§马克思以前的唯物论，离开人的社会性，离开人的历史发展，去观察认识问题，因此不能了解认识对社会实践的依赖关系，即认识对生产和阶级斗争的依赖关系。
#§Before Marx, materialism examined the problem of knowledge apart from the social nature of man and apart from his historical development, and was therefore incapable of understanding the dependence of knowledge on social practice, that is, the dependence of knowledge on production and the class struggle.
§首先，马克思主义者认为人类的生产活动是最基本的实践活动，是决定其它一切活动的东西。
#§Above all, Marxists regard man's activity in production as the most fundamental practical activity, the determinant of all his other activities.
人的认识，主要地依赖于物质的生产活动，逐渐地了解自然的现象、自然的性质、自然的规律性、人和自然的关系；而且经过生产活动，也在各种不同程度上逐渐地认识了人和人的一定的相互关系。
# Man's knowledge depends mainly on his activity in material production, through which he comes gradually to understand the phenomena, the properties and the laws of nature, and the relations between himself and nature; and through his activity in production he also gradually comes to understand, in varying degrees, certain relations that exist between man and man.
在没有阶级的社会中，每个人以社会一员的资格，同其它社会成员协力，结成一定的生产关系，从事生产活动，以解决人类物质生活问题。
# In a classless society every person, as a member of society, joins in common effort with the other members, enters into definite relations of production with them and engages in production to meet man's material needs.
在各种阶级的社会中，各阶级的社会成员，则又以各种不同的方式，结成一定的生产关系，从事生产活动，以解决人类物质生活问题。
# In all class societies, the members of the different social classes also enter, in different ways, into definite relations of production and engage in production to meet their material needs.
这是人的认识发展的基本来源。
# This is the primary source from which human knowledge develops.
§人的社会实践，不限于生产活动一种形式，还有多种其它的形式，阶级斗争，政治生活，科学和艺术的活动，总之社会实际生活的一切领域都是社会的人所参加的。
#§Man's social practice is not confined to activity in production, but takes many other forms--class struggle, political life, scientific and artistic pursuits; in short, as a social being, man participates in all spheres of the practical life of society.
因此，人的认识，在物质生活以外，还从政治生活文化生活中（与物质生活密切联系），在各种不同程度上，知道人和人的各种关系。
# Thus man, in varying degrees, comes to know the different relations between man and man, not only through his material life but also through his political and cultural life (both of which are intimately bound up with material life).
其中，尤以各种形式的阶级斗争，给予人的认识发展以深刻的影响。
# Of these other types of social practice, class struggle in particular, in all its various forms, exerts a profound influence on the development of man's knowledge.
在阶级社会中，每一个人都在一定的阶级地位中生活，各种思想无不打上阶级的烙印。
# In class society everyone lives as a member of a particular class, and every kind of thinking, without exception, is stamped with the brand of a class.
§马克思主义者认为人类社会的生产活动，是一步又一步地由低级向高级发展，因此，人们的认识，不论对于自然界方面，对于社会方面，也都是一步又一步地由低级向高级发展，即由浅入深，由片面到更多的方面。
#§Marxists hold that in human society activity in production develops step by step from a lower to a higher level and that consequently man's knowledge, whether of nature or of society, also develops step by step from a lower to a higher level, that is, from the shallower to the deeper, from the one-sided to the many-sided.
在很长的历史时期内，大家对于社会的历史只能限于片面的了解，这一方面是由于剥削阶级的偏见经常歪曲社会的历史，另方面，则由于生产规模的狭小，限制了人们的眼界。
# For a very long period in history, men were necessarily confined to a one-sided understanding of the history of society because, for one thing, the bias of the exploiting classes always distorted history and, for another, the small scale of production limited man's outlook.
人们能够对于社会历史的发展作全面的历史的了解，把对于社会的认识变成了科学，这只是到了伴随巨大生产力――大工业而出现近代无产阶级的时候，这就是马克思主义的科学。
# It was not until the modern proletariat emerged along with immense forces of production (large-scale industry) that man was able to acquire a comprehensive, historical understanding of the development of society and turn this knowledge into a science, the science of Marxism.
§马克思主义者认为，只有人们的社会实践，才是人们对于外界认识的真理性的标准。
#§Marxists hold that man's social practice alone is the criterion of the truth of his knowledge of the external world.
实际的情形是这样的，只有在社会实践过程中（物质生产过程中，阶级斗争过程中，科学实验过程中），人们达到了思想中所预想的结果时，人们的认识才被证实了。
# What actually happens is that man's knowledge is verified only when he achieves the anticipated results in the process of social practice (material production, class struggle or scientific experiment).
人们要想得到工作的胜利即得到预想的结果，一定要使自己的思想合于客观外界的规律性，如果不合，就会在实践中失败。
# If a man wants to succeed in his work, that is, to achieve the anticipated results, he must bring his ideas into correspondence with the laws of the objective external world; if they do not correspond, he will fail in his practice.
人们经过失败之后，也就从失败取得教训，改正自己的思想使之适合于外界的规律性，人们就能变失败为胜利，所谓“失败者成功之母”，“吃一堑长一智”，就是这个道理。
# After he fails, he draws his lessons, corrects his ideas to make them correspond to the laws of the external world, and can thus turn failure into success; this is what is meant by "failure is the mother of success" and "a fall into the pit, a gain in your wit".
辩证唯物论的认识论把实践提到第一的地位，认为人的认识一点也不能离开实践，排斥一切否认实践重要性、使认识离开实践的错误理论。
# The dialectical-materialist theory of knowledge places practice in the primary position, holding that human knowledge can in no way be separated from practice and repudiating all the erroneous theories which deny the importance of practice or separate knowledge from practice.
列宁这样说过：“实践高于（理论的）认识，因为它不但有普遍性的品格，而且还有直接现实性的品格。”
# Thus Lenin said, "Practice is higher than (theoretical) knowledge, for it has not only the dignity of universality, but also of immediate actuality. "
马克思主义的哲学辩证唯物论有两个最显着的特点：一个是它的阶级性，公然申明辩证唯物论是为无产阶级服务的；再一个是它的实践性，强调理论对于实践的依赖关系，理论的基础是实践，又转过来为实践服务。
#The Marxist philosophy of dialectical materialism has two outstanding characteristics. # One is its class nature: it openly avows that dialectical materialism is in the service of the proletariat. # The other is its practicality: it emphasizes the dependence of theory on practice, emphasizes that theory is based on practice and in turn serves practice.
判定认识或理论之是否真理，不是依主观上觉得如何而定，而是依客观上社会实践的结果如何而定。
# The truth of any knowledge or theory is determined not by subjective feelings, but by objective results in social practice.
真理的标准只能是社会的实践。
# Only social practice can be the criterion of truth.
实践的观点是辩证唯物论的认识论之第一的和基本的观点。
# The standpoint of practice is the primary and basic standpoint in the dialectical materialist theory of knowledge.
§然而人的认识究竟怎样从实践发生，而又服务于实践呢？
#§But how then does human knowledge arise from practice and in turn serve practice? # This will become clear if we look at the process of development of knowledge.