Social Sciences in China (Chinese Edition)

No. 7, 2024

 

Anti-Subjective “Subject” and Non-Identical “Object”—Rethinking Based on the Question of the Subject-Object Relationship

(Abstract)

 

Wang Xiaosheng

 

Traditional epistemology has long adhered to the basic framework of subject-object dualism. However, this dichotomy hinders a deep understanding of internal thought processes. Numerous thinkers have attempted to overcome the deficiencies of this dualism through various approaches. For Marxist epistemology, it is crucial to start from materialistic dialectics and consider the subject-object relationship in the context of the development of human cognition and science. While it is necessary to affirm the basic framework of subject-object dualism, we must not be confined by it. The subject is inherently contradictory and not pre-existing, whereas the object is distinct from “Gegenstand” of the inner thought. In the process of thinking, the subject and object are both interpenetrating and distinct. The subject both seeks identification with the object and to imitate it. A deeper understanding of the subject-object relationship can be achieved through the dialectical interplay between spirit and body.