Mao Zedong's Dialectics in the Comparative Perspective of Chinese and Western Modes of Thinking

摘要

:    As the outcome of the encounter of Chinese and Western cultures and modes of thinking, Mao Zedong's dialectics contains considerable elements of traditional Chinese dialectics. Mao advocated differentiation between principal and secondary contradictions and between the principal and secondary aspects of a contradiction; but more importantly, he also emphasized that each can transform into its opposite under certain conditions and attached considerable importance to the “quintessence” of a contradiction, ideas which are alien to traditional Western dialectics. This makes Mao's dialectics distinctive, so that it constitutes a model of the integration (not without tension) of Chinese and Western patterns of thinking. A deeper understanding of this model will be of great benefit to the revival and development of contemporary Chinese philosophy.View full textDownload full textKeywordsChinese and Western modes of thinking, Mao Zedong's dialectics, traditional Western dialectics, contradictionRelated var addthis_config = { ui_cobrand: "Taylor & Francis Online", services_compact: "citeulike,netvibes,twitter,technorati,delicious,linkedin,facebook,stumbleupon,digg,google,more", pubid: "ra-4dff56cd6bb1830b" }; Add to shortlist Link Permalink http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02529203.2011.548925