Zhong Wanru: The Main Content and Contemporary Value of Lenin's "On the Question of Dialectics"
In his August 1937 essay On Contradiction, Comrade Mao Zedong cited Lenin’s "On the Question of Dialectics" [1] seven times. The structure of the entire text basically unfolds according to the narrative sequence of "On the Question of Dialectics," using the materialist dialectics of Marxism-Leninism to understand the concrete realities of the Chinese revolution and, more importantly, to guide the practice of the Chinese revolution. In his July 1937 work On Practice, Comrade Mao Zedong directly pointed out: "The Marxist philosophy of dialectical materialism has two most distinctive features. One is its class nature... the other is its practicality... The point of the Marxist philosophy consists not in understanding the laws of the objective world and thus being able to explain it, but in applying the knowledge of these laws actively to change the world." Due to the influence of historical conditions and the needs of the revolutionary struggle, Mao’s On Contradiction placed greater emphasis on the aspect of opposition within the unity of opposites—that is, the aspect of struggle within things. By studying Lenin’s materialist dialectics, we can profoundly grasp its significance as epistemology and methodology, carrying forward its inherent meaning into the theoretical achievements of the Sinicization of Marxism and into the practice of building socialism with Chinese characteristics.
I. Why This Article Was Written in 1915
"On the Question of Dialectics" is a short essay written by Lenin in 1915 and included in his Philosophical Notebooks. It was first published in 1925 in the combined 5th and 6th issues of Bolshevik. It is a crucial article in Lenin’s philosophical system, serving as a transitional link between what came before and what followed.
Lenin always attached great importance to the complete exposure and refutation of the opportunists in the Second International on a theoretical level. In his works, Lenin repeatedly reaffirmed: "Without revolutionary theory there can be no revolutionary movement." Since joining the revolutionary movement, he focused on defending the orthodoxy and scientific nature of Marxism on the ideological line, insisting on using Marxist positions and perspectives to understand the situation and developments of the Russian Revolution and the international communist movement, scientifically judging the situation, and making correct tactical choices.
After the failure of the first Russian domestic revolution in late 1907, Lenin went into exile abroad once again. Unable to directly organize and mobilize the revolution at home, Lenin devoted more energy to theoretical research. He wrote a series of political and theoretical articles, refuting the "Empirio-criticism"—a new variant of subjective idealism then prevalent in the Second International and within Russia. His 1909 work Materialism and Empirio-criticism is a classic analysis and critique of this trend.
When World War I broke out, Lenin was living in Switzerland. To earn a living, he wrote the "Karl Marx" entry for the Granat Encyclopedic Dictionary. The sections "Philosophical Materialism" and "Dialectics" involved the history of philosophy; to this end, Lenin read a large number of philosophical works and kept many philosophical notes. He engaged in extensive philosophical reflection, which further solidified his Marxist philosophical worldview and methodology. These reading and writing experiences provided a profound theoretical foundation for the drafting of "On the Question of Dialectics."
In 1914, following the outbreak of World War I, opportunists in various countries of the Second International violated the Basel Manifesto signed in 1912, betrayed the principles of proletarian internationalism, and stood on nationalistic grounds to defend the interests of their own countries. They called upon their respective workers to "defend the fatherland," giving rise to social chauvinism and causing a serious split within the Second International. Figures like Kautsky and Plekhanov used "dialectics" to justify their revisionism, attempting to use it to argue that Marxism was outdated. Lenin pointed out with piercing insight that their "dialectics" was merely sophistry masquerading as dialectics. He expounded the essence of dialectics at a philosophical level, developing Marxist dialectics while severely criticizing the opportunists of the Second International. This is the background of Lenin’s "On the Question of Dialectics." This article was a manifesto [2] in a philosophical polemic, possessing great combative power. It fundamentally exposed the philosophical sophistry of the revolutionary revisionists, "clearing the muddy water to reveal the pure" [3] and "returning to the source" [4] to defend orthodox Marxist philosophy and innovatively develop its application in concrete revolutionary practice.
II. The Main Content of "On the Question of Dialectics"
Lenin’s "On the Question of Dialectics" is short and its arguments are clear, reflecting his profound mastery of Marxist philosophy. The article summarizes in concise terms that the law of the unity of opposites is the essence of dialectics. It clearly states that dialectics is epistemology, and one must use dialectics to understand the objective laws of the development of things—namely, the unity of opposites. In the discussion of the relationship between the individual and the universal, it refutes the sophistry of Plekhanov and others, calling on revolutionaries to understand the revolutionary situation in Russia dialectically. Lenin believed that human cognition is also materially dialectical, and that epistemology is dialectics.
(1) The Essence of Dialectics
At the very beginning, Lenin points out: "The splitting of a single whole and the cognition of its contradictory parts... is the essence of dialectics." The law of the unity of opposites is the essence of dialectics. The article succinctly clarifies the difference between the metaphysical view of development and the dialectical materialist view of development. Lenin defines dialectics as an epistemology, the core of which is the recognition that all things and phenomena are a unity of opposites, possessing contradictory, mutually exclusive, and opposite tendencies. He compares two different worldviews arising from different understandings: the first is a dead, mediocre, and dry metaphysical view of development, which sees development as decrease and increase, as repetition; the second sees development as the unity of opposites, focusing primarily on understanding the driving force of "self-movement." Lenin believes only the second view provides the "key" to understanding the "self-movement" of all existing things, providing the "key" to understanding "leaps," "breaks in continuity," "transformation into the opposite," the destruction of the old, and the emergence of the new.
Simultaneously, the article clarifies another important issue in dialectics: the relationship between the relative and the absolute. The difference between subjectivism and dialectics lies in the fact that in (objective) dialectics, the difference between the relative and the absolute is itself relative. For objective dialectics, there is an absolute within the relative. For subjectivism and sophistry, the relative is only relative and thus excludes the absolute. For things characterized by the unity of opposites, unity is conditional, temporary, transitory, and relative, while the struggle of opposites contained within is absolute, just as motion is absolute.
(2) The Relationship Between the Individual and the Universal
Lenin cites the example of how Marx, in Capital, started from the simplest, most ordinary, fundamental, common, and mundane commodity exchange—encountered billions of times—to reveal all the contradictions of capitalist society. He points out that the method of exposition (and study) of general dialectics should begin with the simplest and most common things, because the individual is the universal, every universal is the individual, and the unity of opposites of things allows the individual and the universal to exist in interconnection.
Every universal is individual; the universal must be manifested through the individual. Every universal is a part, an aspect, or the essence of the individual. Every individual is the universal; that is, the particularity of a contradiction cannot exist apart from its universality. It was precisely the neglect of the dialectical relationship between the universal and the individual that led Kautsky and Plekhanov to say that the understanding of imperialism "is not the same for everyone." However, arguments fixated on individual issues are endless. The development of capitalism in different countries will inevitably have different specificities. To abandon the struggle against capitalism based on these differences is to abandon the class nature of the proletariat. It is, in fact, to seize upon minor details while discarding the universality of the contradiction—an approach that is ignorant and ridiculous, let alone dialectical; it is entirely the logic of a sophist.
(3) Understanding Cognition
Human cognition also conforms to the general laws of materialist dialectics. Lenin believed that from the perspective of dialectical materialism, philosophical idealism cannot be simply judged as completely false; rather, it takes one feature or aspect of cognition and one-sidedly absolutizes it, ignoring the relationship between the relative and the absolute in epistemology.
Human knowledge is not a straight line, but a spiral curve. The epistemological root of idealism lies in "rectilinearity and one-sidedness, woodenness and petrification, subjectivism and subjective blindness." Clericalism and philosophical idealism do not arise without cause. On one hand, it is due to their epistemological roots; on the other, they are limited by the social conditions of production, particularly as the ruling class utilizes an idealist philosophical view to consolidate its class interests. The roots of philosophical idealism mean it is destined to be "a sterile flower on the living tree of human knowledge"—seemingly beautiful, but never bearing fruit. Human cognition is materialist, dialectical, and developing.
By recognizing the dialectical materialist characteristics of cognition, one should understand that human knowledge is not absolute. One cannot use rigid, dogmatic empirical knowledge to guide changing and developing practice. Instead, one must constantly absorb and learn from the latest empirical results in practice to continuously refine cognition. Thus, a materially dialectical relationship also exists between practice and cognition. Cognition is continuously developed and refined in practice, and it continuously guides practice forward.
III. The Contemporary Value of "On the Question of Dialectics"
General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "To lead the people in achieving the 'Two Centenary Goals' and the Chinese Dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, our Party must constantly receive nourishment from the wisdom of Marxist philosophy, more consciously persist in and apply the dialectical materialist worldview and methodology, and better grasp the relationships between phenomenon and essence, form and content, cause and effect, contingency and necessity, possibility and reality, internal and external causes, and commonality and individuality in actual work. We must enhance our dialectical and strategic thinking capabilities to perform all tasks better." Although "On the Question of Dialectics" is a century-old document, the philosophical concepts it contains have consistently guided our revolution and the practice of socialist construction; they also form the philosophical foundation for the continuous emergence of theoretical achievements in the Sinicization of Marxism. Currently, facing a complex international situation where "black swan" events occur frequently, General Secretary Xi Jinping has repeatedly noted that the world is undergoing "changes unseen in a century." To take the initiative amidst these great changes, we must use the epistemology of materialist dialectics to analyze the situation, make judgments, seek ways to break through deadlocks, ensure a stable development pattern, and continue to advance the process of Chinese-path modernization. The Marxist philosophical wisdom contained in "On the Question of Dialectics" possesses extremely important contemporary value, serving as an epistemology and methodology with practical guiding significance for both individual and national development.
(1) Using Epistemology to Scientifically Understand the Situation
As early as 1937, Mao Zedong pointed out the importance of materialist dialectics as an epistemology for Chinese Communists in On Contradiction: "It is only by learning this method that Chinese Communists can correctly analyze the history and the present state of the Chinese revolution and infer its future." The century-long struggle of the Communist Party of China has verified the importance of this assertion. Whenever our Party used rigid, rectilinear theories to analyze and guide the practice of the Chinese revolution and socialist construction, it often failed to grasp the primary contradiction of Chinese society, leading work into a stalemate. Mao Zedong used dialectical thought to analyze China's revolutionary situation, combining it with China’s national conditions to propose the revolutionary path of "encircling the cities from the countryside," allowing the revolutionary process to succeed. Using theoretical results summarized from the experiences of other countries to guide Chinese practice ignores the particularity of contradiction; as Lenin said, this treats a segment of the curve of cognition as a complete, independent straight line, leading people into a "quagmire." When we independently apply materialist dialectics to analyze problems, propose solutions consistent with Chinese reality, and conduct "concrete analysis of concrete conditions" based on China’s situation, problems are often resolved with ease.
We must correctly handle the relationship between cognition and practice. "Philosophers have only interpreted the world in various ways; the point is to change it." Scientifically understanding the world is not enough; one must apply that cognition to practice and use scientific theory to guide practice. Mao Zedong’s On Practice provides us with a model for correctly handling this relationship: "Practice, knowledge, again practice, and again knowledge. This form repeats itself in endless cycles, and with each cycle the content of practice and knowledge rises to a higher level." We must highlight the importance of practice; only through practice can cognition be refined. Theories derived without practice lack a foundation, affecting their scientific nature, and such theories can only be "shelved," losing their theoretical value.
Deng Xiaoping also placed great emphasis on using dialectics to judge the situation. He proposed the historic judgment that our country is in the primary stage of socialism, grasped the primary contradiction of the socialist stage, and shifted the focus of the Party's work from "taking class struggle as the key link" to "taking economic construction as the center." He liberated and developed the productive forces, persisted in reform and opening up, and scientifically handled the relationship between the market and planning. Many of Deng Xiaoping's concepts contain the wisdom of materialist dialectics: his call to "emancipate the mind and seek truth from facts" required a correct understanding of the relationship between the particularity and universality of things, forbidding the use of vertical, rigid dogma to guide practice; "it doesn't matter if the cat is black or white, as long as it catches mice, it is a good cat" required grasping the essence of things; "grasping with both hands, and both hands must be firm" [5] meant grasping the two-sided nature of things; and pointing out that "peace and development are the two major themes of the contemporary era" used materialist dialectical epistemology to judge the overall situation of the times. Under the guidance of materialist dialectical thought, the second generation of the Party's collective leadership with Comrade Deng Xiaoping as the core led the Chinese people in exploring and developing the socialist market economy, opening up the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics.
The Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core has consistently adhered to the basic laws of materialist dialectical epistemology when making decisions and deployments. In the process of strengthening its own construction, the Communist Party of China (CPC) has persisted in self-revolution and self-education. Since the 18th National Congress, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core has taken comprehensively and strictly governing the Party as the breakthrough point, insisting that "to do China's affairs well, the key lies in the Party, and the key lies in the Party managing the Party and comprehensively and strictly governing the Party." "Managing the Party must start with intra-Party political life; governing the Party strictly must start with intra-Party political life." Under the guidance of correct policies, many major tasks that were long desired but never accomplished have been achieved, and the atmosphere within the Party has taken on a completely new look. The report to the 19th National Congress of the CPC pointed out that we must take as the main thread the strengthening of the Party's long-term governing capacity, excellence, and purity. The main thread is the primary pulse that runs through the entire development of a thing; it is the general program that commands its development. By grasping the main thread, one grasps the most essential aspect of a thing; by grasping the program, one grasps the main body or even the entirety of the thing. Faced with the sudden COVID-19 pandemic, the CPC led the people in continuously judging the situation amidst development, constantly adjusting and optimizing various response measures, and insisting on putting the people and their lives first, correctly handling the relationship between economic development and epidemic prevention and control. As the pandemic evolved, policies were adjusted in a timely manner to implement "Category B management for Category B infectious diseases," [6] achieving a smooth transition through the COVID-19 pandemic. This important measure is another exemplar of the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core using materialist dialectics to assess the situation.
(II) Serving as a Methodology to Guide Practice
Establishing problem-awareness and adhering to a problem-oriented approach. The core of materialist dialectics is the recognition of the universality of the law of the unity of opposites, from which the dialectical materialist view of development arises: the struggle within a thing is the driving force of its development. Classic Marxist writers have always emphasized analyzing problems from the perspectives of connection and development. The manifestation of contradictions in things is not a straightforward, linear process, but rather a process of self-negation and self-development. Problems are the concrete manifestations of contradictions. By taking the resolution of problems as the breakthrough point for resolving contradictions, one dissolves contradictions in the process of solving problems, preventing the accumulation of contradictions from leading to a state where they are too deep-seated to be reversed, and promoting the development of things in the process of resolving contradictions. In the process of leading the Chinese people in revolution, socialist construction, and reform, the CPC has persisted in a problem-oriented approach to solve practical difficulties.
Since the 18th National Congress, the CPC has grasped the problems existing in social development and recognized some deep-seated contradictions facing economic development, such as issues in the economic system, the contradiction with environmental protection, and the insufficiently perfect legal system. The GDP growth rate can no longer simply be the sole standard for measuring economic development. Therefore, the state has introduced a series of measures to accelerate the transformation of the economic development mode and the adjustment of the economic structure, resolve overcapacity, and promote the transformation and upgrading of the industrial structure. "Reform has reached the deep-water zone" [7]; only by continuing to advance the comprehensive deepening of reform, cracking deep-seated contradictions in economic development, deepening the reform of state-owned enterprises, strengthening the reform of the fiscal, tax, and financial systems, and advancing the reform of the administrative management system can we provide a better institutional guarantee for economic development. We must comprehensively advance the rule of law. The rule of law is the cornerstone of national governance and a prerequisite for achieving sustainable economic development. We must strengthen publicity and education on the rule of law, raise the legal awareness of the masses, strengthen the construction of the rule of law, advance the reform of the judicial system, and improve the system of laws and regulations to ensure the authority and effectiveness of the law. We must strengthen the construction of ecological civilization. Environmental protection and ecological construction are important components of modernization and important guarantees for the lives and health of the masses and sustainable economic development. We must strengthen the formulation and implementation of environmental laws and regulations, promote the construction of ecological civilization, advocate the concept of green development, and increase research and development as well as the promotion of environmental protection technologies to make greater contributions to building a Beautiful China.
General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out that we must focus on the overall situation of development, grasp the principal aspect of contradictions, and effectively solve the most pressing, direct, and realistic problems of concern to the masses. Since the 18th National Congress, more attention has been paid to the needs and interests of the masses. In terms of economic development, we emphasize the people-centered approach, focusing on improving people's livelihoods, implementing a more proactive employment policy, increasing the intensity of medical security, and strengthening reforms in areas such as educational equity. At the same time, we have noted the increasing severity of environmental problems, proposed the concept of building an ecological civilization, strengthened ecological protection and environmental governance, and promoted green and sustainable development. Since the 18th National Congress, the Party Central Committee has proposed many important development concepts and strategies, emphasizing problems and contradictions in many areas and proposing targeted solutions. Only by facing difficulties head-on, guiding actions according to circumstances, and actively responding to various problems and challenges can we achieve a higher level of economic, political, cultural, and social development and create a better life for the masses.
To master the core of materialist dialectics is to master the ability to analyze principal contradictions. In different periods, the CPC has made judgments on the principal contradiction in Chinese society based on China's national conditions. Consequently, Party building in each period has had a central task—a "center point"—determined to resolve the principal contradiction or the principal aspect of the contradiction. Along the longitudinal axis of time, these center points frequently appear and run through the entire process of Party building, constituting the main thread of Party building. While actively facing and properly resolving contradictions, we must also pay attention to grasping the relationship between principal and secondary contradictions, and between the principal and secondary aspects of a contradiction. Since the 18th National Congress, based on the analysis and grasping of contradictions, the CPC has led the people in proceeding from the overall situation of building socialism with Chinese characteristics to propose and form the "Four Comprehensives" strategic layout: namely, comprehensively building a moderately prosperous society in all respects, comprehensively deepening reform, comprehensively advancing the rule of law, and comprehensively and strictly governing the Party. This requires us to have both an overall plan and a specific strategic layout. In the process of promoting the comprehensive building of a moderately prosperous society, we must not only make comprehensive deployments but also pay attention to rural work in remote areas, achieving moderate prosperity for all on the basis of completing the task of poverty alleviation. When comprehensively deepening reform, we must not only have top-level design but also focus on reforms in important fields and key links. In the process of comprehensively advancing the rule of law, we clearly proposed that the overall goal is to build a system of socialist rule of law with Chinese characteristics and build a socialist state under the rule of law, using this as the focus and leverage to advance our work. In comprehensively and strictly governing the Party, we grasp the "key minority," [8] take the construction of Party style and clean government as the breakthrough point, focus on solving the problems of the "Four Winds" that the masses react to strongly, and persist in the "catching tigers," "hunting foxes," and "swatting flies" [9] approach in the anti-corruption struggle to advance from specific points to the whole area, tightening the "cage of institutions" and integrally promoting the mechanism where officials do not dare, are not able, and have no desire to be corrupt. To coordinately advance the "Four Comprehensives" in practice, we must adhere to dialectical unity-of-opposites thinking, distinguish between the primary and the secondary, grasp key problems, find crucial breakthrough points, and advance various tasks while grasping the overall strategic situation.
In the practice of primary-level Party building, one can still find many instances where materialist dialectics has not been internalized in the mind or externalized in action. Primary-level Party building can be divided into various forms, such as Party building in government agencies, state-owned enterprises, universities, rural areas, communities, non-public enterprises, and "Two New" organizations. [10] Clearly, these different forms share the universality of primary-level Party building and have common points; however, if one uses simple, rigid, "one-size-fits-all" thinking to advance primary-level Party building and ignores the particularity of different types, there is a danger of what Lenin called being "led into a ditch." Current "standardization of Party building" seeks to lead regularization through standardization. When formulating relevant standards, we must pay special attention to adhering to materialist dialectics and grasping the basic characteristics of the universality and particularity of contradictions. Party building in different types of organizations or even different units has its own uniqueness. Party building work should, on the basis of adhering to general principles, combine its own characteristics to explore the best model for integrating Party building with the professional development of the unit. After all, Party building itself is not the ultimate goal of Party building. Article 3, Section 5 of the "Regulations on the Work of Communist Party of China Branches (Trial Implementation)" issued by the CPC Central Committee emphasizes that Party branch work must follow the principle of "persisting in focusing on the center and serving the overall situation, giving full play to initiative and creativity, and ensuring the implementation of the Party's line, principles, policies, and decisions." We must both give full play to the historical experience of "building branches at the company level" [11] and the role of primary-level Party organizations as "fighting fortresses," while also emphasizing the initiative and creativity of primary-level organizations.
(III) Adhering to the Sinicization of Marxism
Persisting in innovating and developing theory through practice. There is no end to the development of practice, and thus no end to theoretical innovation. The history of the CPC's theoretical development is also the history of the Sinicization of Marxism. Since the day of its founding, the CPC has persisted in using the Marxist worldview and methodology to guide practice.
In his speech at the celebration of the 95th anniversary of the founding of the CPC, Xi Jinping reaffirmed the importance of being armed with scientific theory for the CPC, persisting in enriching and developing Marxism in practice, and "leading and promoting China's revolution, construction, and reform with a scientific spirit of materialist dialectics and a selfless, fearless, and broad mind, constantly adhering to the truth and correcting errors." This is the latest grasp of materialist dialectical epistemology in the New Era, and the inheritance and development of Marxist materialist dialectics by Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era. In the process of developing socialism with Chinese characteristics, new practical problems will constantly be encountered. In the process of using materialist dialectical thinking to solve problems, theory is continuously developed and perfected. This is the process of the CPC adhering to the Sinicization of Marxism, and it is the source and foundation of our theoretical confidence. Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era is the latest achievement in the Sinicization of Marxism. This thought adheres to the guiding position of Marxism at the theoretical and practical levels while fully reflecting Chinese characteristics and national conditions. It insists on a people-centered approach, promotes the realization of national prosperity, national rejuvenation, and people's happiness, possesses strong inclusiveness and innovativeness, and serves as an important theoretical foundation for China's development in the 21st century.
(IV) The Value of Materialist Dialectics for the Individual
The value of learning and applying materialist dialectics for improving an individual's thinking ability is beyond doubt. Persisting in integrating dialectical materialist thinking into daily life, especially in academic research, requires learning to analyze comprehensively yet with focus, grasping the essence of things. Mastering correct scientific research methods is the prerequisite for conducting academic research and the secret to ensuring high efficiency.
In the process of seeking one’s own development, following the laws of materialist dialectics often brings a feeling of sudden enlightenment. "Dialectics is less about exploring external laws and more about seeking internal clarity." Just as the development of things is never smooth sailing, individual development inevitably encounters setbacks. By persisting in using materialist dialectics to guide individual practice, one understands that the tendency of struggle within the unity of opposites is precisely the key period for promoting development. Handling "oppositeness" correctly provides the key to further development, much like the philosophy contained in the saying "failure is the mother of success." When facing a difficult situation, which is a critical moment in the development of things, one must maintain a steady mindset, master scientific methods, calmly analyze the situation, and must not give up halfway, lest all previous efforts be wasted.
Network Editor: Tongxin Source: Journal of the Party School of the CPC Shijiazhuang Municipal Committee, 2023, Issue 10