On the Traditional Chinese Life Dialectics from the Perspective of Philosophy of the Body ——Also on the Distinction between Chinese and Western Dialectics
On the Traditional Chinese Life Dialectics from the Perspective of Philosophy of the Body ——Also on the Distinction between Chinese and Western Dialectics
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School of Humanities and Social Science, Xian Jiaotong University, Xian, Shaanxi 710049
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Published
2013-05-16
Issue Date
2013-05-22
Abstract
In the context of the secularized transformation of philosophy, the new vision of our own “body” has added a brand new and most important dimension to the research of traditional Chinese philosophy, which not only differentiates the traditional Chinese philosophy focusing on the philosophy of the “body” from Western consciousness philosophy but also indicates significant differences between traditional Chinese dialectics as a kind of “life dialectics” and Western “thinking dialectics”. Such differences are reflected in the following three aspects. First, Western “thinking dialectics”, not devoid of its connection with “speculative original sin”, possesses the characteristic of “pure thinking”, whereas Chinese “life dialectics” assumes a striking “body involving” feature, with “life concerning” as its very basis. Secondly, Western “thinking dialectics” adopts “thesis” and “antithesis” as its logical prototype. In contrast, Chinese “life dialectics” regards “yin” and “yang” as its physiological prototype. Thirdly, while Western “thinking dialectics” leads to a “General Theory” which emphasizes total instead of individual and stresses potentiality instead of accomplishment, Chinese “life dialectics” results in “Holons Theory” which deems individual as total and insists the endlessness of life. Undoubtedly, the new disclosure of Chinese “life dialectics” has positive theoretical and contemporary significances in the context of transformation from “knowledgebased civilization” to “ecological civilization”.
ZHANG Zai-Lin.
On the Traditional Chinese Life Dialectics from the Perspective of Philosophy of the Body ——Also on the Distinction between Chinese and Western Dialectics[J]. Journal of Renmin University of China, 2013, 27(3): 39-46