On Practice

On Practice ( ) is one of Mao Zedong's most important philosophical works. Along with On Contradiction, this essay is a part of lectures Mao gave in 1937. It expresses Mao's support for Marxism and attempts to establish a distinctly Chinese brand of communist philosophy. On Practice argues that people must apply knowledge to practice in reality in order to test its truthfulness. At the time it was written, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) had just endured the Long March and their nationalist foes were still at large. Plus, China was facing a tremendous Japanese threat. Mao hoped to establish himself as the leader of the CCP in order to unite China and vanquish the Japanese. On Practice was written as a part of this mission, for it gave Mao a more legitimate claim to lead by creating the basis for his communist philosophy, Maoism.

On Practice ( ) is one of Mao Zedong's most important philosophical works. Along with On Contradiction, this essay is a part of lectures Mao gave in 1937. It expresses Mao's support for Marxism and attempts to establish a distinctly Chinese brand of communist philosophy. On Practice argues that people must apply knowledge to practice in reality in order to test its truthfulness. At the time it was written, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) had just endured the Long March and their nationalist foes were still at large. Plus, China was facing a tremendous Japanese threat. Mao hoped to establish himself as the leader of the CCP in order to unite China and vanquish the Japanese. On Practice was written as a part of this mission, for it gave Mao a more legitimate claim to lead by creating the basis for his communist philosophy, Maoism. ==Philosophical argument== On Practice expands on Mao's criticism of dogmatism in his 1930 essay, Oppose Book Worship. The text begins with Mao's emphasis on practice over theory, and states, "Marxists hold that man's social practice alone is the criterion of the truth of his knowledge of the external world." The text defines "social practice" as "material production, class struggle, or scientific experiment." In this view, a person must "discover the truth through practice, and again through practice verify and develop the truth." According to On Practice: On Practice states that the masses, as owners of the means of production, should engage in material production. According to the text, "man's knowledge depends mainly on his activity in human production". Through participation in material production, people develop their understanding of class relationships, social relations, and human relationships. Thus, according to Mao, practical participation in social environments or production are the only reliable mechanism for developing useful knowledge. The text states that knowledge begins with perceptual knowledge rooted in experience. A person has to perceive physical things before understanding their "essence and internal relations". A person must then synthesize "the data of perception by arranging and reconstructing them." A dialectical process thus leads from perceptual knowledge to rational knowledge. After rational knowledge comes a "leap" to "revolutionary practice," in which theory is deployed back into the world of practice. ==References==

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