Marxism Re-founded - Methodological Introduction to a New Interpretation of Marxist Philosophy

Author: Wang Dong
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-10-01
Features: This book is a new work by Wang Dong, a professor and doctoral supervisor at the Department of Philosophy, Peking University. It is a culmination of his 40 years of independent research on Marx's original works and 20 years of teaching Marxist philosophy at Peking University. It is also a meticulously crafted and innovative work. The central theme emphasizes the need to significantly strengthen systematic in-depth research on Marx's own texts, thoughts, and philosophy, achieve major innovations in the interpretation models of Marx's philosophy, and establish a Chinese-style Marxology. Only in this way can we lay a solid and reliable foundation for the innovation of Marxist philosophy and theoretical innovation in the 21st century. The book is divided into three parts and ten chapters, with over 600,000 words.
Part "Three Interpretation Models: Historical Reflection" argues that the three dominant interpretation models in the history of Marxism over the three "fifty-year periods" are: in the late 19th century, the "Interpreting Marx through Engels" model—interpreting Marx's philosophy through Engels' popular and polemical works; in the early 20th century, the "Interpreting Marx through the Soviet Union" model—interpreting Marx's philosophy based on the theoretical framework of philosophical textbooks under the Soviet model; and in the late 20th century, the "Interpreting Marx through the West" model—interpreting Marx's philosophy based on the framework of modern and contemporary Western philosophy. These three interpretation models should be analyzed specifically and historically to assess their historical contributions and limitations.
Part "Interpreting Marx through Marx: Innovation of Interpretation Models" proposes that in the 21st century, we must go beyond the above three models and create a new "Interpreting Marx through Marx" interpretation model, outlining ten key principles for this new model.
Part "Chinese Marxology: Four Pillars" suggests that we need to learn from and surpass Soviet-style Marx research and Western Marxology established by figures like Lucien Ruby. On this basis, we should create a 21st-century, China-specific Marxology—one that conducts comprehensive research on Marx's documents, history, and theories, making it a rigorous historical science, documentary science, theoretical science, and philosophical science. This will lay a new foundation for the innovation of Marxist philosophy and theoretical innovation. To achieve this, four foundational pillars are first required: new hermeneutics—new bibliography—new textual criticism—new textualology.
This book is a research-oriented monograph rich in academic materials from both China and abroad and is one of the three volumes on the new interpretation of Marxist philosophy that the author will. It aims to explore new reading and learning methods, the entry point for theoretical research, and the path to independent and innovative scholarship. Therefore, it is suitable for relevant teachers, professional researchers, undergraduate and graduate students, as well as a broad readership interested in the historical destiny of Marxism, who will find it inspiring.