PragmatisminDengXiaopingsCatth

　　PragmatisminDengXiaoping’sCattheory
　　AmericanPragmatismbasicallytalksabouttruthandworth。Itcanbetranslatedas：Weshouldnotfussoverwhatisthetruth，butwhatenhanceslife。Ifsomethingcandousgood，itistrueinacertainsense。ThisisaverypopularideaintheAmericansociety，butsuchisnotthecaseforChina。Foralongcourseoftime，pragmatismisinterpretedbytheChineseas：Toreachacertaingoalbyfairmeansofbyfoul。AswelookbackinChinesehistory，it’shardtofindanentirechunkofpragmatism。However，wecanstillseesprinklesofpragmaticideasscatteredaround，amongwhichDengXiaoping’sCattheoryisthemostfamous。WehavereasonstobelievethecattheoryhasoverlapswithAmericanpragmatism，buttheydontcoincide，orsomainstreamChinesewouldargue。
　　ThewholelineoftheCattheorygoeslikethis：Itdoesntmatterwhetheracatiswhiteorblack，aslongasitcatchesmice。WhenIfirstheardoftheline，IdidnthaveanybackgroundknowledgeandIunderstooditas：Catmeansmethod。Whitemeansgood，appropriate，just。Blackontheotherhand，iseverythingevil，inappropriate，unjust。Catchthemicemeansdothejob。Sothenagain，Ithoughtitmeant，Toreachacertaingoalbyfairmeansofbyfoul。Andthisisactuallysomethingveryhardtoacceptforme。
　　Withsomeresearch，IlearnedthattheCattheorywasntmeanttobeatheoryfromthestart。ItwasoriginallysaidbyDengXiaoping’sbattlecompanion。Hemeantintimesofwar，it’salwaysbesttobearanopenmindandmakeadjustmentsaccordingtothecurrentsituationbecausedogmatismdoesntgetyouveryfar。LaterDengXiaopingbroughtthissentenceintopublicattentionwhenmakingaspeechconcerningruralproductionsituations。Hejustifiedhimselffortakingmeasuresnotallthatsocialistictosolveproblems。Thecattheorysimplytellspeopletobepractical，getthingsdone，evenifitmeansusingwaysthey’venotthoughtofornotexactlywhatthey’velearnedfromatextbook。
　　Practiceisthesolecriterionfortestingtruth。ThisisalsoaverypopularlinebyMarxthathadbeenthoughthighlyofbyChineseleaders。Ithinkitbearsthesamemeaningasthecattheory。Thetruthmaynotbewhatwethink，anysupposedtruthneedstesting，andtheonlywaytotestitisputitintopractice。Althoughweassumethewhitecatisthetruthandtheblackcatisthefalse。Wedonotknowforsure，andweareinnopositiontojustifyeitherbecausewehavenoproof。ThisisaverysimilartoAmericanpragmatism，butnotidentical。BecausewhatDeweymeantwas，weshouldadoptwhateverworks，anddisregardthedebateoverwhatisgenuinelytrue。WhereaswhatDengXiaopingmeantwas，allitneedsforittotakeeffectisachance。
　　ManyChineseholdtheargumentthatDeng’scattheoryissomethingcompletelydifferentfromAmericanpragmatismanditisonlymisinterpretedasthat。Butmanyholdthisargumentforthewrongcause。TheyfearthatDengwouldeventuallyputcapitalismintopracticeandseeitworksbetterthansocialism，theycouldnothavethat。Bydenyingthesimilaritiesbetweenthem，theyaredenyingChinaiscurrentlystrayedfromthepasswayofsocialismandheadingforcapitalism。AlthoughitisobviousthatthisconversionisexactlywhatChinaisundergoing。