The Juche Idea(Series 2)
The
Juche-oriented Understanding of Man
The
philosophical understanding of man is the starting point of the Juche
philosophy. That is because the Juche philosophy is a philosophy which has been
elaborated and systematized with man at its centre. In order to raise the
philosophical question and give answer to it centring on man, it is natural and
imperative to know first of all what being man is.
What being man is and what are the essential features of
man which differ from all kinds of material beings--these are the starting
question that must be answered at first by not only man-centred Juche
philosophy but by philosophies that illuminate the scientific world outlook.
Since the world outlook
of philosophy is acquired by man and necessary for shaping his destiny, it
should start with a correct understanding of man. Only on the basis of a
correct philosophical understanding of man, is it possible to correctly
elucidate the view, attitude and standpoint to the world.
After all, the level
of the development of the world outlook and the degree of its completion depend
on the scientific accuracy of philosophical understanding of man.
Most important in
philosophical understanding of man is man's essential characteristics, that is,
what is the nature of man. The essential characteristic of man means the most
essential and fundamental quality that is possessed only by man and none other
material beings, and without which man cannot call himself man.
Man's essential
characteristic is sometimes termed essential attributes but they are the same
concept. In the sense of the inherent property of man that no other material
beings have, it is termed essential characteristics, and in the sense of the
qualities inhering in man, it is termed essential attributes.
Only when man's
essential characteristics, the human nature, is elucidated, is it possible to
give answer to the question of the essence of man, i.e., what being man is. In
this sense, the question of his essence is the question of his nature. Accordingly, the focus in
philosophical consideration of man is ascribed to elucidating man's essential
characteristics. In history, the understanding of man, man's essential
characteristics, his nature in particular, has long been argued in the world of
philosophy. However, no philosophy has suggested it as the starting and main
point of the world outlook, and accordingly has failed to give a scientific
answer to it.
The Juche philosophy
regarded for the first time in history the question of man's essential characteristics as the
starting point that philosophy should solve, and gave a scientific answer to
it, thus establishing a perfect philosophical understanding of man.
The great leader Comrade Kim Jong Il said.
"It (the Juche idea) expounded that man is a
social being with independence, creativity and consciousness, and thus gave a
perfect philosophical elucidation of man."
This classical proposition gives the perfect
Juhce-oriented understanding of the essence of man.
1.
Man is a Social Being
- In
philosophical consideration of man, the Juche philosophy starts in any case
from the fact that man is a social being.
The philosophical consideration of man is to define
the essence of man in elation with the world as a whole, that is , to answer
what being man is.
This is fundamentally different from the consideration
of man in such individual sciences as medicine, psychology and pedagogy which
take man as their subject matter.
Important is what to take as a starting point in
philosophical consideration of man. That is because the essential
characteristics of man, his nature, can be explained either correctly or
wrongly, according to the starting point taken.
If one regards man as a natural and biological being and
makes it the starting point, one will come to find man's essential
characteristics wrongly in biological attributes. But, if one regards man as a
social being, one will find man's essential characteristics in social attributes.
Therefore, in
philosophical consideration of man one must start from the point that man is a
social being.
- What does it mean that man is a social being?
Since man is the supreme product of the development of
matter and the product of biological evolution of nature, he has as a
biological organism commonness with other organisms.
However, man is not a
simple material being, a biological being. Man is a social being. Here is the
fundamental difference of man from all other natural beings.
Then, what is a
social being?
The great leader Comrade Kim Jong Il said that that
man is called a social being is used to distinguish him from natural being, for
he lives in social relationship.
That man is the social being means that man is a being
that forms social collective and lives and acts in social relations.
Man lives and acts
not in isolation but in social collective, cooperating each other. This is the
mode of existence peculiar to man.
Only by so doing, man
could survive and make a constant development.
With such a mode of
existence, people in the primitive society have been able to advance step by
step, overcoming severe conditions of nature and creating the culture of
pre-historical age, though they had only stone instrument and club. Of course, there are such gregarious
animals as ants and bees that have a strict "order" that resembles
social relationship. However, this is neither social relationship nor social collective;
it is a mode of life controlled by instinct. That is why such a life mode has
not changed in all ages. However, the collective life of man changes and
develops constantly with the passage of time. The scale of social collective
changes and the relations of cooperation among people also develop. This shows
that man forms social relations consciously and lives in social collective.
Only man in the world
forms and lives in social collective.
Accordingly, any other material beings other than man
are not included in the concept of social being. Here, one might argue that the
material wealth of society, one of the constituents of society, could be
included in social beings, for it is different from other things that exist in
nature. For example, the buildings of
factories and enterprises, their products and mechanical means such as
machine tools, tractors and cars cannot be found in nature and made of their
own accord at all times, so, one may think that they can be regarded as social
beings.
Of course, the
material wealth of society is created socially by man, so it is different from
natural things, the material beings. But, it cannot be called a social being.
Since social
relationships are formed by people and are not the material substances that
exist objectively, they cannot be included in the concept of social beings.
Here, we should not
confuse ourselves the concept of social
being mentioned in the Juche philosophy and the one used in Marxist
materialistic conception of history.
According to materialistic conception of history, all
factors that constitute society are classified into the materialistic and the
idealistic; the former are included in the concept of social being and the
latter in the concept of social consciousness. The fundamental principle of
materialistic conception of history that social beings determine social
consciousness is the application of the principle of philosophical materialism
that matter or being determines consciousness or thinking, to socio-history.
If one confuses the
concept of social being used in the Juche philosophy with the one in Marxist
philosophy, one would think not only man but social wealth and social relations
are all included in the concept of social being.
In this case, the
fundamental difference between man and his products, social wealth and social
relationship, becomes obscure, and, furthermore, it is impossible to give
answer to the question by what the essential characteristics of man are
defined.
The concept of social
being used in the Juche philosophy is the concept that means only man who lives
and acts in social relationship, different from natural and biological beings.
Since social wealth
and social relationship are created by man, they only belong to society, not
social beings.
The Juche philosophy
shows that man is the only social being and also that man is a positive being
that forms social relationship actively and improves and controls it
purposefully and consciously.
- Man is the
master of the social relationship.
Man forms and improves the social
relationship.
The social relationship is a prerequisite for man to
live and develop as a social being; it has an influence on man's life and
activities to a certain extent.
Progressive social
relationship or social system has a positive influence on the people's life and
activity, but reactionary one hinders them.
The reactionary
exploiter system in which landlords and capitalists are the masters of
production restrains the creative initiatives of the working people, but the progressive
socialist system in which the working people are the masters of production
gives full play to their creative enthusiasm. This shows that people are
restrained by social relationship. However, this does not always mean that man
is restrained by social relationship.
It is unavoidable for
man to be restricted by social relationship, but this fact is not the main
aspect in the relation between man and social relationship.
Though he is
restrained and influenced by social relationship, man is not a passive being.
Man is the agent and motive force that forms social relationship. In social
life, man, as an active being, not only forms different social relations--
political, economic, ideological and cultural-- but also improves and controls
them to meet his demand for independence. By eliminating the old social
relationship and establishing a new social relationship and social system to
meet his independent aspiration and demand, man develops social history and
shapes his destiny. In relation between man and social relationship, the
fundamental and essential aspect is that man forms social relationship on his
initiative and improves and develops it to meet his will rather than that he is
restrained by social relations.
By making it clear that
the fundamental and essential point is that man forms social relations on his
initiative and reforms and controls it with will and purpose, the Juche
philosophy perfectly explains the true meaning of the conception that man is a
social being.
The concept of
social being used in the Juche philosophy has an original meaning that defines
the essential characteristics of man.
This means that man,
the social being, has the essential characteristics that no other material
existence have.
In other words, the
social being is a being with essential characteristics -- independence,
creativity and consciousness. The being devoid of these essential
characteristics cannot be a social being in any case.
Since it is explained
that the social being has such essential characteristics as independence,
creativity and consciousness, it has become clear that why man alone becomes
the being that forms social relationship on his initiative and reforms and
controls it.
- What is the originality of the Juche-oriented
view that man is the social being?
In order to
understand the originality of the Juche-oriented understanding that man is a
social being, it is necessary to review the arguments of the previous
philosophies.
Before the emergence
of the working class philosophy, no philosophy regarded man as a social being.
Bourgeois and metaphysical materialists regarded man as a natural and
biological being and ascribed the essential attribute peculiar only to the
instinctive biological attribute for maintaining physical existence alone.
The preceding
philosophy of the working class regarded for the first time,
man as a social being, not a simple natural and biological being.
The preceding Marxists criticized not only the mysterious and idealistic view
of man but also the biological and abstract view that considers man outside
social relations and defined the essence of man as the totality of social
relations. This was the first recognization of man as a social being and made a
great progress in philosophical understanding of man.
However, the
understanding of man as a social being explained by Marxism has essential
limitations.
First, it stressed
in a one-sidely way the aspect that man is restrained by social relations and
develops according to their change and development, failing to see the active
and positive aspect that man forms and transforms social relations consciously.
This is because they put too much stress on the decisive function and role of
material and economic aspect in criticizing idealistic view of man.
Secondly, the
Marxist philosophy failed to explain the essential characteristics of man as a
social being.
Since it paid the
main attention to clarifying man as a social being that is restrained by social
relations, not as a simple biological being, it couldn't give answer to man's
essential characteristics.
This is why it
failed to stress the aspect that man forms social relations positively and
improves and controls them to meet his demand.
Thirdly, the Marxist philosophy did not
include man alone in the concept of the social being. Marxist founders considered the essence of
man in social relations, and included in social beings the material conditions
and economic relations of social life which exist objectively and are reflected
in social consciousness.
This shows that
though the preceding philosophy of the working class suggested for the first
time that man is a social being, it could not give a perfect scientific answer
to it.
The concept that man
is a social being has been clarified perfectly and comprehensively by the Juche
philosophy.
2. Essential
Characteristics of Man
The essential
characteristics of man, a social being, are independence, creativity and
consciousness. That's why man is called a social being with independence,
creativity and consciousness.
- What kind of
attribute of man is independence?
The great leader Comrade Kim Jong Il said.
"
The attribute
of social man who is desirous of living and developing independently as the
master of the world and his destiny, is independence. In other words,
independence is a quality of man that makes him dominator of the world and
master of his destiny.
Influenced by nature, man is desirous of living
freely, departing himself from nature and throwing off the fetters of nature.
That is why man does not tolerate any kinds of subjugation of nature and
opposes them.
However, animals, as a part of nature, are entirely
subordinated to it. They survive by
adapting themselves to nature unable to confront themselves with it.
Though man lives in
social relations and is influenced and restrained by them, he does not want to
be subordinated to society. Accordingly, as long as there is subordination of
society, man fights against it.
It is one of the
aspects of independence of man to oppose all sorts of subjugation and
subordination surrounding him.
Man not only opposes all sorts of subjugation
and subordination but tries to make his surrounding world serve him to meet his
aspiration and demand. Only by so doing, man can live and develop. That is why
man constantly transforms nature and society to suit his demand and make them
serve him.
However, animals
cannot transform the surrounding world to make it serve them; they transform
themselves and adapt themselves to nature. If animals can not adapt themselves
to nature, they would be extinct. All animals, without exception, are
subordinated to nature because they cannot subordinate the surrounding world to
them.
It is the property
peculiar to man and one of the important contents of independence to
subordinate the surrounding world to him.
- That man has independence means that he has the demand
for independence.
The demand for
independence is the essential demand of social man who is desirous of living
and developing, free from all forms of domination and subjugation. In other
words, it is the demand of man to live and develop as master of the world and
his destiny.
The demand for
independence comes up in relation with the world, i.e., in relation with
nature, society and man himself.
Man demands to live
and develop, enjoying rich material life and working cheerfully, free from the
fetters of nature; he also wants to live and develop as an equal member of
society, helping each other, free from social subjugation.
Man's demand for independence grows as days go by.
The demand for independence is classified into the
collective and the individual.
The collective's demand for independence is the
common demand of social collective for independent development, whereas the
individual's demand for independence is the demand that an individual has as an
equal member of social collective, the demand that he or she deserves to be
given back by the collective for his or her contribution to the social
collective.
The individual's demand for independence is
fundamentally different from individual greed that ignores the collective and
subordinates all things to the interests of the individual.
In the demand for independence, the collective's
demand for independence is primary. Only when the collectives demand for
independence is met with credit, the individual's demand for independence is
also fully ensured.
The demand for independence is the essential one that
social man has in relation with the world. That man has independence means that
he has the demand for independence.
However, it does not mean that independence and the
demand for independence is the same.
-
By saying that
independence is the life and soul of man, it means socio-
political integrity, socio-political independence.
Since man is a
social being, socio-political integrity is more precious than physical life.
The dignity and value of social man are guaranteed by the former. Without
socio-political integrity he is the same as dead, though he breaths. That's why
renegades of the revolution are treated worse than animals and branded as the
dead as social beings.
Only when man, the
social being, is free socio-politically, he can enjoy a life worthy of human
life. If man is subordinated socio-politically, he would be treated inhumanely
as animals.
Revolutionaries
remain true to the revolutionary principle at whatever adversity and even on
the scaffold in order to defend socio-political integrity that can be changed
for nothing. Indeed, socio-political independence is the most precious life and
soul for social beings.
Creativity
- What kind of attribute of social man is creativity?
The great leader Comrade Kim Jong Il said.
"Creativity is an attribute of social man who
transforms the world and shapes his destiny purposefully and consciously."
Creativity is
the essential nature of social man who transforms the world and shapes his
destiny purposefully. In other words, creativity is a quality of man that makes himself the sole transformer
of the world and the shaper of his destiny.
Originally, the word "creation" means
making the new. Making the new has two meanings: one is to make the new which
has not existed in the real world, and the other is to transform the existing
old one into a new one.
First of all,
creativity is a quality of man who transforms in a new way the old one which
has already existed in the world.
Man transforms the
old in the world to realize his demand for independence.
Man changes unfavourable
natural conditions into more useful and favourable ones. For instance, people
block the river to use water for irrigation and generating electricity and
reclaim the tideland into paddy fields to produce grain. There are many other
examples to take.
In the field of society, too, man improves
the irrational aspects of the existing social system into the rational ones.
However, animals
cannot improve the given living environment, only to use it as it is. Magpies
make nest on trees and turtles dig hole to lay eggs in beach--these acts cannot
be considered to be improving the living environment. In addition, when they
are confronted with unfavourable life environment, animals only adapt
themselves to it, unable to improve it in their favour. If not, they will be
extinct.
One of the important
aspects of man's creativity is the quality of developing the old in the world
into the new. Creativity is also the quality of making the new which has not
existed in the world.
Man cannot realize his
demand for independence only by transforming the old into the new in the real
world. That is why man creates the new that has not existed in the real world
for use.
For example,
tractors, cars, planes and all other technical means which have been created by
modern mankind are not natural products. The typical example can be found in
chemical industry. Limestone and crude oil are turned into chemical fibre. In
the future, people will make new materials that mankind has never thought of.
In the field of
society, people establish a new social system and build a new society. The
historical testimony is that people have put an end to exploiter society and
built a progressive socialist system.
The quality of
creating the new which has not existed in the real world is the main aspect of
man's creativity.
- That man has creativity means that he has creative
ability.
Creative ability is
the ability to understand and transform the world and himself.
Since man has
creative ability, he becomes a creative being.
Scientific and
technological knowledge are basic in creative ability.
Scientific and technological knowledge are a social
consciousness that reflects the essence of things and phenomena, the law of
their things and the mode and methods to make use of them.
There is a saying
that it is knowledge not the god that helps man. Thanks to the scientific and
technological knowledge, man becomes the powerful being and conducts creative
activity to cognize and transform the world.
Skill and mastery are
also the contents of creative ability. Those who have skill and rich experience
are more successful in their creative activity.
As people's cognition
and transformation of the world have no end, their creative ability also
improves constantly. For this reason, man, becomes the almighty being and
dominator of the world.
Consciousness
- What kind of property is consciousness?
The great leader
Comrade Kim Jong Il said.
"Consciousness is an attribute of social man, which
determines all his endeavours to understand and reshape the world and
himself."
In order to
shape his destiny, man should constantly conduct the activities of cognition
and practice.
Consciousness is an
attribute of social man, which determines all activities of cognition and
practice.
Consciousness
is, first of all, an attribute of social man which determines all activities to
understand the world and himself.
Man must understand
the world and himself to shape his destiny. Without knowing himself and the
world, man can neither transform the world nor shape his destiny to meet his
demand for independence with will and purpose.
Animals cannot
understand the world and themselves. A worm will turn. Likewise, animals
respond to the action of the outside world. However, they only reflect to it
susceptibly; they cannot conduct the activity of thinking. So they do not know
the essence of the action of the outside world and its cause. For example,
animals sense the flash of lightning and hide themselves. But they do not know
what is lightning and how it happens.
It is only man who understands the world and himself
purposefully and consciously. With consciousness, man conducts the activity of
thinking to under-stand the essence of things and phenomena, the law of their
motion and himself. Long time ago, people acknowledged what is lightning and
how it occurs, and invented the lightning rod to prevent the damage.
Consciousness is also
a quality of social man, which determines all activities to transform the
world.
Animals conduct
biological activities according to instinct. Biological instinct cannot lead to
the activity to transform the world. Animals also exert influence upon the
change of nature. Catapillars could eat up thick forests. But it is not the
activity to transform nature but the result of their instinctive activity.
With consciousness,
man transforms everything in the world to meet his intention and demand with
will and purpose. People protect the forest and plant trees to make mountains
more thick and beautiful and prevent flood.
That consciousness
determines man's activity to transform the world means that it makes people
transform the world more beautiful and favourable to their living.
- Consciousness is inseperably linked with the
conscious.(Here the word "the conscious" is used to distinguish it
from consciousness)
What is the
conscious?
The conscious is a higher function of the brain, the
most developed organ among physical organs of man.
The conscious
commands all actions of man.
The conscious grants purpose and consciousness in the
cognitive activities to understand the world and himself and in the practical
activities to transform the world and himself. It also stimulates, coordinates
and controls these activities.
Then, a question
might arise whether consciousness and the conscious are the same concept.
Consciousness and the
conscious is inseperably linked with each other, but they are not the same
concept.
The conscious is the
concept which expresses the higher function of man's brain, whereas
consciousness is the concept which expresses the essential attribute of man who
has the conscious.
The conscious is
largely divided into ideological consciousness and knowledge.
Ideological
consciousness is the conscious which reflects the demand and interests of man.
Its progressiveness and reactionary character is determined according to which
class's demand and interests it reflects. Ideological consciousness that
reflects the demand and interests of the working class is progressive, whereas
the one that reflect those of landlords and capitalist class is reactionary.
Knowledge is the
conscious which reflects the objective things as they are. Knowledge is acquired
by cognizing the objective world.
Among the conscious,
ideological consciousness is more important. Because ideological consciousness
determines the value and quality of man and plays a decisive role in the action
of man. According to man's ideology, the purpose of his action is determined.
Those with
progressive ideology possess a noble quality and dedicate themselves to the
country and people, society and the collective. But those with reactionary
ideology seek for comfort and indolence only and in the long run would come to
betray the country and people and do harm to the society and collective. They
are those who regard money almighty and most precious.
Progressive
ideologies do not always retain their progressive character and play different
roles in the people's activity.
Along with the
development of the times, progressive ideologies also develop. The more
progressive an ideology is, the greater role it plays in the people's activity.
The great Juche idea is the most progressive and
advanced ideology that the people of our era should possess.
The Korean people
have fought with the Juche idea as their guiding ideology. So they have achieved brilliant victory in the
unprecedentedly arduous and complicated Korean revolution, building the most
advanced people-centred socialism; they have been able to defend their
socialism and fortify the fortress of the cause of socialism without any vacillation
in the arduous situation in which socialism collapsed in several countries and
the imperialists manoeuvred viciously to
isolate and suffocate the socialism.
In order to make
one's life valuable and worthwhile in the glorious struggle to ensure the
independence of the country, bring the prosperity of the nation and build a
new free and prosperous, world, all
people should equip themselves firmly with the Juche idea.
Co-relation
between Independence, Creativity and Consciousness
As mentioned
above, the essential characteristics of man, the social being, is independence,
creativity and consciousness.
In man's activity,
these three characteristics are always expressed in an integrated way. Manifestations of these characteristics in
man's activity do not find their expression individually.
The three characteristics--independence,
creativity and consciousness--are always expressed in man's activities in an
integrated way.
Taking the building
of a house for example. It is an
independent and creative activity to protect man himself from the influence of
the outside world, such as rain and wind, cold and hot, and at the same time it
is a conscious activity which is conducted purposefully and consciously. The
same can be said of all activities, such as getting food and clothing.
In this way, the
three characteristics of social man are closely interrelated with each other,
so that they are expressed in a uniform way.
What are the relations of the three?
- Independence is the factor that gives a full play to
creativity, and creativity is the guarantee for ensuring independence.
With the purpose of
living and developing independently as the master of the world and his destiny,
man transforms the world and shapes his destiny creatively. No man in the world
conducts activity with no demand. The higher the sense of independence is, the
further man displays his creativity. So, the greater the demand to live and
develop as the master of the world and his destiny, the more active his
creative activity.
Without independence,
it is impossible to give full play to creativity; and creativity ensures
independence, either. Greater creativity enables man to conduct activity and
realize independence at a higher level. Without creative activity, is it
impossible to meet any demand for independence. Historically, man has conducted
creative activity on the basis of his independence and realized independence
with his creative activity.
- Consciousness is the precondition and guarantee for
independence and creativity.
That consciousness is
the precondition of independence and creativity means that man acquires
independence and creativity through consciousness. And that consciousness is
the guarantee for independence and creativity means that man can give full play
to independence and creativity.
Without consciousness
which determines man's activity to understand and transform the world and
himself, it is inconceivable for man to have not only independence which
enables to live and develop as the master of the world and himself but also
creativity which enables to transform the world and shape his destiny.
With consciousness,
man makes his demand for independence and conduct creative activity to realize
it.
The higher
consciousness man has, the deeper knowledge of the world and himself he has and
the more powerful his creative activity to be the master of the world and his
destiny will be.
After all, the degree
of man's independence and creativity and
the extent of their manifestation are decided by the level of his consciousness.
The process of the
activity of man, the social being, is the process in which independence, creativity
and consciousness are manifested in a unified way; man's independent, creative
and conscious activity is the mode of his existence which is totally different
from that of animals.
Man's essential
characteristics are social attributes.
How could man have
such attributes as independence, creativity
and consciousness?
The great
leader Comrade Kim Jong Il said.
"These qualities of man(independence, creativity
and consciousness)are social attributes which are formed and developed through
socio-historical process of his working in the social relationship."
From the first day of
his emergence in the world, man has lived in social collective. People have
cooperated with each other to get the necessities for their living and used
them. Through the repeated activity over hundreds or thousands of times, they
gradually came to distinguish between necessities and unnecessties, favourables
and unfavourables in their existence and know which is better, club or stone,
to obtain them.
This was the
emergence of consciousness. So, consciousness is called social consciousness.
Crude stone
instruments used by primitive men were also the result of collective labour for
obtaining the means of existence. This is the process how the conscious came
into being and how people acquired consciousness which is the premise of
independence and creativity. If man had failed to form the social collective
and acted individually like animals, he could not have had independence and
creativity.
Of course, the
essential characteristics of man is inconceivable apart from his physical
organs which are far more developed than those of animals.
But it is not that
man's essential characteristics grew from his developed physical organs. If
developed physical organs gave rise to independence, creativity and
consciousness, chimpanzee could also have a certain degree of independence,
creativity and consciousness.
Developed animals,
however, do not have even independence, creativity and consciousness in embryo.
Independence,
creativity and consciousness are formed through the process of living in the
social relationship in social collective. This proves that man's essential
attributes are social attributes granted by society.
In the 60s of the
20th century, a boy was found in a pack of wolves in the forest of India. He
could not speak and walk, only crying and crawling like animals. He was a man,
but acted like animals.
"Robinson
Crusoe" written by a British writer, Daniel Defoe, can be taken as an
example here. In the story, the ship of the hero was wrecked and he could get
to an uninhabited island in Caribbean Sea and lived there all alone for 26
years. He didn't sit idle waiting for death but hewed out his life. He made
clothes and shoes with fur and skin of animals, tamed wild animals and even
built a wooden ship.
Is his activity
social? Of course yes. His consciousness of independence and creative ability
are not born, but he acquired them through social education and social
practice.
That is why he had
survived for 26 years in a desert island.
These facts show that
independence, creativity and consciousness are formed socially not naturally.
Man's essential
attributes are not immutable but change and develop socially and historically.
As social practice
develops, the level of man's independence, creativity and consciousness
increases constantly. Man's demand to live independently as the master of the
world and himself increases and so do the creative ability to transform the
world and shape his destiny and consciousness to determine all activities to
understand and transform the world and himself.
Independence,
creativity and consciousness of the primitive men are far less developed than
those of the people today. The historical development of man means the increase
of independence, creativity and consciousness, man's essential attributes. From
this reason, we say that man's essential attributes are social attributes that
are formed and developed socially and historically.
Originality of the Juche-oriented understanding of man's
essential characteristics.
In order to properly
understand the originality and superiority of the Juche-oriented view of man's
essential characteristics, man's nature, it is important to know how the
question has been dealt with by the preceding philosophy. A theory can be
evaluated correctly only in comparison with others.
The history of the
development of philosophy covers thousands of years during which many
philosophical trends appeared. However, no philosophy suggested the essential
characteristics of man as the most important question that must be solved in
world outlook and no philosophy gave a correct answer to it.
Since all preceding
philosophies were engaged in elucidating the objective things, i.e., the
material world itself. The question of man's essential characteristics had been
remained outside the direct subject of philosophy.
However, this does
not mean that the question had not been argued at all by them. In the long
course of development of philosophy, many philosophers interpreted the material
world itself and, within their limits, advanced their own view of man's
essential characteristics.
Up to the ancient
times and the middle age, the view of man's essential characteristics, his
nature, was enveloped by religions and idealistic illusion. Entering the modern
age, its illusive cover was dismantled and there appeared materialistic views
of human nature. However, in general they found man's nature in natural and
biological attributes.
Thomas Hobbes and
Barch Spinoza, the European materialists, regarded man's nature as the
"nature of self-preservation". According to them, the property to
preserve oneself, the "nature of self-preservation", is man's nature
which is given by nature, and it is the source of man's activity.
Hobbes argued,
"What is the ultimate purpose, the willingness of man? It is the
self-preservation and a satisfactory life brought by it", while Spinoza
said that self-preservation is the highest nature of man. They insisted that
all things from man to non-living things have the "nature of self-preservation"
and that the most developed one is none other than man's nature, leveling the
"nature of self-preservation" as the law of nature. Such a view was
so reactionary in that it justified the extreme individual egoism of self-preservation
and rationalized the capitalist relationship of the law of the jungle.
Ludwig Andreas
Feuerbach, the German classical philosopher of the 19th century, tried to find
the nature of man in such a natural, biological and instinctive desire as the
wish to happiness or the love between man and woman.
The view that regards
man's nature as biological attribute became more reactionary in the
"philosophy of life", the bourgeois human philosophy in the end of
the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century.
Arthur Schopenhauer,
one of the representatives of the "philosophy of life" suggested the
instinctive "will to live" and "demand to live" as the
nature of man.
Saying that the basic
demand of man is selfish greed, appetite and the sexual desire, he claimed that
man is the being that pursues to meet such an instinctive desire. This was a
reactionary view that ascribes the nature of social man to biological nature
and degenerates him to a vulgar being that is controlled by animal-like
instinct.
The "demand to
live" and "will to live" were malrevised by Friedrich Wilhelm
Nietzesh, a reactionary German philosopher in the end of the 19th century.
Stressing the "will to power" as the nature of man, he argued that
man, since his birth, pursues the power and wishes to control others. He added that
it is quite natural to suppress and dominate others, for it is also the
manifestation of the "will to power".
It is well known that
his view served as a notorious reptile philosophy of Hitler for aggression and
war.
The Marxist
philosophy considered man in the social relationship, thus overcoming the wrong
view that finds man's essential characteristics in natural and biological
attributes and paving the way to find them in social attributes.
However, the Marxist
philosophy failed to give answer to what are the essential characteristics of
man. It only provided the premise by which to interpret man's essential
characteristics in a scientific way.
Only thanks to the
Juche philosophy, the essential characteristics of man have been given a
scientific elucidation.
The Juche philosophy
clarified that man is a social being with independence, creativity and
consciousness and thus gave the most correct philosophical answer for the first
time in history to the essential characteristics of man.
※ ※ ※
It is of great
significance that the Juche-oriented view of man has been established.
With the
Juche-oriented understanding of man, the philosophical arguments on man that
had taken place for a long time have ended and man's dignity and value have
developed onto a high plane and a guiding line has been provided to increase
man's position and role to maximum. In addition, the ideological and
theoretical basis have been laid for the development of man-centred philosophy.
The establishment of
the Juche-oriented understanding of man is indeed an outstanding exploit
achieved by the Juche philosophy.