The Realm Between Heaven and Humanity: Confusion and Choice in Chinese and Western Philosophy

Author: Zhang Shiyi
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-12-01
Features: The author believes that there are two fundamental attitudes or relationships between humans and all things in the world: one is the subject-object dichotomy, and the other is the unity of heaven and man (referring to the indistinction between subject and object, and the fusion of matter and self). Traditional Chinese philosophy is dominated by the unity of heaven and man, while traditional Western philosophy is dominated by the subject-object dichotomy. This book takes this as its framework to discuss the development lines and respective characteristics of Chinese and Western philosophies. It places the ideological viewpoints of major schools of Chinese and Western philosophy within the same historical river of human thought development for a vertical examination, thereby focusing on two key questions: Where is Chinese philosophy heading? And what is the purpose of philosophy? The book is divided into three parts: "History," "Theory," and "Philosophy and Philosophers." The first and second parts directly address and reflect on these two questions, while the third part, "Philosophy and Philosophers," follows the of the subject-object dichotomy and the unity of heaven and man to conduct specific discussions and comparative studies on important schools and philosophers in the history of Chinese and Western philosophy, thereby providing concrete arguments for the aforementioned two questions. The author argues that Western contemporary philosophy, dissatisfied with the traditional subject-object dichotomy, has given rise to a trend similar to the Chinese unity of heaven and man, as well as the combination of philosophy and poetry, which is deeply rooted in the tradition of the unity of heaven and man. Meanwhile, Chinese philosophy, with its profound tradition of the unity of heaven and man, is calling for the subject-object dichotomy and subjectivity principles from the West to develop science and promote democracy. Different ideological concepts are colliding between China and the West, and both Chinese and Western philosophies are in a state of confusion and choice. The author discusses the prospects and possibilities of the integration of Chinese and Western philosophies, as well as the combination of the unity of heaven and man and the subject-object dichotomy, from both the actual trends of historical development and the perspectives of philosophical theory. Additionally, the author proposes a vision for the ideal personality.