A Marxist Philosophy of Life - Reading Mao’s Three Essays

From Maos three essays, namely In Memory of Norman Bethune, Serve the People, and The Foolish sexagenarian Man Who Removed the Mountains, we faeces see that the two defining themes of Maos rendition of Marxist philosophy towards life are altruism and reality, two of which are in line with Marxist theories. However, considering the historical context of the three essays, Maos philosophy of life as shown in the aforementioned essays can be seen as propagandistic and does not necessarily reflect Maos true opinions on life. In Maos essays, the idea of reality is shown mainly by Maos emphasis on the importance of practise. The word pragmatism comes from the Grecian word pragma, which means deed, act the latter, in turn, derives from the Greek word prass, which means to practise, to achieve. Advocates for pragmatism argue that the value of an ideology or proposition lies in the fact whether it works satisfactorily in practice (McDermid). Such principle is evident in most of Maos wor ks. For instance, In In Memory Of Norman Bethune, Mao commended the Canadian doctor for putting this Leninist line into practice (Mao, In Memory Of Norman Bethune). In Serve the People, Mao stressed again on the significance of practice. He argued that Anyone if what he proposes go out benefit the people, we will act upon it (Mao, Serve the People). Here Mao suggests that an idea, as long as it is in line with the Communist Partys end of serving the people, should be put into practice, no matter of its origins. This has once again shown the stress Mao had laid on the importance of practice, which is in line with pragmatism principles. Altruism is another element in Maos philosophy of life shown in the three essays. Altruism is the tendency t... ... the two themes of Maos philosophy of life as is featured in the three essays, namely pragmatism and altruism, reflect Maos true opinions on life, they are in line with orthodox Marxist teachings and can be seen as a Marxist philosoph y towards life. Works CitedMao, Zedong. In Memory Of Norman Bethune. 21 12 1939. Marxists Internet Archive. 2 12 2013 .. Serve the People. 8 9 1944. Marxists Internet Archive. 2 12 2013 .. The Foolish Old Man Who Removed the Mountains. 11 6 1945. Marxists Internet Archive. 2 12 2013 .McDermid, Douglas. Pragmatism. 15 12 2006. 5 12 2013 .