老子“道法自然”义释

Interpretation of Laozi's“Dao Follows Nature”

《老子》在:“人法地,地法天,天法道,道法自然”中提出了一个十分重要的命题——“道法自然”。但学界对此命题的许多理解并未准确表达出“道法自然”的实质内涵,本文将此命题置于老子哲学思想的整体框架之中,分析出“道法自然”的具体内涵即“道以万物之自然为法则”。老子哲学中“道法自然”这一形而上的宇宙论观点在其政治哲学中的延伸,即表现为“圣人”效法“道”的“无为”,遵循“百姓之自然”,体现了老子哲学思想中宇宙论与其政治哲学的同构性。

In“Man follows the earth;the earth follows heaven;heaven follows Dao;and Dao follows nature”,Laozi puts forward a very important proposition-“Dao follows nature”.Many understandings of this proposition in the academic world do not accurately express the accurate connotation of“Dao follows nature”.This paper places this proposition in the framework of Laozi's overall philosophical thinking,and analyses the specific connotation of“Dao follows nature”,namely,“Dao takes the nature of all things on earth as its law”.The extension of the metaphysical cosmology of Laozi's philosophy,“Dao follows nature”in his political philosophy,is manifested in the fact that the“sage”follows the“Dao”of“inaction”and“the nature of the people”,reflecting the isomorphism between the cosmology of Laozi's philosophy and his political philosophy.