Emotion and Reason

Author: Meng Peiyuan
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2002-12-01
Features: Some scholars argue that Chinese Confucian philosophy does not pay enough attention to human emotions; others believe that emotions are low-level issues, not worthy of being a major topic in Confucianism. My view, however, is the opposite. Confucianism not only regards emotions as a crucial issue in life, with discussions spanning two millennia and elevated to a high level, but it also forms the core content of the entire Confucian tradition. For a long time, this issue has not received the attention it deserves. One important reason is that we have been influenced by Western philosophy, which considers the problem of emotions not a philosophical one. The author of this book treats emotions as the core issue of Confucian philosophy and explores it accordingly, leading to the creation of this work. This is a new attempt that requires a shift in perspective from a research standpoint. This book no longer studies Confucianism from the angles of metaphysics, epistemology, and axiology, but instead starts from the problem of existence to discuss Confucianism's fundamental claims regarding human existence, value, and life experiences. The issue of emotions is also highly complex and difficult to analyze purely rationally. Chinese and Western philosophical cultures have different approaches to solving this problem, but there are also points of comparison. This book makes some necessary comparisons between Confucian emotional philosophy and Western philosophy. Due to the author's limited understanding of Western philosophy, these comparisons may have many omissions and shortcomings, but I believe that this research direction should be upheld. Through the exploration of the main content, nature, status, and role of emotions in Confucianism, we find that emotions are a fundamental component of the entire Confucian theoretical framework, and may even be the starting point of Confucian theory. By examining the relationship between emotions and will, desires, knowledge, especially emotions and reason, we discover that what are called will, desires, knowledge, etc., are all related to emotions and largely determined by emotional needs and content. That is to say, Confucianism combines emotions with will, resulting in the development of a "sentimental will" philosophy (if China has a will philosophy, only Liu Zongzhou can be considered a representative); Confucianism also combines emotions with cognition, taking emotions as the driving force and content of its cognition, leading to the development of the "emotional knowledge" school (if China has a theory of separating knowledge and emotions, Dai Zhen can be considered a representative). In fact, in Confucian philosophy, desires are also linked to emotions rather than will, hence the term "emotional desire" but not "willful desire." As for the relationship between reason and emotions, it is even more central to Confucianism. Reason is called "yi-li" (moral principle) or "xing-li" (nature principle) in Confucianism, belonging to value rationality, and value is clearly related to emotions. It is determined by emotions, not by cognition. As for "physics," it is also directly related to life, not in the sense of physics. The debate over whether Confucianism is rationalist or non-rationalist originates from this point. Regarding this issue, there are different schools of thought in Confucianism, leading to different solutions, but they share a common point: seeking the unity of emotions and reason rather than advocating their opposition. We acknowledge that Confucianism is rationalist, but its rationality is "qing-li" (emotional reason) rather than cognitive reason or any other type of reason that stands in opposition to emotions. Confucianism's "heart-nature" theory is never separated from the unity of nature and emotion; its "nature-principle" theory is never separated from the unity of principle and emotion. As for the heart and emotions, they are understood and used on the same level. In summary, Confucian rationality has emotional content and is "concrete rationality" rather than purely formal abstract rationality. Compared to Western philosophy's dualistic philosophy that opposes emotions and reason, as well as its ethical sentimentalism that views emotions as purely private, subjective, and irrational, Confucianism emphasizes the commonality and universality of emotions, thus advocating the unity of emotions and reason. This is the greatest characteristic of Confucian philosophy. People usually say that Confucianism is the study of benevolence (ren). But benevolence is essentially emotional, yet also rational—it is rationalized emotion or the rationalization of emotion. This book attempts to address the question of whether Confucianism is the study of benevolence from a new perspective, with a dedicated chapter discussing benevolence at different levels. When Confucianism addresses the issue of "finding one's place and purpose in life," it pursues the greatest joy in life, viewing it as the "experience" of life. Therefore, this book explores the issue of the experience of joy. When Confucianism addresses the ultimate issues of life and the universe, it shows a profound religious sentiment, especially awe, which is also discussed in a dedicated chapter. Finally, this book provides an overview of the modern development of Confucian emotional philosophy, showing its position in the exchange and conflict of Chinese and Western philosophy, its possible future directions, and its contributions.