THE SPIRIT OF CHINESE PHILOSOPHYWord下载.docx

THE SPIRIT OF CHINESE PHILOSOPHYWord下载.docx

《THE SPIRIT OF CHINESE PHILOSOPHYWord下载.docx》由会员分享，可在线阅读，更多相关《THE SPIRIT OF CHINESE PHILOSOPHYWord下载.docx（8页珍藏版）》请在冰豆网上搜索。

thenatureofmanisoriginallygood."

ThisisoneofthefundamentalideasofMencius'

philosophy.

PlaceofPhilosophyinChineseCivilization

TotheWesterner,whoseesthatthelifeoftheChinesepeopleispermeatedwithConfucianism,itappearsthatConfucianismisareligion.Asamatteroffact,however,Confucianismisnomoreareligionthan,say,PlatonismorAristotelianism.ItistruethattheFourBookshavebeentheBibleoftheChinesepeople,butintheFourBooksthereisnostoryofcreation,andnomentionofaheavenorhell.

Ofcourse,thetermsphilosophyandreligionarebothambiguous,Philosophyandreligionmayhaveentirelydifferentmeaningsfordifferentpeople.Whenmentalkaboutphilosophyorreligion,theymayhavequitedifferentideasintheirmindsconcerningthem.Formypart,whatIcallphilosophyissystematic,reflectivethinkingonlife.Everyman,whohasnotyetdied,isinlife.Buttherearenotmanywhothinkreflectivelyonlife,andstillfewerwhosereflectivethinkingissystematic.Aphilosophermustphilosophize;

thatistosay,hemustthinkreflectivelyonlife,andthenexpresshisthoughtssystematically.

Thiskindofthinkingiscalledreflectivebecauseittakeslifeasitsobject.Thetheoryoflife,thetheoryoftheuniverse,andthetheoryofknowledgeallemergefromthistypeofthinking.Thetheoryoftheuniversearisesbecausetheuniverseisthebackgroundoflife—thestageonwhichthedramaoflifetakesplace.Thetheoryofknowledgeemergesbecausethinkingisitselfknowledge.AccordingtosomephilosophersoftheWest,inordertothink,wemustfirstfindoutwhatwecanthink;

thatistosay,beforewestarttothinkaboutlife,wemustfirstthinkourthinking.

Suchtheoriesarealltheproductsofreflectivethinking.Theveryconceptoflife,theveryconceptoftheuniverse,andtheveryconceptofknowledgearealsotheproductsofreflectivethinking.Nomatterwhetherwethinkaboutlifeorwhetherwetalkaboutit,weareallinthemidstofit.Andnomatterwhetherwethinkorspeakabouttheuniverse,weareallapartofit.Now,whatthephilosopherscalltheuniverseisnotthesameaswhatthephysicistshaveinmindwhentheyrefertoit.Whatthephilosopherscalltheuniverseisthetotalityofallthatis.ItisequivalenttowhattheancientChinesephilosopher,HuiShih,called"

TheGreatOne,"

whichisdefinedasthatwhichhasnothingbeyond.Soeveryoneandeverythingmustbeconsideredpartoftheuniverse.Whenonethinksabouttheuniverse,oneisthinkingreflectively.

Whenwethinkaboutknowledgeorspeakaboutknowledge,thisthinkingandspeakingarethemselvesknowledge.TouseanexpressionofAristotle,itis"

thinkingonthinking"

;

andthisisreflectivethinking.Hereistheviciouscirclewhichthosephilosophersfollowwhoinsistthatbeforewethinkwemustfirstthinkaboutourthinking;

justasifwehadanotherfacultywithwhichwecouldthinkaboutthinking!

Asamatteroffact,thefacultywithwhichwethinkaboutthinkingistheverysamefacultywithwhichwethink.Ifweareskepticalaboutthecapacityofourthinkinginregardtolifeandtheuniverse,wehavethesamereasontobeskepticalaboutthecapacityofourthinkinginregardtothinking.

Religionalsohassomethingtodowithlife.Intheheartofeverygreatreligionthereisaphilosophy.Infact,everygreatreligionisaphilosophywithacertainamountofsuperstructure,whichconsistsofsuperstitions,dogmas,rituals,andinstitutions.Thisiswhat1callreligion.

Ifoneunderstandsthetermreligioninthissense,whichdoesnotreallydifferverymuchfromcommonusage,oneseesthatConfucianismcannotbeconsideredareligion.PeoplehavebeenaccustomedtosaythattherewerethreereligionsinChina:

Confucianism,Taoism,andBuddhism.ButConfucianism,aswehaveseen,isnotareligion.AstoTaoism,thereisadistinctionbetweenTaoismasaphilosophy,whichiscalledToochia（theTaoistschool）,andtheTaoistreligion{Toochiao）.Theirteachingsarenotonlydif-

Godisreallytheuniverse.Strictlyspeaking,theloveofGodinChristianityisnotreallysuper-moral.ThisisbecauseGod,inChristianity,isapersonality,andconsequentlytheloveofGodbymaniscomparabletotheloveofafatherbyhisson,whichisamoralvalue.Therefore,theloveofGodinChristianityisopentoquestionasasuper-moralvalue.Itisaquasisuper-moralvalue,whiletheloveofGodinthephilosophyofSpinozaisarealsuper-moralvalue.

Toanswertheabovequestions,Iwouldsaythatthecravingforsomethingbeyondthepresentactualworldisoneoftheinnatedesiresofmankind,andtheChinesepeoplearenoexceptiontothisrule.Theyhavenothadmuchconcernwithreligionbecausetheyhavehadsomuchconcernwithphilosophy.Theyarenotreligiousbecausetheyarephilosophical.Inphilosophytheysatisfytheircravingforwhatisbeyondthepresentactualworld.Inphilosophyalsotheyhavethesuper-moralvaluesexpressedandappreciated,andinlivingaccordingtophilosophythesesuper-moralvaluesareexperienced.

AccordingtothetraditionofChinesephilosophy,itsfunctionisnottheincreaseofpositiveknowledge（bypositiveknowledgeImeaninformationregardingmattersoffact）,buttheelevationofthemind—areachingoutforwhatisbeyondthepresentactualworld,andforthevaluesthatarehigherthanthemoralones.ItwassaidbytheLao-tzu:

Toworkonlearningistoincreasedaybyday;

toworkonTao（theWay,theTruth）istodecreasedaybyday."

（Seech.48.）Iamnotconcernedwiththedifferencebetweenin-creasinganddecreasing,nordoIquiteagreewiththissayingofLao-tzu.IquoteitonlytoshowthatinthetraditionofChinesephilosophythereisadistinctionbetweenworkingonlearningandworkingonTao（theWay）.ThepurposeoftheformeriswhatIcalltheincreaseofpositiveknowledge,thatofthelatteristheelevationofthemind.Philosophybelongstothelattercategory.

Theviewthatthefunctionofphilosophy,especiallymetaphysics,isnottheincreaseofpositiveknowledge,isexpoundedbytheVienneseschoolincontemporaryWesternphilosophy,thoughfromadifferentangleandforadifferentpurpose.Idonotagreewiththisschoolthatthefunctionofphilosophyisonlytheclarificationofideas,andthatthenatureofmetaphysicsisonlyalyricofconcepts.Nevertheless,intheirargumentsonecanseequiteclearlythatphilosophy,especiallymetaphysics,wouldbecomenonsenseifitdidattempttogiveinformationregardingmattersoffact.

Religiondoesgiveinformationinregardtomattersoffact.Buttheinformationgivenbyreligionisnotinharmonywiththatgivenbyscience.SointheWesttherehasbeentheconflictbetweenreligionandscience.Wherescienceadvances,religionretreats;

andtheauthorityofreligionrecedesbe-foretheadvancementofscience.Thetraditionalistsregrettedthisfactandpitiedthepeoplewhohadbecomeirreligious,consideringthemashavingdegenerated.Theyoughtindeedtobepitied,if,besidesreligion,theyhadnootheraccesstothehighervalues.Whenpeoplegetridofreligionandhavenosubstitute,theyalsolosethehighervalues.Theyhavetoconfinethem-selvestomundaneaffairsandhavenothingtodowiththespiritualones.Fortunately,however,besidesreligionthereisphilosophy,whichprovidesmanwithanaccesstothehighervalues—anaccesswhichismoredirectthanthatprovidedbyreligion,becauseinphilosophy,inordertobeacquaintedwiththehighervalues,manneednottaketheroundaboutwaypro-videdbyprayersandrituals.Thehighervalueswithwhichmanhasbecomeacquaintedthroughphilosophyareevenpurerthanthoseacquiredthroughreligion,becausetheyarenotmixedwithimaginationandsuperstition.Intheworldofthefuture,manwillhavephilosophyintheplaceofreligion.ThisisconsistentwithChinesetradition.Itisnotnecessarythatmanshouldbereligious,butitisnecessarythatheshouldbephilosophical.Whenheisphilosophical,hehastheverybestoftheblessingsofreligion.

ProblemandSpiritofChinesePhilosophy

Theaboveisageneraldiscussionofthenatureandfunctionofphilosophy.InthefollowingremarksIshallspeakmorespecificallyaboutChinesephilosophy.ThereisamaincurrentinthehistoryofChinesephilosophy,whichmaybecalledthespiritofChinesephilosophy.Inordertounderstandthisspirit,wemustfirstmakecleartheproblemthatmostChinesephilosophershavetriedtosolve.

Thereareallkindsandconditionsofmen.Withregardtoanyoneofthesekinds,thereisthehighestformofachievementofwhichany