First of all, Marxist philosophy is the theory of development.
Marxism includes its foundation and core-Marxist philosophy is a developing theory, not a new idea, but the basic knowledge of Marxism. Engels said in a letter to a friend in 1887: "Our theory is a developing theory, not a dogma that must be memorized and mechanically repeated." (Note: Selected Works of Marx and Engels, Volume 4, People's Publishing House, 1995, p. 68 1 page. According to this view, Engels once warned that it is a "misunderstanding" to think that people can find some unchanging, ready-made and forever applicable definitions in Marx's works (Note: Complete Works of Marx and Engels, Volume 25, page 17). )。
Marxist philosophy is a theory of development, which is determined by its nature: first, its practicality. The practicality of Marxist philosophy has two meanings: on the one hand, practice, especially the practice of millions of people, is the deepest source and motive force for the formation and development of all its theoretical viewpoints, and the correct theory must truly and timely reflect the development and changes of practice, and the practical viewpoint is the primary and basic viewpoint of Marxist philosophy; On the other hand, philosophy certainly wants to explain the world, but it is more fundamental to transform the world. To this end, it insists that theory must be constantly applied to practice, and finally be tested by practice in the process of guiding practice. Without infinitely rich and ever-changing social practice, Marxist philosophy will go to its opposite side. The second is science. On the one hand, Marxist philosophy is formed and developed on the basis of summing up, generalizing and absorbing all the achievements of modern science; On the other hand, Marxist philosophy itself is a scientific theory, not a religious doctrine. It treats all its theoretical viewpoints strictly from the "most tenacious facts" rather than from some transcendental concepts, principles and formulas. Third, opening up. Marxist philosophy is different from all old philosophies and some pretentious philosophies in the modern west. It never claims that it has ended the truth. It is true that Marxist philosophy has its own system, but this system is not closed, but open, which leaves an infinite space for future generations to constantly enrich and develop. The above characteristics of Marxist philosophy determine that it is possible and inevitable to develop with the development of real life.
To say that Marxist philosophy is a theory of development does not mean that the basic viewpoints of Marxist philosophy are unstable. /kloc-In the middle and later period of the 9th century, Marx and Engels stood on the most advanced working class position, and the basic viewpoint of the philosophical theory they founded was the summary and generalization of scientific development and human historical experience, including people's previous historical experience in philosophical thinking, which was proved to be correct in later social practice. These basic viewpoints include: the world outlook and methodology of dialectical materialism; Dialectical materialism epistemology; Dialectical historical materialism and so on.
These basic principles are valuable because they can be effectively applied to practice. When future generations master and apply these principles, of course, they should proceed from their own concrete reality. Therefore, even the basic principles of Marxism must be constantly enriched with new achievements of scientific development, new experiences and new understandings of human society, otherwise it will become a rigid dogma. This is proved by the development practice of China and other socialist countries and proletarian political parties that adhere to Marxism as the guiding ideology in the 20th century.
After Marxism was introduced into China in the early 20th century, Marxists in China had to oppose the erroneous view that China's national conditions were so "special" that Marxist historical materialism, class struggle theory and socialism theory were totally inapplicable. Through the scientific analysis of China's history and reality, Marxists prove that this "China's Special Theory" is untenable, and Marxism can be applied to China's concrete reality and guided.
China's revolution won. However, China's national conditions do have their own characteristics. To observe the history and reality of China with Marxist viewpoint and method, we must pay full attention to this feature and combine Marxism with the reality of China. Only in this way can Marxism take root in China, correctly guide China's revolution and construction practice, and thoroughly refute the argument that Marxism is not in line with China's national conditions.
In order to combine Marxism with the concrete practice of China Revolution and correctly guide China's revolutionary cause, the Communist Party of China (CPC) people, represented by Mao Zedong, once resolutely opposed dogmatism that dogmatized and formulated Marxism within the Party. In the early 1930s, this dogmatism caused great setbacks to the China revolution. In order to overcome dogmatism from the height of philosophy and establish the guiding position of Marxist world outlook and methodology in the whole party, Mao Zedong took the lead in studying philosophy, combined the basic principles of Marxist philosophy with China's revolutionary practice, and wrote a series of excellent works such as On Practice and On Contradiction. He raised his criticism of dogmatism to the height of philosophical methodology and epistemology. Combining Marxism with the concrete reality of the China Revolution not only enabled us to achieve a complete victory in the democratic revolution, but also established a socialist system in a large eastern country with relatively backward economy and culture. In the process, the Party also formed Mao Zedong Thought's first theoretical achievement-the China Producers' Party.
The question is, after the victory of the revolution, in the process of guiding socialist construction with Marxism, should we also consider the specific national conditions of China and the specific characteristics of social development in China? In this regard, the China * * * production party has made arduous explorations, with both successful experiences and painful historical lessons. An important feature of the "Left" trend of thought that has caused great losses to China's socialist construction is to put forward the idea of building so-called "pure" socialism from a certain "foundation" and abstract formulas and concepts, regardless of China's specific national conditions. In order to overcome dogmatism in the process of socialist construction, Deng Xiaoping actively supported and guided the national discussion on truth standards from 65438 to 0978. He particularly emphasized that emancipating the mind, seeking truth from facts and integrating theory with practice are the living souls of Marxism-Leninism and Mao Zedong Thought. Combining the universal truth of Marxism with the concrete reality of our country, taking our own road and building socialism with China characteristics is our basic conclusion after summing up our long-term historical experience (Note: Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping, Vol.3, p.3). ) Under the new historical conditions, the combination of Marxism and China's reality has been realized, which has enabled our party not only to successfully embark on a new road of building Socialism with Chinese characteristics, but also to form the second theoretical achievement-Deng Xiaoping Theory.
Second, Marxist philosophy and contemporary social practice
Marx once said that every era always has its own problems. Accurately grasping and solving these problems will greatly promote the development of theory and thought and human society. The so-called problem, "is an open and fearless voice of the times, affecting all individuals." The problem is the slogan of the times, and it is the most practical voice to express the mental state. (Noe: The Complete Works of Marx and Engels, Vol. 40, pp. 290-289. The theoretical development and strong vitality of Marxist philosophy fundamentally depend on its grasp, understanding and level of solving major issues of the times. Marxist philosophy towards the 2 1 century must firmly grasp the major practical problems in human social practice at the turn of the century and even the next century, and create a new realm of Marxist philosophy in sensitive reflection, accurate grasp and scientific answer to major issues of the times. Lenin said: "It is precisely because Marxism is not a dead dogma, not a fixed doctrine, but a living guide to action that it cannot but reflect the extremely drastic changes in social living conditions." (Note: The Complete Works of Lenin, Volume 17, People's Publishing House, 1959, p. 25. Then, what drastic changes have taken place in the contemporary "social life situation" that Marxist philosophers have to pay special attention to, and what major issues of the times have been put forward to people that must be studied or discussed?
1. A series of remarkable new changes have taken place in contemporary capitalism, among which the so-called economic globalization is the most talked about phenomenon.
People have listed various manifestations of "globalization" of capital: the rapid increase of transnational corporations, transnational capital and transnational economic organizations has made the world economy increasingly closely linked, resulting in the so-called situation of "one glory for all" and "one loss for all"; With the emergence of international division of labor, the development of international credit economy, capital regulation has entered the structure of multinational companies, the production system and labor process have become increasingly flexible, the decentralized economy has gradually taken shape, the standardization index of market and consumption patterns has been growing, the social comprehensive security credit system has been expanding, and a new value system has been established and put into practice. Economic globalization has also created a new social order. In this social order, because the boundary between society and capital has been abolished and capital itself has been socialized, all conditions of social reproduction have been directly absorbed by capital, and the control of capital has shown a trend of universality and rapid diffusion, instead of being concentrated in one area like 19 century; The rapid flow of financial capital around the world has had a great impact on the regional and even the world economy. The functions of multinational corporations that play an important role in economic globalization have also changed. They don't serve a country, but have their own alliances to serve their own companies and global capitalism. Everything is based on their capital appreciation and reproduction. In a word, economic globalization shows that capital control has really reached the level of internationalization. In view of this, some people assert that in the 2 1 century, with the development of economic globalization, nations and countries in the traditional sense will become "historical traces".
Three kinds of "globalization" should be distinguished: first, globalization as the objective development trend or trend of contemporary capitalism; The second is the theoretical discussion of the realistic globalization phenomenon; The third is the "hype" between the media and capital in some big countries. For the first sense of "globalization", contemporary Marxists must study it deeply to reveal the essence of globalization and its possible development trend; For the second sense of "globalization", that is, the theory and ideological trend of "globalization" existing in some serious theoretical discussions as an ideological thing, Marxists should take it seriously, critically analyze the problems raised in it, turn them into their own research topics, and try their best to tell some new truths; Marxists must be alert to the so-called "globalization" in the third sense.
People have noticed that economic globalization has not dispelled the basic principles of Marxist historical materialism. The following passage of Marx and Engels in the Manifesto of the Productive Party is often quoted by many scholars who discuss the phenomenon of globalization (even those who do not agree with Marxism): "By opening the world market, the bourgeoisie has enabled the production and consumption of all countries in the world ..... The bourgeoisie has dug up the national foundation at the foot of industry. The ancient national industry has been eliminated and is still being eliminated every day. They were squeezed out by the new industry. For all civilized countries, the establishment of new industries has become a crucial issue. ..... In the past, the state of self-sufficiency and isolation of local and ethnic groups was replaced by mutual exchanges and interdependence among ethnic groups in all aspects. This is true of material production, and so is spiritual production. The spiritual products of all ethnic groups have become the property of the public. The one-sidedness and limitations of the nation are becoming more and more impossible, so a variety of world literature of national and local literature has been formed. " (Note: Selected Works of Marx and Engels, vol. 1, p. 276. Some foreign scholars, such as Arif Derrick, even think it is strange that Marx and Engels wrote an extremely appropriate description of our time in the middle of19th century.
In fact, the ideas expressed by Marx in the above words have been clearly expounded in the earlier German Ideology. When capitalism was still in its infancy, Marx made a prediction that shocked the world today. In the final analysis, it originated from his historical materialism, which scientifically revealed the objective development law of human social history and his scientific grasp of the nature of capital. In Marx's view, capital, by its nature, is a natural international school. Because it is active on the world stage, it has caused the transformation from history to "world history" and the popularization of communication, and the narrow regional existence of individuals is increasingly replaced by the historical existence of the world. While people are surprised by Marx's genius prediction, they may feel that, on the one hand, many important ideas of the founders of Marxism have not been paid enough attention for a long time, which is an important reason for some simplification, vulgarization and one-sided understanding of Marxist philosophy. Therefore, it is necessary for contemporary Marxists to re-understand and study the ideas of the founders of Marxism; On the other hand, there have been some changes in contemporary capitalism that Marx and Engels did not have at that time, and some new problems have been raised. New changes and new problems require contemporary Marxists to emancipate their minds and study them realistically, instead of simply repeating the original opinions of classic writers.
For example, will economic globalization lead to the disappearance of nations and countries? This problem deserves serious consideration. It should be pointed out that the premise of integration is to differentiate into ethnic groups with different or even opposing interests. In the process of changing from history to world history, the deepening of universal communication, interdependence and interaction among all ethnic groups has not melted the differences of different characteristics and value pursuits of all ethnic groups, but is based on these differences. Therefore, the nationality and nationality presented and developed by all ethnic groups in the process of universal communication are itself the provisions of world history. Therefore, at least in the foreseeable future, it is impossible for a nation or a country to die. The integrated "homogeneous world" that cancels the right of all ethnic groups to choose their own development path is itself a monotonous world and will not be recognized by everyone. In fact, in the wave of globalization dominated by developed capitalist countries, the state has always played an important role in promoting capital expansion and safeguarding its national interests. More importantly, there are differences between the socialist system and the capitalist system in the world economic and political structure, conflicts of interests between different nationalities and countries, and inequalities between nationalities and countries. Of course, under the background of economic globalization, the functions of nations and countries will change. Studying the development trend of these changes, especially the social and material conditions that caused these changes, can further enrich the theory of historical materialism on social organism, social identity, nation, class and country.
For another example, economic globalization makes the reflection on modernization particularly prominent. Since the mid-20th century, western academic circles have set off a wave of criticizing modernization, and postmodernism is an important one. With the deepening of globalization, this kind of reflection and criticism has been further strengthened, and post-colonial theory and other ideological trends have further replaced post-modernism as "outstanding learning". Western modernization theory contains reasonable factors, but it is also obviously misleading. Reflection and criticism of modernization does not constitute the reason why people in developing countries refuse to pursue a better life of modernization and accelerate modernization. Modernization is the only way for developing countries to revitalize in an all-round way. Therefore, here, the question can only be transformed into a critical reflection on the development path of western modernization: is this modernization development path really universal? Under the background of economic globalization, how can all ethnic groups choose their own fitness methods?
China's modernization development road suited to its national conditions? Can the development problem come down to a simple increase in economic aggregate? If not, how to scientifically understand and solve the contradiction between economic and social development and human development? Wait a minute. Thinking deeply about these problems will help us to deepen our understanding of the law of social and historical development revealed by Marxism.
Also, has economic globalization eliminated the basic contradictions inherent in capitalism? The author believes that globalization has not eliminated the basic contradiction of capitalism, but has given this contradiction a new and more universal form. Since globalization is essentially the internationalization of capital, it must be a form of alienation full of contradictions.
A great historical mission of contemporary Marxists is to deeply study and grasp the new changes, new features and new trends of contemporary capitalism, and enrich and deepen the philosophical foundation of scientific socialism in this research process.
2. It is an important task for Marxist philosophy at the turn of the century to scientifically summarize the historical experience of world socialist practice in the 20th century and look forward to the development prospect of socialism in the 20th century.
The development of Marxist philosophy is closely related to the future and destiny of socialism. During the 100 years after the death of Marx and Engels, the socialist ideal of Marxism became a reality in vast areas of the world. But there are three historical phenomena that must be noted. One is that socialism was not first born in developed capitalist countries as envisaged by Marx and Engels. It was born in underdeveloped capitalist countries, even very underdeveloped countries. The second is that the socialist system has not been maintained for a long time after the establishment of some countries. Third, some countries that have established a socialist system and still adhere to the direction of socialist development are facing the arduous task of socialist reform to varying degrees.
The question of whether socialist society first appeared in developed capitalist countries is, of course, whether the capitalist system collapsed there first. On this issue, on the one hand, the founders of Marxism clearly pointed out that revolution is necessary, and the capitalist system is denied because it has become the shackles of the further development of social productive forces, and a social system will not be denied immediately when it can accommodate the development of productive forces; On the other hand, the actual occurrence of revolution depends not only on the acuteness of the basic contradiction of capitalism, but also on the realistic revolutionary conditions, which are not fully anticipated and designed in advance. Therefore, Marx and Engels repeatedly refused to predict whether or when revolutions would break out in some countries during their lifetime.
After Engels died, two world wars and economic crises that shocked the whole capitalist world broke out one after another. Even if it is considered to be in the stage of post-war stable development, regional conflicts and economic crises, especially the financial crisis caused by capitalism, are one after another. On the one hand, all historical facts show that Marxist theory of basic contradictions in capitalist society can stand the test; On the other hand, it shows that capitalist buildings can not be easily washed away everywhere.
As the realistic socialist system was born in underdeveloped or very underdeveloped countries, these countries have to meet some special difficulties in the practice of building socialism. Although the situation in different countries is different and the degree of difficulty is different, the reasons for the difficulties are all related to the low level of social productivity caused by the underdeveloped capitalism in these countries. Regrettably, for a long time, people naively thought that as long as the socialist system is established, it will automatically bring about a rapid increase in the level of productivity. If not, then the system should be made more "pure". This is not in line with the philosophical spirit of Marxism and the basic principles of scientific socialism. In this sense, the historical significance of the reforms that took place in socialist countries in the second half of this century, especially in China, cannot be underestimated. It makes people begin to realize that "the socialist system is not equal to the concrete practice of socialism"; Socialism does not have and cannot have a fixed model; In the final analysis, a country's socialist system should suit its own reality and promote the development of social productive forces; We must strive to explore the intermediate system level that can give full play to the advantages of the basic socialist economic and political system, which requires reform. People have reason to believe and hope that with the deepening of reform practice, this kind of reform experience in socialist countries can be upgraded to a more systematic and mature theoretical form, thus greatly enriching Marxist philosophical vision.
In the early 1990s, the disintegration of the Soviet Union and the drastic changes in Eastern Europe were the biggest setbacks in the history of the international capitalist movement. As long as we are impartial, we admit that this setback does not mean that Marxism has "failed" in theory, but this major setback does show that our understanding of socialist construction is far from mature. Historical experience shows that the setbacks of the socialist movement often breed new breakthroughs and new opportunities for the theoretical development of Marxism. The key to grasp this opportunity is whether we can scientifically summarize and digest historical experience. It should be said that in the 20th century, mankind has indeed accumulated rich practical experience of socialism, which is the latest content in the treasure house of human social progress experience.
It is an unshirkable responsibility of contemporary Marxists to sum up the successful and failed experiences in socialist practice in the 20th century, develop Marxist theory of socialist construction and enrich the philosophical foundation of scientific socialism. This is very important for the healthy development of socialism in 2 1 century.
The rapid development of science and technology, especially high technology, is a highlight of contemporary social life.
The phenomenon is outstanding.
The founders of Marxism attached great importance to natural science research and the development of science and technology. There are two main reasons why it attaches importance to it: first, it is a dialectical materialist worldview, which must be based on a scientific understanding of nature; Secondly, the development of productive forces plays a decisive role in social progress. In the history of human development, the position and role of science and technology in productive forces is becoming more and more important.
As far as the progress of science and technology is concerned, great changes have taken place in the face of the 20th century. The physics revolution at the beginning of this century marks the arrival of a new era of science. After the 1940s, science and technology such as atomic energy, computer, automation, space navigation, electronic information technology and bioengineering have developed vigorously. Since 1970s, the rapid development and wide application of high-tech groups with microelectronics, network technology, new biotechnology and life reproduction technology, aerospace technology, ocean technology, new energy technology and new material technology as the main body have opened up many new production fields and created broad possibilities for the rapid development of productive forces. The rise of knowledge economy has greatly shortened the "time lag" between scientific revolution, technological revolution and industrial revolution. Scientific research itself, the production, dissemination and application of knowledge has become an important factor restricting economic development, and the contribution rate of science and technology in the development of social productive forces is getting higher and higher, and science and technology has become a veritable primary productive force.
The rapid development of science and technology has greatly broadened and deepened people's world picture, greatly influenced people's way of thinking, lifestyle, labor organization, social structure and values, and made people's understanding of the relationship between man and nature, man and society, and man and himself leap to a new level. It is an important task for contemporary Marxists to study these new changes and influences, and to enrich Marxist philosophical world outlook by using human's new understanding of nature, society and themselves. It can be said that it is unthinkable to develop Marxism without all the achievements of contemporary science and technology.
The development of contemporary science and technology has caused the possibility of rapid development of social productive forces, and at the same time brought new problems to the human society that is about to enter the new century. Such as global issues such as employment, resources, ecology and environmental protection; Scientific rationality and technical rationality caused by the negative impact of the development of science and technology and its wide application; Civilization crisis and cultural conflict caused by social informatization, and so on. These problems cannot be completely solved by the development of science and technology itself. Undoubtedly, contemporary Marxist philosophy must face these problems and develop continuously in the process of solving these problems.
Third, philosophy in the era of universal communication in the world.
The extreme changes in social living conditions and a series of major problems in contemporary social practice have to be reflected in people's minds, so it is not surprising that various philosophical and cultural trends have emerged. We can see that it supplements the complexity and diversity of real life, such as post-modernism, post-colonialism trend of thought, new culture conservatism, neo-liberalism and so on. How to treat these non-Marxist and even anti-Marxist ideas scientifically is also an important aspect of developing Marxist philosophy in contemporary times.
Marxist philosophy has developed from a world outlook followed by only a few advanced people a century and a half ago to a worldwide philosophical trend today. One of the important reasons is that it is not a narrow sectarian philosophy, but always holds a broad and open mind towards the development of human civilization. Of course, the openness of Marxist philosophy system does not mean that it holds a compromise position in essence, and its principled position of criticizing fallacies, defending truth and developing truth is obvious to all. Marxist philosophy is developed in the struggle against all kinds of wrong ideas and tendencies.
The problem is that if we want to struggle, we must pay attention to the art of struggle, and if we want to criticize the wrong things, we must have the right methods. Engels profoundly pointed out when commenting on Feuerbach's criticism of Hegel's philosophy: "Feuerbach broke Hegel's system and simply put it aside. But it is wrong to simply declare a philosophy, which cannot be subdued. Great creations such as Hegel's philosophy have had such a great influence on the spiritual development of the nation that they cannot be eliminated simply by ignoring them. We must' sublate' it from its original meaning, that is, we must critically eliminate its form, but we must preserve the new content obtained through this form. " (Note: Selected Works of Marx and Engels, Volume 4, People's Publishing House, 1995, p. 223. Engels' method revealed here is the only correct way for us to treat all kinds of non-Marxist philosophical thoughts.
According to this method, when Marxists criticize various erroneous ideas, they must organically combine criticism, exploration and innovation, turn the problems handled by erroneous ideas upside down into the objects of empirical research, make truly convincing analysis and answers, and critically absorb possible reasonable components. It should be noted that the emergence and spread of various philosophical thoughts in contemporary western countries, even anti-Marxist thoughts, always shows that the problems it raises are problems that the Marxist camp has never been familiar with or concerned about before. Seriously sorting out these problems will not only help to eliminate the influence of wrong ideas, but also help to enrich and develop the theoretical treasure house of Marxist philosophy. Marxists should be brave enough to take part in the contention of a hundred schools of thought in the world, spread Marxism and broaden their horizons. The world significance of Marxist philosophy is realized through the efforts of several generations of Marxists, and the new development of Marxist philosophy in the 2 1 century also depends on the solid work of several generations of Marxists. Marxist philosophy should and can have more brilliant development prospects in the 2 1 century.