5,698 characters2007.07.24
Subversion and rebellion are characteristic of philosophy. Breaking with old frameworks of thought, set patterns, and prejudices is a shortcut to approaching philosophy.
The “philosophy” taught in high school is utterly different from the philosophy of philosophers—so different that even some classmates who have studied philosophy at university are completely unaware of the gap, yet it is an important and enormous one. I personally began with 20th-Century New Marxism, by overturning my prior impression of Marx’s philosophy, and gradually became interested in philosophy. I think my experience may also be useful for later students. (Of course, the difference between middle-school “philosophy” and philosophy is not only about specific claims and positions, but about a fundamental attitude; on this point, see my earlier writings.)
It was not entirely on my own that I came to think about the problems in the middle-school textbooks. I noticed that the term “metaphysics” often appears in popular science books on new physics, but the textbook definition—“isolated, motionless, one-sided”—could in no way make sense of what those popular science books meant, so I raised the question and went on to verify it for myself. I also hope that the subversive information I reveal to those younger students will by no means become their new dogma—I intentionally phrased things more sharply, hoping that they will at once become suspicious of both the textbook and what I say, and thus go further to verify things for themselves and think for themselves.
What I have not yet mentioned in the group chat is that “dialectics” is also often misused in textbooks: “Things have a good side and a bad side; we should preserve the essence and discard the dross”—this seems to be an application of dialectics, and the widespread use of this “application” has made dialectics a truly universal cure-all. Yet this understanding of “dialectics” is precisely what Marx himself mocked and despised (anyone with doubts may check The Poverty of Philosophy). In addition, Marx’s understanding of science, technology, and human beings also runs counter to the modern mainstream, and as a precursor of postmodernism, Marx of course also conflicts with the “Four Modernizations”; I already mentioned these in my earlier essay “How I Became a Marxist.” In short, to the extent that one approaches Marx’s philosophy, one will probably, to that same extent, depart from textbook philosophy.
Of course, in the academic world there are many different interpretations of Marx, including some that lean toward textbook philosophy. But what the new students need only understand is this: none of these claims is without controversy; radically opposite views coexist for a long time, and that is precisely the characteristic of philosophy.
Below I excerpt a segment from the chat in the 2007 philosophy department freshman group. The content has been slightly edited; except for me, the classmates’ names are shown as code names.
……
hnyy 21:45:42
Aren’t party members all atheists? They can’t believe in religion. I’m from an ethnic minority. Joining the Party is a bit-–
glyy 21:46:07
I believe in fate, so I can’t join the Party. I should be an objective idealist
scnlgn 21:46:43
Hehe!!
Then doesn’t that mean Senior Brother Fengfeng can’t choose religion in the future?
hnff 21:47:04
Hehe
glyy 21:47:05
You can choose Marxism
古师兄 21:47:16
Don’t misunderstandi, it’s “religious studies,” not “religion”…
古师兄 21:47:38
In fact, Marxist philosophy may be the most subversive to the mainstream ideology
scnlgn 21:47:35
Whoa
glyy 21:47:47
Senior Brother thinks we’re immature
hnyy 21:48:23
What does Senior Brother mean?
scnlgn 21:48:22
Whoa!!
古师兄 21:48:50
Because the mainstream ideology that came from the Soviet Union to China is actually the one most at odds with Marx
hnyy 21:48:55
That’s true
古师兄 21:49:07
If you trace Marx’s philosophy back, then you have to sing completely against the mainstream
hnyy 21:49:33
I still don’t get it, so dizzy
hnff 21:49:36
Then why are so many student-movement leaders Marxist theory majors?
scnlgn 21:49:57
I’m already dizzy to the end
hnff 21:50:12
Today’s socialism isn’t quite the same as socialism in its essence
古师兄 21:50:17
Simply put, the “Marxism” you learned in middle school is at odds with Marx’s philosophy
hnff 21:50:48
Then just fix the wrong parts, right?
hnff 21:51:14
Whichever one can’t guide practice, just throw it away
古师兄 21:51:42
But this isn’t a matter of patching a few holes and calling it done; the path was wrong from the very beginning, and it is really hard to correct unless you overturn it completely
hnyy 21:51:49
Senior Brother, are you saying that Marx advocated that socialism should occur simultaneously in several developed countries, but history instead-
古师兄 21:52:01
No, I’m mainly talking about philosophy
古师兄 21:52:08
For example, “The world is material”
古师兄 21:52:14
Marx would certainly oppose this sentence
glyy 21:52:22
??Isn’t that right??
scnlgn 21:52:22
Isn’t the world material?
hnff 21:52:31
That’s not what high school said
hnff 21:52:42
It says the world is an objective material world
古师兄 21:52:48
What is metaphysics?
古师兄 21:52:57
Who wants to say?
hnyy 21:53:01
No way
hnff 21:53:06
It splits motion from rest
古师兄 21:53:06
How is “metaphysics” taught in middle school?
hnff 21:53:10
Connection
hnff 21:53:13
Contradiction
scnlgn 21:53:15
Not dialectical?
古师兄 21:53:22
What is the definition of metaphysics?
glyy 21:53:23
Mm… looking at problems in a motionless way.
hnyy 21:53:26
Isn’t that a bit too subversive
hnff 21:53:35
Looking at problems one-sidedly
glyy 21:53:38
Senior Brother?
古师兄 21:53:47
Is metaphysics the definition of “looking at problems in isolation, motionlessly, and one-sidedly”?
hnff 21:53:56
Yes
hnff 21:54:11
That’s how my high school teacher explained it
古师兄 21:54:17
Then why not simply say “isolated, motionless, one-sided,” and instead use such a term to replace it?
古师兄 21:54:24
What is the original meaning of this term?
hnyy 21:54:44
What we learned is denying contradiction, isolated motionless one-sided thinking
glyy 21:54:47
That’s exactly what we learned, probably to distinguish it from dialectical materialism
古师兄 21:54:51
So is “isolated, motionless, one-sided” really the definition of metaphysics, that is, a tautology, or is it its characteristic?
hnff 21:55:09
Isn’t it just all materialist philosophy except Marxist theory?
古师兄 21:55:15
Actually, let me say what Marx means (of course, this is my personal understanding)
hnff 21:55:21
And also primitive materialism
hnyy 21:55:49
It seems to be implicit
glyy 21:55:51
Our teacher also said that what China is developing now is Marxism-in-development
scnlgn 21:55:59
Senior Brother could be a teaching assistant!!
古师兄 21:56:03
What Marx means is, for example, that if you leave practice aside and discuss abstractly whether “the world is material or spiritual” or “whether matter comes first or spirit comes first,” then the doctrines that discuss these things are “metaphysics”
glyy 21:56:21
I’ve been studying in vain for so long
scnlgn 21:56:34
Sweat!!
High school!!
古师兄 21:57:09
If you look at a Marxist textbook, you’ll find that the references cited in it are mainly Mao Zedong, Stalin, and Lenin.
glyy 21:57:09
Luckily my politics wasn’t all that good
古师兄 21:57:18
It’s hard to find more than a few sentences from Marx himself in the whole book
hnyy 21:57:20
So that’s what metaphysics means
glyy 21:57:25
Then what should we do?
hnff 21:57:40
Looks like we’ll have to learn German
古师兄 21:57:44
Just pretend you learned nothing at all
hnyy 21:58:04
Right, start over
hnff 21:58:09
Read the original Communist Manifesto
scnlgn 21:58:24
That’s three years of my life wasted
glyy 21:58:39
Just two years, though. Does economics count too?
scnlgn 21:58:41
If you have the guts, translate it for me to see
古师兄 21:58:57
Reading a translation is fine too
古师兄 21:58:59
The translation is accurate
jldd 21:59:00
Not wasted
jldd 21:59:02
You didn’t spend those three years only studying philosophy
hnyy 21:59:03
How should I put it? I just don’t understand why there are still people who specifically study metaphysics
scnlgn 21:59:06
Then make it one year!
Politics doesn’t count either
jldd 21:59:51
Hehe
古师兄 21:59:56
hnyy(814105436) 21:59:03
How should I put it? I just don’t understand why there are still people who specifically study metaphysics
That’s right, by all means don’t think that philosophers are fools; Marx was not a fool either. If you find their ideas seem too easy to understand or refute, then you’re most likely mistaken~
hnff 22:00:40
Oh no
hnyy 22:00:40
Ah, well, whatever happens, let’s start over from the beginning
古师兄 22:00:44
You should know that however bad those philosophers who have gone down in history may have been, they should at least be a little better than a high school politics teacher, right?~
scnlgn 22:01:25
I feel like graduation is hopeless for me!!
jldd 22:01:32
???
scnlgn 22:01:50
I’m already very dizzy now
hnff 22:01:53
Dizzy
hnyy 22:02:14
I think it’s pretty interesting
古师兄 22:02:18
That’s a good state to be in when approaching philosophy~
古师兄 22:02:39
Back then I started to like philosophy because I argued with my politics teacher over the definition of “metaphysics” and then went to check the books myself
hnyy 22:03:23
I like my own thinking moving toward the direction I like most through constant overturning
jldd 22:03:35
No wonder you get so excited whenever you mention metaphysics
scnlgn 22:03:39
Honestly speaking
I’ve become more and more interested in philosophy lately
glyy 22:03:46
Shouldn’t literature, history, and philosophy be together??
hnff 22:03:51
No wonder we have to study advanced mathematics
scnlgn 22:04:12
You, Youyou, have the potential for philosophy
古师兄 22:04:29
Literature, history, and philosophy are interconnected, but the three departments don’t interact much…
glyy 22:05:01
So I think I should be able to get into philosophy easily…
……
Latest Comments
UNIC
2007-07-27 20:05:17 Anonymous 222.82.75.65 [Reply]
Gu, you’ve also seen the issue with Yakuo.
There are indeed a few dangerous points in this article; be cautious.
I don’t know whether the teacher often says things like this in your class, or whether you often see such conclusions in books, but this is Yakuo, and I feel I’m not very steady on this.
I very much hope I am not crying wolf.
UNIC
2007-07-27 20:06:29 Anonymous 222.82.75.65 [Reply]
“Or whether you often see it in books…”
UNIC
2007-07-27 20:07:35 Anonymous 222.82.75.65 [Reply]
“I feel I’m not very steady.”
Really~~~~ so many typos.
Gu Ci
2007-07-27 20:31:05 http://epr.ycool.com/ [Reply]
What’s there to be afraid of?
First of all, I’ve always very much wanted to test the limits of their censorship.
Second, I think this article isn’t at all excessive.
Besides, I’m not afraid of being banned at all. At worst I’ll move house, or simply stop running the blog for a while~
unic
2007-07-27 23:22:29 Anonymous 222.82.75.65 [Reply]
Senior brother 21:48:50
Because the mainstream ideology that came from the Soviet Union to China is actually most at odds with Marx
Senior brother Gu 21:49:07
If you trace back Marx’s philosophy, then you are completely going to be singing against the mainstream
hnff 21:49:36
Otherwise all the leaders of the student movements are the ones studying Marxism-Leninism
hnff 21:50:12
The socialism now isn’t quite the same as socialism in essence
Senior brother Gu 21:50:17
Simply put, the “Marxism” you learned about in middle school is at odds with Marx’s philosophy
hnff 21:50:48
Wouldn’t it be enough just to correct the wrong parts
hnff 21:51:14
If something can’t guide practice, just throw it away and don’t want it
Senior brother Gu 21:51:42
But it’s not that you can just patch a few holes and be done; the route was wrong from the very beginning, and it’s really hard to fix unless you completely overturn it
hnyy 21:51:49
Is senior brother saying that Marx advocated socialism should occur simultaneously in several developed countries, whereas history—
—————————–
Well then, I was thinking that some words need not bring the trouble they may cause. Since you think so, then so be it.
Haha……….
unic
2007-07-27 23:24:21 Anonymous 222.82.75.65 [Reply]
PS
When I just posted the words above
the new policy came along——-“Submission failed, reason: comments are limited to 20 lines, 5000 characters.”
So several lines were deleted…..~~
Translated from the Chinese original with AI assistance. The original text is authoritative.
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