哲学形上学的返本与开新——杨国荣教授学术访谈录

杨国荣教授发表的"具体的形上学"三书,构建了当代哲学形上学的一个理论相态。这一理论体系既有对传统哲学的继承和阐扬,也体现了哲学家从中西互动史思结合的角度创立哲学形上学的理论自觉。

《老子》和早期中国哲学的形上语境

《老子》哲学的主要贡献在于开创了关于道的哲学形上学 ,但《老子》的形上思维并非横空出世。不仅是《老子》的道所作出的形上形下之分与《周易》有着思想史上的传承 ,而且《老子》道的字源特征及其注重天地人事形上形下贯通等思想 ,都深深地扎根于夏、商、周三代以来的时代话题所构成的形上语境。

Emptiness （Sunyata） for Caring the Self in the Middle Path： Reinvestigating the Middle Path Philosophy of Ngggrjuna

Classical Indian Buddhist philosopher Nfigfirjuna is known for his philosophical interpretations of the central conception of Buddha＇s teachings, the philosophy of Middle Path （Mfidhyamika）. Notably he had introduced the unique concept of ＂emptiness＂ （gnyata） to explain the Middle Path philosophy： the philosophical meaning of ＂emptiness＂ is dependent co-arising of various elements that support the worldly experience. This study investigates how this concept is used in explaining the subjectivity of a human person and how it is used for interpreting the unique process of human existence. The discussions on subjectivity are imprecise in modern and contemporary philosophy. But Ngrjuna＇s philosophy enables us to explain subjectivity conclusively, without it having to be explained using metaphysical positions. Sunyata may introduce a new definition for the concept of non-self： not for negating the self but for caring self from the problems of life by making it centered in the Middle Path （madhyama-pratipat）, where one may naturally be able to use his wisdom （prajh） as the guiding principle： not mere knowledge （na）. Sanyat is understood using fourfold （catus.kot.i） logical analysis, not twofold analysis employed normally by other philosophers. Here, the Buddhist notion of self as the co-dependent evolution process of five aggregates （pahcaskandhas） is reinterpreted using the unique method of tetralemma （catus.kot. i）. This critique explores the Western philosophy＇s conceptions on ＂human reasoning, ＂logocentrism,＂ and the objective analytical method of modern science.＂ After careful cross examination of the rival philosophical positions, it reasons out why the ＂rationale of nature＂ is always superior to ＂human reasoning＂ and ＂logocentrism,＂

The Theory of Ideas and the Process of Thought Formation

Twenty four centuries after Plato＇s formulation of the theory of ideas, it is revealed to us today in all its modernity and far-sightedness. In fact, confronting some of the elements of the theory with recent scientific discoveries, one cannot be anything but astounded by the magnificent capacity of the Athenian philosopher＇s investigations of the perceptible and metaphysical world, a true precursor of the times

An East-West Encounter in Underground Man： Harmony in Gabriel Tarde and in Chinese Philosophy

French philosopher Gabriel Tarde is known as a philosopher who describes sociology ontologically with an integrated approach and mostly by means of metaphysical interpretations. Opposing his coeval Durkheim＇s “social fact”, Tarde claims that this notion constitutes a methodological problem and the term “social” of Durkheim＇s crowds out “variability of relations”. According to him, determinants in social relations are more general and dynamic notions, such as： “change”, “contrast”, and “adaptation”. In this respect, not quite celebrated in his era, this philosopher is widely known as a metaphysician as well as a sociologist. His metaphysical ideas are clearly visible in various sections of his works, where he described with inspirations from natural phenomenon. Descriptions and analysis on natural phenomena constitute the greater part of his works. He points out similarities between the universe and the world of men in terms of functioning. Presenting these similarities, Tarde seems to reject any division between the men and the nature built up by “positive philosophy” and modern understanding. With his natural descriptions and concepts he inferred from these descriptions, such as“contradiction” and “harmony”, he almost tries to re-establish the bonds between the nature and the social life. Tarde＇s perception of holistic being and his ideas of “contradiction” and “harmony” in nature, are very close to the most basic axioms of the traditional Chinese thought. As a matter of fact, Tarde denotes these similarities in his novella called “Fragment d＇histoire future （Underground Man）”. It is also an example to display an “East-West encounter” on a fictional plane.

Plato＇s Theory of the Intercommunion of Forms （∑υμπλοκη Еīδων）： the Sophist 259, e4-6

Plato＇s lifelong confrontation with Parmenides and his metaphysical mire of believing that nothing （το μη ǒν） does not actually exist, gradually in the Sophist comes into finish, insofar as the philosopher after facing the foe and having the last laugh simmers down. In this paper after giving an interpretation of what Parmenides says, I shall present an analysis of Plato＇s drastic answer to him （Sophist, 259 e4-6） to see how Plato opens the impasse way created by the Eleatic philosopher. Here the intercommunion of Forms is regarded as the final answer by which Plato devastates Parmenides infamous thesis. Since hitherto no in-depth analysis is given by the scholars who are puzzled with the subject, I have tried to analyze the intercommunion of Forms philosophically. Plato＇s Eleatic challenge has always been crucial in Plato himself and philosophical development after him. As while as Parmenides thesis （Sph., 238 a8-9） provides the sophists opportunity to reject the falsehood, Plato＇s theory of Forms in contrast in order to cross off the extremely sly sophists tries to make Parmenides come down. In my opinion, the intercommunion of Forms, as the last step of the theory of Forms, basically determines Plato＇s late ontology tightly knitted with logic. Vindicating this proposal depends on true understanding of the intercommunion of Forms. Since Plato＇s late ontology, in my opinion, is closed to Frege＇s ontology and discussion of language, we are armed to interpret the intercommunion of Forms with recent recent logico-philosophicus achievements, I think. In this respect, this is what I have done in my paper： analyzing sentence from Plato＇s logico-metaphysical point of view. Ultimately, I have tried to show how the aim of the intercommunion of Forms, which Plato himself states, is demonstrating the possibility of dialogue and discourse. This statement explicitly sets forward that the discussion is bound up with several logical approaches, according to which finally full bright light is shed on different implications of the subject such as universals.

The Logic of Incarnation： Hegel＇s Use of Plato＇s Philebus in the Shorter Logic and in the Lectures on the Philosophy of Religion

Hegel uses Plato＇s classical text, Philebus, in two of his most important texts, the so called Shorter Logics, the first part of the famous Encyclopedia of Philosophical Sciences and in The Lectures on the Philosophy of Religion. The aim of this article is to analyze how can this two references be read together as to form a relationship between logic and religion in the very heart of Hegelian philosophy. In the first case, Hegel analyzes Plato＇s text within the context of his Doctrine of Being, specially from §§ 89 to 95, which deal with the question of determinate being. In The Lectures on the Philosophy of Religion, on the other hand, the reference appears in the 1824 Lectures in a particularly complex chapter called ＂The Transition to the Speculative Standpoint of Religion,＂ in which Hegel affirms not only that such a speculative standpoint is the only one in which religion can be truly grasped, but also that the Christian concept of ＂incarnation of God＂ is the ＂speculative midpoint＂ of religion. It will be argued, therefore, that the ontological question of determination and actuality, as exposed in the Shorter Logics, is fundamental to the metaphysics of Christian Religion as Hegel understands it not only in his Philosophy of Religion, but arguably in his whole philosophy.

Future and Scientific Conception of the World without Philosophy？

Often conceived as metaphysical approach, in the XX Century, philosophy is object of a crusade antimetaphysical in the movement of Logical Positivism. I will try to demonstrate that a philosophical perspective is conceivable even in the scientific conception of the world elaborated by the neopositivists. I discuss this point of view with attention to the turn represented by pragmatic philosophy of Neurath, which represents a crucial passage for the future of philosophy. In this vision, the science is not conceivable without philosophy, namely without an open and pluralist scientific philosophy. The philosophy--so--is not insufficient too for the perspective of scientific conception of the world.

Different Forms of Rationalities in Aristotle： From Being to Acting

Every philosophical system of Aristotle is structured around different forms of rationalities. Each form of rationality, according to its method, object, and purpose, seeks to apprehend and to know a specific dimension of being, because being manifests itself in many ways, that is, the totality of reality. Yet, each form of understanding the being has its epistemological and ontological status, always anchored in the logic criteria. In general, the aim of the paper is to characterize some aspects of the main forms of rationalities in the thought of Aristotle, i.e., demonstrative, dialectic, physics, metaphysics, productive, and practices. But before that, succinctly, it is necessary to talk about the different dimensions of being and teleology.

Changing Aristotle＇s Mind and World： Critical Notes on McDowell＇s Aristotle

Aristotle＇s Nicomachean Ethics is central to John McDowell＇s classic Mind and World. In Lectures IV and V of that work, McDowell makes three claims concerning Aristotle＇s ethics： first, that Aristotle did not base his ethics on an externalist, naturalistic basis （including a theory of human nature）; second, that attempts to read him as an ethical naturalist are a modem anachronism, generated by the supposed need to ground all viable philosophical claims on claims analogous to the natural sciences; and third, that a suitably construed Aristotelian conception of ＂second nature＂ can form the basis of a viable contemporary philosophy of mind, world, and normativity. This paper challenges each of these three claims. Aristotle＇s ethics, we will claim alongside Terence Irwin, Bemard Williams, Philippa Foot, and many premodem commentators, is based in the kind of physics, metaphysics, and metaphysical biology that McDowell says it cannot be. Historically, we will argue that McDowell＇s argument that Aristotle＇s ethical reasoning is ＂autonomous＂ or ＂self-standing＂ is distinctly modem, citing evidence from the leading medieval commentators on the Nicomachean Ethics. The felt need to which McDowell responds, of reading Aristotle＇s ethical or political thought as wholly non-metaphysical, arises from out of the successes of the natural sciences in the modem world, which he agrees discredit the Aristotelian, teleological account of nature. In the final part of the paper, we propose that McDowell＇s account of normativity, rooted in the non-metaphysical ＂second nature＂ he reads into Aristotle, we will contend, is as it stands inescapably relativistic. On a different note, we need also to recognize, as McDowell does not, that this is a new Aristotle, one shaped by our requirements and space of reasons, not the mind and world of the Greek Philosopher himself.

Philosophy and Theology in the Islamic Culture： Al-Farabis De scientiis

In this paper, the author refers to the Latin translation of the Kitab Ihsa ＇al＇ Ulum of Al-Frabi made by Dominicus Gundissalinus in the Xllth Century in Toledo, Spain. This text under the Latin title De scientiis was one of the most influential texts of the Arab and Persian world in the western Latin Europe. It is an introductory text into all until known sciences written for students and laymen （illiterate） who want to study one of these sciences. The text of Al-Farabi discusses the seven liberal arts, all of the works on physics of Aristotle and includes some reflexions on metaphysics, political philosophy and theology. There are two important points： （1） All sciences have a theoretical and practical aspect. All sciences are sciences of principles and causes and their application to the practical world. （2） The so called prima philosophia is the political philosophy and not metaphysics. In this respect, Al-Farabi subordinates theology as a science of the religious laws to politics as a science of civil laws. In the same respect, he combines, under the famous sentence of Plato that philosophers are the governors and the very well companions of mankind, politics with theology

Kant＇s Copernican Revolution

In Critique of Pure Reason, Kant explains his critical method ＂as an experiment＂ in metaphysics. The aim of that ＂experiment＂ is to establish ＂an entire revolution＂ in philosophical thinking, which was initiated by the Copernican revolution in cosmology in order to find the secure path, and its possibility application to metaphysics. Kant＇s aim in Critique of Pure Reason is to rescue metaphysics from a ＂blind groping＂ by undertaking a revolution in metaphysics as Copernicus has brought to cosmology. Kant＇s Copernican turn consists in the assertion that the possibility of knowledge requires that ＂the objects must conform to our cognition.＂ From Kant＇s view, we can know only what we ＂construct,＂ ＂make,＂ or ＂produce＂ as a necessary condition of knowledge, but we cannot know the mind--independent external world, i.e., the world which is independent of us. Kant＇s epistemological constructivism is the central point to his Copernican revolution.

All Conversations About Love Are the Same

In The Metaphysics of Love, Schopenhauer argues that love is a literary invention. For the philosopher, this feeling was a creation of men to mask the real desire. On the other hand, Nicolas Grimaldi, while analysing Marcel Proust＇s work, enumerates a series of issues that strengthen Schopenhauer＇s arguments. For Grimaldi, the writer explains the literary character of love in its work. Through the analysis of four films, from different cinematography, this work intends to explore the issue of the representation of love in the art of film. In an attempt to understand how film uses its formal and discursive resources to present or represent this feeling, this paper analyses films chosen on the basis of how they tell their love stories. Beginning with Gertrud whose motto, Omnia Love says it all. In The Woman Next Door, Truffaut reveals the paradox of love and pain. Wings of Desire speaks of love and redemption. More recently, Kiarostami offered his Certified Copy, a film that asks whether a copy can produce in us the same thrill of an original. If love is an invention of literature, this paper seeks to understand how such an invention is born, and what it consists in modern and contemporary cinema.

SPECIAL ISSUE： IMPORTANT ISSUES IN MARXIST PHILOSOPHICAL STUDIES IN CONTEMPORARY CHINA：Philosophic views and significant issues in philosophic research

A heated discussion has been going on in Chinese philosophic circles recently focusing on some significant issues in the research of Marxist philosophy. The different views in fact reflect people＇ s differences in their philosophic views, i.e., in understanding the nature and function of philosophy, especially the essence of Marx＇s philosophic revolution. The author of this article argues that Marx＇s philosophic revolution has terminated the theoretical metaphysics while retaining the ideal of free and full development of humanity and the transcending dimension of traditional philosophies. Authentic research of fundamental philosophic issues can come into being only if it is conducted through entering and remaining at the level of philosophic argument, and the most fundamental issue in philosophic research is still one concentrating on philosophic way of thinking.

The Anti-metaphysical Turn in the Philosophy of Love （From the Cartesian Perinatai Perspective on Love to Diderot＇s Free Love in His Supplement to Bougainville＇s Journeys）

In my paper, I show how the metaphysical aspect of the earlier concepts of love faded away through the disappearance of the essential references to God as the one, omniscient, omnipotent and benevolent being of the creation of nature, physis. Although in the seventeenth century, the structure of nature was conceived roughly in Epicurean terms, this concept was thought to be in need of a completion through a parallel system of being directed by teleological causality in one way or other. A synthesis of the Epicurean-scientific and the Christian teleological worldview was the main point in the philosophical agenda. The Enlightenment period meant a radical break between this soul-centred view and a new body-centred view most of the important thinkers were persuaded of. I exemplify this radically new look at the human being-in-the-world by presenting some ideas from ~ 50 of Diderot＇s ＂Thoughts on the interpretation of nature＂ （Pensdes sur l＇interprdtation de la nature）. Diderot attributes the faculties of feeling and thinking to all being from the tiniest molecules to the most complex beings, dispensing in this way with the typically seventeenth-century idea of God as the personal warrant of the pos- sibility of cognition. The sentient elements＇ j,~,~ng other corpuscles is no more governed by an omniscient creator but by the dynamism of the process itself. This boundless, creative, dynamic fluidity of being, this newly conceived nature in continual flux seemed to be captured best by such elastic faculties as imagination or sentiment. This is one of the reasons for the overall dominance of these faculties in the French and Scottish versions of the philosophy and theory of art of Enlight- enment. The consequences of all this in domain of the thinking on love will be presented by way of a reflection upon Diderot＇s ideas on the mixing of human andanimal species in the Dream of D＇Alembert and on his ideas on ＂free love＂ in his Supplement to the voyage of Bougainville （1775/1796）.