康德的“物自身”概念何以有价值意涵?——为牟宗三的诠释进一解

Why Kant's concept of “thing-in-itself” has value-connotations?A discussion of Mou Zongsan's interpretation

"物自身"是康德哲学中引发最多争议的一个重要概念。牟宗三对这个概念提出了一个很特别的诠释,即认为这个概念不是一个知识论的事实概念,而是一个具有价值意涵的伦理学概念。但他强调:康德并未明言,而只是暗示此义。因此,有些中国学者批评牟宗三的这个诠释是对康德哲学的误读或曲解。这里根据康德的著作说明这个概念在康德思想中的发展,藉以证明:康德本人已明白地表示此义。同时也引述三位德国学者卡西勒、克隆纳与考尔巴赫的观点,来左证牟宗三对康德"物自身"的诠释。

Kant's"thing-in-itself"is a significant concept which has stirred up some of the most heated disputes in post-Kantian German philosophy. The modern Confucian Mou Zongsan provided a unique interpretation of this concept,that is,he construed it not as an epistemological fact-concept,but as one with value-connotations. But he emphasized that Kant had never explicitly indicated this notion but only suggested it. Under such circumstances,some Chinese scholars criticized Mou for"misunderstanding"or even"distorting"Kant's concept of"thing-in-itself. "Based on Kant's works,this paper illustrates the development of this concept in his thought,and attempts to prove that Kant has made this notion explicit already. The views of German scholars Ernst Cassirer,Richard Kroner and Friedrich Kaulbach are cited to support Mou's interpretation of Kant's concept of "thing-in-itself".