THE JUCHE PHILOSOPHY IS AN ORIGINAL
REVOLUTIONARY PHILOSOPHY
Discourse Published in Kulloja, Theoretical Magazine of the Central
Committee of the Worker's Party of Korea
KIM JONG IL
An opinion has recently been raised that some of our social scientists had
expressed a wrong view contrary to our Party's idea in explaining the Juche
philosophy, and that this view had been disseminated abroad as well.
These social scientists still attempt to explain the basic principles of
the Juche philosophy from the point of view of the general law of the
development of the material world, instead of explaining them in the
direction of clarifying the law of social movement. The proponents of this
view say that their argument is aimed at proving that the Juche philosophy
is a new development also of Marxist materialistic dialectics. In explaining
and propagating the Juche philosophy we do not need to convince people that
the Juche philosophy is a new development of Marxist materialistic
dialectics. It is true that our Party has not taken a dogmatic approach to
Marxist materialistic dialectics but analysed it from the point of view of
Juche and has given new explanations to a number of problems. However, some
development of materialism and dialectics dose not constitute the basic
content of the Juche philosophy.
The Juche philosophy is an original philosophy which has been evolved and
systematised with its own principles. The historic contribution made by the
Juche philosophy to the development of philosophical thoughts lies not in
its advancement of Marxist materialistic dialectics,but in its clarification
of new philosophical principles centred on man.
The Marxist philosophy raised the relationship between material and
consciousness, between being and thinking, as the fundamental question of
philosophy and proved the primacy of material, the primacy of being and, on
this basis, elucidated that the world is made of material and changed and
developed by the motion of material. The Juche philosophy has raised the
relationship between the world and man, and man's position and role in the
world,as the fundamental question of philosophy, clarified the philosophical
principle that the man is the master of everything and that he decides
everything and, on this basis, illuminated the absolutely correct way of
shaping man's destiny. The Marxist philosophy raised as its major task the
clarification of the essence of the material world and the general law of
its motion, whereas the Juche philosophy has raised as its important task
the elucidation of man's essential characteristics and the law of social
movement, man's movement. Therefore, the Juche philosophy is an original
philosophy which is fundamentally different from the preceding philosophy
in its task and principles. That is why we should not understand the
Juche philosophy as a philosophy that has developed materialistic dialectics,
nor should we attempt to prove the originality and advantages of the Juche
philosophy by arguing one way or the other about the essence of the
material world and the general law of its motion which were clarified by the
Marxist philosophy. You cannot explain the Juche philosophy in the framework
of the preceding philosophy because it is a philosophy that has clarified
new philosophical principles. If you attempt to do so,you will not only fail
to prove the originality of the Juche philosophy,but instead make it obscure
and fail to understand the essence of Juche philosophy correctly.
Having defined the essential qualities of man of the first time in
history, the Juche philosophy has held up man as the best qualified and most
powerful being in the world and advanced a new idea on the world that
the world is dominated and transformed by man.
The new outlook on the world established by the Juche philosophy dose not
deny the world outlook of dialectical materialism. The Juche philosophy
regards the world outlook of dialectical materialism as its premise. The
Juche view of the world that the world is dominated and transformed by man
is inconceivable separately from the materialistic dialectical understanding
of the essence of the objective material world and the general law of its
motion. From the idealistic view that the world is something mysterious you
cannot draw the conclusion that man dominates the world, and from the
metaphysical view that the world is immutable you cannot infer that man can
transform the world. The Juche view of the world that the world is dominated
and transformed by man can only be established when the materialistic
dialectical understanding of the world that the world is made of material
and ceaselessly changes and develops is recognised. In spite of a number of
limitations and immaturities of the Marxist materialistic dialectics, its
basic principles are scientific and valid. That is why we say that the Juche
philosophy regards materialistic dialectics as its premise.
That the world outlook of the materialistic dialectics is the premise for
the Juche philosophy does not mean that the Juche philosophy has merely
inherited and developed the materialistic dialectics. Although it would be
impossible to acquire a scientific understanding of the world and transform
it without the materialistic dialectical understanding of the objective
material world, you cannot draw the conclusion that man is the master of the
world and plays a decisive role in transforming the world simply from the
proposition of materialism that the world is made of material and from the
dialectical principle that the world ceaselessly changes and develops. Only
on the basis of the clarification of man's essential qualities which
distinguish man radically from all the other material beings can man's
outstanding position and role as the master of the world capable of
transforming the world be clarified. Only on the basis of man's essential
qualities as a social being with independence, creativity and consciousness
as scientifically clarified by the Juche philosophy has the basic principle
that man is the master of the world and plays the decisive role in
transforming the world been clarified.
By establishing the Juche outlook on social history, the Juche view of
history, on the basis of the man-centred philosophical principle, the Juche
philosophy has overcome the limitations of the preceding socio-historical
view and effected a radical change in the socio-historical view and
standpoint.
Marxist philosophy established socio-historical view of dialectical
materialism, historical materialism, through the application of the general
law of the development of the material world to social history. Of course,
we do not deny the historic merit of historical materialism. Historical
materialism made an important contribution to defeating the reactionary and
unscientific socio-historical view which was based on idealism and
metaphysics. In addition, since man lives in the objective material world
and society is inseparably linked with nature, the general law of the
development of the material world acts on social phenomena. However, if you
overlook the social movement being governed by its own law and apply the
general law of the development of the material world mechanically to social
phenomena, you cannot avoid acquiring onesided understanding of social
history.
The social movement changes and develops according to its own law.
The social movement is the movement of man who dominates and transforms
the world. Man transforms nature to dominate and transform the objective
material world. By transforming nature man creates material wealth and
material conditions for his life. Transforming nature and creating material
wealth is the endeavour to satisfy people's social demands and this work can
only be done through people's social cooperation. People transform society
to improve and perfect the relations of social cooperation. It is man who
transforms both nature and society. While transforming nature and society,
man transforms and develops himself continuously. The domination and
transformation of the world by man are realised after all through the
transformation of nature, society and himself, and the popular masses are
the motive force of this undertaking. The popular masses create all the
material and cultural wealth of society and develops social relations.
The social movement, the driving force of which is the popular masses, has
characteristics which are different from those of the motion of nature. In
nature motion takes place spontaneously through the interaction of material
elements which exist objectively, whereas the social movement is caused and
developed by the volitional action and role of the driving force. Therefore,
if you apply the principles of materialistic dialectics which explain the
general law of the development of the material world mechanically to social
history, you cannot clarify correctly the essence of society and the law of
social movement. The major limitation of the materialistic conception of
history is that it failed to correctly expound the peculiar law of the
social movement and explained the principles of the social movement mainly
on the basis of the common character of the motion of nature and the social
movement in that both of them are the motion of material.
Marxist materialistic conception of history broke down society into social
being and social consciousness and attached determining significance to the
social being; it also broke down the social structure into productive force
and production relations, foundation and superstructure, and attached
decisive significance to material production and economic relations. This
means an unaltered application of the principle of materialistic dialectics
to society, the principle that the world is of material and changes and
develops in accordance with the general law of the motion of matter The
world, viewed by the founders of Marxism when applying the general law
governing the material world to social history, is an integrity of not only
nature but also man and society in that they are material beings. If you
consider man as a part of the world, a material integrity, not as a social
being with independence, creativity and consciousness, and apply the general
law of the movement of the material world to social history, you cannot
avoid seeing the socio-historical movement as a process of the history of
nature.
Of course, society, too, changes and develops in accordance with a certain
law,not by man's own will. But the action of law in society is fundamentally
different from that of the law of nature. In nature the law works
spontaneously regardless of man's activity, but in society the law works
through man's independent, creative and conscious activities. Some of the
laws of society governs every society in general irrespective of social
systems, and some of them governs a particular society. Because all the
social laws work through man's activity, they may work smoothly or their
actions may be restrained or limited depending on man's activity.
When I say that social laws function through man's activity, I do not deny
the objective character of social laws and possible spontaneity in the
social movement. If a certain socio-economic condition is created, a social
law corresponding to it functions inevitably and therefore it assumes an
objective character as a natural law does. Spontaneity in the social
movement is due to a relatively low level of man's independence, creativity
and consciousness and to the absence of the social system under which people
can display them to the full. With the growth in man's independence,
creativity and consciousness and with the establishment of the social system
which ensures a full display of these qualities, man will work better in
keeping with the objective laws and the range of spontaneity will narrow.
Social development is the process of the development of the masses'
independence, creativity and consciousness. With the growth in these
qualities and with the consummation of the social system capable of meeting
their requirements, the society will develop more and more through the
purposeful and conscious activities of the popular masses. This means that
the law peculiar to the social movement, which changes and develops by the
volitional action and role of the driving force, will work on a full scale.
Although the founders of Marxism established the materialistic dialectical
concept of social history by applying the general law of the development of
the material world to social history, they themselves came across many
problems in the practical social movement, problems which could not be
resolved only by the general law of the development of the material world.
So they attempt to overcome the one-sidedness of the materialistic
dialectical concept of social history by advancing some theories, for
example, that although social consciousness emerges as the reflection of the
material and economic conditions, it reacts on these conditions and that
although politics is defined by the economy, it reacts on the economy.
However, the Marxist materialistic concept of history is, in essence, a view
on social history which considers the common character of the motion of
nature and the social movement as the main factor. This theory was unable to
avoid the limitation of identifying the process of social development with
that of natural history.

The fundamental difference between the Juche philosophy and the preceding
philosophy results, in the final analysis, from a different understanding of
man.
The Marxist philosophy defined the essence of man as the ensemble of
social relations, but it failed to correctly expound the characteristics of
man as a social being. The preceding theory explained the principle of the
social movement mainly on the basis of the general law of the development of
the material world, because it failed to clarify the essential qualities of
social man. For the first time, the Juche philosophy gave a perfect
elucidation of the unique qualities of man as a social being.
As clarified in the documents of our Party, man is a social being with
independence, creativity and consciousness and nobody has expressed doubt
about it. However, some social scientists maintain a wrong view in
understanding how man became a social being with these qualities. Regarding
the question of man's essential characteristics as the issue of the level of
his development as a material being, they still assert that the origin of
man's independence, creativity and consciousness should be sought in the
diversity of the material components and the complexity of their combination
and structure. This is, in fact, a view regarding man's essential qualities
as the extension of natural and biological attributes, as their development
and consummation. When talking about man as an organism, one can consider
him in comparison with other organism, or discuss the characteristics of his
biological components and their combination and structure. However, the man
who is deliberated by the Juche philosophy is not only a highly developed
organism but also lives and works with independence, creativity and
consciousness which no other creatures have acquired. The origin of man's
essential qualities must be sought not in the development of his features
common with those of other material beings but in the characteristics unique
to him. Man has acquired independence, creativity and consciousness, because
he is a social being who forms a social collective and lives and works in a
social relationship. These qualities of man are social attributes which are
formed and developed through the socio-historical process of his working in
the social relationship. Of course,these qualities of would be inconceivable
without his highly developed organic body. In the sense of his highly
developed organic body, man can be said to be the highest product of
evolution and the most developed material being. However, if man had not
formed a social collective and had not lived a and worked in the social
relationship, he could not have developed as an independent, creative and
conscious being no matter how developed his organic body may be. Without
physical life man cannot have social and political integrity. However,it is
not man's physical life itself that gives birth to his social and political
integrity. Likewise, without his developed organic body his independence,
creativity and consciousness would be inconceivable, but his biological
characteristics themselves do not produce his social attributes. Man's
social attributes can take shape and develop only through the process of his
emergence and development as a social being, in other words, through the
process of the historical development of his social activity and his social
relationship. The history of social development is the history of
development of man's independence, creativity and consciousness. This means
that man's independence, creativity and consciousness are social attributes
which are formed and developed socially and historically. Therefore, the
philosophical consideration of man must start from the fact that man is a
social being.
Nevertheless, some of our social scientists argue about the material
components and their combination and structure, and relate them to man's
essential qualities, preaching that the biological factors constitute the
major content of the Juche philosophy. Their argument is a deviation that
explains the Juche philosophy within the framework of Marxist dialectical
materialism. It is only an attempt to justify the wrong evolutionary view
which regards man's essential qualities as the development and consummation
of biological attributes.
Regarding man's essential qualities, it is important to have a correct
understanding of the social being. The founders of Marxism, while raising
the question of man's essence in social relationship, used the phrase social
being as a concept meaning the material conditions and economic relations
of social life which exist objectively and are reflected on social
consciousness. Since they regarded man as a component of productive forces,
as the ensemble of social relations, the phrase social being they used
implied man as well. However, they did not use it as one having the
particular meaning that defines man's essential qualities.
Systematising the Juche philosophy, we used the term social being as one
having the particular meaning that defines man's essential qualities. In the
theory of the Juche philosophy man is the only social being in the world.
Some social scientists, however, still insist that social wealth and social
relations should also be included in the social being, obscuring the
difference between man and social wealth and social relations. Social wealth
and social relations are created and developed by man. Therefore,they cannot
be included together in the concept that defines man's essential qualities.
When referring to the Marxist philosophy, the phrase social being can, of
course, be used as the founders of Marxism meant. But, if we understand the
term social being in its conventional meaning when referring to the Juche
philosophy, it will result in obscuring the understanding of man's essential
qualities. The Juche philosophy is a new philosophy which has its own system
and content, so its categories must not be understood in the conventional
meaning.
One of the main reasons why these social scientists have committed a
deviation in explaining and propagating the Juche philosophy is that they
have not studied philosophical problems from the point of view of the
requirement of revolutionary practice.
Theory must be based on practice and serve practice. A theory divorced
from practice cannot correctly elucidate truth and is of no use.
The great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung always studied philosophical problems
proceeding from the demand of revolutionary practice and evolved the Juche
philosophy in the course of giving scientific answers to urgent ideological
and theoretical problems arising in revolutionary practice. Our Party has
generalised the rich and profound experiences of revolutionary practice,
systematised the Juche philosophy in a comprehensive way and developed it
in depth.
Revolutionary practice is a struggle to realise independence for the
popular masses and it is the masses who carry out the struggle. Therefore,
it is important in the study of philosophy to reflect the demands and
aspirations of the popular masses correctly, evolve the theory by
generalising their experiences of struggle and make it the theory of the
popular masses themselves. In the exploitative society the reactionary
ruling class makes use of philosophy for defending and rationalising their
reactionary ruling system,trying to make it the monopoly of the philosophers
who act as spokesman in their interests. They consider the popular masses to
be ignorant people who have nothing to do with philosophy.
With the viewpoint and attitude that the popular masses are the masters of
everything and the wisest people, our Party has evolved the Juche philosophy
by reflecting their demand and aspirations and generalising their struggle
experiences, further developed it in depth and made it their weapon of
struggle. This is the reason why the Juche philosophy is an absolute truth
which meets the people's desire for and aspirations to independence and a
popular philosophy which the masses easily understand and regard as their
own weapon of struggle.
However, some of the social scientists are arguing about the questions
which are of little practical significance in illuminating the road of
shaping the destiny of the popular masses. We study philosophy essentially
for the purpose of clarifying the principles and methodology by which to
develop the society and shape the destiny of the popular masses. The
development of society is guided by politics and it is none other than the
Juche philosophy which clarifies the basic principles of politics which lead
social development in the most straight way. In this sense, the Juche
philosophy can be called a political philosophy.
Some social scientists say that they have explained the Juche philosophy
as a philosophy which developed the dialectical materialism of Marxism in
order to present the Juche idea to suit the characteristic of the external
world. We must give a clear understanding of the Juche philosophy as a new
revolutionary philosophy, not as a mere development of the preceding
philosophy. It is a mistake to explain the Juche philosophy within the
framework of the preceding philosophy on the grounds that it is presented to
suit the characteristic of the external world or to disseminate the Juche
philosophy with ideas which do not accord with the fundamental principle of
the Juche philosophy. Moreover, why should we argue about questions which
are of no political importance and hardly of any theoretical and practical
significance, shutting eyes to the demand of reality in the international
arena, when internationally we have many theoretical and practical questions
which urgently await correct answers to be given on the basis of the
principles of the Juche philosophy? In presenting the Juche idea to the
external world, we must explain correctly in relation to actual problems
that the Juche philosophy is thoroughly an original philosophy and a new
revolutionary philosophy. We must get rid of such a deviation not only in
external dissemination but also in the research, study and education on the
Juche philosophy.
The Juche philosophy is a revolutionary philosophy and political
philosophy of our Party which illuminates the philosophical basis of the
Juche idea and fundamental principles of the revolution. How to approach the
Juche philosophy does not merely concern philosophical theories, but is
related to the viewpoint and attitude towards the Party's ideology. We must
accept the Party's ideology as the absolute truth, defend it resolutely and
keep it as a revolutionary conviction, and thus understand, interpret and
propagate the Juche philosophy correctly.
We must feel a great pride and confidence in having such a great political
philosophy as the Juche philosophy, deeply understand its principles and
apply them fully to the practical activities of the revolution and
construction. We must analyse and judge all the social phenomena thoroughly
on the basis of the principles of the Juche philosophy and dynamically
accelerate the revolution and construction by uniting the popular masses
solidly around the Party and enhancing the role of the motive force as the
Juche philosophy requires.
Our scientists and people must study and follow the Juche philosophy, but
they must also know the philosophical ideas of Marxism-Leninism. The social
scientists in particular must be well acquainted with the preceding
philosophy. In studying the preceding philosophy, it is important to
distinguish limitations and immaturity, along with progressive and positive
aspects. Only when we know correctly not only its historical achievements
but also limitations of the period and ideo-theoretical immaturity can we
prevent deviations of dogmatic attitude towards preceding theories and
acquire a deep understanding of the originality and superiority of the Juche
philosophy. Social scientists must study and master the Juche philosophy and
on this basis and in the light of its principles, pay deep attention to
seeing clearly the limitations and immaturity of the preceding philosophy
along with its merits.
In addition, we must strictly guard against all heterogeneous trends of
philosophy which are contrary to the Juche philosophy and ensure the purity
of the Juche philosophy. The Juche philosophy is the most advantageous and
viable philosophy which reflects the demand of the revolutionary practice
and the truthfulness and validity of which have been proved by revolutionary
practice. The fact that the Juche philosophy is attracting more attention
on the international arena and the followers of the Juche idea are
increasing in number clearly demonstrates that the Juche philosophy gives
absolutely correct answers to the questions of revolutionary practice. Our
social scientists must have an unshakeable conviction of the scientific
accuracy, truthfulness, originality and superiority of the Juche philosophy
and analyse and judge all the philosophical theories with the Juche
philosophy as a guideline, thus preventing infiltration of any heterogeneous
trend of philosophy into the Juche philosophy.
All the social scientists must study the Juche philosophy in depth and
breadth and propagate it in line with the Party's intention and, by doing
so, exalt its greatness and further increase its attraction.