Two Leaps in the Process of Cognition

Mao Zedong's theory on the process of cognitive development. Lenin summarized the development process of cognition and pointed out: "from vivid intuition to abstract thinking, and from abstract thinking to practice, this is the dialectical way to know truth and objective reality.” Then Mao Zedong analyzed the dialectical process of the development of knowledge and expounded in depth in On Practice and "Where Do Correct Ideas Come From?” and in his other works.

In practice, all knowledge originates in perception of the objective external world through the physical sense organs of the human being, which is the first stage of cognition. The perceptual stage of cognition is the stage of sensation and impression, and it reflects the phenomenal aspects, one-sidedness and external relations of things. The accumulation of perceptual knowledge leads to a leap into rational knowledge. When the concepts are formed, a sudden change takes place in the brain in the process of cognition, that is, a leap.

Rational knowledge is the second stage of cognition. It reflects a thing in its totality, its essence and its inherent laws in the form of concepts, judgements and inferences. Rational knowledge depends upon perceptual knowledge and perceptual knowledge remains to be developed into rational knowledge. Only when the material of perceptual knowledge is rich and practical, and through discarding the dross and selecting the essential, eliminating the false and retaining the true, proceeding from the one to the other and from the outside to the inside, we can make a leap from perceptual to rational knowledge. The leap from perceptual knowledge to rational knowledge is the leap from practice to knowledge and from material to spiritual.

The second leap in the process of cognition is from rational knowledge to social practice, and from spiritual to material. The problem of whether theory corresponds to objective reality cannot be completely solved in the the first leap. The second leap is to redirect rational knowledge to social practice, apply theory to practice and verify it through the test of practice. Only by returning to practice can rational knowledge be established as truth and continue to develop and play the role of theory. Therefore, the second leap is more significant than the previous one.

People's understanding of a certain object is a process of two leaps and many repetitions. Human cognition is a process of infinite development of two leaps in constant repetition. Mao Zedong's theory of two leaps and their repeatability and infinity reveals the general law of cognitive development. He pointed out: "Knowledge begins with practice, and theoretical knowledge is acquired through practice and must then return to practice.” This is the epistemology of Marxism, that is, the basic standpoint in the dialectical materialist theory of knowledge.