【First Article】 Excerpt from the introduction:
- The worldview is people’s general view of the entire world
- A systematic and theoretical worldview is philosophy
- The progressive class advocates materialism, while the reactionary class advocates idealism
[Chapter One] Excerpts:
- Materialism holds that matter is the origin of the world, and all the specific things in the world are matter. Nothing exists in the world except matter. As for the spirit, it is merely a reflection of material phenomena in people’s minds. It is not that the spirit exists before matter, but that the spirit produces matter; rather, matter exists before the spirit, and matter produces the spirit. Matter exists independently of the spirit, while the spirit is entirely dependent on matter and cannot be separated from it.
- The fundamental principle of materialism is: existence is primary, consciousness is secondary, and consciousness is a reflection of existence; it is not consciousness that determines existence, but existence that determines consciousness.
- The manifestation of idealism in the social and historical realm is viewing human history as the realization of some innate principles or as the product of the will of outstanding individuals.
- Viewing spirit, will, motives, etc., as the decisive forces in historical development. Instead of considering the主体 (subject) of material production activities—the working masses—as the creators of history, it considers a few individuals with so-called “critical minds” (often the philosophers holding this view themselves) as the creators of history.
- In fact, the so-called “neutral” things that transcend matter and spirit do not exist at all. Their so-called “elements” and so on are merely synonyms for feelings.
- The social and historical roots of materialism and idealism lie in the separation of mental labor and physical labor, as well as the differentiation of social classes.
- As long as people understand the world according to its true nature, they will naturally adopt a materialist viewpoint. Materialism is inherently part of all human cognition, and it has an unshakable objective basis in understanding.
- “Human cognition is not a straight line (nor does it proceed along a straight line), but is infinitely approximated by a series of circles, approximated by a spiral curve. Any fragment, piece, or segment of this curve can be transformed into (or partially transformed into) an independent complete straight line. …”
- The characteristic of religion lies in the belief in and worship of supernatural forces. All religions regard the imagined supernatural forces—the gods—as the creators of the natural world and human society.
It is best not to have too many excerpts or condensed content from the book in your reading notes, because in that case, there is not much difference from the original book content. Reading is not just about condensing knowledge points for exams, so it is recommended to write more of your own thoughts and associations.
I agree, my way of reading has become a bit dogmatic, and I don’t have much of my own thoughts. I will correct this issue in the next update.
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