic contradictions in socialist society.
Through the above re-understanding, we can draw two conclusions.
First, it is not comprehensive to think that the incompatibility between production relations and productivity, superstructure and economic base is the driving force of socialist development. Mao Zedong made it very clear when he put forward this theory: "The opposite of contradiction is unity and struggle, thus promoting the movement and change of things." [4](p2 13) According to this basic view, the proposition that "the basic contradiction of socialist society is the basic driving force for the development of socialist society" should be understood as: "The relations of production and productivity, superstructure and economic foundation are unified and struggling, thus promoting the development of socialist society." Moreover, more importantly, the unity and struggle mentioned here includes not only the "incompatible" unity and struggle between production relations and productivity, superstructure and economic base, but also their "compatible" unity and struggle. In this way, the "incompatibility" between production relations and productivity, superstructure and economic base (that is, the contradiction of "incompatibility") is not the whole motive force for the development of socialist society, but only a part. The other part of the motive force is the unity and struggle of production relations and productivity, superstructure and economic base in "adaptation" This unity and struggle directly constitute the foundation of social harmony. Of course, the essential content of "adaptation" is not that there will be no contradiction between production relations and productivity, superstructure and economic base. On the contrary, the essence of "adaptation" is that these contradictions can be solved continuously through socialism itself, so that the relations of production and productivity, superstructure and economic base can achieve new "adaptation" at a higher level. That is to say, all the movements of the basic contradictions in socialist society, that is, all their "adaptation" and "inadaptability", are unified and struggle, which constitutes all the foundations of social harmony.
The contradiction between production relations and productivity, superstructure and economic base, not only in space, but also in time, can become the overall driving force of social development. On the contrary, if these contradictions are not resolved for a long time, they will also become obstacles to development. Therefore, it becomes the basis of social conflicts. Only the movement of these contradictions in the whole process, that is, the transformation from "incompatible" relationship to "adaptive" relationship, is the driving force for development. In socialist society, what is the basic way to eliminate the "incompatible" relationship between production relations and productivity, superstructure and economic base? It is reform. Reform is an important part of the basic contradiction movement in socialist society, which is to change the "inadaptability" aspect of social basic contradiction into the "adaptation" aspect. In this sense, the propositions of "contradiction is the driving force", "social basic contradiction is the driving force" and "reform is the driving force" are almost equivalent.
From the perspective of social subjects, in class society, the social manifestation of basic social contradictions is class struggle, while in socialist society, it is contradictions among the people. The former tends to be sharp confrontation, while the latter tends to strengthen coordination. Therefore, for class society, the two propositions of "social basic contradiction is the driving force" and "class struggle is the driving force" are almost equivalent; For socialist society, "basic social contradiction is the driving force" and "harmony and unity is the driving force" are almost equivalent. Mao Zedong pointed out: "In the process of constantly handling and resolving contradictions, the internal unity and unity of socialism will be consolidated day by day." [4](p2 13) Only in this way can we mobilize all positive factors, form an incomparably great resultant force, and push the socialist society forward. This can once again prove the basic conclusion of this paper: the basic contradiction in socialist society is the basis of social harmony.
Secondly, without the development of productive forces, it is against the spiritual essence of the basic contradiction theory of socialist society to judge whether the socialist system is perfect simply by the ideal socialist system. Mao Zedong has long said: "The role of the policies and practices of all political parties in China on the people of China depends, in the final analysis, on whether it helps to develop the productive forces of the people of China and whether it fetters or liberates the productive forces." [1 1] In fact, the basic standard for judging whether the relations of production and productivity are compatible or contradictory (incompatible)-productivity standard has been put forward here. On the basis of Mao Zedong's correct thought, Deng Xiaoping clearly put forward the "productivity standard", which made this theory a big step forward.
When discussing the theory of basic contradictions in socialist society, Mao Zedong said: "The so-called socialist relations of production are more suitable for the development of productive forces than those in the old society, which means that productive forces can develop rapidly at a speed that the old society did not have, and production will continue to expand, so that people's growing needs can be gradually met." [4](p2 14) He also said: "Our socialist system still needs a process of continuous establishment and consolidation", and the basis of consolidating the new system is to "unite the people of all ethnic groups in the country to carry out a new war-fight against nature, develop our economy and develop our culture". Only in this way can we "consolidate our new system and build our new country." [4](p2 16) It can be seen that the development of productive forces is the foundation for the consolidation and improvement of the new system and an important part of the theory of basic contradictions in socialist society. Because the development of productive forces is the basis of the change of the basic contradiction movement in socialist society, that is, the fundamental driving force to promote its transformation from "inadaptability" to "adaptation" (because new "inadaptability" will appear constantly, and this transformation is continuous), it can also be said that the development of productive forces is the root of the basic contradiction movement in socialist society and the foundation of harmonious society.
refer to
A study of Yang Deng's philosophical thoughts [M]. Beijing, Beijing Publishing House, 1983.
[2] Jin Chunming, etc. The Basic Problems of Mao Zedong Thought [M]. Beijing, People's Publishing House, 2002.
[3] Proceedings of the National Symposium to Commemorate the Birthday of Comrade Mao Zedong 1 10 [C]. Beijing, Central Literature Publishing House, 2004.
[4] The Complete Works of Mao Zedong (Volume 7) [M]. Beijing: People's Publishing House, 1999.
[5] Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping (Volume 2) [M]. Beijing: People's Publishing House, 1993.
[6] Selected Works of Mao Zedong (Volume/kloc-0) [M]. Beijing: People's Publishing House, 199 1.
[7] Selected Works of Mao Zedong (Volume 2) [M]. Beijing: People's Publishing House, 199 1.
[8] Selected Works of Mao Zedong (Volume 4) [M]. Beijing: People's Publishing House,1991.154.
[9] The Complete Works of Mao Zedong (Volume 6) [M]. Beijing: People's Publishing House, 1999.
[10] Complete Works of Mao Zedong (Volume 2) [M]. Beijing: People's Publishing House, 1999.5438+0-32.
[1 1] Selected Works of Mao Zedong (Volume 3) [M]. Beijing: People's Publishing House, 199 1. 1079.
Explore the source of the original text
Original issue No.200406