ABSTRACT
The ambiguity inherent in Li Da's last major philosophical project is, in an important sense, characteristic of his entire philosophical career. The dilemma faced by Li Da in the early 1960s was an echo of the previous dilemmas he had faced in his relationship with both the Party and Marxist philosophy. Li's philosophical career is illustrative of the predicament faced by many of China's intellectuals. Mao Zedong subsequently praised Li for his contribution to the development of Marxism in China and invited him to revise his Elements of Sociology for republication. While Li Da had a troubled relationship with orthodoxy and political power, much of his philosophical writing is also concerned with the explication and elaboration of issues which have had a problematic history within the theoretical framework of orthodox Marxism. Elements of Sociology thus represented an important conduit through which post-1931 Soviet philosophical discourse was transmitted to the Chinese revolutionary movement.
