汉字“生”“活”“存”“在”本义的存在论意义--存在论的“汉语哲学”诠释

The Ontological Significance of the Chinese Characters Sheng,Huo,Cun and Zai--The Interpretation of Being Theory in“Chinese Language Philosophy”

汉语“本体论”与“存在论”应当严格地区别开来,前者对应传统的“ontology”,后者对应的则应当是“Being theory”,因为后者思考的并非形而上的存在者,而是前存在者的存在。尽管前者可以汉译为“存有论”,但后者却不能,因为汉语“有”的本义是一种存在者化的观念,在哲学上所指的正是作为形而上存在者的本体。所谓“汉语哲学”,其中心任务应当是揭示中国哲学关键词的存在论意义。汉字“生”“在”“存”的本义,即人与草木浑然不分的共在,都是中国远古先民对存在的感悟,从而具有存在论意义;而“活”的本义作为“水流声”,则表征着人是由于倾听“天命”而得以存在的,从而具有当代诠释学的意义。

The Chinese terms“bentilun”(本体论)and“cunzailun”(存在论)should be rigorously distinguished.The former corresponds to the traditional“ontology,”while the latter should align with the“theory of Being”or“Being theory”,because the latter does not concern itself with metaphysical beings but rather with Being itself,which precedes beings.Although“bentilun”can be translated as“cunyoulun”(存有论)in Chinese,“cunzailun”cannot be similarly translated,because the original meaning of“you”(有)in Chinese embodies the concept of beings,which in philosophy refers specifically to the noumenon as the metaphysical Being.The central task of so-called“Chinese language philosophy”is to reveal the Being theory significance of the key words in Chinese philosophy.The original meaning of the Chinese characters“sheng”(生),“zai”(在)and“cun”(存),namely the coexistence of people and plants,is the perception of the ancient Chinese people on existence,which has ontological significance;while the original meaning of“living”is“the sound of water”,which indicates that human beings exist by listening to“God’s command”,and thus has the significance of contemporary hermeneutics.