The Key to Philosophy: Metaphysical Thinking Rooted in Ontology

Author: Yu Zhiping
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2002-09-01
Features: The book The Key to Philosophy attempts to answer the perplexing questions of "Why is philosophy?" and "What does philosophy do?" in an accessible and engaging manner. The focus and starting point of the entire book lie in the distinction between "philosophy" and "common sense." The questions raised in the book are derived from Kant's distinction between "phenomena" and "noumena," yet the development of these questions and their underlying logic are deeply "Chinese." To borrow Professor Mou Zongsan's phrase, the discussions in the book about ontology and the distinction between ontology and phenomena are more "value-oriented" than "existential." The concept of "ontology" (or "noumenon," which is often used interchangeably in the book) is less about pointing to "things as they are" and more about pointing to a practical realm, the realm of human life and its. The book emphasizes that the true significance of the distinction between ontology and phenomena lies in highlighting the impermanence, changeability, relationality, and finitude of the phenomenal world, urging people to adopt a different perspective on the world, society, life, and human existence. It encourages readers to often transcend the constraints of worldly life, to detach themselves, and to experience the purity, spaciousness, and profound serenity of "transcending all appearances" (commonly known as "seeing through the illusions of the mortal world"). In this sense, the book is more influenced by Buddhism and Taoism, despite drawing heavily on Confucian sources. After reading it, one indeed feels a sense of "The Way as a thing is, indistinct and elusive."