On Hegel’s Critique to Formalist Academy

Hegel’s critique to formalist academy is necessary to be our theme of study, for our academic studies today is still, on the whole, limited to the trap of formalist way. Formalism is based on abstract intellectual or empty reason which was an " absolute force” in near-modern time, so Hegel contributes himself to criticize continuously intellectual metaphysics. Such a critique is directed against the abstract universality and an outer (intellectual) reflection, especially against the subjective essence of academic institution. Therefore, it becomes a basic philosophical task to transcend abstract universality and intellectual limitation. For Hegel, his major task is summarized as the dialectics of thinking. It is required to reach " truth” or " thing-in-itself” while transcending subjective thinking and outer reflection, to construct the true objectivity of thinking, and to lay a philosophical foundation for academy. Although dialectics of thinking is no longer to exist in its ontology, the genuine philosophical development, such as Marxist dialectics or Heidegger’s phenomenological hermeneutics, does not means to open to formalist academy. On the contrary, it is to inherit and reopen to Hegel’s heritage of criticism to formalism. Only by the liberation of Chinese philosophy and social sciences from the yoke of formalism, can our academic work become the one of critical thinking, and acquire strong and active motive in the whole academics.