[p. 188] The social origins of idealism and materialism are to be found in the contradictory social structure of class. The occurence of the earliest idealism was a product of the ignorance and confusion of a primitive and barbaric humankind. The development of the forces of production which followed acted as a spur to the subsequent development of scientific knowledge, and idealism should have declined and materialism should have emerged to replace it. However, to the present day idealism has not only not declined but has developed, to compete vigorously with materialism on an equal footing; and the reason for this is that society has had class divisions. On the one hand, an oppressing class cannot but, in the pursuit of its own interests, develop and consolidate its idealist theories; on the other, the oppressed class, similarly in pursuit of its own interests, can do no other than develop and consolidate its materialist theories. Idealist and materialist theories both exist as instruments of the struggle between classes, and prior to the elimination of classes, the opposition between idealism and materialism cannot be eliminated. In the process of its own historical development, idealism has represented the consciousness of the exploiting classes, thus performing a reactionary function. Materialism, the world view of the revolutionary classes, has grown and developed in class society in the ceaseless battles with the reactionary philosophy of idealism. Consequently, the struggle in philosophy between idealism and materialism has consistently reflected the struggle of interests between the reactionary classes and the revolutionary classes. Whether philosophers are conscious of it or not, their particular philosophical tendency invariably approximates the political orientation of their own class. All tendencies within philosophy always directly or indirectly[2-177] fosters the fundamental political interests of their class. In this sense, the particular form taken by the policies of their class can be seen as the implementation of a particular tendency within philosophy.
(p. 267) The specific features of the Marxist philosophy of dialectical materialism are its ability to explain clearly the class characteristic of all social consciousness (philosophy included), its open declaration of its proletarian character, and its resolute struggle with the idealist philosophy of the propertied classes; and moreover, these specific tasks are subordinate to the general task of overthrowing capitalism, organizing and establishing a proletarian dictatorship, and constructing a socialist society.
The tasks of philosophy during the current stage in China are subordinate to the general tasks of overthrowing imperialism and the semi-feudal system, the thorough achievement of bourgeois democracy, the establishment of a completely new Chinese democratic republic[2-178] and also to prepare through peaceful means[2-179] for the transformation to socialism and communism. Philosophical theory and political practice should be intimately connected.
What is the fundamental difference between idealism and materialism? It is the opposite answers that each provides to the basic question of philosophy, namely the question of the relationship between spirit and matter (the question of the relationship between consciousness and existence). Idealism considers the world to have its sole origins in spirit (consciousness, concepts, the subject), and matter (the natural world, society, the object) to be dependent on it. Materialism considers matter exists independently of spirit, and spirit to be dependent on it. A confusing variety of opinions on all questions grows from the opposite answers given to this basic question.
According to idealism, the world is either a synthesis of the entirety of consciousness, or the spiritual process created by our reason or the world’s reason; it regards the external material world as either a completely fabricated illusion or the material external trapping of spiritual elements. Idealism regards the knowledge of humankind as emanating spontaneously from the subject, and the product of spirit itself.
(p. 268) Materialism, on the other hand, considers the unity of the universe to derive from its materiality, and that spirit (consciousness) is one of the natural characteristics of matter which emerges only when matter has developed to a certain stage. Nature, matter and the objective world exist apart from spirit and are independent of it. Human knowledge is a reflection of the objective external world.