狄德罗与中国哲学

Diderot and Chinese Philosophy

在18世纪法国启蒙学者的中西哲学比较研究中,狄德罗提出了"中国人有两只眼而西方人只有一只眼"的著名论断和很多富有新意的独到见解。他把伏羲比作"中国的赫尔墨斯或俄尔甫斯",肯定孔子学说教人"爱真理,爱美德"、"品行端正地接人待物",但却认为"很难确定孔夫子就是中国的苏格拉底或阿拉克萨哥拉";他赞扬中国人智理深邃和锲而不舍的探索精神,认为中国哲学的思辨性并不逊于西方哲学,理学著述与斯宾诺莎的著作一样对西方学者的思维能力具有挑战性;他肯定中国哲人把善意与道德的科学放在一切科学的首位,并预言这一原则有朝一日会得到西方学界的广泛认同,这一论述成为他的中国哲学观最突出的闪光点。

In the comparative study on Chinese-Western Philosophy of French Enlightenment scholars in the 18th century, Diderot proposed a lot of well-known and thought-provoking propositions, such as, we Europeans have one eye, Chinese themselves two, all the world else is blind;China’s speculative philosophy is not inferior to Western one;China＆#39;s sages give first place to the good and morals, which would be widely accepted by Western academia in the future. These discussions are the highlight of Diderot＆#39;s views on Chinese philosophy. Different from Leibniz and Wolff who praised highly the Chinese people＆#39;s moral practice, Diderot had a few doubts about to what extent the Chinese people can practice Confucian virtues. He pointed out that the Chinese people know best the virtues but seldom put them into practice.