A New Interpretation Of The Eleventh Thesis Of Theses On Feuerbach

The eleventh thesis of the Theses on Feuerbach——"Philosophers have hithertoonly interpreted the world in various ways; the point is to change it"——is the mostfamous dictum, which was quoted countless times by the researchers. However, the implication of the eleventh thesis is not clear and distinct. People have never reached a consensus on this issue and there is major difference among them. It is the key to reveal the nature of the revolution of Marxist philosophy to provide a new interpretation insisted on the principle of unity of logic and history. And it can help us to solve some basic problems of Marxist philosophy in its totality. Consequently, it is necessary and significant to provide a new interpretation of this thesis.The interpretation of this paper is to explore the original idea based on the inner logic of the development of Marx's thought itself. Just as Theses on Feuerbach mark an epoch in the world outlook, the eleventh thesis reflect the fundamental shift of the development of Marx's thought, which is change in the world outlook(including philosophy and himself). Generally to say, there are two fundamental shifts, form a philosopher to a communist and form a theoretical foundation on theory or philosophy only to that on the real world or history.The whole paper is made up of four chapters. Chapter One is introduction——emphasize in many aspects the necessity and significance to provide a new interpretation of this thesis and show the questions further. Chapter Two is to clarify and explore two implied conclusions or judgments, analyze them in depth accordingly and develop a new interpretation. Chapter Three present two arguments, the relational content of Theses on Feuerbach and The German Ideology and the formulation of "The End of Philosophy" in The German Ideology. Chapter Four is to analyze three causesprompted this fundamental shift——Marx's own characteristics, return to the realityfrom the speculative philosophy and the breakthrough in the philosophical views, form the domain of mind to the domain of existence and reality.In a word, the eleventh thesis is a milestone in the development of Marx's thought. It is very important to reveal the nature of the revolution of Marxist philosophy and gain a clear idea of the inner logic and implications of the development of Marx's thought providing a new interpretation. And this positive meaning would not be neglected.