從分析哲學觀點看天人之際學説的根本問題

The Basic Problem of the Thesis of the Unity of Heaven and Man: A Perspective of Analytic Philosophy

Abstract

LANGUAGE NOTE | Document text in Chinese; abstract also in English.

從老子開始一直發展下來的天人之際學説，乃是混雜了宇宙生化論和形上本體論而成的“天道論”，與混漫了成德之教與本體之學而成的“心性論”。這兩大混雜或混漫造成的後果是：生化之源可被混轉爲存有之本，超越本體可被混化爲超驗規律，宇宙秩序可被混同爲道德秩序，而自主心黨更可混昇爲宇宙心靈。針對這些“混混”，固可於思想史上找到各家同時及先後互動而混混之軌跡的合理説明；但就哲學理論本身所要求的概念表達的清晰性和邏輯論證的合理性而言，我們卻很難找到任何一種足以自圓其説的説法。

本文的目的乃是就儒道二家若干思想個案（老子和張載）以分析及説明此一混雜或混化的理論構成和後果，從而展示傳統中國天人之際的哲理探究或參究中所隱含的根本性問題及其思想謬誤。本文作者相信：只有徹底地擺脫此一天人之際的混漫，中國哲學才可回歸到健康發展的道路上來。

Since Laozi, the idea of the unity of heaven and man has been developed or constructed as a specific type of thesis or theory which is amalgamated with cosmogony and ontology, on the one hand, and merged with moral teaching and metaphysical doctrine, on the other. The consequence of this amalgamation and merger is to mistransform the generative origin into the ontological ground, to confuse the transcendent being with the transcendental principle, to mis-identify the natural order as moral norm, and most importantly, to promote the individual (human) mind up to the universal mind at the cost of losing autonomy and responsibility. I think the development of this kind of amalgamation together with the interaction between different schools of thought in the context of their merger could be reasonably explained in terms of its historical factor and background; but it is quite difficult to give a coherent picture of the thesis with conceptual clarity and logical validity in philosophy.

The aim of this paper is to investigate the construction and consequence of this type of thesis or theory through two case studies (Laozi and Zhangzai). Based on this investigation, I shall demonstrate the basic problem of the thesis and the intellectual fallacy caused. My conclusion is that only when we escape from the trap of confusion in the idea of the unity of heaven and man, can we have a healthy road to the future of Chinese philosophy.