Path to Seclusion: Traces of 20th Century French Philosophy

Author: Shang Jie
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2002-10-28
Features: Contemporary French philosophy has had a significant impact on the academic circles of China, and this trend is becoming increasingly serious. The book primarily focuses on foreign original texts, taking Husserl's phenomenology as the developmental thread, and provides a detailed analysis of the thoughts of Husserl, Bergson, Proust, Heidegger, Sartre, Merleau-Ponty, Levinas, Foucault, Deleuze, Serres, Lyotard, and Derrida. The book proposes a new approach to understanding phenomenology: phenomenology is not, as many domestic researchers believe, a phenomenology or an (manifest discipline). In reality, what is called phenomenology is not a manifest discipline or a mirror of nature or a theory of reflection; it is invisible. This is the essence of phenomenology as understood by Husserl. Manifestation is actually concealment, meaning that from Husserl to Derrida, it is also the path of 20th-century French philosophy. The author argues that the meaning of "concealment" should be understood beyond the narrow concepts of ideas, concepts, and reason, which is an unfamiliar direction in traditional Western philosophy. It is the realm that has not been spoken of or is unspeakable. This realm requires the help of intuition, will, imagination, and other forms of thinking that have long been neglected by traditional Western metaphysics. The author believes that so far, we may have only focused on the positive aspects of philosophy or wisdom, i.e., the "manifest" side. However, philosophy also has its negative side, the "concealed" side. From this perspective, we can understand why there are so many unfamiliar concepts in these texts, such as the suspension of meaning, absurdity, nihilism, the Other, death, and so on, which the author refers to as the "alien." It is precisely Foucault's "madness" and Derrida's "deconstruction" that have been further termed postmodern, opening up the path of retreat, a concealed space, a space we have yet to see. This is the trace of 20th-century French philosophy.