Promoting academic theory innovation should adhere to problem orientation

　　 [Reading Classics Theory]

　　 General Secretary of the Supreme Leader pointed out: "In the final analysis, accelerating the construction of philosophy and social sciences with China characteristics is to build China’s independent knowledge system. We should take China as a mirror, take the times as a mirror, base ourselves on the reality of China, solve the China issue, constantly promote the creative transformation and innovative development of Chinese excellent traditional culture, and constantly promote knowledge innovation, theoretical innovation and method innovation, so that philosophy and social sciences with China characteristics can truly stand in the world academic forest. " Problems are the starting point and power source of innovation. Marx pointed out: "The problem is the open and fearless voice of the times that influences all individuals. The problem is the slogan of the times and the most practical voice for it to express its mental state. " Marx and Engels’ practice of carrying out theoretical research based on the "question" as the "voice of the times" is of great enlightening significance for us to construct China’s independent knowledge system and promote academic theoretical innovation.

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　　 In 1843, when German philosophers were still immersed in criticizing the achievements of German religion, Marx was keenly aware that Germany’s "problems" had changed. Marx pointed out that as far as Germany is concerned, the criticism of religion has basically ended, and with the "sacred image of human self-alienation being exposed", how to "expose self-alienation with non-sacred image" has become the main "problem". Marx believes that based on this change of "problem", philosophers’ critical activities should also be changed accordingly, that is, "the criticism of heaven becomes the criticism of the world, the criticism of religion becomes the criticism of law, and the criticism of theology becomes the criticism of politics". In Marx’s view, this change is "an urgent task of philosophy serving history", so it is not dispensable and insignificant for philosophers. In other words, it has become "the voice of the times" to criticize the world and establish the truth of this world. This "voice of the times" became the fundamental guide for Marx to engage in theoretical research later.

　　 In carrying out "criticism of the world", Marx encountered another problem, that is, the relationship between "philosophy" and "changing the world". In terms of philosophy, Marx was deeply influenced by German philosophers represented by Powell and Feuerbach at first, but he soon realized that the different "explanations" of these "philosophers" about the world did not help the "change" of the world, which prompted him to start a comprehensive liquidation of his previous philosophical beliefs. As far as the philosophical nature is concerned, as Engels pointed out, "Strauss, Powell, Stiener and Feuerbach are all branches of Hegel’s philosophy as far as they have not left the land of philosophy." The transformation of Marx’s philosophy view is inseparable from the reflection and criticism of this kind of philosophy. Marx and Engels in the period of German Ideology have clearly realized that the core of young Hegel’s philosophy is to have a naive fantasy, that is, to think that "the real world is the product of the conceptual world", and then think that as long as people’s ideas are changed, the world can be changed accordingly. In Marx and Engels’ view, to correctly grasp the relationship between philosophy and changing the world, we must realize the transformation of historical view, from the idealistic historical view that emphasizes "looking for a certain category in each era" and "explaining practice from the perspective of ideas" to the materialistic historical view that emphasizes "always standing on the basis of realistic history" and "explaining the formation of ideas from the perspective of material practice". In this sense, the establishment of historical materialism is the result of theoretical activities based on problem orientation.

　　 The greatest achievements in philosophy and social sciences in the world are all created by answering and solving the major problems facing people and society. This is the case with Das Kapital. Engels pointed out that "the relationship between capital and labor is the axis around which all our modern social systems revolve". It can be said that how to grasp the "relationship between capital and labor" is a fundamental problem in the era when Marx and Engels lived. Grasping this problem well can not only understand the essence of capitalist society and see its development trend clearly, but also reveal the root of proletarian self-alienation and find a way to eliminate this self-alienation. In other words, if Marx wants to criticize the world and explore the truth of this world, he must grasp the problem of the relationship between capital and labor and resort to political economy. However, not only did this issue not enter Marx’s field of vision at first, but political economy was not Marx’s main attack direction at first. Marx recalled that although his major in college was law, his favorite subjects were philosophy and history. During his time as an editor of Rheinische Zeitung, he "first encountered the difficulty of expressing his opinions on the so-called material interests", which became the initial motivation for him to study economic issues. Later theoretical work made Marx come to the conclusion that both the study of the relationship between law and the anatomy of civil society should be sought in political economy. Through the study of political economy, Marx comprehensively understood and grasped the relationship between capital and labor, and obtained a series of important discoveries such as "surplus value".It can be said that it is precisely to grasp and explain this important issue that contributed to the creation of Das Kapital. Engels pointed out in the book review of Karl Marx’s Das Kapital Volume I-For Democracy Weekly that the greatness of Das Kapital lies in the fact that the relationship between capital and labor has been scientifically explained for the first time. It can be seen that the size of a theoretical achievement is closely related to whether it can reasonably answer the major issues of an era.

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　　 Report to the 20th CPC National Congress of the Party pointed out: "Problems are the voice of the times, and answering and guiding the solution of problems is the fundamental task of theory." We should grasp the pulse of the times, focus on major issues and guide them through the whole process of building China’s independent knowledge system and building philosophy and social sciences with China characteristics. To this end, we should pay attention to the following aspects:

　　 First of all, take what we are doing as the focus of academic theoretical research. General Secretary of the Supreme Leader pointed out that "China’s philosophy and social sciences should focus on what we are doing, dig up new materials, discover new problems, put forward new ideas and construct new theories from the practice of China’s reform and development". To construct philosophy and social science with China characteristics, we should base ourselves on the reality of China and take root in the land of China, and oppose the practice of carving a boat to seek a sword, imitating a cat and painting a tiger, copying mechanically and painting a gourd in the same way that is divorced from the reality of China.

　　 Secondly, be good at grasping and explaining those inevitable problems. In the practice of China’s reform and development, we will encounter many problems, some of which are accidental. Of course, these problems need to be studied and solved, but in contrast, we should pay more attention to those inevitable problems. Engels pointed out that "the attribute of reality only belongs to what is inevitable at the same time", that is, "inevitability" means "reality". In this sense, those inevitable problems should be the research objects of philosophy and social sciences because they have real reality. For example, the reason why the relationship between capital and labor is the problem to be studied in Das Kapital is that Marx saw that the opposition between labor and capital is an inevitable and realistic opposition. Marx pointed out: "As long as it is not understood as the opposition between labor and capital, the opposition between the proletariat and the productive is still an irrelevant opposition, an opposition that has not been understood from its dynamic relationship and its internal relationship, and has not been understood as a contradiction." That is to say, only when the "opposition between the proletariat and the productive" rises to the "opposition between labor and capital" will this opposition be inevitable and realistic, and it will become a problem that must be taken seriously and studied.

　　 Finally, focus on the overall, fundamental and key issues related to the development of the cause of the party and the state. As far as the practice of socialist modernization is concerned, because those inevitable and realistic problems are often global, fundamental and key issues related to the development of the cause of the party and the country, adhering to the problem-oriented requires us to focus on such major issues and show our true skills and achieve good results in the study of these major issues.

　　 (Author: Exhausted Changguang, a professor at the Marxist Department of Northeast Normal University, this article is the phased achievement of the key project of the National Social Science Fund "A Hundred Years’ Inheritance and Exploration of Marxist Dialectics in China" [〔21AKS003〕])