Construction, which embodies subjectivity and agency, is an important concept in German idealism, running from Kant to Hegel. Construction rather than negation embodies subjectivity and agency, and the true spirit of Hegelian dialectic is the principle of construction rather than negation. Marx further developed the principle of construction into real construction, on the basis of materialism, Its core is the inquiry method of concrete-abstract-concrete, i.e., the typification method of the man anatomy. The first “concrete” is perceptual concrete, and the “abstract” is intellectual abstraction. The second “concrete” is a mental concretum, which is still an abstract concretum, but a rational (i.e. dialectical) abstraction as opposed to an intellectual abstraction. Rational abstraction rather than intellectual abstraction is the starting point of a systematic presentation. For Marx, creative construction is more important than simple negation.

　　Editor: Zhong Yao  Liu Tingting

　　From:Studies on Marxist Theory.2024.No.5.