The world-devouring dragon

When he heard the sound, Karl Marx, who was raising his beer glass to drink, thought for a while and then said.

"From the Kingdom of Necessity to the Kingdom of Freedom, this is something I have been thinking about in the past few years, but... there are still some shortcomings. Please let me organize my thoughts and explain it to you."

At the end of the sentence, he pondered for a moment, then put down the beer glass, stroking his beard, thinking about how to explain to his good friend.

Within half a minute, he spoke.

"Engels, you know that I graduated from the University of Berlin, and Hegel was once the president of the University of Berlin."

"Yes."

Friedrich Engels nodded and said that in 1818 Hegel applied to serve as a professor in the philosophy department of the University of Berlin, the capital university of Prussia at that time. He later became the president of the University of Berlin in 1829, but died in 1831. Marx studied law at the University of Berlin when he was 18 years old, that is, in 1836, five years after Hegel's death. However, he was deeply influenced by the old president who died not long ago, and he did a lot of research on philosophy. The field of philosophy can be said to be a spiritual student of Hegel.

"Hegel is my spiritual teacher. Many of his views have a profound influence on me, such as his 'absolute spirit', 'dialectical development' and 'syllogism'. Many of my theories have Hegel's influence." But when it comes to Hegel, we have to trace it back to Lao Tzu in China."

"I?"

Engels couldn't help but ask, in the study of philosophy, Laozi is not an unfamiliar word. Europe at this moment has gathered all kinds of books from all over the world, and the doctrines of any civilization or nation will be widely studied.

Max nodded and continued.

"Hegel served as a professor in the Department of Philosophy at Heidelberg University. During this period, he gave many lectures. Some people summarized them as "Lectures on the History of Philosophy". Although it only briefly mentioned Eastern philosophy, it was still recorded. Hegel's views on Chinese Lao Tzu. Hegel did not have a high opinion of Confucius, thinking that he was just a "moral preacher who appears in every nation", but he praised Lao Tzu quite a lot. Among them, there is an article about "Tao Sheng". The explanation of "One is born with two, two begets three'", the three-paragraph debate method can be used for reference, 'Tao begets one, one is born with two, two begets three'."

"In my opinion, Hegel's 'absolute spirit' has deep traces of 'Tao'. He first believed that there is a logical reality in the universe that exists eternally before nature and human society. It is the universe. The inner essence and core of all things, and all things are just its external manifestations. This description really has to make me connect with Leibniz’s "On the Natural Theology of the Chinese"."

"'According to the [Chinese], 'Li' or 'Tai Chi' is the supreme goodness of 'Tai Yi', the pure goodness without any impurities, the pure and good essence, which creates the origin of heaven and earth, the supreme truth.' Reason itself is a force and not limited to itself; it also created all things in order to communicate with others. It is the source of purity, virtue and love. Its principle is to create all things, and all good things come from its elements and nature. 'This description has something in common with the absolute spirit. But..."

As he spoke, Max paused, then shook his head.

"It's a pity that Hegel's national plot is too serious. He is always condescending to the culture of any non-German nation, and is too arrogant and scornful of the culture of any foreign nation. Although Hegel does not have a high opinion of Eastern philosophy, I I still think that perhaps through his long-term experience of reading world philosophy, his own philosophical system has unknowingly incorporated arguments from Eastern philosophy."

Engels listened thoughtfully, and then asked.

"So, what does this have to do with your 'kingdom of necessity to the kingdom of freedom'?"

Max couldn't help but laugh.

“My theory is deeply influenced by Hegel. ‘From the Kingdom of Necessity to the Kingdom of Freedom’ is also a view inspired by the ‘Absolute Spirit’. In the ‘Absolute Spirit’, Hegel believes that there is a universe in the universe. This is a logical spirit, and its external manifestation is the material world. Then one day I suddenly realized: If we assume that 'humanity' is regarded as a whole, then what is the absolute spirit of 'humanity'?"

If…consider “humanity” as a whole…

Listening to these words, Engels' consciousness became a little blurry in a daze. An inexplicable mechanism was opened in his mind, and the will that had been sleeping in his blood for countless years seemed to be awakening...

At the same time, in a residential house in Europe.

In an inconspicuous corner, there is a female sculpture less than twenty centimeters high. It is an ancient sculpture that seems to have gone through many years. Although it is often wiped, it is still difficult to hide the occasional traces of rust on it. The pupils are empty, as if some gems that were once inlaid on it have been removed, but the lifelike appearance can still make people imagine its former appearance. A heroic gesture.

The sculpture is covered with countless mysterious runes, Christian, West African Voodoo, Ancient Egyptian, Nordic Germanic... Whether it is Eastern or Western gods and religions, countless runes have been Engraved on this sculpture, it seems as if someone is trying to suppress this small sculpture with the power of the gods.

However, accompanied by a word from a distant place, inside the sculpture...

"puff……"

On that heart, an eye suddenly opened, its erect pupils like snakes, cold and terrifying.

…

"Engels, the earliest human beings were bound by nature. They were unrestrained and unaware. They knew nothing and understood nothing. They obeyed the will of nature like animals. Everything is an inevitable result. This is the inevitable result. kingdom."

Unaware of the silence of his good friend in front of him, Max just filled the empty beer glass in front of him and spoke unhurriedly.

"But the kingdom of necessity is not long-lasting. Human beings gradually began to master the understanding of nature, create tools, and use tools and experience to transform nature. Engels and Aristotle said, 'Man is a rational animal.' Human beings Relying on reason to control nature, and ultimately using reason to consciously transform the world and achieve freedom, this process is the 'Kingdom of Freedom'."

“Engels, for example, society and law are products of the ‘kingdom of freedom’.”

"Animals do not understand what society and law are, and the earliest humans did not understand what society and law are. However, through constant experience and exploration, humans gradually realized the development laws of things, took control of them, and formulated a series of laws and systems, and consciously try to change the laws and systems to make human society better."

As he spoke, Max stopped, raised the filled beer glass in front of him and drank.

Engels covered his head. There seemed to be a faint female voice whispering in his mind, telling her doubts. In the end, Engels couldn't help but follow the female voice and ask.

"So what?"

"so?"

Max paused and looked at his good friend in front of him strangely. He thought that his friend should be able to directly understand what he had not finished saying, but he could only shake his head.

"So Engels, this is exactly the instinct of human beings to consciously transform the world instead of obeying the instinct given by nature."

"Think about it, when the law was enacted, what did it target? Crimes and cases that have not yet occurred, and reform of the social system, what did it target? Conflicts and crises that have not yet formed. Human beings are in these dangers Before they appear, they rely on their own ideals and consciously try to avoid these dangers in advance. This is something that animals driven purely by instinct do not have."

"Animals are ignorant and ignorant. They follow their instincts and do not plan in advance. However, humans have rationality and know how to plan their future in advance and consciously avoid dangerous futures so that they can pass through Toward a better future.”

"The rise and fall of a species should be inevitable. Ignorant life, ignorant death, ignorant fighting, ignorant competition...natural selection, survival of the fittest. Species with advantages will inevitably survive, and species with outstanding disadvantages will inevitably perish. , This is the inevitable fate given by nature. The animals that survive do not know why they survive, and they are ignorant. The animals that die do not know why they die, and they are ignorant."

"But human beings are different. Human beings rely on their own rationality and wisdom, and through experience summarization, consciously avoid those dangerous futures, unite similar species, avoid dangers, and no longer obey the 'natural selection, survival of the fittest' established by nature. , and finally rely on reason and science to transform the world. Consciously make business more prosperous, consciously make science and technology more developed, consciously make civilization more prosperous, escape the control of nature, let fate be in your own hands, and finally achieve true freedom of."

As he spoke, Marx looked at his friend who was meditating in front of him and said seriously.

"This is an era of mankind. People no longer need to obey nature ignorantly, and they no longer need to obey the gods in the dark. People can control their own destiny by relying on their own reason and wisdom."

"Engels, this is the transition from the kingdom of necessity, which is ignorance, to the kingdom of freedom, which rationally transforms the world."

However, what Marx could not see was...

Behind Engels, an invisible phantom was standing. The gentle figure that should have disappeared long ago was listening quietly, and his face seemed to show some concentration.

Real...freedom?

…

And somewhere far away, the pair of vertical pupils that opened from above the heart, through the barrier of the sculpture and the house, stared directly at the distant sky with cold eyes.