Summary
Mao Zedong’s "On Practice" argues that knowledge is derived from practice and, through practice, is tested and developed. The book posits that human understanding moves from a perceptual and rational understanding to a theoretical one and back to practice, forming a continuous cycle. This philosophical work, deeply embedded in the context of the Chinese Revolution, presents a dialectical materialist approach to epistemology, asserting that social revolution is a key form of practice that drives human knowledge forward.
This collection of writings, foundational to the Chinese Revolution, offers a specific model for understanding the relationship between theory and action. Readers encounter Mao’s ideas on how revolutionary movements are informed and advanced through the rigorous application and testing of knowledge in real-world conditions. The text serves as a guide to a cyclical process of learning and transformation, rooted in concrete historical and political struggles.
Key concepts
- Practice — The source and test of knowledge, driving human understanding through cycles of perception, reason, and action.
- Dialectical Materialism — A philosophical approach asserting that knowledge is grounded in material reality and develops through contradiction and change.
- Social Revolution — Presented as a significant form of practice that contributes to the advancement of human knowledge.
- Epistemology — The study of knowledge, specifically how it is acquired and developed through practical experience and theoretical reflection.
From the book
Description: A collection of the writings that underpinned the Chinese revolution—presented by “one of the world’s best-known public intellectuals” (New York Review Books) These early philosophical writings underpinned the Chinese revolutions, and Mao’s clarion call to insurrection has lost none of its ability to stir the blood and stimulate the mind. Drawing on a dizzying array of references from contemporary culture and politics, Slavoj Žižek’s introduction reaches unsettling conclusions about the place of Mao’s thought in the revolutionary canon.
Snippet: A collection of the writings that underpinned the Chinese revolution—presented by “one of the world’s best-known public intellectuals” (New York Review Books) These early philosophical writings underpinned the Chinese revolutions, ...