Fundamental view of Marxism on questions such as the source and essence of truth and the criterion for testing the truth. Truth is a correct reflection of objective things by the subject. What is truth and what is the essence of truth? There are two opposite views. Idealism regards truth as an inherent attribute of the spiritual substance itself. Subjective idealism regards truth as something purely subjective and denies objective truth. For example, pragmatism holds that “the useful is the true”, Hume held that truth is the conformity of ideas to subjective sensation, Kant held that truth is the coincidence of thinking with its a priori forms, and Machism held that truth is a complex of sensations, organizing form of human experience, etc. Objective idealism regards truth as the self-manifestation of the absolute spirit. For example, Hegel held that truth lies in the identity of objectivity and concept, and the objectivity of truth is the objectivity of the absolute spirit. Materialism emphasizes that truth is the conformity of man’s knowledge with objective things, and upholds to the theory of objective truth. However, because old materialism did not understand the fundamental significance of practice to knowledge, its knowledge of truth had limitations. For example, absolutists exaggerated the absoluteness of truth and held that truth can be exhausted, blocking the path of development of truth; relativism exaggerated the relativity of truth and eventually relapsed into idealistic sophistry. Marx and Engels inherited and developed the materialist principle of objective truth, and emphasized that objectivity is the fundamental attribute of truth. Moreover, they introduced the point of view of practice into epistemology, upheld both materialism and dialectics, and scientifically explained questions such as the source, the essence, and the criterion of testing of the conception of truth. Later, under the new historical conditions, Lenin and Mao Zedong summarized the achievements of the new development of natural and social science, made an in-depth elaboration on questions such as the objectivity, comprehensiveness, and concreteness of truth, and that practice is the sole criterion for testing truth, enriching the Marxist conception of truth…
Article Length: 6,888 characters
Own the print edition of The Great Dictionary of Marxism for unrestricted study and reference.
