More on the Question of the Integration of Marxist Philosophy

Abstract

What is Marxist philosophy? And what do we mean by its integration? This is a question of some controversy in philosophical circles. Comrade He Wei, in his article "What Marx Founded Was an Integral Philosophy of Historical Materialism" (published in Studies in Philosophy, no. 6, 1983), integrated Marxist philosophy with historical materialism, suggesting thereby that Marxist philosophy is historical materialism. On the other hand, Comrade Meng Xianzhong, writing the article "The Genealogy and Substance of Terms in ‘Dialectical Materialism’" (in Studies in Philosophy, no. 3, 1984), advocated that Marxist philosophy should be integrated with dialectical materialism, thereby suggesting that Marxist philosophy is dialectical materialism, and did not, in addition, consist of historical materialism. In my view, both of these viewpoints merit further study and discussion. In the following I would like to propose a few crude points of understanding of my own on these questions.