The Transcendence Of Philosophy Of Theory:Marx And Heidegger

It is an important symbol of modern Western philosophy to transcend thephilosophy of theory of traditional metaphysics.Different philosophers havestarted from different perspectives and positions to transcend the traditionalphilosophy of theory.Marx’s philosophy of praxis has undoubtedly achieved atranscendence of philosophy of theory for the first time and initiated the moderntransformation of western traditional philosophy.In this regard,Heidegger alsoadmitted that Marx completed the "reverse" of traditional metaphysics;However,he comprehend this "reverse" as a "variant" of metaphysics “inside”,rather than the "complete rejection"of metaphysics;The reason is that every"change" about the world presupposes an "explanation" about the world,soMarx’s "practice" is still trapped in the "theory" of Hegel’s speculativemetaphysics.Of course,we may not agree with Heidegger’s comment on Marx,but it prompts us to rethink the "transcendence of traditional philosophy andmetaphysics",especially "the relationship between theory and practice" as one ofthe important considerations.From the perspective of "the relationship betweentheory and practice",if traditional philosophy is a "metaphysical philosophy oftheory",then Marx chose a non-theoretical and heterogeneouspath—"philosophy of praxis",while Heidegger chose a pre-theoretical andoriginal path—"philosophy of being";Therefore,It constitutes two contrastingmodes that transcend the traditional "philosophy of theory".Comparing thesetwo different modes of philosophical transcendence is significance to “highlightthe different rational ways of philosophical concept transformation" and "themutual learning and dialogue between Marxist philosophy and modern westernphilosophy".Since ancient Greece,philosophy of theory has been the dominant form ofwestern traditional philosophy.The historical change of the "Theory" conceptreflects the historical evolution of philosophy of theory in a certain sense.The connotation of "Theory" In ancient Greece is polysemous,which has both thereligious mysticism related to sacred events and the intellectualism related topure philosophy.With the development of modern empirical science,theories aregradually secularized and "disenchanted" under the impact of scientific "Practice";However,in the philosophical theories since Descartes,theindependent and self-sufficient connotation of pure theory still continued untilThe birth of Marx’s philosophy of praxis.In the history of Western philosophy,Aristotle,Wolff,and Kant all have the subject division of philosophy of theory.The pure contemplative "Metaphysics" constitute the highest connotation ofphilosophy of theory,while the "philosophy of praxis " with ethics-politics as itscore content constitutes an important external distinction of philosophy oftheory.As far as the relationship between philosophy of theory and philosophy ofpraxis is concerned,philosophy of theory has always been the dominant "firstphilosophy".However,Since modern times,philosophy of theory has graduallyexposed some problems and dilemmas such as idealism,essentialism,binaryopposition,and instrumental reason,which make modern western philosopherspoint their fingers at the traditional philosophy represented by philosophy oftheory.Marx turned to a heterogeneous philosophy of praxis,over-turning thetraditional dominance of philosophy of theory over philosophy of praxis and thepriority of theory over practice.In Marx’s opinion,"Practice" is not the narrowethical behavior in traditional philosophy or the technical activities the sense ofnegative “creation”but a realistic overall activity of human free and self-conscious,including basic material production,revolutionary movement,scientificexperiment and industry,artistic creation etc.This philosophy of praxis not onlyhas a significance of human life,but also unities the connotation of “nature”and“freedom”.At the same time,this philosophy of praxis also shoulders the historicaltask of "sublating" the traditional philosophy of theory.Compared with thetraditional philosophy of theory,on the one hand,Marx’s philosophy of praxis hascompleted two turns: from “unreal world”to “real world”,from “explaining the world”to “changing the world”.on the other hand,it also completed the moderntransformation of thinking way:Firstly,the philosophy of praxis which representsthe real world surpasses the idealist world view of philosophy of theory;Secondly,human practical activities constitute the "realistic basis" of the negativeunity of subject and object,thinking and being,substance and consciousness.Therefore,philosophy of praxis as a dialectical thinking also transcends theDualism thinking and the Essentialism thinking of traditional philosophy oftheory;Finally,philosophy of praxis as a kind of value-rational thinking of humanfreedom and liberation also transcends the rational thinking of technology whichis served for the capital logical.What Heidegger chose is neither "philosophy of theory" nor "philosophy ofpraxis" in general,but a "philosophy of being" in which subject and object,theoryand practice have not been differentiated.Heidegger tried to through thephilosophy of being establish a more original philosophical foundation thantraditional philosophy of theory.In Heidegger’s view,there is no substantialdifference between the general philosophy of praxis and philosophy of theory,and the vulgar behavior of practice and theory is just derived the philosophy oftheory,and the distinction between theory and practice is still in the essence ofmetaphysics.The problems and dilemmas exposed by the traditional philosophyof theory,such as Essentialism,Subjectivism,and Technology Collection,whichessentially are trapped in the metaphysical,and they are the inevitable results ofthe transformation and development of the "metaphysics of presence" initiatedby Plato.This "metaphysics of presence" captures the dimension of "presence" ofthe truth of being,but covers the dimension of "absence".Therefore,it is aone-dimensional understanding and grasp of the "truth of being" which fails toshow its essential richness as "clarity".In essence,Heidegger’s path tophilosophy of being is a critique of the "fundamental premise" of traditionalphilosophy of theory,he wants to try to put the Western traditional philosophy ona more original philosophical foundation.Which is why Habermas calledHeidegger’s philosophy as "the philosophy of origin".In a certain sense,Marx and Heidegger both transcended the limitations of acertain way of thinking in traditional philosophy of theory in their own ways,they over-turned the "priority of theory" of traditional philosophy,andre-constructed a certain "unity" of theory and practice.However,Marxestablished a path of philosophy of praxis which insisted on the”priority ofpractice”,while Heidegger established a path of philosophy of being whichinsisted on the “priority before theory”.Although in Heidegger’s self-explanation,his philosophy of being is more original than Marx’s philosophy of praxis;Butfrom Marx’s perspective,the philosophy of being is difficult to get rid of thetheoretical entanglement of metaphysics,and it is easy to fall into the philosophyof theory of explaining the world.However,It is also necessary to see that Marx’sand Heidegger’s critique of traditional philosophy of theory is actually representsa deeper reflection on modern society.Both of them worry about the beingconditions of modern people in their own ways and look forward to the idealhuman free being of“communism”or "poetic dwelling".Their profound thoughtsnot only constitute an important dimension of the critique of modernity,but alsobecome an important expression of modern people’s ideal of stablity andprosperity in the whole world.This means,Heidegger isn’t completelyincompatible with Marx in the contemporary world.the contemporaryillumination and self-renewal of Marx’s philosophy should draw some beneficialenlightenment from Heidegger.