Production (Issue 3)

Author: Wang Min'an
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-01-01
Features: The relationship between humans and animals is a fundamental issue in philosophy. One of humanity's great curiosities lies in exploring the differences between humans and animals. It is precisely through the contrast with animals that humans establish their own uniqueness. The Hegel-Kojève tradition and the Nietzschean tradition offer two opposing answers to this question. Recently, Chinese philosophers such as Heidegger, Bataille, Deleuze, Foucault, Derrida, and Agamben, inspired by these two traditions, have expressed more radical perspectives on the relationship between humans and animals. This issue aims to present the critical reflections of these philosophers on the relationship between humans and animals.
The focus on "production" stems from the Marxist tradition, as it was in the process of production that Marx discovered the secret of capital accumulation. After Bakhtin, "production" acquired richer connotations: the cultural sphere is the production of knowledge, the spiritual sphere is the production of desire, and the political sphere is the production of power. Society becomes a massive production machine—and what is called a "consumer society" is merely an ironic commentary on it. "Production" has become a key term for diagnosing contemporary society. On the other hand, the word "production" carries a unique meaning for modern Chinese people. We once found ourselves trapped in the cage of "production," and now, we hope that this word, lost in the depths of history, will regain vitality. Of course, words have their own destinies, and all we can do is extend an invitation.
Finally, it should be noted that the intrinsic semantics of "production" is generation, transformation, and vitality, which aligns with the temperament of contemporary intellectuals: ceaselessly thinking and critiquing without information. In this sense, "production" is the fundamental characteristic of critique and thought.