In the dialectical relationship between practice and cognition, Marxist philosophy first emphasizes that practice is the basis of cognition and practice plays a decisive role in cognition.
First, practice is the source of knowledge. First of all, practice puts forward the need of knowledge generation. People's cognitive activities are produced to meet the needs of practice and to solve and complete the problems and tasks put forward by practice. The fundamental reason why people become the subject of cognition is that human activities need to transform the objective world; It is precisely because of the need of practice that things that exist objectively become the objects of practice reform and cognition one by one. The task of scientific research and the topic of scientific work are put forward by the needs of practice and are carried out around the needs of human practice. Secondly, practice also provides the possibility for the formation of knowledge and turns this possibility into reality. Practice connects the subject and the object directly and realistically, so that the subject can obtain real and reliable information from the object. Only by practicing this intermediary can objective things be transformed into the cognitive object and content of the subject. Not only that, all kinds of thinking modes used by the subject to deal with object information come from practice. As an objective material activity, practice is carried out according to certain laws. Over time, this regular activity will accumulate in people's minds and form various thinking modes, such as logical formats and so on. Lenin said: "After repeated hundreds of millions of times, human practice has been fixed in human consciousness in a logical way. These formulas are just (and unique), and because of the repetition of hundreds of millions of times, they have the nature of consolidation and axiom of the ancestors. "
We can't narrowly and simply understand that knowledge comes from practice. First of all, the fact that knowledge comes from practice does not deny the influence of the physiological differences between the human brain and the senses on knowledge. But people's physiological quality is only the material condition of people's practice and understanding, not the practice and understanding itself. The understanding of people and the formation of talent differences do not play a decisive role, and the decisive reason for the differences is the acquired social practice. Marx once quoted Adam? Smith's words illustrate this problem: "He clearly saw:' The talent difference between individuals is actually far from what we imagined. These very different talents, which seem to distinguish adults from different occupations, are not so much the cause of division of labor as the result of division of labor. The original difference between porters and philosophers is much smaller than that between domestic dogs and hounds. The gap between them is dug by division of labor. "The so-called differences in human talent are dug up by the division of labor, and are caused by the status, field, breadth and depth of practice, rather than being born. Secondly, knowledge comes from practice, which does not deny the necessity and importance of learning indirect experience. Because the life and ability of the specific subject are limited, it is impossible to practice everything personally, and the theory or knowledge itself has historical inheritance, so the subject can and should gain indirect experience through reading or teaching, which is a necessary way to develop human knowledge, and its significance is fully reflected in Newton's famous saying: "If I can see farther than others, it is because I stand on the shoulders of giants." But indirect experience comes from the practice of predecessors or others in the final analysis, and people should accept indirect experience more or less on the basis of some direct experience, that is, practice. Only by combining indirect experience with direct experience can we have more complete knowledge.
Second, practice is the driving force of cognitive development. First of all, the development of practice constantly puts forward new topics of understanding and promotes the development of understanding. Engels said: "Once the society has a technological need, this need will push science forward by more than ten universities." Secondly, practice provides the necessary conditions for cognitive development. On the one hand, the development of practice constantly reveals more and more characteristics of the objective world and accumulates more and more rich experience materials for solving new cognitive problems; On the other hand, practice provides increasingly complete material means for continuously strengthening the cognitive ability of the subject. Finally, practice and exercise to improve the cognitive ability of the subject. Engels said: "The wisdom of human beings develops according to how people learn to change nature".
Third, practice is the standard to test whether knowledge has truth. Marx said: "Whether people's thinking has objective truth is not a theoretical issue, but a practical issue. People should prove the truth of their thinking in practice, that is, the reality and strength of thinking, that is, the other side of thinking. " People use their own thinking mode to reconstruct the object model in their minds, and deduce unknown properties from this object model, and then test it with practice. When the theoretical prediction is consistent with the actual result of the object, it is proved that the object model reconstructed by his mind-centered wisdom is consistent with the object itself.
Fourth, practice is the purpose of understanding. The purpose of cognitive activity is not to know the activity itself, but to better transform the object and guide practice more effectively. The process of knowledge guiding practice and serving practice is the process of realizing the value of knowledge.
In short, practice is the starting point, the end point and the foundation of all knowledge. Practical viewpoint is the primary and basic viewpoint of Marxist epistemology. When we study Marxist epistemology, we must first adhere to the viewpoint of practice first, establish the proper authority of practice, respect practice and proceed from reality. Only by respecting practice can we fundamentally ensure that our thoughts and actions conform to the laws of the objective world and effectively transform the world. Only by respecting practice can we strongly oppose all forms of idealism, overcome subjectivism, prevent fantasy from replacing reality and cut real life with abstract principles.
Marxist philosophy also recognizes and attaches great importance to the reaction of cognition to practice.
First of all, people's practical activities are different from animals' instinctive activities, which are dominated by consciousness. This essential feature of practice determines that it cannot be separated from the guidance of cognition. Secondly, cognitive activities and their achievements are relatively independent, follow their unique activities and development laws, and once formed, they can react to practice. Thirdly, the guiding role of cognition in practice is manifested in many aspects: cognition can make the subject know and grasp the regularity of subject and object and their interaction, and guide the subject to consciously engage in activities to transform the world according to objective laws; Understanding can enable the subject to determine the goals, plans, steps and measures that are in line with their own needs and objective reality before practical activities, and to predict and plan practical activities; Understanding can make the subject adjust his actions in time according to the changed situation and guide the subject to choose the best behavior to achieve the goal; Cognition can guide the subject to transform local experience into theory; Understanding can also make the subject realize his understanding and consciously adjust his activities to meet the needs of transforming the object. Finally, there are two situations in which cognition reacts on practice: first, correct cognition guides practice, which will make practice go smoothly and achieve the expected results; Second, when wrong understanding guides practice, it will have a negative or even destructive effect on practice and make practice fail.
The dynamic reaction of cognition to practice is fully reflected in the great guiding role of theory as an advanced form of cognition to practice. First of all, theory is an understanding of the nature and laws of things, which can and should be ahead of practice and guide the process of practical activities; Secondly, scientific theory can predict the future and correct the practice direction; Third, scientific theory, as a spiritual force, can promote people to innovate in practice. Lenin said: "Without revolutionary theory, there would be no revolutionary movement."
In short, as far as the source and foundation of cognition are concerned, Marxist philosophy emphasizes that practice determines cognition; As far as the function and function of cognition are concerned, Marxist philosophy emphasizes guiding practice with correct cognition and theory; As far as the dialectical relationship between practice and cognition is concerned, Marxist philosophy emphasizes the unity of practice and cognition, which are closely combined and mutually promoted. Mao Zedong said that the unity of theory and practice is one of the most basic principles of Marxism. Adhering to the concrete historical unity of subjectivity and objectivity, cognition and practice is the Marxist style of study and the important content of the party's ideological line.