From literature to philosophy

Author: Peng Yunsheng
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-03-01
Features: Four years ago, the author discovered something extraordinary in certain literary works and ultimately named this extraordinary phenomenon "the Sacred." The entire book, in essence, is a repeated revelation or proof of the reality of the Sacred. It can also be seen as a summary or a novel interpretation of human sacred culture. In today's increasingly secularized culture, this book fulfills a deep longing for sacred culture in people's hearts. One of the book's strengths is that it avoids discussing metaphysical topics in a mystical or obscure manner. It remains grounded in various phenomena. The Poetics section holds special importance for the entire book and concentrates on the revolutionary nature of traditional poetics. Historically, it has generally been various philosophies that provide principles for poetics; in this book, however, poetics contributes principles to philosophy. This is also one of the book's distinctive features. The author believes that any philosophy of some value must begin with the exploration of concrete sciences rather than direct study of the history of philosophy. The author is not a method worshipper, yet he discovers that every principle discovered by science is an effective method. He shares this insight here for later generations who aspire to creation. It is indeed fortunate for a person to have an "epiphany" about the existence of a principle, but the more arduous task of scientific research is to recognize the various properties of this principle, thereby forming a clear definition of it—a process that may not be completed in one go but rather unfolds in layers. The main difficulty in scientific research lies in gradually uncovering the unity underlying seemingly disparate phenomena. In today's increasingly secularized culture, the author adopts a fresh perspective, elaborating and commenting on human sacred culture across fields such as persona poetics, literary mythology, the tragedy of genius, sacred wisdom, the essence of humanity, artistic techniques, literary criticism, as well as philosophical thinking, ideals and beliefs, the nature of truth, human freedom, aesthetic appreciation, the study of paradoxes, philosophical innovation, and miscellaneous philosophical discussions, revealing its scientific nature and regularity.