Under the influence of British scholar Perry Anderson and French scholar Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s discussions on Western Marxism, two popular views have emerged in China’s study of Classical Western Marxism. These views assert that Classical Western Marxism is either a non-Marxist trend opposing Leninism or an abstract theory of cultural critique, detached from the critique of political economy , known as Cultural Marxism. These two views are not only untenable but also hinder the in- depth study of foreign Marxism in China. In actuality, the theorists represented by GYöRGY Lukács,Karl Korsch, ANTONIO FRANCESCO Gramsciand Herbert Marcuse philosophically disagreed with Lenin’s interpretation of Marxist philosophy,while only LOUIS PIERRE Althusser agreed with Lenin’s interpretation. Politically,Lukács，Gramsci，and Althusser highly praised Lenin’s contributions to the socialist movement,whereas Korsch and Marcuse took a critical attitude towards Lenin.Those Classical Western Marxist theorists, who aimed to explore the overall freedom and liberation of the proletariat,emphasized the economic foundations on which cultural ideological factors played their roles, though they attached importance to the role of ideology in the developmental process of human history. Those theorists who aimed to explore the individual freedom and liberation in the West presented a development trend of gradually detaching from the critique of political economy and moving towards the abstract critique of cultural value. Only by analyzing the respective social and historical conditions and cultural traditions of different theorists, adhering to the scientific and revolutionary nature of Marxist theory, and unifying theory and practice through dialectics, can we have a real understanding of their different attitudes towards Lenin’s philosophical and political views, and have a real grasp of the essence of their theories on cultural critique.

　　Editor: Zhong Yao  LiuTingting

　　From: Journal of Peking University(Philosophy and Social Sciences). 2024.No.06.