柏拉图的“美本身”与老子的“大音”、“大象”——中西美学理论研究札记

Plato’s Beauty Itself vs.Laozi’s Powerful Sound and Large Image

柏拉图曾经向人们提出这样一个问题:"什么是美,请你想一想。"(《柏拉图文艺对话集》人民文学出版社,1980年版180页)初看起来,这个问题似乎很简单。在生活中谁没有见过美?谁没有感受过美?可以说,我们每天都在与美打交道,美无处不在。因此美是什么,好象是一个很好回答的问题。

Who was the first to probe into the nature of Beauty? In the West,it was Plato of ancient Greece;in China,it was Laozi.Plato formulated the theory of'Beauty Itself'while Laozi formulated similar theories:'A sound which is infinitely pow- erful cannot be heard,'and'An image which is in- finitely large cannot be seen.' This article reaffirms the historical achievements of Laozi in formulating his theories and by comparing them with Plato's theory,points out their similarities and differen- ces.They are similar in that'Beauty Itself','Pow- erful sound' and'Large image' are all formless,col- orless and soundless,and that they refer to the same eternal and integral noumenon of beauty.With a view to affirming the noumenon of beauty,both Plato and Laozi negated individual beauty.This led to their incorrect negation of literature and art.on the other hand,they are different in that Plato's theory assumed a profound theological significance, whereas Laozi's possessed an unsophisticated flavor of nature.Both Plato's and Laozi's theories were destined to exert a decisive influence on the form- ation of national features of the Chinese and West- ern literature and art in later generations.