The Three Forms of the Marxist Philosophy and Their Historical Fate

The "general problem" that Marx's philosophy analyzes and aims to solve is capital's ownership of labor-power and the emancipation of the proletariat. In the course of exploring this problem, Marx's philosophy developed three basic, organically integrated forms: the popular, the scholarly and the political. However, the post-Marx history of Marxist philosophy has seen these three forms evolve differently and meet with different fates. The situation in contemporary China can be summarized as follows. The popular form is proposed but not fully realized; the scholarly form is robust but estranged from politics and the public; and the political form is prominent but needs further academic support and popular recognition. For the healthy development of Marxist philosophical research in contemporary China, we must not only clarify the integral structure of Marx's philosophy but also create an "ecological environment" favorable to its sustainable development with a view to facilitating the benign interaction of the three basic forms.