读《老子》书札记

Reading Notes of Laozi

《老子》五千言在两千年间经历无数文人学者的审读,更因其围绕"道"而被视为一部哲学书,其思想份量不容忽视。《老子》开启了中国古代从形而上层面阐发治国方略的思想传统,这个传统欲使治国不仅具有历史和现实的依据,更要有哲学的合理性。《老子》的治国合理性植根于君王具有价值判断方面的"命名权",只是这种"命名权"因其"玄"既无法成为经验科学的对象,亦不可能成为西方哲学传统中作为"知识"的哲学的对象。在"无为"的普遍意义上,《老子》的治国方略不仅对下有"愚民"的意思,甚至对上也有"愚君"的规劝,因为"不争"、"退隐"之"道"对于君、民并无例外。在哲学的意义上,《老子》虽讲"有—无"、"生—死",但它们只是一个事物的两个方面,而非两个独立事物,思想和存在尚不具备独立的逻辑,"真、善、美"亦未脱离具体的感性事物,从长远看,对于"哲学"作为学科的发展有何种意义尚需进一步探讨。

Having been read and interpreted over two thousand years, the book Laozi has not only become a treasure in history of thought, but also a philosophical work, owing to the discussion of Tao. The book has started a tradition that in addition to historical and real- istic legitimacy, governance should find its metaphysical legitimacy in that the king has the naming right, especially that concerning value judgments. However, this right cannot serve as the object of both empirical sciences and philosophy because of its mysterious nature. In the general sense of ＂doing-nothing＂, the obscurantism embodied in Laozi aims at both subjects and kings, for the principles of ＂non-competing＂, ＂retiring from the public life＂ are valid for both of them. From the philosophical standpoint, although the book Laozi has raised topics such as ＂being-nothingness＂, ＂life-death＂, the discussions are just treating the two sides of one coin. Consequently, being and thought do not gain their independence. Therefore, in the long run, how this way of thinking would affect philosophy as Wissenshaft is still a pending issue which is worth serious consideration bv all philoso-phers.