10 The Role of the Humanities

Published

2026-07-17

The Humanities and Political Life

In periods of intense upheaval and sharp contradiction, political life becomes the centre of attention, and the humanities take on a strong political orientation.

  • Mencius: benevolence and righteousness, benevolent government; the cultivation of ethical and moral teaching; engagement with the world and practice in the ruling class

Mencius went to see King Hui of Liang. The king said, “Venerable sir, since you have not counted it far to come here, a distance of a thousand li, may I presume that you are provided with counsels to profit my kingdom?”

Mencius replied, “Why must Your Majesty speak of ‘profit’? Let there only be benevolence and righteousness. If Your Majesty says, ‘How shall I profit my kingdom?’ the great officers will say, ‘How shall I profit my house?’ and the scholars and common people will say, ‘How shall I profit my person?’ Superiors and inferiors will struggle with one another for profit, and the kingdom will be endangered. In a state of ten thousand chariots, the one who murders the ruler must be the house of a thousand chariots; in a state of a thousand chariots, the one who murders the ruler must be the house of a hundred chariots. To take a thousand from ten thousand, or a hundred from a thousand—is that not a great deal? Yet if righteousness is put last and profit first, they will not be satisfied without seizing all. There has never been a benevolent man who abandoned his parents, nor a righteous man who put his ruler last. Let Your Majesty speak only of benevolence and righteousness—why must you speak of ‘profit’?” …

“With a homestead of five mu, plant mulberry trees on it, and those of fifty years may wear silk. In raising chickens, pigs, and dogs, do not miss their seasons, and those of seventy may eat meat. With a hundred mu of farmland, do not take away their labour at the proper times, and a household of several mouths will not suffer hunger. Carefully attend to the instruction in the village schools, and inculcate the duties of filial piety and fraternal respect, and those with grey hair will not have to carry burdens on the roads. When those of seventy wear silk and eat meat, and the common people are neither cold nor hungry, it is unheard of that such a ruler should not become king over the realm.” …

— Mencius · King Hui of Liang, I

  • Li Da’s Outline of Sociology: Marxist philosophy

Chinese society has already entered a great era of transformation. Countless of our compatriots are sacrificing heroically and struggling valiantly, advancing this great leap forward with their own flesh and blood, creating the history of this great epoch. This is truly an unprecedented miracle in history! Yet, if the warriors are to carry out their struggle effectively and accomplish the great task of national liberation, they must arm their spirits with a scientific world outlook and historical outlook, use scientific methods to understand new social phenomena, solve new problems encountered in practice, and thereby guide our practice. This Outline of Sociology can indeed help us establish a scientific world outlook and historical outlook, and sharpen our methods of knowledge and action. Therefore, I especially recommend this book to the warriors.

— Li Da, Preface to the fourth edition of Outline of Sociology, April 1939

“Discover the laws, guide practice, transform society.” —— Mao Zedong

  • The revision of (history) textbooks by the Japanese right wing: covering up the historical crimes of aggression

The Humanities and Economic Life

E.g., fundamental issues in market economy life:

  • The “invisible hand”: the driving force of the market economy—human pursuit of profit and efficiency → maximisation of profit, optimisation of efficiency

  • Limitations and lags

    • The problem of trust

      • Under natural economy conditions: closed economic life → under planned economy: responsibility to the Party and the state → under market economy: the role of trust expands
      • The market: commodity exchange between people, mediated by money
      • Trust prevents fraud; requires the intervention of ethics → economic ethics

    • The problem of fairness

      • Pursuit of maximising profit and efficiency → contradiction between profit/efficiency and fairness
      • Philosophy of economics: reflection on existing economics
      • Paired assistance policy

  • The “visible hand”: using institutions and management to solve problems → fundamental issues: political philosophy

  • Every person is a creator of history

The Humanities and the Information Society

  • New intermediaries for human connection

  • Negative effects

    • Issues of cyberethics: unethical and even illegal online behaviour → cyberethics
    • Issues of internet language: emergence and evolution of internet language, conflict with traditional language norms → internet linguistics
    • Information warfare: physical domain, information domain, cognitive domain → the unity of matter and spirit, concept and reality

The Humanities and Everyday Life

  • Issues of common concern in everyday life (trivial matters): material interests, spiritual life (entertainment), desires, etc. → solved with high technology

  • The humanities and popular culture: the two ends of spiritual life

    • The humanities: lofty ideals, spiritual pursuits, etc.; high level
    • Popular culture: everyday spiritual needs; low level

  • The shortcoming of the humanities: relatively distant from everyday life

  • The role of the humanities in everyday life:

    • Establishing a correct concept of consumption

      • Consumerism: consumption as human essence, infinitely expanding the meaning of consumption → extravagance and waste
      • Drawing experience and inspiration from the thought of the humanities

    • Guiding everyday life