The first edition of the book was printed in 30,000 copies. At that time, I thought, finished, probably at least ten years can not be revised and republished. However, it sold out quickly and will be reprinted today. Moreover, in addition to receiving enthusiastic letters from some young readers, I have also noticed that some of the rather high-level academic papers published in some journals such as China Social Sciences have been repeatedly quoted by the authors who do not know each other. Honestly, this makes me secretly happy. The reason for the pleasure is not that I think there is anything remarkable about this book, but that it is a good reward for those who have done their best to do evil things before and after the publication of this book. As Lu Xun said, there are tricks to trick the ghosts, and sometimes they are effective. Make a little irresponsible small report, create some small rumors out of nothing, try to wear a little shoe for you... It is estimated that in the future, it may not be able to escape this canopy luck. Therefore, when this book is republished, I will say a few unhappy words at the beginning, one is to quickly take advantage of this to catch my breath; the other is to tell my young friends who support and love me: In any sense, the academic road is not a smooth road. There are always some non-academic glamorous rays who want to haunt them. However, Marx's quotation is also like a rune, which still applies to this point: "Go your own way and let people say it." ”
Less complaining, getting back to business. I remember when I was in the United States talking idly about the publication of academic books, he was amazed at the number of philosophical books in China that could be printed. Of course, Chinese, but even at various scales, the numbers are staggering. Therefore, I recall that Engels said that when the German working class indulged in superficial practice in the upper class, it was valuable to maintain its theoretical interest and become the heir of German classical philosophy. I think that today's China, especially the Chinese young generation, maintains a strong theoretical enthusiasm and philosophical interest, which should also be a situation and merit worthy of attention. Only when we have the willingness to study theory and the desire to discuss can we truly transcend all kinds of vulgarity, have a far-sighted vision, face the future, and soberly struggle for the motherland and the people for socialism.
I remember that I also happened to maintain and increase my interest in basic theories during the Cultural Revolution to write this book. Some comrades repeatedly asked about the writing of this book, and the first edition of the postscript talked a little bit, and the language was vague. Now take the opportunity to add some as an answer.
We have to start with the lower cadre school. It is said that a foreign general during the war took a copy of the Critique of Pure Reason with him to read. I didn't know the story at the time, but I couldn't bring more books with me, and I tried to bring as little as possible, so I picked this one. I knew it was a difficult book to read, and I hadn't really eaten it a few times before, and it was "not too thick, but it was very readable" ("Walk My Own Way", Book Forest, No. 6, 1982). Perhaps, in difficult circumstances, it is best to read some tough books. ......
In the first year of the cadre school, it was very tight, and it was impossible to study at all through labor, reform, and approval of "516." The second year seems to have loosened up, and it is possible to fish turtles, play chess, play poker, and of course read books, and of course this kind of bourgeois and great idealistic book can only be read illegally. But after all, I read it more than once, but also made a large notebook. "After returning from the cadre school in 1972, I officially wrote it at home using the notes from the dry school. At that time, although I was convinced that Jiang Qing and others would collapse, I did not expect it to be so soon, so when I wrote it, I did not expect that it would be published very quickly" (ibid.). Since I didn't plan to publish it soon, I didn't have to think about the views and opinions that were popular at the time. I just think that for many years since liberation we have had almost no books devoted to Kant, and that treatises on the history of philosophy in general have almost invariably caricaturedly repudiated Kant's philosophy. On the other hand, in private conversations, many people who are engaged in the history of philosophy have described Kant as so mysterious and frightening... All this makes me think that there should be a comprehensive and popular treatise on Kant. I hope that in the future, I will have the opportunity to change the misunderstanding and obliteration of Kant for many years, which was one of the purposes of writing this book at that time.
However, my German is not good. Although I studied German twice when I was studying at Peking University in the 1950s and after graduation, the highest degree I reached was just holding a dictionary and reading a little of Engels's works, which was actually unusable, and had long been forgotten, just as I had studied Russian at that time. Therefore, I can only read and study according to some English translations. At the same time, I also know that "once you enter the Houmen, it is as deep as the sea", and foreign literature on Kant's philosophy, such as academic treatises and reference books in the main languages of German, French, and English, has long been full of sweat. Just the works and articles that have been examined and annotated are enough for me to look at them for a long time. It is said that one has to spend half a lifetime to really understand one of Kant's major works or a problem in one of Kant's works. For example, if a foreign country only studies a certain part of the book "Critique of Pure Reason" are not there several volumes of thematic works? This is probably the real Kant monograph and Kant expert.
From the very beginning, I had no intention of writing such monographs and becoming such experts. I can't do it, and I don't want to. My aim is simply to fill in the blanks. In the case of no one in China for a long time, according to their own ability, do some preliminary introduction and comment work, and so on. Therefore, in the original manuscript of the first edition of the afterword, I stated that it was a "layman's cameo", which was deleted by the editorial comrades as a kind word. In fact, this is not polite, but the truth.
But what makes me want to make this "cameo" is another more important driving force than the reasons mentioned above. This was my great concern and enthusiasm for Marxist philosophy at that time. When I see that Marxism has been so badly degraded that I hope to relate it to Marxist philosophy in my discussion of Kant. On the one hand, Marxist philosophy was originally reborn from Kant and Hegel, and Kant's philosophy has always had an important influence in the field of contemporary science and culture, and almost everyone in modern natural science mentions Kant, so how to criticize and discard it at the bottom, how to understand the development direction of Marxism in connection with Kant in combination with modern science and Western philosophy, seems to be worth mentioning, although these cannot be really developed in this book, only slightly mentioned or brushed over. But even if a sentence or two could get the reader's attention, I thought it would be meaningful at the time. At the same time, on the other hand, in contemporary Marxist philosophy abroad or at home, I think there is a trend of subjectivism, volitivism, and ethicism that is popular. Under the banner of "cultural criticism" and "class consciousness," Marxism has been interpreted as a subjective and arbitrary theory. This is why in this book I emphasize practice again and again, on the use of manufacturing tools (material production), on historical materialism (objective laws), and on criticism of Western Marxism. From the so-called "how bold are people and how productive the land" of the Great Leap Forward is, to the "revolution that broke out in the depths of the soul" of the "Cultural Revolution" and the "struggle" and "revolution" are all philosophical things, and so on, does not it need to be carefully considered theoretically? These expressed a little of their own views by commenting on Kant, within the scope of the objective permission of the time. Therefore, the so-called "Kant reviewer", although the "review" is larger than the "commentary", the latter is my main purpose.
I did not expect at all that when this book was completed and handed over for more than a year, a great discussion was set off in China that "practice is the only criterion for testing truth," and "practice" was greatly highlighted. Although I have reservations about the academic level of this discussion, for example, I think that some of the most basic concepts, including "practice", "truth", "standard", etc., are not clearly explained. But this is secondary after all. Far more important is the political significance of this discussion and the enlightening role of emancipating the mind. This, of course, is simply impossible for a "pedantic" book of mine.
My book has many shortcomings, which were briefly pointed out in the first edition of the afterword, and are expected to be extended "when modified" in the future. But since I handed over the manuscript in the autumn of 1976, I have returned to the original field of "aesthetics and the history of Chinese thought" and have never been able to touch Kant as a behemoth. The old is deserted, the new is not known, and it is still the same today. Of course, I have also read a little book, including monographs on Kant's philosophy written by Hong Kong and Taiwan "masters" who have read it in the United States, and I have also talked with some Chinese and non-Chinese scholars who have read and not read my book in the United States. It seems that this "cameo" of his own can still stand. At home, I have also sincerely consulted several comrades who are good at German and specialize in German classical philosophy, and they have humbly not expressed their opinions. But I know that, as stated in the afterword to the first edition, the book "has been omitted in terms of content, text, arguments, and materials." However, I do not have the strength or time to make changes and additions at this time, and I am sorry that I cannot fulfill the promises made in the afterword of the first edition.
In New York, when I mentioned to a well-known Chinese scholar (who was also my friend) that a Harvard Ph.D. student wanted to do a German translation of the book, he said that it would be better to translate it into English, and that the "narrative" part could not be changed for the time being, only the "commentary" part. Because he was not satisfied with the criticism of Western Marxism, he felt that the positive opinion was too brief. This is certainly not just his opinion. But this time, I have not changed much to the "evaluation" part. There are two reasons: First, although I have a lot to say, but it is not about Kant, I can't be too noisy (I have already won a lot), this is always a book about Kant. The second is that I still basically adhere to all my original comments, including criticism of Western Marxism. Eight years ago, a foreigner who was not very clever issued a critical opinion on a small note in a certain chapter of this book, which was neither evidence nor pertinent, and the level was really not high, but it frightened some of our comrades into a stream of urine and urine, enshrined it as a holy will, and after blind exclusivity, they came to a blind reverence, which really made me feel very emotional. Therefore, I am even more reluctant to make any concessions. Moreover, in the field of truth and scholarship, there is no concession policy. I think that, unlike the natural sciences, in the field of philosophy and social sciences, we should have our own Marxist standards. We cannot always take the right and wrong of foreign scholars as right and wrong, and we cannot think that all foreign professors are above everywhere, because this is completely inconsistent with objective facts. Neither slavery nor blindness is good for academic development.
However, I also accepted some of my friend's comments, and this time I made some minor amendments and additions. The most important point is that, in the first edition, I attached great importance to the basic meaning of practice as a tool for use, creation, and renewal, in order to point out that material production is the foundation of society and the foundation of spiritual culture; then, in addition to still adhering to this basic point of view, I also pointed out that paying attention to spiritual construction should also be an important topic of Marxist philosophy. This question has to do with the psychological structure of culture, with "stability", and Kant's philosophy has a unique contribution in this regard. This point has been raised in the first edition, and this time it is more clearly and prominently expressed. I think this may be one of the development paths of the sinification of Marxism today. Marxist philosophy should not only be a revolutionary theory, but also a theory of construction, which includes both material and spiritual aspects, including the shaping of new people. The latter is actually an issue that Mao Zedong particularly focused on, and this issue still deserves in-depth theoretical exploration.
I am pleased that the Piaget mentioned in this book has been studied by many people in the country in recent years; the attitude and view of Kant's philosophy has changed greatly compared with before. Of course, there are also some different opinions and arguments, which are normal phenomena in academia. I think that whether on Kant's philosophy and the problems, doctrines, and characters mentioned in this book, there will be more and better treatises than this book.
I will be happy for that. My cameo assignment of overstepping the bounds will come to an end. Of course, in the future, if I have time, I am willing to study and write about Kant and many of the questions mentioned in this book.
In the original manuscript of the first edition of the afterword, I quoted a poem by Gong Zizhen, which was later deleted at the suggestion of a kind friend. Since I was a child, I have liked some of Gong's seven masterpieces, which are probably favored, and this song is also one of them. Today I wanted to transcribe it again, and then I thought, forget it, why do you have to provoke people to curse again, beg for food, and have the opportunity to copy it again in the future. Let's end with two other unrelated Gong poems instead.
Not like a pregnant person, not like a Zen dream back to a clear tear
Vase of flowers theatrical incense will be for six years of my childlike heart
Ancient people made word ghost night cry Today's literacy Prozac set
I am not afraid of ghosts and do not worry about the spirit of the night to make up for the autumn lights
In the autumn of September 1983, at No. 1, Ninth District, Hepingli, Beijing
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Ordinary people study philosophy, not to learn, but to get inspiration from philosophy, and then match it to their own life experience, constantly thinking, doubting, reflecting... Thus organizing into your own philosophy and finding ways to deal with various problems.
This philosophy course will focus on 20 "big problems" in life, such as loneliness, love and hate, life and death, confusion, and desire, each of which is divided into 5 lectures, telling you about the thought systems of 20 ancient and modern philosophers such as Heidegger, Aristotle, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, Camus, Plato, and Sartre, and explore their own life strategies.
02 104 wisdom courses spanning the 2000 history of philosophy
This course does not pursue "efficiency", does not throw textbook introductions to philosophy directly to you, but carefully "grinds" difficult ideas into vivid stories and easy telling, and takes you a little bit to understand the long history of philosophy and the essence of philosophers' thought through 104 courses in a whole year.
The presenter will analyze the essence of 20 classic philosophical works such as "Existence and Time", "Republic", "Meditations", and "Drinking Chapters" for you. It covers ancient Greek and Roman philosophy, early modern Western European philosophy, German classical philosophy, existentialism and postmodernism.
03 Philosophies and inspirations of 100+ literary and artistic works
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