--- Notes



Comments on an Article Discussing the Object of Dialectical Logic [1] (October 11, 1957) To Comrade Chen Boda [2]. This article on dialectical logic may be read. The author advances some novel ideas. Please return it to me after you have examined it. Mao Zedong, October 11. Printed from the manuscript. Notes [1] Refers to the article “Several Opinions on the Question of the Object of Dialectical Logic,” published in the Guangming Daily on October 6, 1957, by Qian Dayou. The article argues that, over the past few years, discussions within Soviet and Chinese academic circles concerning the relationship between formal logic and dialectical logic have thus far remained confined to Engels’s analogy of the interrelation between higher and elementary mathematics, with little real progress having been made. The reasons for this, it is contended, are twofold: first, scholars have attempted to address the relation between the two without first clarifying the respective natures of formal logic and dialectical logic; second, such discussions have been heavily influenced by dogmatism. With regard to the issue of the object of dialectical logic as raised in these debates, the author sets forth his personal views as follows:

1. Dialectical logic must be an independent science. It is incorrect to regard dialectical materialism or the Marxist method of dialectics—that is, materialist dialectics—as identical with dialectical logic. To do so would amount to equating a general theory of thought with a specific doctrine concerned with the laws and forms of correct thinking in dialectical logic (such as concepts, judgments, and inferences), thereby effectively denying that dialectical logic possesses an independent object of study and that it is, in fact, an autonomous scientific discipline.

2. Dialectical logic is not a philosophical science standing alongside dialectical materialism or the Marxist method of dialectics. The distinctions between them lie in the following: (a) The objects of study differ. The Marxist method of dialectics pertains to objective dialectics in its general sense, taking as its subject matter the three domains of nature, society, and human thought; it is a science devoted to the investigation of the universal laws governing their movement, change, and development. By contrast, dialectical logic concerns subjective dialectics, focusing on the particular laws of motion, change, and development operative within the realm of thought. (b) The scopes of cognition differ. The Marxist method of dialectics applies to all spheres of human cognition, encompassing both sensory and rational stages of knowledge; whereas dialectical logic is relevant only to the domain of rational cognition. (c) Class character differs. The Marxist method of dialectics constitutes the world outlook of the proletarian party and forms an integral part of Marxist philosophy; it is inherently class-based. Dialectical logic, however, does not belong to the body of Marxist philosophy; rather, it is one of the specialized sciences that examine the field of thought, and as such it is non-class in nature.

3. Dialectical logic is, and can only be, a concrete science dealing with the laws and forms of correct thinking. It is the study of the dialectical processes whereby thought moves, changes, and develops.

4. Dialectical logic should not merely investigate the relations among concepts and categories; it ought also to explore the laws governing thought itself and to examine certain logical methods, such as analysis and synthesis, induction and deduction, and abstraction and concretion. Moreover, questions of proof, hypothesis, and analogy likewise warrant examination from the perspective of dialectical logic.

[2] Chen Boda, who at that time served as Director of the Political Research Office of the CPC Central Committee and as Mao Zedong’s secretary.