辩题“飞鸟之景,未尝动也”探赜

Exploration of the Debate Topic“the Shadow of a Flying Bird is not in Motion”

“飞鸟之景,未尝动也”是先秦名家的重要辩题之一,记载于《庄子·天下》篇。目前学界对该辩题的内涵、学派、性质等问题的研究存在歧见。辩题“飞鸟之景,未尝动也”是对当时名实之辩的理论回应,其中蕴含的“以名举实”的理论关怀体现了对儒、墨、道、法等主流学派“以名制实”思想的发展;它讨论了物影的同一性、改换和运动的差异性问题,符合科学、逻辑规律与公孙龙“唯乎其彼此”的思想,并不能称为诡辩;它重视概念分析的特征,反映了当时中国哲学思辨理性的发展程度,体现了中国哲学的巨大包容性。

“The Shadow of a Flying Bird is not in Motion”is one of the ideological debates of pre-Qin philosophers of the School of Names,recorded in chapter Tian Xia of the Book of Zhuangzi.However,no consensus has been reached on the connotation,school and nature of this debate.The debate topic—“The Shadow of a Flying Bird is not in Motion”is a theoretical response to the debate of name and entity at that time,the theoretical concern of“using name to reflect reality”embodies the development of the thought of“using name to enact reality”of Confucianism,Mohist,Taoist,Legalist and other mainstream schools.It discusses the problems of identity,transformation and the difference of motion of object shadow,conforms to the law of science and logic and Gong-sun Long’s thought of“the name and entity is corresponded to each other”,thus,it cannot be called sophistry.The emphasis on conceptual analysis reflects the development of speculative reason in Chinese philosophy at that time and embodies the great inclusiveness of Chinese philosophy.