“事”与人的存在

“Affairs” and Human Existence

作为人的广义活动,“事”不仅展开于人存在的整个过程,而且内在于人存在的各个方面。人通过“事”创造新的天地,并由此重塑存在。“事”既与行动相联系,又体现了人的本质力量并关乎情意的参与,行动的印记和情意的负载在扬弃“物”的本然性而赋予其以现实性的同时,又使“事”获得了多样品格。“事”不仅改变对象,也影响人自身,在“能其事”的过程中,人又进一步“成其德”。做事的过程既作用于物,也与人打交道,人与物互动的背后,是人与人之间的关系,“事”的展开,则以人与人之间的交往为背景,并构成人与人之间交往关系形成的现实之源。人的存在与价值关切和意义追求无法分离。作为人的活动,“事”也具有价值内涵,并与意义的追求相联系。

As human activities in the broad sense,“human affairs” not only unfold throughout the whole course of human existence, but also are inherent in all its aspects. Humans create new worlds through their affairs and thus reshape their existence.“Human affairs” are not only related to actions, but also embody essentially human strengths and are related to human feelings as well. The imprint of action and involvement of affection mean that human affairs attain a diverse character while they sublate the original nature of material things and endow it with reality. Affairs not only change the object on which they act, but also affect people themselves;in the course of “carrying out the execution of affairs”, people “perfect their virtue.” The process of carrying out affairs functions through things, but is also concerned with people. Underlying the interaction between people and things is the relationship between one person and another;the unfolding of human affairs is based on this interaction between people, and constitutes the source of reality formed by the relationship of human interaction. Human existence cannot be separated from value concerns and the pursuit of meaning. As human activities, human affairs also have value connotations and are associated with the pursuit of meaning.