Abstract

This dissertation examines and critically evaluates contemporary Chinese Marxist philosophy. It is no accident that Marxist philosophy came to be the dominant school in China. This thesis considers the social and historical situation that encouraged Chinese thinkers to adopt Marxist philosophy as their approach. It outlines the history of the dissemination of Marxist philosophy in China, introduces important representative figures and describes and analyzes their work. ;After considering the origins of Chinese Marxism, the thesis discusses three important questions that have preoccupied Chinese Marxist philosophers. First, I examine the concept of matter as it figures in Chinese conceptions of materialism; I argue that the Chinese fail to grasp Engels' concept of matter, and to recognize ambiguities in Lenin's position. As a result, the Chinese position is fraught with irreconcilable contradictions. Second, I explore Chinese controversies about the law of the unity of opposites, which Chinese Marxists argue is the kernel of their dialectical approach; I show how these controversies were motivated more by political than academic factors and that in fact none of the disputants properly understand the Hegelian position on which their views are supposedly based. Finally, I discuss conceptions of history in Chinese Marxism and how they have informed the Communist Party of China's economic and political policies. I argue that the Party has largely been guided by idealist conceptions of historical development, and not historical materialism as the Party claimed. ;Throughout the thesis, I attempt to show how such philosophical debates, which often seem esoteric and removed from reality, have been of crucial significance to Chinese politics. Chinese Marxists have always been influenced by Lenin's idea that all philosophical positions are not just expression of class interest but are weapons in the service of particular classes or parties. This thesis aims to make clear that it is impossible to understand philosophical debates in contemporary China unless we appreciate the political factors which intimately affect them, factors which are often strange and complex, dramatic and disturbing