A Philosophical Critique of Thought

This book is mainly concerned with elaborating an account of the unique theoretical essence and activities of philosophy. What manner of civilization should modern humans forge? On what developmental path should a nation embark? What lifestyle should each individual choose? These are the most fundamental issues of our time. Profoundly implicit in the choices outlined above is a deeper question: What are the criteria of choice? An examination of these criteria is a reflection on the premises constituting thought, or a critique of the premises underlying thought. Using a “critique of the premises underlying thought” as the basic idea and hermeneutic principle in philosophy will open a wider theoretical space for contemporary philosophy so as to avoid the predicament of being “pseudo-scientific” or “pseudo-artistic.” It will also present contemporary philosophy with a realistic path of development for the task of reflecting on the criteria of choice.

This book seeks to formulate concrete philosophical arguments for a critique of the basic beliefs, logic, modes, concepts, and philosophical ideas which constitute thought, with the aim of demonstrating the vigorous self-critique and inexhaustible theoretical space found in philosophical development. This book provides a new principle of interpretation for understanding philosophy and, in turn, uses this principle to develop a critique of the premises underlying thought, thereby furthering the contemporary development of philosophy. 

This book encompasses a critique of the premises underlying thought, which mainly includes the basic beliefs, logic, modes, concepts, and philosophical ideas constituting thought. Such a critique should comprise five aspects: First, the basic beliefs constituting thought propose a critique of the identity of thought and being; second, the basic logic constituting thought refers to a critique of the formal, intensional, and practical logic of thought; third,the basic modes constituting thought denote a critique of the basic modes by which humans comprehend the world, including commonsense, religion, art, and science; fourth, the basic concepts constituting thought entail a critique centering on being, the world, history, truth, value, and other basic concepts; and finally, the philosophical ideas constituting thought indicate a critique of philosophy itself. A critique aligned on these five aspects will provide a general philosophical overview of the premise critique of thought.

Sun Zhengyu (b. 1946) is a Distinguished Professor of Philosophy and Social Sciences of Jilin University and the Director of Center for Fundamentals of Philosophy, which is one of Key Centers of Humanities and Social Sciences under the Ministry of Education. He is Member of the Tenth, Eleventh, and Twelfth CPPCC National Committee, Member of the Advisory Committee of the National Philosophy and Social Sciences Experts, and Member of social sciences commission of the Ministry of Education. He served as Director of the Education Committee of philosophy of the Ministry of Education, Chairman of the philosophy society of Jilin Province, and Director of the academic committee of Jilin University.   

His representative works include On Philosophy, Critique of Premises of Theory Thinking, Research on Marxist Fundamentals (2 Volumes), Times in Thoughts, A Lofty Position, Philosophical Essays of Sun Zhengyu (9 Volumes), Research on Marxist Dialectics, Monographic Studies on Contemporary Chinese Marxist Philosophy, Our Spiritual Home, and A Philosophical Critique of Thought, History of Contemporary Chinese Philosophy since Reform and Opening (1978-2009). He published more than 300 papers in journals and newspapers, including Social Sciences in China and Philosophical Researches. 28 papers were reprinted by Xinhua Digest.