Li Zehou's Philosophical Writings (Volume 1 and 2)

Author: Li Zehou
Publisher:
Publish Date: 1999-01-01
Features: Collected Philosophical Writings of Li Zehou compiles the author's main philosophical works. The first part, Critique of the Critique of Pure Reason, was written during the Cultural Revolution and first published in spring 1979, selling extremely well and remaining popular over the years. One reader remarked that it was through this book that they first understood what philosophy is. The book completely broke away from the stereotypical arguments and modes of thought prevalent over the past few decades, discussing the pivotal significance of Kant's transcendental theory in the history of philosophy. It explores the main philosophical issues in the three major fields of epistemology (truth), ethics (goodness), and aesthetics (beauty) in terms of teleology. The author creatively applies Marx's theory of practice to analyze these issues in detail, thereby articulating his own philosophy: emphasizing that the use and creation of tools are the foundation of human society (which aligns with Deng Xiaoping's later assertion that "science and technology are productive forces"). He answers Kant's famous question of "how is knowledge possible" with "how is humanity possible." The second part is a collection of the author's philosophical essays, further extending his philosophical thought. It proposes important arguments such as the tool (ontology of tools) and psychological-emotional (ontology of psychology and emotion), the sedimentation of reason and free intuition, and the philosophical main issues of humanity—fate—accident, as well as the need for 21st-century philosophy to move beyond language.